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Mitch Daniels
Indiana

Gov. Mitch Daniels

  • January 10, 2005 - January 14, 2013
  • Republican
  • April 8, 1949
  • Pennsylvania
  • Princeton University; Georgetown University
  • Married Cheri Lynn Herman; four children

About

Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. became governor of Indiana in January of 2005. Daniels was re-elected in 2008 to a second and final term, receiving more votes than any candidate for any public office in the state’s history.

Prior to becoming governor, Daniels held numerous top management positions in both the private and public sectors. His was CEO of the Hudson Institute and president of Eli Lilly and Company’s North American Pharmaceutical Operations. He also has served as chief of staff to Senator Richard Lugar, senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan and director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush.

Daniels created the public-private Indiana Economic Development Corporation. He spearheaded a host of reforms aimed at improving the performance of state government. He also enacted the Healthy Indiana Plan to provide health care coverage for uninsured Hoosier adults and a sweeping property tax reform. Additionally, Daniels created Indiana’s Major Moves program, an aggressive 10-year transportation plan, to significantly improve and expand Indiana’s highway infrastructure. A total of $2.6 billion was committed to Major Moves from the long-term lease of the Indiana Toll Road.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1971 and his law degree from Georgetown University in 1979.

Recent Indiana Governors