Hunter Barrett

### Occupation

Formerly:President of the United States of America (1997 - 2001)Kentucky Lieutenant Governor (1991-1997)Kentucky State Senator (1985-1991)US Army (1978-1983)

## Physical description

### Gender

male

**Hunter Barrett** (born July 3, 1960), is an American lawyer and politician who previously served as the 42nd President of the United States of America from 1997 to 2001. Barrett is a veteran of the US Army, where he served as a corporal.

Barrett began his legislative career as a Kentucky state legislator before becoming the Commonwealth's lieutenant governor in 1991. Barrett was elected President in 1996, succeeding the term-limited Henry Lee Sheares.

## Early life

Barrett was born on July 3, 1960 in Hazard, KY to David, former mayor of Hazard (b. 1937-d. 2011), and Mary Barrett (née White, b. 1939). Barrett grew up in a well-accomodated household as his father was very involved in state politics. Barrett's father was elected Mayor of Hazard in 1964, a position he would hold until 2008. Barrett graduated from Hazard High School in 1978, and entered the United States Army.

## Army

After graduating from basic training in September 1978, Barrett was stationed in Germany. Barrett was a part of President Carter's failed Operation Eagle Claw mission in Iran in April 1980. Later that year, he trained with other Army and Air Force enlistees in the Sinai in September under Operation Bright Star. Following that, Barrett remained stationed in Germany until he was honorably discharged in March 1983, after rising to the rank of corporal.

## Political career

In 1984, using his father's influence and endorsements from major caucuses across the state, Barrett was elected to the Kentucky State Senate. He won the Republican primary in the race with the endorsement of the retiring Senator. He defeated his Democratic challenger with 64% of the vote and was re-elected in 1988 with no opposition.

In early 1991, gubernatorial hopeful Brereton Jones contacted Barrett with hopes for a bipartisan governorship and asked Barrett to be his running mate. Barrett agreed and the pair won the race by 29 points. As Jones' lieutenant governor, he sponsored some conservative legislation but also helped to compromise many pieces of legislation.

In 1996, Barrett announced that he would be running to succeed Henry Lee Sheares as President of the United States. President Sheares had been a sometimes controversial, yet very popular President. The Republican Primary was rather slim in succeeding a popular Democratic President, with only three candidates in the primary. Barrett was facing two Republican candidates in Terry Jones and Ron DeSantis, neither of which were currently holding public office. DeSantis did not win any primary contests, while Jones won 5. Barrett won the primary by a large margin, sweeping every other primary.

Becoming the Republican nominee, Barrett chose DeSantis to be his running mate. His major opposition would be Congressman Sam Chany from the Democratic Party and Vice President Ross Perot from the Reform Party. A tough campaign ensued but in the end, Barrett won the race with 272 electoral votes and 42.3% of the popular vote.

## **President of the United States (1997-2001)**

One of the largest milestones of Barrett's presidency was the Lowering Taxes Act, passed with bipartisan support.