**Marianne Deborah Williamson** (born July 8, 1952) is an American spiritual teacher, author, and lecturer. She has published 14 books, including four *New York Times* number one bestsellers.
 She is the founder of Project Angel Food, a meals-on-wheels program that serves homebound people with AIDS
 in the Los Angeles area, and the co-founder of The Peace Alliance.

Williamson is on the Board of Directors of the RESULTS organization, which works to end poverty in the United States and around the world.

In January 2019, Williamson launched her presidential bid for the Democratic primaries in the 2020 election. She ended her campaign on January 10, 2020. In March 2023, she announced her second presidential campaign for the 2024 election, challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination.

Early life
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Williamson was born in Houston, Texas, in 1952. Williamson studied theater and philosophy at Pomona College in Claremont, California for two years before dropping out in her Junior year and moving to New York City to be a cabaret singer. In 1979, Williamson returned to Houston, where she ran a metaphysical bookstore.

Career
------

In 1997 Williamson published her book *Healing the Soul of America* (hardcover originally titled *The Healing of America*) and began a more energetic political engagement. In this book, Williamson laid out plans to "transform the American political consciousness and encourage powerful citizen involvement to heal our society."

She has been a guest on television programs such as *The Oprah Winfrey Show*, *Good Morning America*, and *Real Time with Bill Maher*. Her multiple appearances on *The Oprah Winfrey Show* made her popular and earned her the nickname of Oprah Winfrey's "spiritual advisor". In December 2006, a *Newsweek* magazine poll named her one of the fifty most influential baby boomers. She is known for being a popular teacher of *A Course in Miracles*, a non-religious self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy and has written many of her own books also.

Williamson has been called a "New Age guru". She has stated that she prefers to be called an author.

2014 U.S. House race
--------------------

Williamson ran and lost in the election for the seat of California's 33rd congressional district in 2014.

Famous elected and public officials endorsed her campaign, including former Governors Jennifer Granholm and Jesse Ventura; former Congressmembers Dennis Kucinich and Alan Grayson; and Van Jones, among others. Alanis Morissette wrote and performed her campaign theme song, entitled *Today*.

2020 presidential campaign
--------------------------

See the main article: Marianne Williamson 2020 presidential campaign
Williamson's 2020 logo
On August 2, 2018, The Guardian reported that she was exploring the possibility of a presidential run in 2020. On January 28, 2019, Williamson formally announced her campaign in Los Angeles. After only appearing in one of the debates and low poll numbers, Williamson ended her campaign on January 10, 2020. She later endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in February 2020.

2024 presidential campaign
--------------------------

See the main article: Marianne Williamson 2024 presidential campaign
A Marianne Williamson 2024 logo
Williamson began "working on putting a machine together" to run for president in 2024 visiting early primary states in early 2023. She said in a January 2023 interview that she could run against Joe Biden in a presidential primary. In late February 2023, she confirmed her plans to run for president and would make an announcement in early March.

Williamson formally announced her second presidential campaign on March 4, 2023.

She received 4% of the votes in the New Hampshire primary. Following the New Hampshire primary, she held a volunteer Zoom meeting where she announced a decision to drop out of the race, but after the call was leaked to the X account OrganizerMemes, she decided to stay in. She officially dropped out on February 7, 2024 after receiving only 2.1% of the vote in the South Carolina presidential primary and 2.9% of the vote in the Nevada primary with no delegates.

After the Michigan primary, Williamson decided to reenter the race when she received 3% of the vote, three weeks after ending her campaign.

Personal life
-------------

Williamson is Jewish, and was briefly married. In 1990, Williamson had her only child, India Emma.

Other websites
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to ***Marianne Williamson***.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: ***Marianne Williamson***

* Official Web Site
* Marianne Williamson, article and shows at Oprah.com
* Marianne Williamson on "Politicking with Larry King"
* Sister Giant
* The Peace Alliance
* Project Angel Food

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