Todd Mitchell Palin (born September 6, 1964) is an American oil field production operator and commercial fisherman who was the
first gentleman of Alaska from 2006 to 2009. He is the former husband of former
Alaska governor
The governor of Alaska (Iñupiaq language, Iñupiaq: ''Alaaskam kavanaa'') is the head of government of Alaska. The governor is the chief executive of the state and is the holder of the highest office in the executive branch of the government as ...
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
, the 2008
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
vice presidential nominee with
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
.
Early life and education
Palin was born and raised in
Dillingham, Alaska
Dillingham ( esu, Curyung; russian: Диллингхем ), also known as Curyung, is a city in Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, United States. Incorporated in 1963, it is an important commercial fishing port on Nushagak Bay. As of the 2020 ce ...
to James F. "Jim" and Blanche Palin (née Roberts).
Palin has
Yup'ik
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
(from a great-grandmother), Dutch, and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
ancestry.
In 1982, Palin graduated from
Wasilla High School
Wasilla High School (WHS) is a public secondary school in Wasilla, Alaska, United States, serving students in grades 9– 12. The school is part of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, with admission based primarily on the locations ...
, which is the same alma mater of his wife and their eldest two children, son Track and daughter
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. He has taken some college courses but did not complete a degree.
Career
Palin was a
union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
member and belonged to the
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquar ...
union.
For eighteen years, he worked for
BP in the
North Slope oil fields of Alaska. In 2007, in order to avoid a conflict of interest that related to his wife's position as governor, he took a leave
from his job as production supervisor, when his employer became involved in
natural gas pipeline
Pipeline transport is the long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas through a system of pipes—a pipeline—typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countr ...
negotiations with his wife's administration.
Seven months later, because the family needed more income, Todd returned to BP. In order to avoid potential conflict of interest, this time, he accepted a non-management position as a production operator.
[ ] He resigned from his job on September 18, 2009, with the stated reason as a desire to spend more time with his family.
He is also a commercial
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
fisherman
A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...
at
Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay ( esu, Iilgayaq, russian: Залив Бристольский) is the easternmost arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km (250 mi) long and 290 km, ( ...
on the
Nushugak River
The Nushagak River ( esu, Iilgayaq) is a river in southwest Alaska, United States. It begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest to Nushagak Bay, an inlet of Bristol Bay, east of Dillingham, Alaska.
The Mulchatna River is a major tributa ...
.
Public life
Voter registration
Palin first registered to vote in 1989. From October 1995 through July 2002, except for a few months in 2000, he was registered to vote as a member of the
Alaskan Independence Party
The Alaskan Independence Party (AKIP) is an Alaskan nationalist political party that advocates an in-state referendum which would include the option of Alaska becoming an independent country. The party also advocates positions similar to those ...
.
In late August 2008, ''
The Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' reported that Palin was registered to vote as an independent (undeclared), and had never registered as a Republican. His wife, Sarah, confirmed that he is not registered with any party both in her 2009 memoir, ''
Going Rogue: An American Life'', and in a Q&A session following a 2010 address to a national convention of the
Tea Party
A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...
in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
.
First gentleman of Alaska
![ToddPalinRaleigh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/ToddPalinRaleigh.jpg)
Palin was the
first gentleman
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the t ...
, or "first dude," as he was often nicknamed,
for two and a half years, from 2006 to 2009. Early on in that role, he encouraged young Alaskans who could not afford college to consider jobs in the oil and gas industry as an effective training ground, and advised the governor on workforce development issues for the natural gas pipeline she supported.
In February 2010, the state of Alaska released to msnbc.com reporter
Bill Dedman
Bill Dedman (born 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, an investigative reporter for ''Newsday'', and co-author of the biography of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark, '' Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and ...
about 1,200 e-mails, which totaled 3,000 pages, that Palin exchanged with state officials. Almost 250 additional ones were withheld by the state, under a claim that executive privilege extends to Palin as an unpaid adviser to the government.
Gregg Erickson, columnist for the ''
Anchorage Daily News
The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska.
The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...
'', said, in September 2008, that Palin "obviously plays an important role ... I've seen him in the governor's office and I know that she's conducted interviews in the governor's office with him present". The emails showed Palin discussing a wide range of activities: potential board appointees, constituent complaints, use of the state jet, oil and gas production, marine regulation, gas pipeline bids, wildfires, native Alaskan issues, the state effort to save the
Matanuska Maid dairy, budget planning, potential budget vetoes, oil shale leasing, "strategy for responding to media allegations," staffing at the mansion, per diem payments to the governor for travel, "strategy for responding to questions about pregnancy," potential cuts to the governor's staff, "confidentiality issues,"
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
land transfers and trespass issues and requests to the U.S. transportation secretary.
Other
As of late 2009, Palin was a community volunteer who worked in youth sports, coaching
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
.
He was a judge in the 2008
Miss Alaska
The Miss Alaska competition is a scholarship pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alaska in the Miss America pageant. Unlike most state-level pageants in the Miss America system, Alaska allows any eligible woman to enter th ...
pageant.
In August 2012, Palin became a contestant on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
celebrity reality competition series ''
Stars Earn Stripes
''Stars Earn Stripes'' is a reality television program that aired for one season on NBC beginning August 13, 2012. Produced by Mark Burnett, the series follows a group of celebrities, accompanied by current and former members of the United State ...
''.
Thoroughbred racehorse
First Dude First Dude may refer to:
* First Dude (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse
* First Gentleman
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarch ...
, named after Palin's nickname, finished second at the
2010 Preakness Stakes and won the 2011
Hollywood Gold Cup
The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000. ...
.
Champion snowmachine racer
Palin is a four-time champion of the
Tesoro Iron Dog, the world's longest
snowmachine race,
which traces the path of the
Iditarod race with an extra journey of several hundred miles to
Fairbanks
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
added.
Palin has competed in the Tesoro every year since 1993.
His racing teammate is Scott Davis, with whom he won in 2007. He has previously raced with Dusty Van Meter in the race, and they were co-champions in 2000 and 2002.
In 1995, Palin partnered with Dwayne Drake for his first win.
[
In 2008, from defending his Tesoro Iron Dog championship, he was injured and broke his arm when he was thrown 70 feet from his machine. He was sent to the hospital but managed to finish in fourth place.
In 2016, trying for another Tesoro Iron Dog championship, he was forced to scratch at checkpoint Nenana, 112 miles from the finish, when partner Shane Barber suffered engine trouble.
In March 2016, Palin was seriously injured in a snowmachine crash, suffering a collapsed lung, fractured ribs, and a broken clavicle and shoulder blade.
]
Public Safety commissioner controversy
Palin's name has appeared in news reports regarding the firing of commissioner Walt Monegan
Walter Carleton Monegan III (born May 1951) is an American politician and the former Police Chief of Anchorage, Alaska, and later Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Alaska. His dismissal in July 2008 by Alaska governor Sarah Palin dre ...
and the actions of Alaska state trooper Mike Wooten. At one point, Todd Palin brought information prepared by himself and a private investigator to Monegan.
On September 12, 2008, the Alaska legislature
The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There are 40 Hou ...
subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
ed Palin to testify on his role in the controversy. On September 18, the McCain/Palin campaign announced that Todd Palin would refuse to testify because he does not believe the investigation is legitimate.[
] State senator Bill Wielechowski said that the witnesses could not be punished for disobeying the subpoenas until the full legislature comes into session, then scheduled to be in January 2009.
On October 10, 2008, Palin was cited in special investigator Stephen Branchflower's report[''Stephen Blanchflower Report to the Legislative Council''](_blank)
Alaska Legislature, pdf download. October 10, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2010. to the Legislative Council. One of Branchflower's four main findings was that the governor had violated Alaska's ethics act when she "wrongfully permitted Todd Palin to use the governor's office ... to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get trooper Wooten fired". Todd Palin's conduct was not assessed in the report, as he was not an executive branch employee.
Personal life
In August 1988, Palin eloped with his high-school girlfriend Sarah Heath. The Palins have five children: Track Charles James (b. 1989), who has enlisted in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and deployed to Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
on September 11, 2008; Bristol Sheeran Marie (b. 1990); Willow Bianca Faye (b. 1994); Piper Indy Grace (b. 2001); and Trig Paxson Van (b. 2008), who has Down syndrome
Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...
; and seven grandchildren.
Palin fishes and holds a Private Pilot Certificate
A private pilot licence (PPL) or, in the United States, a private pilot certificate, is a type of Pilot licensing and certification, pilot licence that allows the holder to act as pilot in command of an aircraft privately (not for remuneration) ...
. He also owns his own aircraft, a Piper PA-18
The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the PA-11 Cub Special, and traces its lineage back through the J-3 Cub to the Taylor E-2 Cub of the 1930s. In close ...
Super Cub.
Palin's stepmother, Faye Palin, ran unsuccessfully in 2002 for the position of mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
Wasilla ( Dena'ina: ''Benteh'') is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the st ...
, to succeed Palin's wife, who was term-limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
ed. Faye Palin, who is pro-choice
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
and a registered Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, lost to Dianne M. Keller, a candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin.
Palin filed for divorce from Sarah on August 29, 2019, citing "incompatibility of temperament". The divorce was finalized on March 23, 2020.[ ]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palin, Todd
1964 births
Alaska Independents
Alaskan Independence Party politicians
American fishers
American people of Dutch descent
American people of English descent
American people of Yupik descent
BP people
First Ladies and Gentlemen of Alaska
Living people
Native American sportspeople
Todd
Todd or Todds may refer to:
Places
;Australia:
* Todd River, an ephemeral river
;United States:
* Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community
* Todd, Missouri, a ghost town
* Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...
Participants in American reality television series
People from Dillingham Census Area, Alaska
People from Wasilla, Alaska
Racing drivers from Alaska