Mitch Daniels

Mitch Daniels
Daniels in 2009
12th President of the Purdue University System
In office January 14, 2013 – December 31, 2022
Preceded by	France Cordova Timothy Sands (acting)
Succeeded by	Mung Chiang
49th Governor of Indiana
In office January 10, 2005 – January 14, 2013
Lieutenant	Becky Skillman
Preceded by	Joe Kernan
Succeeded by	Mike Pence
33rd Director of the Office of Management and Budget
In office January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Deputy	Sean O'Keefe Nancy P. Dorn
Preceded by	Jack Lew
Succeeded by	Joshua Bolten
White House Director of Political and Intergovernmental Affairs
In office October 1, 1985 – March 1, 1987
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Ed Rollins
Succeeded by	Frank Donatelli
Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
In office March 26, 1985 – October 1, 1985
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Lee Verstandig
Succeeded by	Deborah Steelman
Personal details
Born	Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr (1949-04-07) April 7, 1949 (age 75) Monongahela, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Cheri Herman ​ ​ (m. 1978; div. 1993)​ ​ ​ (m. 1997)​
Children	4
Education	Princeton University (BA) Georgetown University (JD)
Signature

Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician who served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. A Republican, he later served as president of Purdue University from 2013 until the end of 2022.

Daniels began his career as an assistant to senator Richard Lugar, working as his chief of staff in the Senate from 1977 to 1982. He was appointed executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee when Lugar was chairman from 1983 to 1984. He worked as a chief political advisor and as a liaison to President Ronald Reagan in 1985. He then moved back to Indiana to become president of the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. He later joined Eli Lilly and Company where he served as president of North American Pharmaceutical Operations from 1993 to 1997 and as senior vice president of corporate strategy and policy from 1997 to 2001. In January 2001, Daniels was appointed by President George W. Bush as the director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, where he served until June 2003.

Daniels ran in Indiana's 2004 gubernatorial election after leaving the Bush administration. He won the Republican primary with 67% of the vote and defeated Democratic incumbent Governor Joe Kernan in the general election. In 2008, Daniels was reelected to a second term, defeating Jill Long Thompson. During his tenure, Daniels cut the state government workforce by 18%, cut and capped state property taxes, balanced the state budget through austerity measures and increasing spending by less than the inflation rate.^[1][2] In his second term, Daniels saw protest by labor unions and Democrats in the state legislature over Indiana's school voucher program, privatization of public highways, and the attempt to pass 'right to work' legislation, leading to the 2011 Indiana legislative walkouts. During the legislature's last session under Daniels, he signed a 'right-to-work law', with Indiana becoming the 23rd state in the nation to pass such legislation.^[3]

It was widely speculated that Daniels would be a candidate in the 2012 presidential election,^[4][5][6] but he chose not to run.^[7] Shortly after, a search committee, composed mostly of Purdue faculty and administrators recommended Daniels to become the university's 12th president after his term as governor ended on January 14, 2013. Ultimately, the hiring decision was made by the Trustees of the Board of Purdue University, all of whom Daniels appointed or re-appointed while Governor.^[8] He retired as Purdue president on January 1, 2023.