Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul
("I don't know about you, but I'm troubled by a lot of wha...)
"I don't know about you, but I'm troubled by a lot of what I see and hear in America's heartland." John Kasich calls it like he sees it. A former long-time U.S. congressman, a respected author, and popular television host, Kasich has been around the neighborhood a few times. In his first book, Courage Is Contagious, he celebrated the under-the-radar accomplishments of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to change America. Now, in Stand for Something, he tackles head-on the erosion of long-standing, hard-earned values upon which our nation is built.
(When Ohio governor John Kasich ran for president, his pow...)
When Ohio governor John Kasich ran for president, his powerful message of hope and togetherness struck a chord with American voters. In Two Paths: America Divided or United, he carries that message forward by reflecting on the tumultuous 2016 campaign, sharing his concerns for America and his hopes for our future, and sounding a clarion call to reason and purpose, humility and dignity, righteousness and calm.
Courage is Contagious: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the Face of America
(The book profiles twenty men and women from across the co...)
The book profiles twenty men and women from across the country who have, through their own courage, determination, and generous hearts, attempted to improve a lot of their fellow citizens. Among the people Kasich writes about are Cheryl Krueger and Dr. Jack McConnell. A heartfelt and optimistic message in a world grown increasingly distrustful, Courage Is Contagious offers hope and inspiration to all who read it.
Every Other Monday: Twenty Years of Life, Lunch, Faith, and Friendship
(For more than twenty years, John Kasich has sought the an...)
For more than twenty years, John Kasich has sought the answer to this question and many of life’s most fundamental challenges in an unlikely place: his twice-a-month lunches with an irreverent, thoughtful, and spirited circle of guys who are members of a Bible study group. Every other Monday over lunch at an Italian restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, Kasich and half a dozen friends use the stories of the Good Book as a launching pad to ask questions running the gamut from “Does God exist?” to “What do you do if faith fails you?” This group, in reaching for life’s biggest mysteries while standing firmly rooted in the everyday, has become a cornerstone of Kasich’s life, one to which he consistently turns when the waters threaten to rise.
John Richard Kasich is an American politician and author. He served as the 69th Governor of Ohio and was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 12th congressional district from 1983 to 2001.
Background
Ethnicity:
Kasich's father was of a Czech descent, while his mother was of a Croatian one.
John Richard Kasich was born on May 13, 1952, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, United States, to John Kasich Sr., a mail carrier, and Anne Kasich, a homemaker.
Education
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio. In 1970, John Kasich entered the Ohio State University, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1974.
Kasich served Ohio state senator Donald E. Lukens as an administrative assistant from 1975 to 1977. In 1978 he won election to the state senate himself, defeating an incumbent Democrat and becoming, at age 26, the youngest person ever elected to that body up to that time. He began a four-year term in 1979. In 1982, he again defeated an incumbent Democrat to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
After the 1994 election, in which Republicans took majority control of the House, he became chairman of the Committee on the Budget. In February 1999, Kasich entered the 2000 U.S. presidential race and sought the Republican Party's nomination for President of the United States. Kasich lost the nomination to Texas Governor George W. Bush.
While out of public office, Kasich supported himself by working in the Columbus, Ohio, branch of the investment firm Lehman Brothers. His employment lasted from 2001 until 2008, when the firm collapsed in the midst of a worldwide financial crisis. Meanwhile, he kept himself in the public eye as host of Heartland with John Kasich (2001 - 2007), a political commentary program on the Fox News Channel. Unusually for a network product, Heartland originated in Columbus. He also taught business courses at The Ohio State University.
Republicans tried to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race. In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
In 2010, Kasich was elected governor of Ohio, once again defeating an incumbent Democrat. After taking office the following year, he quickly made his mark when he signed a law restricting the collective bargaining rights of government workers. The law was repealed by referendum in 2011.
Claiming credit for tax cuts and budget surpluses, he won reelection in 2014 with nearly 64 percent of the votes. This victory set the stage for a presidential bid that began in July 2015. Kasich unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 2000 and 2016, receiving one electoral vote from a faithless elector in Texas in 2016. Barred from seeking a third term as governor, Kasich left office in early 2019. The same year, Kasich joined CNN as a senior political commentator.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church.
Politics
As a Republican member of Congress for nine two-year terms (1983–2001), Kasich became known for his commitment to a balanced budget and reduced government spending. His opposition to military programs he considered wasteful - such as the B-2 “stealth” bomber - sometimes put him at odds with his own party. Starting in 1989, he prepared his own alternative government budgets and submitted them to the House.
Later in his term, he broke with Republican orthodoxy when he accepted U.S. Pres. Barack Obama’s expansion of Medicaid coverage for low-income persons under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Kasich campaigned as a pragmatist and became a vocal critic of Donald Trump, a political outsider who emerged as the party’s front-runner. Facing Republican voters who were largely rejecting the traditional party establishment, Kasich won only his home state’s primary. However, he outlasted all of Trump’s other Republican competitors before suspending his campaign on May 4, 2016.
Unlike many Republicans, he acknowledged a human component in climate change and opposed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. His positions generally found favor with Ohio voters.
Views
Quotations:
“The best solutions to the problems facing American society will come from families and communities rather than Washington.”
Personality
In information published on his House of Representatives website, Kasich defines himself as a compassionate but hard-headed reformer.
Interests
Reading, Writing
Writers
Dallas Williard
Sport & Clubs
Running, Weights, Golf
Music & Bands
U2, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Oasis, The Offspring, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Snow Patrol
Connections
In 1975, John Kasich married Mary Lee Griffith but they divorced in 1980. The couple had no children. In 1997, John married Karen Waldbillig. They have twins, Emma and Reese.