Michael Steele
UCSB Arts & Lectures will present former Republican National Committee chair RNC Chair Michael Steele at 7:30 p.m. April 21 at UCSB Campbell Hall.
Mr. Steele is a self-described “Lincoln Republican” who brings his experience from a lifetime in politics to a wide-ranging discussion about the key political and cultural issues of the day. Mr. Steele, who’s an MSNBC political analyst, will aim to guide attendees through today’s fast-paced world of politics, transcending traditional political boundaries in order to dig deep and find real solutions.
Mr. Steele was born at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George’s County, Md. He was raised in Washington, DC. Upon graduating Johns Hopkins University in 1981, he entered the Order of St. Augustine where studied for the priesthood. He graduated from Georgetown Law Center in 1991 and is an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership, a University of Chicago Institute of Politics Fellow and currently a Senior Fellow at Brown University’s Institute for International and Public Affairs.
When he was elected lieutenant governor of Maryland in 2003, Mr. Steele made history as the first black man elected to statewide office and again with his subsequent chairmanship of the Republican National Committee in 2009.
As chairman of the RNC, Mr. Steele was charged with revitalizing the Republican Party. Under Mr. Steele’s leadership the RNC broke fundraising records (over $198 million raised during the 2010 Congressional cycle) and Republicans won 63 House seats, the biggest pickup since 1938. His commitment to grassroots organization and party building at the state and local levels produced 12 governorships and the greatest share of state legislative seats since 1928 (over 760 seats), according to a news release.
Mr. Steele has appeared on “Meet the Press,” “Face the Nation,” HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” In addition to his work in television, Mr. Steele co-hosted the daily radio program “Steele & Ungar” on the POTUS Channel on SiriusXM and is the host of the podcast “The Michael Steele Podcast”
Mr. Steele’s writings on law, business and politics have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, TheHill.com, thegrio.com, Politico.com, TheRoot.com, BET.com, Townhall.com, The Journal of International Security Affairs and Catholic University Law Review, among others.
He is the author of “Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda,” which is a call to arms for grassroots America and co-author of “The Recovering Politician’s Twelve Step Program to Survive Crisis.”
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
