Terry E. Branstad

Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is a retired American politician who served as the 39th and 42nd governor of Iowa (1983–1999; 2011–2017) and the United States ambassador to China (2017–2020). A member of the Republican Party, Branstad is the longest-serving governor in United States history, with a total gubernatorial tenure of 22 years, 4 months, and 13 days.

Branstad served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives and one term as the 40th lieutenant governor of Iowa before he was elected governor in 1982. At age 36, he was the youngest governor in Iowa history upon taking office. After 16 years as governor, he served as president of Des Moines University, a private medical osteopathic school, from 2003 to 2009. In 2010, Branstad returned to Iowa politics, running for governor again and defeating Democratic incumbent Chet Culver to become the state's 42nd governor.

In December 2016, president-elect Donald Trump nominated Branstad to serve as the United States Ambassador to China. Branstad resigned as governor of Iowa on May 24, 2017, and was sworn in as the United States ambassador to China on July 12, 2017. In 2020, Branstad resigned from his post to work on former President Trump's 2020 reelection campaign. Branstad retired from public life in 2025.

Early life

Branstad was born in Leland, Iowa. His father was Edward Arnold Branstad, a farmer; his mother was Rita (née Garland). Branstad's mother was Jewish, and his father was a Norwegian American Lutheran. Branstad was raised Lutheran and later converted to Catholicism. He is a second cousin of Democrat Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Education

Branstad received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Iowa in 1969 and a Juris Doctor from Drake University Law School in 1974. He was drafted after college and served in the United States Army from 1969 to 1971 as a military policeman in the 503rd Military Police Battalion at Fort Bragg. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service; he once recalled that he arrested actress Jane Fonda for coming onto the post at Arlington National Cemetery, where she was planning to attend an antiwar protest.

Early political career

Branstad served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 and was the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 1979 to 1983, the year he was first elected governor.

Governor of Iowa

First tenure (1983–1999)

When he took office as governor at age 36, Branstad became the youngest chief executive in Iowa's history. Reelected in 1986, 1990, and 1994, he left office as Iowa's longest-serving governor. He served as Chairman of the National Governors Association in 1989–1990, and also was Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association. In 1997 he chaired the Education Commission of the States, the Republican Governors Association, and the Governors' Ethanol Coalition.

In 1983 Branstad vetoed a bill to establish a state lottery.

Branstad made reinstatement of the death penalty a central focus of his 1994 re-election campaign; however, despite successfully being re-elected, he was unable to implement this policy due to opposition from Democrats in the Iowa State Senate.

Iowa's unemployment rate went from 8.5% when Branstad took office to a record low 2.5% by the time he left office in 1999. In his first year as governor, the state budget had a $90 million deficit. It took several years until the budget was balanced. Branstad said he did not have enough support in the legislature to approve budget reforms until 1992. By 1999 Iowa had an unprecedented $900 million budget surplus.

Inter-gubernatorial career

Branstad focused most of his efforts outside of politics after leaving office in early 1999. He founded Branstad and Associates, LLC and was also a partner in the firm of Kaufman, Pattee, Branstad & Miller and a financial advisor for Robert W. Baird and Co.

In August 2003 Branstad accepted an offer from Des Moines University to become its president. On October 16, 2009, he announced his retirement from Des Moines University to run again for governor.

President George W. Bush appointed Branstad to chair the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education. The commission was charged with developing a plan to improve the educational performance of students with disabilities. After completing his work with the commission in 2003, Branstad was asked to serve as a member of the National Advisory Council for Positive Action for Teen Health, or PATH. The advisory council encourages action to detect adolescent mental illness. In April 2003 Branstad was named a public member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which comprises both professional and public members who address a variety of issues related to accounting.

Branstad serves on the boards of Conmed Health Management Inc, American Future Fund, the Iowa Health System, Liberty Bank, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and Living History Farms.

Second tenure (2011–2017)

Brandstad surpassed George Clinton's record as longest serving governor of the United States of 20 years, and 11 months, and 2 days on 14 December 2015.

2010 gubernatorial election

On August 2, 2009, '' The Des Moines Register'' reported that Branstad was actively considering seeking the Republican nomination for governor. On October 7, Branstad filed papers to run for governor in the 2010 election. According to a September ''Des Moines Register'' poll, he maintained a 70% favorability rating from Iowans as compared to Governor Chet Culver's rating of 50%.

On June 8, 2010, Branstad won the Republican gubernatorial nomination, but when opposing candidate Bob Vander Plaats conceded, he did not endorse Branstad.

The Des Moines Tea Party gave Branstad a "no" on their report card regarding "criteria for acceptance" and said Branstad had "a history of raising taxes, asnot a true conservative, increased the size of government every year he held office, ndbuilt a state-owned phone company." Former Iowa State Auditor Richard Johnson accused Branstad of keeping "two sets of books" on the state budget while governor. Johnson said Branstad needed to be "transparent" to Iowa voters about the reporting of Iowa's finances during his tenure as governor.

2014 gubernatorial election

Branstad ran for reelection in 2014. He was opposed in the Republican primary by Tom Hoefling, a political activist and nominee for president in 2012 for both America's Party and American Independent Party. Branstad won the primary with 83% of the vote.

In the general election, Branstad faced Democratic nominee State Senator Jack Hatch and won with 59% of the vote.

Voting rights

Branstad rescinded an executive order signed by governor Tom Vilsack that restored voting rights to approximately 115,000 felons who had completed their sentences. Iowa was the last remaining state to have felons permanently disenfranchised until 2020, when Branstad's successor, Kim Reynolds, restored voting rights for some felons who had completed their sentences.

Taxes

In June 2013, Branstad signed into law a sweeping tax reform bill that had widespread bipartisan support, passing the Iowa Senate by 44 votes to 6 and the Iowa House by 84 votes to 13. The bill, Senate File 295, provided for the state's largest tax cut in history, including an estimated $4.4 billion in property tax reform and an estimated $90 million of annual income tax relief, in part in the form of an increase in the earned income tax credit. The bill also included significant reforms to education and health care.

Job creation ranking

A June 2013 '' Business Journals'' analysis of 45 of the country's 50 governors ranked Branstad 28th in job creation. The ranking was based on a comparison of the annual private sector growth rate in all 50 states using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Gun rights

On April 13, 2017, with large Republican majorities in the Iowa legislature, Branstad signed a bill into law expanding gun rights, enacting a stand-your-ground law, expanding the right of citizens to sue if they believe their Second Amendment rights are being infringed, and expanding the gun rights of minors, among several other provisions.

Bakken pipeline

Branstad's business-friendly appointments to the Iowa Utilities Board were controversial. They have "virtually assured" approval of the Iowa section of the Dakota Access pipeline. His last appointment was that of Richard W. Lozier Jr., who represented a pro-pipeline lobby group and who had to recuse himself one month after he joined in 2017.

Discrimination lawsuit

On July 15, 2019, a jury in Polk County, Iowa awarded a gay former state official $1.5 million in damages, finding that Branstad had discriminated against him based on sexual orientation in 2012.

U.S. Ambassador to China

In December 2016 President-elect Donald Trump chose Branstad to serve as US Ambassador to China, succeeding Max Baucus. Branstad accepted the offer within one day after meeting with Trump in New York. Trump cited Branstad's decades of experience with China while governor of Iowa. Xi Jinping, China's paramount leader, considers Branstad an "old friend". Branstad's relationship with Xi dates to 1985, when Xi, then a young official from Hebei Province, headed a five-man agricultural delegation to Iowa. Branstad's hearing before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee was held on May 2, 2017.

Branstad was confirmed by the Senate on May 22, 2017, in an 82 to 13 vote. He resigned as governor on May 24, 2017, in a ceremony at the Iowa State House, and was immediately sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to China. His appointment marked the third time in a decade that a politician resigned a statewide office to become the Ambassador to China; Jon Huntsman Jr. resigned as governor of Utah in 2009, and Max Baucus resigned as U.S. senator from Montana in 2014.

In October 2018, the '' Financial Times'' reported that Branstad opposed a proposal by White House Senior Advisor Stephen Miller about stopping providing student visas to Chinese nationals, making it impossible for Chinese citizens to study in the United States. Branstad argued that such a ban would harm US trade to China and hurt small American universities more than the elite ones.

In May 2019, Branstad traveled to Tibet Autonomous Region amid heightening trade tensions between the United States and China. This diplomatic journey was designed to give the United States a better perception of Tibet and its people, cultural practices, and life.

Branstad stepped down as U.S. Ambassador to China in early October 2020, at the request of President Donald Trump to help with his 2020 presidential campaign.

Post-government career and Retirement

On January 24, 2023, it was announced that Branstad would become president of the World Food Prize Foundation.

Branstad announced his retirement on November 19, 2024, and formally retired in February 2025.

Personal life

Branstad married Christine Johnson on June 17, 1972. They have three children, Eric, Allison, and Marcus, and eight grandchildren. His wife has worked as a medical assistant and as a volunteer at schools and hospitals. Eric Branstad is a political consultant and lobbyist whose lobbying activities on behalf of Chinese firms while Branstad was US Ambassador to China led to charges with conflict of interest. Branstad denied the allegation. Allison moved to Beijing with her father when he was appointed ambassador because she landed a job at the International School of Beijing as a third grade teacher. Marcus was appointed by his father to the Iowa Natural Resources Commission in 2013 and works as a lobbyist for the American Chemistry Council.

Branstad is a member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. He received the honor of "Knight Commander of the Court of Honor" in 2015.

In 2015, longtime newspaperman and Iowa historian Mike Chapman published a biography of Branstad, ''Iowa's Record-Setting Governor: The Terry Branstad Story''. The book details Branstad's youth on the family farm, his high school days in Forest City, and his rise in politics.

Branstad is a second cousin of Merrick Garland, who served as United States attorney general under President Joe Biden.

Electoral history

* 1972 election for Iowa House of Representatives District 8:
** Terry Branstad (R), 59.0%
** Elmer Selbrand (D), 41.0%
* 1974 election for Iowa House of Representatives District 8:
** Terry Branstad (R), 68.7%
** Jean Haugland (D), 31.3%
* 1976 election for Iowa House of Representatives District 8:
** Terry Branstad (R), 70.4%
** Franklin Banwart (D), 29.6%
* 1978 Republican primary election for Lieutenant Governor of Iowa:
** Terry Branstad, 42.1%
** Hansen, 32.7%
** Oakley, 25.2%
* 1978 election for Lieutenant Governor of Iowa:
** Terry Branstad (R), 57.7%
** William Palmer (D), 42.3%

Notes

References

External links

Ambassador Terry Branstad
biography

Terry Branstad for Governor
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1946 births
20th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly
21st-century American diplomats
21st-century Iowa politicians
Ambassadors of the United States to China
American Freemasons
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Catholic politicians from Iowa
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism
Des Moines University people
Diplomats from Iowa
Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
Drake University Law School alumni
First Trump administration personnel
Heads of universities and colleges in the United States
Iowa lawyers
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Living people
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