Born in Waterloo, Iowa, Michele Bachmann became a born-again Christian at the
age of 16. After earning a law degree, Bachmann became a local conservative
activist, protesting abortion clinics and state-mandated educational standards. In
2000 she was elected to the Minnesota state Senate, and earned a reputation for
her conservatism and her hyperbolic style. In 2006 Bachmann was elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives and helped found the conservative Tea Party
Caucus, becoming one of President Obama's most outspoken critics. A rising star
in the GOP, in June 2011 Bachmann announced her candidacy for the Republican
presidential nomination but failed to get the bid. She held onto her Congressional
seat in Minnesota in 2012, albeit by a very slim margin against Democratic
businessman Jim Graves, and left office at the end of her term in early 2015.