Who is Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley? Flash Uganda Media looks at her biography, age, husband, family, net worth, tribe, nationality, achievements, and relationship with Michael Haley, Ajit Singh Randhawa, mother Raj Kaur Randhawa, Charan Randhawa and Mitti Randhawa, Simran Singh and the early life and education of the former Governor of South Carolina.
Nikki Haley also known as Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley is an American politician, author, businesswoman, diplomat and professional accountant.
During the Trump administration, Nikki Haley served as the United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations.
Nikki Haley was also the first woman and Indian American governor of South Carolina, serving from 2011 to 2017.
Early life and education
Nikki Haley was born on January 20, 1972, at Bamberg County Hospital in Bamberg, South Carolina, as the third in a family of four children.
She has two brothers; Charan Randhawa and Mitti Randhawa and one sister, Simran Singh.
Her father is Ajit Singh Randhawa and her mother Raj Kaur Randhawa. Both her parents are Sikh immigrants from Amritsar Punjab, India. Nikki Haley is an Indian by descent.
Her father was a professor at Punjab Agricultural University, while her mother graduated from the University of Delhi with a law degree.
Haley was raised Sikh, although she stated in a 2020 podcast interview that her parents exposed her to different religions when she was growing up.
She later became a Christian and now attends the Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church. She continues to attend Sikh services out of respect for her parents’ culture.
After her father accepted a scholarship offer from the University of British Columbia, they relocated from India to Canada.
When her father obtained his PhD in 1969, he again relocated his family to South Carolina to become a biology professor at Voorhees College, a historically black college.
Raj Randhawa, her mother, received a master’s degree in education and taught in Bamberg public schools for seven years.
Exotica International, a prominent women’s clothing business, was founded by her in 1976. She retired 32 years later, and the business closed in 2008.
Haley had begun assisting with bookkeeping in her mother’s clothes store when she was 12 years old.
She finished her preliminary education at the Orangeburg Preparatory Schools in 1989. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1994 from Clemson University.
Family
Nikki Haley married Michael Haley, whom she met at Clemson University, in 1996. They married in two ceremonies, one Sikh and one Methodist.
Michael is a member of the South Carolina Army National Guard and was the state’s First Gentleman when Haley was governor.
Nikki and Michael have two children; Rena, their daughter and Nalin, their son.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Haley worked for FCR Corporation, a waste management and recycling company, after graduating from college, before joining her family’s clothes business as a bookkeeper and chief financial officer.
She later became active in civic affairs.
She was appointed to the board of directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce in 1998, and the Lexington Chamber of Commerce in 2003.
In 2003, Haley was appointed treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
In 2004, she was elected president of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and got involved in a number of groups, including the Lexington Medical Foundation, Lexington County Sheriff’s Foundation, West Metro Republican Women, and the NAWBO South Carolina Chapter.
Haley presided over the Lexington Gala, which raised cash for a local hospital. She also chaired the Friends of Scouting Leadership Division campaign in 2006.
Nikki then ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004 to represent Lexington County’s District 87. She faced a primary fight from incumbent Republican Larry Koon, the House’s longest-serving member at the time.
She won the primaries and subsequently, the general elections, both of which she ran unopposed for becoming South Carolina’s first Indian-American elected official.
In 2005, Haley was elected chair of the South Carolina General Assembly’s freshman caucus and majority whip. At the time, she was the only freshman legislator named to the whip position.
In 2006, Nikki ran unchallenged for re-election and later in 2008 also defeated her Democratic opponent.
She was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010, during her third term in the South Carolina House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 2014.
Haley resigned as governor to become the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations and thus became a member of the Trump administration.
She voluntarily resigned as Ambassador on December 31, 2018.
Nikki Haley is a Republican Party presidential primary candidate for President of the United States in the 2024 election. She announced her candidature in February 2023.
Haley’s Reign as Ambassador of the U.S. to the United Nations
By the end of the controversial 2016 campaign, Haley had voted for Trump and welcomed his triumph.
President-elect Donald Trump appointed Haley as the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations on November 22, 2016.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate confirmed Haley as United Nations Ambassador, 94-6, and she resigned as governor of South Carolina to take on her new post.
Nimrata Nikki Haley was the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet in the United States.
During her first several months as UN Ambassador, Haley’s time was dominated by keeping the international community aware of Russian, North Korean, and Iranian threats.
In December 2017, she vehemently praised President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, calling it the “will of the American people” and something that would “fastball the peace process moving ahead.”
At the same time, Haley gained notice for her remarks regarding the sexual harassment scandals that had engulfed her political colleagues back home.
On April 15, 2018, Haley sparked outrage when she announced on the Sunday morning news circuit that the United States was putting fresh sanctions on Russia in response to a chemical attack on Syrian residents.
The White House refuted that report the next day, confirming that additional measures were on the table but not certain.
The conflicting statements raised questions about message coordination and whether Haley was blaming the president for his uncertainty.
On October 9, 2018, Haley filed her resignation, stating that she would leave the US Embassy at the end of the year.
Books and Post-Ambassador Career
Boing nominated Haley to its board of directors in February 2019. During a meeting on April 29, 2019, shareholders elected her.
After opposing the company’s proposal for a federal stimulus package in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, Haley resigned from the board less than a year later.
“With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace”, Haley’s second memoir, was released in November 2019.
The book included sensational charges that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former Chief of Staff John Kelly tried to persuade her to defy President Trump’s directions in order to “save the country.”
Nikki Haley has also published two other books: “Can’t Is Not an Option: My American Story”, a 2012 memoir chronicling her childhood and rise to the position of South Carolina Governor, and “If You Want Something Done” (2022), a book about ten female leaders.
Achievements and Awards
Nikki Haley is the first female governor of South Carolina and the second Indian-American governor in the United States.
She served as the 116th governor of South Carolina and as the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations.
Nikki rose to national fame in 2015 as a result of her response to the Charleston church shooting.
She was also the first governor in the United States to sign legislation opposing the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, or “BDS” campaign.
Nikki Haley’s Net Worth
According to Forbes, Nikki Haley’s current net worth is around $8 Million.
She accrued this following her departure as Ambassador. Haley’s net worth climbed from $1 million to $8 million just between 2018 and 2023.
In addition to her political career, she also ventured into the business world.
Speeches to firms like Barclays and organisations like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs earned Haley more money in a single day than she had previously made in a year.
Her advance payments, speeches ($2.3 million in 2022), consulting fees ($700,000), and corporate roles at Boeing and United Homes Group (totalling $550,000) have also contributed to her fortune accumulation and growth.
Controversies
Prior to Haley’s victory as South Carolina’s Governor, she was accused of having affairs with two distinct men: Will Folks, then-South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s press secretary, and Larry Marchant, a political strategist for Haley’s opponent, Andre Bauer.
Haley rejected the charges, claiming she was faithful to her husband, Michael.
On June 4, 2010, Haley told Columbia’s WVOC radio that if she were elected governor and the allegations against her were proven, she would resign.
Around the same time, South Carolina State Sen. Jake Knotts, a supporter of Haley’s opponent, Bauer, dubbed her a “raghead.”
Knotts initially justified his remarks, claiming Haley was disguising her Sikh faith and appearing as a Methodist. Later, he apologized, saying the statement was “intended in jest.”
Rumors circulated in 2012 that Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama’s rival in the 2012 presidential election, would select Haley as his running mate. Haley, on the other hand, stated that she would renounce any position he could offer her.
In August 2012, Romney announced Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running partner for vice president instead.
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