Woman on Top

Sarah Louise Palin
Governor of the State of Alaska
United States of America

• Born Sarah Louise Heath on 11 February 1964 in Sandpoint, Idaho; moved to Alaska soon after.
• Studied high school in Wasilla, Alaska, where she earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" for her basketball prowess.
• Was crowned Miss Wasilla in 1984 and won second place in the Miss Alaska pageant the same year.
• Majored in Journalism and minored in Politics at the University of Idaho.
• Married Todd Palin, a commercial fisherman, in 1988; they have five children.
• Served on the Wasilla City Council from 1992 to 1996.
• Appointed Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2002.
• Elected governor of Alaska in 2006; the first woman and, at 42, the youngest person elected to the post.
• Selected by John McCain to be the Republican vice-presidential candidate for the 2008 US presidential elections, making her the second woman to be nominated to the position.
• Is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.