Mike Huckabee

==Early life==
Huckabee was born on August 24, 1955, in [[Hope, Arkansas]],<ref name = "Barone 136–137">{{cite book |title=The Almanac of American Politics|url=https://archive.org/details/almanacofamerica00|url-access=registration|author1=[[Michael Barone (pundit)|Michael Barone]]|author2=Grant Ujifusa|year=1999|work=[[National Journal]]|location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=0-8129-3194-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/almanacofamerica00/page/136 136–7]}}</ref> the son of Dorsey Wiles Huckabee (1923–1996) and his wife Mae (Elder) Huckabee (1925–1999), conservative Southern Democrats. Huckabee is of [[English Americans|English]], [[German Americans|German]], and [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]] ancestry, with roots in America dating to the [[Colonial Era]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/01/05/Mike-Huckabee-13-Things-You-Didn-t-Know-About-Him |title=Mike Huckabee: 13 Things You Didn't Know About Him |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=[[The Fiscal Times]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=August 14, 2014 |last=Reitwiesner |first=Williams A. |title=The Ancestors of Mike Huckabee |url=http://www.wargs.com/political/huckabee.html |website=William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services |access-date=January 6, 2015}}</ref> He has cited his working-class upbringing as the reason for his political views;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/blog/2008/01/in_close_contest_huckabee_hits.html|title=Online NewsHour: Reporters' Blog &#124; In Close Contest, Huckabee Hits States Rights, Populist Themes &#124; January 19, 2008|publisher=[[PBS]]|date=January 19, 2008|access-date=June 13, 2010|archive-date=October 29, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029061146/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/blog/2008/01/in_close_contest_huckabee_hits.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> his father worked as a fireman and mechanic, and his mother worked as a clerk at a gas company.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=[[ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WN/WhoIs/story?id=3746628&page=1|title=Get to Know Mike Huckabee;Former Arkansas Governor Hopes to Go From the Pulpit to the Oval Office|date=October 18, 2007|access-date=November 17, 2007|last=Wiener|first=Jared}}</ref>

His first job, when he was 14, was at a radio station, where he read the news and weather.<ref>{{cite book |last=Huckabee |first=Mike |title=Character Is The Issue |url=https://archive.org/details/characterisissue0000huck |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Broadman & Holman Publishers]] |year=1997 |location=Nashville |page=[https://archive.org/details/characterisissue0000huck/page/72 72]|isbn=9780805463675 }}</ref> He was elected governor of Arkansas by his chapter of the [[American Legion]]-sponsored [[Boys State]] program in 1972.<ref name="Barone 136–137"/> He was student council vice president at [[Hope High School (Arkansas)|Hope High School]] during the 1971–1972 school year. He was student council president at Hope High School during the 1972–1973 school year.<ref name="scottparks">{{cite news |last=Parks |first=Scott |date=February 9, 1997 |title=Huckabee's not preaching to choir; Arkansas governor leads largely Democratic state |work=[[The Dallas Morning News]]}}</ref> He has one sister, Pat Harris, a middle school teacher.<ref name="brianlamb">{{cite news |publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |url= http://www.c-span.org/video/?185230-1/qa-mike-huckabee |title=Q&A by Brian Lamb interview with Mike Huckabee |date=February 13, 2005 |access-date=November 29, 2014}}</ref> He entered the ministry in 1972 at Garrett Memorial Baptist Church in Hope.

Huckabee married [[Janet Huckabee|Janet McCain]] on May 25, 1974.<ref name="brianlamb" /><ref name="huckybio">{{cite web |url=http://www.mikehuckabee.com/about-mike-huckabee |title=Biography |work=Team Huckabee |publisher=Huckabee For President Inc. |access-date=December 17, 2007 |archive-date=June 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607035636/http://www.mikehuckabee.com/about-mike-huckabee |url-status=dead }}</ref> He graduated from [[Ouachita Baptist University]] on May 8, 1978,<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Obu Catalogs|title=Ouachita Baptist University General Catalog 1977–1978" (1977)|date=January 1977|url=http://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/catalogs/24}}</ref> completing his [[bachelor's degree]] in religion before attending [[Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas]]. He dropped out of the seminary after one year in order to take a job in Christian broadcasting.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chafets|first=Zev|date=December 12, 2007|title=The Huckabee Factor|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/magazine/16huckabee.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin}}</ref><ref name="mikebio">{{cite web |url=http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=About.Home|title=Official biography|access-date=October 26, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Appelbaum|first=Lauren|date=December 14, 2007|title=Huck on "Theology" Degree|publisher=[[NBC News]] |url=http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2007/12/14/4432349-huck-on-theology-degree}}</ref>