Background
Mike Huckabee Background
Hometown Age Religion Education Candidate Website Candidacy Status |
Political Experience Professional Experience Family Information |
Must Reads
Mar. 4, 2008
Huckabee Bows to 'Inevitable,' Ends GOP Run
CNN
February 4, 2008
Evangelicals Question Huckabee's Electability
The Washington Post
January 19, 2008
Between Pulpit and Podium, Huckabee Straddles Fine Line
The New York Times
January 15, 2008
Mike Huckabee: 'The Lord Truly Gave Me Wisdom'
Beliefnet
January 13, 2008
Huckabee Splits Young Evangelicals and Old Guard
The New York Times
January 13, 2008
Huckabee: Evangelical Christians Now Have a Chance to Lead GOP
The Washington Post
January 9, 2008
Huckabee Moves Beyond Religious Right
Reuters
December 20, 2007
Huckabee's Faith-Based Views Find Critics, Fans in Both Parties
The Washington Post
December 12, 2007
The Huckabee Factor
The New York Times
December 06, 2007
Pulpit Was the Springboard for Huckabee's Rise
The New York Times
November 29, 2007
Huckabee Rocks the GOP Candidate Image
The Christian Science Monitor
November 08, 2007
On Second Thought, Conservatives Give Huckabee an Amen
Los Angeles Times
November 07, 2007
Mike Huckabee: A Conservative With a Social Gospel
The Christian Science Monitor
October 22, 2007
Huckabee's Bid for the Christian Right
TIME
October 12, 2007
Interview: Mike Huckabee
PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
October 03, 2007
Huckabee Gets Nod of Clinton
The New York Sun
July 31, 2007
Huckabee's Sermons
The Washington Post
May 19, 2007
Huckabee Fights to Reach Top-Tier Status
The Associated Press
March 15, 2007
The Second Commandment Republicans
TIME
March 7, 2007
A Would-Be Knight for the Religious Right
Newsweek
Feb. 11, 2007
Huckabee Calls Himself 'Paradoxical Republican'
ABC News
May 23, 2006
Interview with Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
The Washington Post
Religious Biography
Huckabee Religious Biography
In His Own Words
"We need... to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."
Campaign Rally, Jan. 15, 2008
Born in Hope, Ark. (the boyhood home of former President Clinton), Huckabee was raised as a Southern Baptist. He wrote in his book, From Hope to Higher Ground, that from the time he was a teenager he saw a future for himself working in communications for an evangelical organization "because of my deep personal faith."
Before jumping into politics, Huckabee made that vision a reality. He graduated in two-and-a-half years with a bachelor's degree in religion from Ouachita Baptist University, a church-related, liberal arts university. He occasionally preached on weekends while attending school. After graduating, Huckabee directed and produced television programs, publications, advertising and public relations for Focus, a faith-based ad agency in Texas that served a national evangelical organization. He also earned a master's degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
When he was 25, Huckabee moved back to Hope with plans to run for office, but those plans were delayed when he agreed to serve as an interim pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Ark. Though he started as a fill-in for the regular pastor, Huckabee was asked to stay on as an interim pastor and later became the pastor. After serving for six years, he was invited to lead the congregation at the Beech Street First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Ark. Huckabee was elected the youngest-ever president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention in 1989.
In 1992, Huckabee decided to return to his original goal of running for office. He left his position with the church and ran for the U.S. Senate. While he lost that campaign, he won an election in 1993 to become the lieutenant governor of Arkansas. In 1996 he became the governor when his predecessor resigned.
Huckabee now attends the Church at Rock Creek in Little Rock, Ark., a Baptist church that he characterizes as a "multicultural, multiracial congregation, with rich and poor" and a focus to "minister to people who were otherwise neglected." He plays the bass in the church's band.
On the Issues
Huckabee On the Issues
Abortion
Huckabee is anti-abortion but says that some in the "pro-life community" put "undue focus on the gestation period" instead of caring for children throughout their lives. Huckabee has said that Roe v. Wade should be overturned but that its reversal would not eliminate abortion laws. "Some states would have very liberal abortion laws, other states would have very strict abortion laws," he said.
Compare McCain and Obama
Church and State
Huckabee has said that his faith "explains" him and affects his decision-making process. He has said: "I'm not as troubled by a person who has a different faith. I'm troubled by a person who tells me their faith doesn't influence their decisions." He has said that the government "should have a hands-off attitude" toward religion, and he has called efforts to ban religious displays on public property "absurd." Huckabee says he believes that the U.S. is "a nation of faith [but] it doesn't necessarily have to be mine."
Compare McCain and Obama
Death Penalty
Huckabee supports the death penalty. In his book, From Hope to Higher Ground, he described the death penalty as "a tough issue." He wrote that he believes "some crimes deserve it, but that does not mean I like it." He also described carrying out the death penalty as the worst part of his job as governor of Arkansas. In a December 2005 interview on PBS that he said that he has had to "carry out the death penalty more than any governor in the history of my state" and that "it is not something I'm proud of."
Compare McCain and Obama
Education
While Huckabee says that he does not believe in evolution, he has no problem with schools teaching evolution as a theory. "We shouldn't indoctrinate kids in school," he has said, adding, "I wouldn't want them teaching creationism as if it's the only thing that they should teach.'' Huckabee has said that if a family prays together outside of school, it doesn't need to worry about whether children are allowed to pray in school. In response to questions about why he sent his children to public schools rather than religious private schools, he said that he felt it was not the schools' job to teach his children how to pray. In response to the Sept. 11 attacks, Huckabee proclaimed a "Student Religious Liberty Month" in Arkansas and encouraged students to "turn to their faith and pray."
Compare McCain and Obama
Environment
Huckabee says that "there may be" a human role in climate change and that protecting the environment is a "spiritual issue." He also says that "our responsibility to God means that we have to be good stewards of this Earth, be good caretakers of the natural resources that don't belong to us; we just get to use them." He favors working toward alternative energy sources and American energy independence.
Compare McCain and Obama
Faith-Based Initiatives
Huckabee created the Governor's Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives in Arkansas in 2004. He also issued an executive order forcing Arkansas compliance with federal "Charitable Choice" laws in order to allow faith-based organizations to compete for funds from state agencies.
Compare McCain and Obama
Gay Marriage
Huckabee opposes gay marriage. When asked if he believes that homosexuality is immoral, he said, "That's their business [but I] don't agree with it." He believes in a traditional definition of marriage where "the rules are one man, one woman for life." While he says that "people have a right to decide how they live their lives," he also believes that "they have to respect not changing the definition of marriage."
Compare McCain and Obama
Health Care
After losing more than 100 pounds in two years while he was governor of Arkansas, Huckabee focused on eliminating obesity and improving public health. Huckabee calls the American health care system "irreparably broken" and calls for more preventative care. He is against universal health insurance coverage and says that the U.S. needs a system "where there are incentives for healthy behavior and for management of one's health-care expenses." While governor, Huckabee created the ARKids First program to provide health insurance for many uninsured children.
Compare McCain and Obama
Immigration
Huckabee says that he does not believe in amnesty for illegal immigrants in the U.S. "There does need to be restitution and a way to make sure they don't jump in front of people who have been trying to get into the country legally," he says. He has also said: "There is a need for people who will do jobs after our citizens have had first crack at them." Huckabee favors increased border security. "I've never really worried about someone slipping across the border to pluck chickens or pick tomatoes or make beds, but it does worry me that somebody could also slip across the border with a shoulder-fired missile launcher," he said. Huckabee also has spoken out against what he calls "sanctuary cities."
Compare McCain and Obama
Iraq War
Huckabee says the war in Iraq is part of a "World War III" against Islamic fascism, which he describes as "a perversion of Islam." He said that President Bush's 2007 plan to increase troop levels in Iraq should be given a chance to work, adding, "I'm going to have to trust the people over there sucking that sand into their lungs and putting their boots on the ground every day." Huckabee favors gradually transferring power to the Iraqi government, though not on a timetable.
Compare McCain and Obama
Poverty
Huckabee says one of his priorities is to address poverty because it's "consistent with me being pro-life." He calls his desire to fight poverty a "faith position" rather than a political position. He says that it is impossible to address poverty without prioritizing stable homes and families, which he sees as "critical economic issues."
Compare McCain and Obama
Stem Cell Research
Huckabee supports research on existing stem cell lines but does not believe in "creating life for the sole purpose of destroying it." He says that embryonic stem cell research may not be necessary "because recent discoveries have shown that stem cells from the umbilical cord may in fact be as useful as the embryonic stem cells that were previously created."
Compare McCain and Obama
Public Opinion
Public Opinion
Nov. 7, 2007
Religious Groups' Presidential Candidate Preferences
A new analysis of recent surveys show Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani as the preferred candidates among key religious groups. Giuliani, though, garners considerably less support from white evangelical Protestants than he does from white mainline Protestants and white Catholics.
Read the report
Sept. 6, 2007
Clinton and Giuliani Seen as Not Highly Religious; Romney's Religion Raises Concerns
A September survey finds that religion is not proving to be a clear-cut positive in the 2008 presidential campaign. The candidates viewed by voters as the least religious among the leading contenders are front-runners Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, while voters still express concern about Mitt Romney's Mormon faith. Read more about the 2008 election and religion.
Read the report
June 18, 2007
Analysis of Candidates' Potential Support among Religious Groups
A survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press examines potential support for the Democratic presidential candidates among Democratic and Democratic-leaning members of two religious groups: white Catholics and white mainline Protestants.
