When you hear the phrase “15 minutes of fame,” you likely imagine a celebrity. After all, the world is full of musicians with only one hit song, actors with only one big movie, and so on. But would you believe that one of the most influential politicians in American history had her own fleeting moments of fame before disappearing into obscurity?
That politician is Sarah Palin, who went from being governor of Alaska to vice presidential hopeful to political washout. She’s been the butt of many jokes, but trust me: once you know how hard she worked to transform her life, you’ll stop laughing. What are Palin’s humble beginnings, and how did she end up running for the second-highest office in the land? Keep reading to find out!
An ‘80s beauty queen
We don’t want to sound crass, but it’s almost impossible to discuss Sarah Palin’s political influence without discussing her body. She was chosen as John McCain’s running mate to help energize the youth vote, which worked like gangbusters because she turned heads wherever she went. Heck, some of her most iconic moments from the campaign trail involved her showing off legs that many women would simply kill to have!
Because of that, you might not be all that shocked to discover that Sarah Palin was a beauty queen in the ‘80s. Back in 1984, she competed in the Miss Alaska competition! She didn’t take home the crown, but she came much closer than you might think. As reported by People, the actual winner (Maryline Blackburn) considered Palin her top competitor. She also described the future governor as fierce, saying, “She had this look about her, this look in her eyes that tells you she’s calculating, figuring out, ‘How am I going to win this competition?’
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A sports broadcasting career
Sarah Palin is known for being pretty and for being a governor, so you might think she went straight from competing in beauty pageants to local politics. While she did kick off her political career at a young age (more on that soon), Palin first pursued a career in the last field you might suspect: sports broadcasting!
Starting in 1988, she worked for the Anchorage NBC affiliate station KTUU. She made an auspicious debut on Super Bowl Sunday, and after that, she covered pretty much every local sport in the area. When she ran for local office four years later, Palin left the world of sports journalism far behind her. However, this broadcasting experience likely helped her run for office because she had what most other candidates lacked: a recognizable face and name!
A meteoric political career
So, how did Sarah Palin begin her political career? It all started in 1992, when she successfully ran for a position on the Wasilla City Council. She won again in 1995, and the very next year, she was elected mayor! Palin proved to be very popular in this role, easily winning reelection and serving as mayor until 2002.
At this point, Palin couldn’t run for mayor again, so she set her sights a little higher. She ran for the position of lieutenant governor, and while she lost, Governor Frank Murkowski appointed her as commission of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Interestingly, she might have held this role longer, but that changed when she began investigating another commissioner, state Republican Party chair Randy Ruedrich. She successfully accessed his computer and proved he was working with the same oil companies he was supposed to regulate.
Many saw Sarah Palin as heroic for her efforts in exposing the corruption of such a powerful figure. As for Palin, she simply felt disgust, ultimately resigning from the most prominent role she ever had.
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From governor to vice presidential contender
Instead of retiring from politics, Sarah Palin leaned in, running for and ultimately winning the position of governor in 2006. She proved to be relatively popular in the role, though she faced occasional scandals, including Native protests of a pipeline she approved of and controversy about firing her former brother-in-law from his state trooper position. Palin may very well have accomplished more in this role, but after only two years of service, presidential contender and longtime Republican Senator John McCain selected her as his running mate against Barack Obama.
McCain lost against Obama, leaving Sarah Palin in a weird place: she couldn’t easily return to politics, but she was now more famous than ever before after the 2008 election made her a household name. She pivoted to full-time celebrity for a bit, headlining a reality show on TLC and writing a book ( Going Rogue: An American Life). In 2016, she tried to return to politics by endorsing Donald Trump for president; however, Trump did not appoint her to any special positions, and she didn’t run for any elections at this time.
Since then, she unsuccessfully ran to replace deceased Republican House member Don Young, losing against Democratic opponent Mary Peltola. Afterward, Palin seemed to accept that her 15 minutes of fame had ended long ago, and the world of politics had long since left her behind.