Mike has partial Italian ancestry, with his paternal grandmother being born in Caramanico Terme. |
In high school, Mike excelled in sports as a power forward on the basketball team. |
He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, with distinction in Mechanical Engineering. |
After serving in the U.S. Army from 1989 to 1991 as an Armor Branch Cavalry Officer, Mike was promoted to the rank of Captain. |
As a U.S. Cavalry Officer, he patrolled the Iron Curtain prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. |
In 1994, Mike obtained a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor for their publications. |
Following his time at Harvard Law, he worked as a lawyer for Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C. |
In 2006, Mike sold his shares in Thayer Aerospace and assumed the role of president at Sentry International. |
In 2010, Mike won the election for Kansas’s 4th congressional district with 58.79% of the votes. |
He defeated nominee Robert Tillman in 2012, securing 62% of the votes. |
Mike won the Kansas general elections in 2014, triumphing over Democrat Perry Schuckman with 66.7% of the vote. |
In 2016, he defeated Daniel B. Giroux in the general elections with a 60.6% margin. |
President Donald Trump nominated him as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on November 18, 2016. |
Mike was confirmed as CIA Director on January 23, 2017. |
He holds strong stances against various social issues including healthcare, abortion, and gun control. |
Mike is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and a member of the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party. |
Following March 31, 2018, he was nominated as the new United States Secretary of State, succeeding Rex Tillerson. |