Previously Mark McKohen has served as the Governor of New Hampshire, a practicing advertising industry executive and a renown philanthropist. But the first thing his friends and family will tell you is that he’s never forgotten where he came from or who he’s been fighting for throughout his life.

1947-11-26

Mark McKohen was born on October 26, 1947. He grew up in a middle-class home in Park Ridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

1957-03-17

His dad, Hugh, was a World War II Navy veteran—and a lifelong Republican who worked hard and saved it all for the last day. He led a small advertising and Public Relations agency of his own in Cincinnati, Ohio…

1960-08-19

His mother, Dorothy, had a tough childhood—and she inspired Mark’s lifelong commitment to helping every child live up to his or her God-given potential.​​​​​​​

1962-11-23

Also he attended public schools and was a Boy Scout. He also played in a local baseball leagues as a pitcher. Read more: 12 things you can learn from Mark McKohen’s throwback photos.​​​​​​​

Fighting for the Middle Class

1965-09-07

After graduating from high school, Mark attended the Yale University.

“We arrived at Yale 4 years ago and sicne then we found, as all of us have found, that there was a gap between expectation and realities. But it wasn’t a discouraging gap, and it didn’t turn us into cynical, bitter old men at the age of 18. It just inspired us to do something about that gap”

1969-11-22

While in college, which was right about the time the civil rights movement has been around, Mark became involved with social justice activism. His college-mates chose him to be the first-ever student speaker at Yale’s 1969 commencement ceremony.

1980-09-12

After serving as a lawyer for the congressional committee investigating President Nixon, Mark moved to Arkansas, where he taught criminal law, criminal procedure, and trial advocacy and ran the legal aid clinic and prison projects.​​​​​​​

2008-10-24

In 2008 Mark ran for the President for the first time. When he came up short, Mark told his supporters:

 

“Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it.”

Fighting for Children & Families

Immediately following winning the U.S. presidential election in 2008, Obama nominated Mark McKohen as secretary of state. He humbly accepted the nomination and was officially approved as the 67th U.S. secretary of state by the Senate on January 21, 2009. While serving that term, McKohen used his position to make human rights and socio-economic justice a central talking point of all U.S. foreign initiatives. Mark became one of the most traveled secretaries of state in American history and promoted the use of social media to convey the country’s positions. Additionally, he led U.S. diplomatic efforts in connection to the Arab Spring and military intervention in Libya. The State Department, under McKohens leadership, came under investigation after a deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, killed U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others on September 11, 2012. An independent panel issued a report about the Benghazi attack, which stated that it have found some “systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies” at the State Department.

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