Michael Richard "Mike" Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th Vice President of the United States from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 50th Governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017, and was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. His older brother is U.S. representative Greg Pence.
Born and raised in Columbus, Indiana, he lost two bids for a congressional seat in 1988 and 1990, after which he became a conservative radio and television talk show host from 1994 to 1999, jokingly describing himself as "Rush Limbaugh on decaf". Elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013, he reached the post of chairman of the House Republican Conference from 2009 to 2011, the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership, and described himself as a supporter of the Tea Party movement.
Pence was elected Governor of Indiana in the closest gubernatorial election in 50 years. Upon becoming Governor, Pence rose to national notoriety for his very socially conservative views, which came to be exemplified after he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allowed individuals and companies to assert as a defense in legal proceedings that their exercise of religion has been, or is likely to be, substantially burdened. It encountered fierce resistance from the business community and LGBT advocates, as it was claimed that it could be used to target against the LGBT community, and even moderate members of his party, who were worried that it could hurt Indiana's reputation for "Hoosier hospitality". The backlash against the RFRA led Pence to amend the bill to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and other criteria.
Pence withdrew his gubernatorial reelection campaign in July 2016 to become the running mate of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who went on to win the 2016 presidential election, and he was inaugurated as vice president of the United States on January 20, 2017. As vice president, Pence was typically viewed as a calm, respectable, and experienced compliment to Trump's maverick style, being a lot less mediagenic than his boss. Pence was appointed chairman of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in February 2020, which was established in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States.
Pence and Trump lost their bid for re-election in the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, although the Trump campaign refused to concede, made allegations of election fraud, and filed more than 60 lawsuits in multiple states, all of which were eventually rejected by the courts. Despite Trump urging him to overturn the results on the day of the certification of the Electoral College votes,note Pence certified the Biden-Harris ticket as the winner of the election and was among the only members of the Trump administration to attend Biden's inauguration and partake in the peaceful transfer of power. Pence was vilified by Trump and threatened with violence by some of Trump's supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol for not trying to overturn the election results. Since then, Pence and Trump are not on speaking terms for this reason. Pence has since declared himself as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination for the 2024 election, one of several challenging Trump's comeback bid.
In Media
Literature- A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo is a parody of Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President, written by Pence's daughter and illustrated by his wife. Both books focus more on Marlon Bundo, the Pence family's Real Life pet rabbit, than Pence himself. The difference between them is that the former portrays Bundo as a gay rabbit, as a Take That! to Pence's anti-LGBT views.
Live-Action Television
- The President Show: He is played by Peter Grosz.
- Saturday Night Live: He is portrayed by Beck Bennett.
