Michael Huffington
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Roy Michael Huffington Jr. (born September 3, 1947) is an American
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
,
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a congressman for one term, 1993–1995, from
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Huffington was married to Arianna Huffington, the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
-born co-founder of ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'', from 1986 to 1997.


Early years

Huffington was born in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, to Celeste Phyllis (Gough) and Roy Michael Huffington, the founder of the natural gas exploration company, Roy M. Huffington, Inc. (HUFFCO). In 1965, Huffington graduated from Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana, where he received the Central States Amateur Rowing Association Medal when he rowed on the light weight crew. After graduation, he was elected to the Culver Chapter of the Cum Laude Society. In 1970, he received a BS degree in engineering and a BA degree in economics concurrently from
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. Huffington was a member of the varsity crew, student senator, and co-president of his senior class. In 1972, he received an
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
in finance from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
. Huffington's wealth is derived from a merchant bank he started and his share of the family's Houston oil, gas and real estate firm that was sold to Taiwan interests in 1990. His father, Roy M. Huffington, made a fortune through natural gas interests in Indonesia.


Politics

Huffington's interest in politics began in 1968, when he was a summer intern in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
for freshman Congressman
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed Huffington as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Negotiations Policy, with responsibility for conventional
arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Historically, arms control may apply to melee wea ...
negotiations. He was awarded the
Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
. In 1992, Huffington was elected to the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
from California's 22nd District ( Santa Barbara and
San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...
counties). He spent a record $5.4 million on his campaign, 95% of it his own money. He spent about $3.5 million in the Republican
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...
, in which he defeated veteran incumbent Robert J. Lagomarsino. Huffington later defeated then-Santa Barbara County Supervisor Gloria Ochoa in the
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
. He donated his entire congressional salary to the Partnership for Children of Santa Barbara County in 1993, and to the Partnership for Children of San Luis Obispo County in 1994. In 1994, Huffington did not seek re-election to the House but spent $28 million in a bid for the seat in the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
held by
Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...
. She had won the seat in a special election two years earlier against John F. Seymour, who had been appointed in 1991 to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
-elect
Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Wilson previously served as a United S ...
. In the Republican
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...
, Huffington defeated William E. Dannemeyer. At the time, Huffington's campaign was the most expensive in a non-presidential election in American history. He lost to Feinstein in the general election by 1.9 percent of the vote. During 1998, Huffington was co-chairman (with actor and director
Rob Reiner Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...
) of Proposition 10 in California, which increased the state
excise tax file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...
on
cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...
s by 50 cents per pack. The resulting multi-hundred million dollars of tax revenue was used for
prenatal care Prenatal care, also known as antenatal care, is a type of preventive healthcare for pregnant individuals. It is provided in the form of medical checkups and healthy lifestyle recommendations for the pregnant person. Antenatal care also consists of ...
and for the
health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
and education of children under six years of age. In the
2003 California gubernatorial recall election The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Arnold Schwarzenegger ...
, Huffington endorsed Republican
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
. His ex-wife, Arianna Huffington, was an opposing candidate. She withdrew before the election, although her name remained on the ballot. On June 29, 2006, Huffington co-chaired the Log Cabin Republicans "The Courage To Lead: An Evening With The Governor" dinner that honored California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
. Huffington also personally contributed $1 for every $2 contributed to the Log Cabin Republicans (a
501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...
tax designated organization) for that dinner. In 2006, Huffington became the director of It's My Party Too, a group founded by former New Jersey Governor
Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...
. A
moderate Moderate is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. Political position Canad ...
Republican organization with
libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
leanings, it advocated
fiscal conservatism In American political theory, fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, ...
, social progressivism,
environmental protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...
and
limited government In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.Amy Gutmann, "How Limited Is Liberal Government" in Liberalism Without Illusions: Essays on Liberal ...
interference in personal matters. In 2007, It's My Party Too evolved into the
Republican Leadership Council The Republican Leadership Council (RLC or RLC-PAC) was founded in 1993 as the Committee for Responsible Government. It was a United States political advocacy group and political action committee that promoted Republican candidates who choose a pla ...
. In 2013, Huffington was a signatory to an
amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...
brief in support of same-sex marriage, submitted to the Supreme Court during the ''
Hollingsworth v. Perry ''Hollingsworth v. Perry'' was a series of United States federal court cases that reinstated same-sex marriage in the state of California. The case began in 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which found that ...
'' case.


Personal life

Huffington married Arianna Huffington, a Greek-born writer and lecturer, on April 12, 1986. They had two daughters and divorced in 1997. In December 2006, he became a
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
ger for ''The Huffington Post'', which was co-founded by his ex-wife in 2005. Huffington publicly disclosed that he is
bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
in 1998. Since that time, Huffington has made a number of contributions to LGBT causes. Later that year, he provided the initial grant that launched SOIN (Sexual Orientation Issues in the News) at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
's Annenberg School for Communication. Then in 2005, Huffington helped to establish a summer fellowship program for
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
students at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. He also spoke at the National Equality March rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on October 11, 2009. Huffington was raised
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
, became
Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...
at age 38, and ultimately joined the
Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...
during his marriage to Arianna. Between 2007 and 2012, Huffington gave $2.5 million to establish the Huffington Ecumenical Institute at
Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, in order to promote dialogue between the
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
and
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
churches. Concerning the institute's mission, Huffington said, "My dream is that someday I'll get to see members of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church be able to take communion in each other's churches."


Film production

Huffington found a post-political career as a film producer. From 1991 to 2000, he was co-owner of Crest Films Limited. Among his other production credits: * Huffington was an executive producer of Hold Me Down, a 2017 American drama short film about the struggles of a 19-year-old single mother in The Bronx, written and directed by Niclas Gillis. * Huffington was a financial contributor to ''Out of the Past'', a documentary that won the Audience Award at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
in 1998. * Huffington executive produced three short films at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
: "The Promise" in 1998, "Lost and Found" in 1999, and "Nuclear Family" in 2000. * He was an executive producer of the 2000 television series, '' The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne''. * He was an executive producer of the 2007 AFI film ''Santa Croce'', which was distributed worldwide on through the iTunes Store and Shorts International. * He was an executive producer of '' For the Bible Tells Me So'', a documentary that premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. * He was an executive producer of '' A Jihad for Love'', a documentary that premiered at the 2007
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
. * He was executive producer of ''We're All Angels'', a 2007 documentary about gay
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
pop singers Jason and deMarco, which premiered on Showtime on June 12, 2008. * He was an executive producer of '' Bi the Way'', a documentary about bisexuality in America that premiered at the 2008
SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...
. * He was an executive producer of '' American Primitive'', which premiered at the 2009
Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 19 ...
. * He was a producer of '' Father vs. Son'', a comedy that premiered at WorldFest 2010 and won The Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best World Premiere – Feature Films. *He was a producer of '' Dissolution'', which premiered at the 2010 Jerusalem International Film Festival and won the Best Drama Award. *He was a producer of '' After The Fire'' directed by Gudio Verweyen, inspired by the Pulitzer Prize story and New York Times bestseller ''After The Fire'' by Robin G. Fisher. *Under the banner of his own production company Huffington Pictures, Huffington was a producer for the 2013 film '' Geography Club'', directed by Gary Entin and based on Brent Hartinger's book of the same name.


Electoral history


See also

* List of LGBT members of the United States Congress


References


External links

* * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Huffington, Michael 1947 births Living people Activists from Texas American former Protestants Bisexual male politicians Bisexual businesspeople Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Anglicanism Episcopalians from Texas Film producers from Texas Former Anglicans Former Presbyterians Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States Harvard Business School alumni Huffington family HuffPost writers and columnists American LGBTQ businesspeople LGBTQ Eastern Orthodox Christians LGBTQ members of the United States Congress LGBTQ people from California LGBTQ people from Texas LGBTQ rights activists from California Politicians from Dallas Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Stanford University alumni United States Department of Defense officials Culver Academies alumni LGBTQ conservatism in the United States Bisexual Christians American bisexual men American bisexual politicians 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives