Nikki Haley
US Republican politician; Governor of South Carolina 2011–2017 and US Ambassador to the United Nations 2017–2018
| Nikki Haley
| |
|---|---|
| Image |  Official portrait as US ambassador to the United Nations, 2017 (US Department of State) |
| Born | 20 January 1972 Bamberg, South Carolina, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Politician; diplomat; accountant |
| Known for | Governor of South Carolina (2011–2017); US Ambassador to the United Nations (2017–2018); 2024 Republican presidential candidate |
| Spouse(s) | Michael Haley |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Clemson University (accounting) |
Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley (born 20 January 1972), known as Nikki Haley, is an American Republican politician. She was Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 and the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations from January 2017 to December 2018, under President Donald Trump.[1][2] At the UN she cast the US veto of a Security Council resolution opposing Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and she announced US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, calling it "a cesspool of political bias".[3][4]
Haley ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and withdrew in March 2024 after winning only the Vermont and District of Columbia primaries.[5] She holds the Walter P. Stern Chair at the Hudson Institute.[6]
Early life and South Carolina politics
Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, to Sikh immigrants from Punjab, India. She graduated from Clemson University with a degree in accounting.[1] At her 2017 confirmation hearing she said that her father had been "a professor at a small historically black college" and that her mother "started a clothing store from scratch", where she began "doing the books for the family business" at 13.[7]
Haley was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004 and served three terms. She was then elected governor, serving from 2011 to 2017.[8] The Hudson Institute describes her as the state's 116th governor and "the first minority female governor in America". It records that she was re-elected in 2014 and that she led the state "in the wake of a racially-driven church shooting".[6] At her UN confirmation hearing she told senators: "I was the first Governor in America to sign legislation combating the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions, or the BDS movement."[7]
Ambassador to the United Nations, 2017–2018
Haley was appointed on 24 January 2017, presented her credentials on 27 January 2017 and left the post on 31 December 2018.[2] At her Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on 18 January 2017 she said that "Nowhere has the U.N.'s failure been more consistent and more outrageous than ... its bias against our close ally, Israel". She called the December 2016 passage of Security Council resolution 2334 on Israeli settlements "a terrible mistake" and pledged: "I will never abstain when the United Nations takes any action that comes in direct conflict with the interests and values of the United States."[7]
Jerusalem veto
On 18 December 2017 the United States vetoed a Security Council draft resolution that would have called on all states to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. The vote was 14 in favour and one against. According to the UN's record of the meeting, Haley said that the US had "the courage to recognize a fundamental reality" and "the sovereign right to decide where to put its embassy". She described the Council's action as "an insult that would not be forgotten".[3] The Hudson Institute's biography of Haley says she "proudly issued the first American veto in years defending the United States' sovereign right to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel's true capital".[6] The United Nations maintains that Jerusalem is a final-status issue to be resolved through negotiations between the parties.[9]
Human Rights Council withdrawal
On 19 June 2018 Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States was leaving the UN Human Rights Council. Haley said: "For too long, the Human Rights Council has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias." She cited the council's "chronic bias against Israel", including agenda item seven, "which singles out Israel in a way that no other country is singled out", and the council's passage of "five resolutions against Israel – more than the number passed against North Korea, Iran, and Syria combined" earlier that year.[4] The Guardian reported that she also pointed to the election of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the council as evidence that it could not be reformed.[10]
After the UN
Boeing
Boeing nominated Haley to its board in February 2019 for election at its April 2019 shareholders' meeting.[8] She resigned on 16 March 2020. In her resignation letter, filed by Boeing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, she said she could not support "a move to lean on the federal government for a stimulus or bailout that prioritizes our company over others and relies on taxpayers to guarantee our financial position".[11]
2024 presidential campaign
Haley sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination against Donald Trump. After Super Tuesday she withdrew, having won only Vermont and the District of Columbia. She did not endorse Trump at the time, saying it was up to him "to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him". In her exit speech she said: "Standing by our allies in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan is a moral imperative."[5]
Israel visit, May 2024
On a visit to Israel in May 2024, during Israel's military offensive in Gaza, Haley went to the northern border with Lebanon accompanied by the Likud member of the Knesset and former Israeli UN ambassador Danny Danon. There she wrote "Finish Them!" on Israeli artillery shells. The Guardian reported that the offensive had by then killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, an estimated 15,000 of them children. It said Haley criticised the Biden administration for temporarily withholding weapons and attacked the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and that she had said the previous week that she would vote for Trump.[12]
Later roles
The Hudson Institute lists Haley as its Walter P. Stern Chair.[6] In June 2026 Neil Jesani Tax Advisors, a tax-planning firm based in Fort Lauderdale and Las Vegas, announced that she and the former Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich would lead its Strategic Board of Advisors.[13]
| Position | Dates | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Member, South Carolina House of Representatives | Elected 2004; three terms | [8] |
| Governor of South Carolina | 2011–2017 | [8] |
| US Permanent Representative to the United Nations | 27 January 2017 – 31 December 2018 | [2] |
| Director, Boeing | 2019 – 16 March 2020 | [8][11] |
| Walter P. Stern Chair, Hudson Institute | Current (2026) | [6] |
| Co-lead, Strategic Board of Advisors, Neil Jesani Tax Advisors | From June 2026 | [13] |
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Biography.com, Nikki Haley: Biography, Politician, U.N. Ambassador, first published 2 April 2014, updated 15 February 2023, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Office of the Historian, US Department of State, Nikki R. Haley, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 United Nations, Permanent Member Vetoes Security Council Draft Resolution Calling Upon States Not to Establish Diplomatic Missions in Jerusalem (SC/13125), meetings coverage of the 8139th meeting, 18 December 2017, reproduced by the UN Question of Palestine portal, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 US Department of State, Remarks on the UN Human Rights Council, Michael R. Pompeo and Nikki Haley, Washington, DC, 19 June 2018, archived State Department website, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 BBC News, Nikki Haley exits race but stops short of endorsing front-runner Donald Trump, 6 March 2024, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Hudson Institute, Nikki R. Haley, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Nomination of Hon. Nimrata "Nikki" Haley, of South Carolina, to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, hearing, 18 January 2017 (S. Hrg. 115-345), accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 The Boeing Company, Boeing Nominates Nikki Haley for Election to Board of Directors, press release, 26 February 2019, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ UN News, Middle East: Security Council fails to adopt resolution on Jerusalem, 18 December 2017, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ Julian Borger, US quits UN human rights council – 'a cesspool of political bias', The Guardian, 19 June 2018, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Nikki R. Haley, letter of resignation to the Boeing board, 16 March 2020, Exhibit 17 to The Boeing Company Form 8-K, US Securities and Exchange Commission, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ Robert Tait, Nikki Haley writes 'finish them' on IDF artillery shells during Israel visit, The Guardian, 28 May 2024, accessed 9 November 2026.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Neil Jesani Advisors, Inc., Nikki Haley & Brian Krzanich Head NJA Strategic Board of Advisors, PR Newswire, 2 June 2026, accessed 9 November 2026.