Bobby Jindal Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Here’s a look at the life of former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

Personal

Birth date: June 10, 1971

Birth place: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Birth name: Piyush Jindal

Father: Amar Jindal, engineer

Mother: Raj (Gupta) Jindal

Marriage: Supriya (Joly) Jindal (October 1997-present)

Children: Slade, Shaan and Selia

Education: Brown University, B.S., Biology and Public Policy, 1991; Oxford University, M.A., Literature, 1994 (Rhodes scholar)

Religion: Born Hindu, converted to Roman Catholicism

Other Facts

First Indian-American elected to Congress since 1956.

First Indian-American governor in the United States.

Son Shaan was born with a heart defect and had surgery as an infant.

Jindal delivered son Slade at home before the EMTs arrived.

As a boy, he insisted on being called Bobby after his favorite character in “The Brady Bunch.”

Timeline

1994-1995 – Associate at consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

1996-1998 – Jindal restructures Louisiana’s Medicaid program from bankruptcy to surplus, while serving as secretary of the Health and Hospitals Department.

1998 – Appointed executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.

1999-2001 – President of the University of Louisiana System.

2001-2003 – Assistant secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

2003 – Runs for governor of Louisiana. Wins the Republican primary but loses a runoff against Democrat Kathleen Blanco.

2004 – Elected to the US House of Representatives and serves two terms.

October 20, 2007 – Elected governor of Louisiana with 54% of the vote, winning 60 of 64 parishes.

2009 – Delivers the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s first address to Congress.

October 22, 2011 – Reelected to a second term as governor with 65.8% of the vote, winning 64 of 64 parishes.

November 2012 – Is named 2013 chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

May 18, 2015 – Jindal announces that he is establishing a presidential exploratory committee.

June 24, 2015 – Jindal announces on social media that he is running for president. He later makes a formal announcement at an event in Kenner, Louisiana.

October 20, 2015 – Jindal’s book “American Will: The Forgotten Choices That Changed Our Republic” is published.

November 17, 2015 – Announces he is ending his presidential campaign.

January 11, 2016 – Leaves the office of governor as John Bel Edwards is inaugurated as his successor.

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