Kellyanne Conway

Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway (née Fitzpatrick; born January 20, 1967) is an American Republican campaign manager, strategist, and pollster. She is president and CEO of The Polling Company Inc./Woman Trend, and has been a regular political commentator on CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, and more. She has been a guest on shows such as Good Morning America, Real Time with Bill Maher, Meet the Press, and Hannity.

She became campaign manager for Republican Donald Trump's presidential campaign, alongside its CEO Steve Bannon on August 17, 2016. With Trump's victory on November 8, 2016, she became the first woman in history to lead a successful U.S. presidential campaign.

Early life and education

Kellyanne Elizabeth Fitzpatrick was born on January 20, 1967 in Camden, New Jersey to Diane Fitzpatrick. Conway’s Irish father owned a small trucking company, and her Italian mother worked at a bank. They divorced when she was three. She was raised in the Atco section of Waterford Township, New Jersey and graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1985.

Conway credits her experience working for eight summers on a blueberry farm in Hammonton for teaching her a strong work ethic. "The faster you went, the more money you'd make." At age 16 she won the New Jersey Blueberry Princess pageant. At 20, she won the World Champion Blueberry Packing competition. She states, "Everything I learned about life and business started on that farm."

Before entering politics, Conway pursued a career in law. After receiving her B.A. in Political Science in 1989 from Trinity College, Washington, D.C. (now Trinity Washington University), she earned a J.D. in 1992 from the George Washington University Law School and then clerked for a judge in Washington, D.C.

Career

Conway entered the polling business with Wirthlin Group, a GOP polling firm and also worked for Luntz Research Companies before founding her own firm, The Polling Company, in 1995. Conway's company has consulted on consumer trends, often trends regarding women. Conway's clients have included Vaseline, American Express and Hasbro.

Among the political figures Conway has worked for are Congressman Jack Kemp; Senator Fred Thompson former Vice President Dan Quayle; Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; and Congressman (now Indiana Governor and Vice President-elect) Mike Pence. She worked as the senior advisor to Gingrich during his 2012 United States presidential election campaign.

In addition to her political opinion research work, Conway has directed demographic and attitudinal survey projects for trade associations and private companies, including American Express, ABC News, Major League Baseball, and Ladies Home Journal. Her firm The Polling Company also includes WomanTrend, a research and consulting division created to better connect corporate America with the female consumer. WomanTrend monitors female consumers as well as a multitude of current and prospective lifestyle, home, work, entertainment, technological, and generational trends affecting all consumers.

Conway has been featured frequently as a commentator on polling and the political scene, having appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, NY1, and the Fox News Channel, in addition to various radio programs. She has received the Washington Post's "Crystal Ball" award for accurately predicted elections.

In August 2015, Conway became the president of the Keep the Promise I Super-PAC, which supported the 2016 presidential campaign of Texas senator Ted Cruz and was funded by hedge-fund executive Robert Mercer. After Donald Trump won the Republican Presidential nomination, the PAC morphed into Make America Number 1, informally known as the "Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC".

On July 1, 2016, Trump announced that he hired Conway for a senior advisory position. Conway was expected to advise Trump on how to better appeal to female voters. Conway became the Trump campaign's third campaign manager in August 2016. This made her the first woman to run a Republican general election presidential campaign. At the time, Trump was trailing Hillary Clinton by about ten percentage points in various opinion polls. Journalist Ryan Lizza credits Conway with closing the gap in the polls by improving Trump's effectiveness while giving speeches, using language to appeal to voters and focusing speeches, such as when Trump described America as "a nation of strivers, dreamers, and believers." Trump ultimately won the presidential election, with Conway being credited for playing a major role in transforming Trump's campaign and for appealing to female voters. Trump will be inaugurated on January 20, 2017, which is also Conway's 50th birthday.

On November 24, 2016, Conway made headlines for tweeting she was "Receiving deluge of social media & private comms re: Romney Some Trump loyalists warn against Romney as sec of state" with a link to a article on Trump loyalists discontent for the 2012 nominee. Conway told CNN she was only tweeting what she has shared with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence in private.

Bibliography

In 2005, Conway and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake co-authored What Women Really Want: How American Women Are Quietly Erasing Political, Racial, Class, and Religious Lines to Change the Way We Live (Free Press/Simon and Schuster, 2005; ISBN 0-7432-7382-6).

Mass Connections, Inc. commissioned Conway's research services to inform Volumes 1–3 of the Touch America series, including The Consumer Connection, The Shopper Connection, and Connecting with Consumers ... IN STORE· ON LINE· IN LIFE.

Personal life

Conway is married to George T. Conway III, a litigation partner at the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The couple have four children and live in Alpine, New Jersey. George Conway was an adviser to Paula Jones in her lawsuit against Bill Clinton.

• Reference: Wikipedia