Betsy DeVos

Betsy DeVos, born on January 8, 1958, is a prominent American politician and philanthropist who made her mark as the 11th United States Secretary of Education from 2017 to 2021. Known for her staunch conservative activism, DeVos has been a vocal advocate for school choice, charter schools, and school voucher programs, shaping educational policy discussions across the nation.

Her political career began in Michigan, where she served as the Republican national committeewoman from 1992 to 1997 and later as chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2003 to 2005. DeVos has been instrumental in promoting the Detroit charter school system and has held leadership roles in various educational organizations, including the Foundation for Excellence in Education and the Alliance for School Choice.

DeVos comes from a wealthy family; her father, Edgar Prince, was a billionaire industrialist and founder of the Prince Corporation. She is married to Dick DeVos, a former CEO of Amway, and her brother, Erik Prince, is known for founding Blackwater USA. In 2016, Forbes listed the DeVos family as the eighty-eighth richest in America, with an estimated net worth of five point four billion dollars.

In November 2016, President-elect Donald Trump nominated DeVos for the Secretary of Education position, which she was confirmed for on February 7, 2017, in a historic Senate vote that required Vice President Mike Pence to break a tie. However, her tenure ended on January 8, 2021, when she resigned following the January 6 Capitol attack, citing the impact of Trump's rhetoric on the events.