Janet McCain Huckabee was born on July 16, 1955, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the fourth of five siblings, and moved with her family as an infant to Hope, Arkansas. She is the daughter of Pat (Potter) Stephens, who served four terms as Hempstead County Clerk, from 1965 to 1972, and Angus Bouie McCain.
She graduated from Hope High School in 1973, and married her high school sweetheart Mike Huckabee in May of the following year.
She served as the First Lady of Arkansas from July 1996 until January 2007. Faced with the possibility of paralysis and the inability to have children, she underwent surgery and six weeks of radiation therapy. Prior to becoming First Lady of Arkansas, she was involved with the Texarkana, Arkansas Parent Teacher Association, even serving two terms as its president
She also was active in the Beech Street First Baptist Church and with the Acts of the Apostles-television station.
She was defeated by the Democratic Party nominee, State Land Commissioner Charlie Daniels. The following year, she earned an undergraduate degree in organizational management from John Brown University.
