Susan Molinari
Encyclopedia
Susan Molinari is a politician
, journalist
, and lobbyist from New York
. She was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for three terms.
and granddaughter of Republican politician S. Robert Molinari
. She graduated from the then SUNY Albany (now called the University at Albany, The State University of New York
). She served on the New York City Council
before winning a special election to the House of Representatives in 1990 as a Republican to replace her father, who retired from Congress to become Staten Island Borough President.
Molinari married fellow U.S. Representative Bill Paxon
on July 3, 1994, after having previously married John Lucchesi. Molinari-Paxon's two daughters are Susan Ruby and Kate.
and libertarian
members of the Republican party.
She signed on to the Republicans' 1994 Contract with America
, which promised a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and opposed the placing of U.S. troops under U.N.
command. Concerning social policy, she leaned more liberal than many of her Republican colleagues. Unlike her father, an outspoken opponent of abortion
, Molinari is pro-choice
. She also sided with the Democrats in voting for the Family and Medical Leave Act, a cornerstone of Bill Clinton
's social policy. She offset these positions with her own standing as a new mother, framing her outlook in terms of "family values
," and in fact energetically campaigned for fellow Republicans with whom she disagreed on both abortion and FMLA. On issues of crime and punishment, she favored extended use of the federal death penalty and restrictions. She favored reduction of Social Security
taxes, middle class tax cuts, and tax credits for families; these were policies consistent with traditional fiscal conservatism
.
In her autobiography she intimated that the tense ideological atmosphere within the Republican Party after they won majority in the House and Georgian Newt Gingrich
became Speaker contributed to her unease. Molinari gave the keynote speech at the 1996 Republican National Convention
, but resigned the House in June 1997 to take a job as a television journalist for CBS
.
Molinari was replaced by Republican Vito Fossella
in a 1997 special election.
, Molinari was co-host of the CBS "Saturday Morning" show, news program, for roughly nine months, ending in 1998. Her hiring was controversial from the very beginning; Although Molinari had earned degrees in communication
, her major professional credentials were political, and her main national public recognition came from her speech at the Republican National Convention. Media critics asked whether a partisan politician could reasonably be expected to maintain objectivity
. Others at the time criticized her on-air demeanor as either too "stiff" or too "perky," or attacked her interviews as superficial. Conservatives accused her of "selling out." Although allegedly CBS had first tried to respond to these criticisms by switching Molinari into "home and garden" journalism, the official comment from CBS executives was that they thought her better suited to political commentary, and had no such position available.
Molinari announced she was pregnant at the end of her nine-month run at CBS. Her second child was born in late January 1999.
Molinari later hosted a public affairs show called The Flipside and has frequently been a guest commentator on major political talk shows.
Molinari joined the law and public policy firm Bracewell & Giuliani
in 2008 as a senior principal. The firm is home to former New York City
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and has a well-established government relations and strategic communications practice. Previously, she was president of Ketchum Public Affairs and also served as chief executive officer of Ketchum Inc.
's lobbying firm, The Washington Group, where she served as its chairman. In 2006, Molinari's firm received $300,062 from home mortgage giant Freddie Mac to lobby on their behalf.http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081207/D94U30A80.html
Molinari has cooperated for years with the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN
), which operates a telephone hotline in conjunction with more than 1,000 rape
crisis centers nationwide. The group also sponsors outreach programs on college campuses. Her activities have included sponsoring legislation, and more recently heading a task force directed toward developing an Internet
-based counterpart to the existing hotline.
Molinari also serves as Chair of The Century Council
, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking by advocating and facilitating education, communications, research, law enforcement, and other programs. In its fight against these types of alcohol abuse
, the Council is funded by "America's leading distillers" of alcoholic liquor, including Bacardi, Inc.
and several other liquor manufacturers.
's election in 2000, but joined with more moderate Republicans such as Gerald Ford
, David Rockefeller
, and Richard Riordan
in forming the Republican Unity Coalition
, which opposed Bush's decision to support an amendment to the United States Constitution
banning gay marriage. She did not seek any elected office in 2006, bucking speculation that she would run against Democratic
Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton
.
Molinari served as an adviser to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's (R) 2008 presidential campaign. There was early speculation she might consider running for mayor of New York City
in 2009, but she never did. In January 2010, Molinari confirmed the fact that she was seriously considering a Senate bid against U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
, before issuing a public statement three days later saying that she had decided not to run.
|-
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, and lobbyist from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for three terms.
Early life and family
Molinari was born in Staten Island, New York, the daughter of lawyer and perennial Republican politician Guy MolinariGuy Molinari
Gaetano Victor "Guy" Molinari is a former United States Representative and borough president of Staten Island, New York.-Education and Military Service:...
and granddaughter of Republican politician S. Robert Molinari
S. Robert Molinari
S. Robert Molinari , was an Italian-born Republican Party politician who represented the 2nd District of Richmond County in the New York State Assembly from 1943 to 1944....
. She graduated from the then SUNY Albany (now called the University at Albany, The State University of New York
University at Albany, The State University of New York
The State University of New York at Albany, also known as University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY Albany or simply UAlbany, is a public university located in Albany, Guilderland, and East Greenbush, New York, United States; is the senior campus of the State University of New York ...
). She served on the New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
before winning a special election to the House of Representatives in 1990 as a Republican to replace her father, who retired from Congress to become Staten Island Borough President.
Molinari married fellow U.S. Representative Bill Paxon
Bill Paxon
L. William Paxon , known as Bill Paxon, is a lobbyist and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York.-Early life:...
on July 3, 1994, after having previously married John Lucchesi. Molinari-Paxon's two daughters are Susan Ruby and Kate.
House of Representatives
While in the House of Representatives, Molinari was among the more moderateModerate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
and libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
members of the Republican party.
She signed on to the Republicans' 1994 Contract with America
Contract with America
The Contract with America was a document released by the United States Republican Party during the 1994 Congressional election campaign. Written by Larry Hunter, who was aided by Newt Gingrich, Robert Walker, Richard Armey, Bill Paxon, Tom DeLay, John Boehner and Jim Nussle, and in part using text...
, which promised a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and opposed the placing of U.S. troops under U.N.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
command. Concerning social policy, she leaned more liberal than many of her Republican colleagues. Unlike her father, an outspoken opponent of abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, Molinari is pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
. She also sided with the Democrats in voting for the Family and Medical Leave Act, a cornerstone of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's social policy. She offset these positions with her own standing as a new mother, framing her outlook in terms of "family values
Family values
Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....
," and in fact energetically campaigned for fellow Republicans with whom she disagreed on both abortion and FMLA. On issues of crime and punishment, she favored extended use of the federal death penalty and restrictions. She favored reduction of Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
taxes, middle class tax cuts, and tax credits for families; these were policies consistent with traditional fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is a political term used to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance...
.
In her autobiography she intimated that the tense ideological atmosphere within the Republican Party after they won majority in the House and Georgian Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
became Speaker contributed to her unease. Molinari gave the keynote speech at the 1996 Republican National Convention
1996 Republican National Convention
The 1996 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States convened at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, from August 12 to August 15, 1996...
, but resigned the House in June 1997 to take a job as a television journalist for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
.
Molinari was replaced by Republican Vito Fossella
Vito Fossella
Vito John Fossella, Jr. is a U.S. Republican politician from the state of New York who formerly represented the state's 13th Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms, from 1997 to 2009 serving as the lone Republican from New York City. Fossella, a Staten Island...
in a 1997 special election.
Journalism
At CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Molinari was co-host of the CBS "Saturday Morning" show, news program, for roughly nine months, ending in 1998. Her hiring was controversial from the very beginning; Although Molinari had earned degrees in communication
Communication studies
Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...
, her major professional credentials were political, and her main national public recognition came from her speech at the Republican National Convention. Media critics asked whether a partisan politician could reasonably be expected to maintain objectivity
Objectivity (journalism)
Parent article: Journalism ethics and standardsObjectivity is a significant principle of journalistic professionalism. Journalistic objectivity can refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and nonpartisanship, but most often encompasses all of these qualities.- Definitions :In the context...
. Others at the time criticized her on-air demeanor as either too "stiff" or too "perky," or attacked her interviews as superficial. Conservatives accused her of "selling out." Although allegedly CBS had first tried to respond to these criticisms by switching Molinari into "home and garden" journalism, the official comment from CBS executives was that they thought her better suited to political commentary, and had no such position available.
Molinari announced she was pregnant at the end of her nine-month run at CBS. Her second child was born in late January 1999.
Molinari later hosted a public affairs show called The Flipside and has frequently been a guest commentator on major political talk shows.
Lobbying and consulting
After a stint as a lobbyist on her own, Molinari joined the Washington Group in October 2001, becoming the lobbying firm's president and chief executive.Molinari joined the law and public policy firm Bracewell & Giuliani
Bracewell & Giuliani
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP is an international law firm based in Houston, Texas, that began in 1945. The firm has over 470 lawyers, and has United States offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Hartford, San Antonio, Seattle, Dallas, and Austin, and overseas offices in Dubai, and London...
in 2008 as a senior principal. The firm is home to former New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and has a well-established government relations and strategic communications practice. Previously, she was president of Ketchum Public Affairs and also served as chief executive officer of Ketchum Inc.
Ketchum Inc.
Ketchum is a global public relations firm, offering marketing, branding and corporate communications services. Founded in 1923 by George Ketchum as a Pittsburgh-based advertising company which later evolved to include a public relations practice, the firm currently has 23 offices and 46 affiliates...
's lobbying firm, The Washington Group, where she served as its chairman. In 2006, Molinari's firm received $300,062 from home mortgage giant Freddie Mac to lobby on their behalf.http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081207/D94U30A80.html
Molinari has cooperated for years with the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN
RAINN
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is an American anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual assault, help victims, and to ensure that rapists are brought to justice.RAINN...
), which operates a telephone hotline in conjunction with more than 1,000 rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
crisis centers nationwide. The group also sponsors outreach programs on college campuses. Her activities have included sponsoring legislation, and more recently heading a task force directed toward developing an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-based counterpart to the existing hotline.
Molinari also serves as Chair of The Century Council
The Century Council
The Century Council is a Virginia-based American not-for-profit organization founded in 1991 and funded by a group of distillers that aims to fight to eliminate drunk driving and underage drinking and promotes responsible decision-making regarding alcohol use....
, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking by advocating and facilitating education, communications, research, law enforcement, and other programs. In its fight against these types of alcohol abuse
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, the Council is funded by "America's leading distillers" of alcoholic liquor, including Bacardi, Inc.
Bacardi
Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...
and several other liquor manufacturers.
Recent political activities
Although she has maintained a public face, Molinari's subsequent political activities have been largely behind the scenes. She supported George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's election in 2000, but joined with more moderate Republicans such as Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
, and Richard Riordan
Richard Riordan
Richard J. Riordan is a Republican politician from California, U.S.A. who served as the California Secretary for Education from 2003–2005 and as the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1993–2001...
in forming the Republican Unity Coalition
Republican Unity Coalition
The Republican Unity Coalition was created as an outgrowth of the George W. Bush campaign in the 2000 US presidential election. It described itself a "grasstops" organization of the United States Republican Party, with a Board of Advisors formerly including the late President Gerald Ford, former...
, which opposed Bush's decision to support an amendment to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
banning gay marriage. She did not seek any elected office in 2006, bucking speculation that she would run against Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
.
Molinari served as an adviser to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's (R) 2008 presidential campaign. There was early speculation she might consider running for mayor of New York City
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
in 2009, but she never did. In January 2010, Molinari confirmed the fact that she was seriously considering a Senate bid against U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Elizabeth Rutnik Gillibrand is an attorney and the junior United States Senator from the state of New York and a member of the Democratic Party...
, before issuing a public statement three days later saying that she had decided not to run.
External links
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