Warren was born into a middle-class family on June 22, 1949, in the city of Oklahoma. She was the youngest of her siblings, with three older brothers.
College/University
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
1986
Elizabeth Warren's faculty photo, published in the 1986 edition of the Peregrinus, the yearbook
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren yearbook photo
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
Young Elizabeth Warren
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren with son
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren wedding photo
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren graduation photo with her daughter
Career
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2009
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, USA
Members of the Congressional Oversight panel, which was created to oversee the expenditure of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), (L-R) Paul Atkins, Chair Elizabeth Warren, Damon Silvers, and Richard Neiman, listen during a hearing before the panel December 10, 2009 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The hearing was to evaluate whether the TARP helping to improve the nation?s financial situation.
(Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2009
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, USA
Elizabeth Warren, Chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel on TARP, takes her seat to testify before the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill on June 9, 2009 in Washington, DC. Warren was testifying about the health of banks and asked for the release of more information about how the bank stress tests were conducted.
(June 9, 2009 - Source: Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2017
1 Hamilton Pl, Boston, MA 02108, USA
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) waves as she enters the Our Revolution Massachusetts Rally at the Orpheum Theatre on March 31, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts.
(March 30, 2017 - Source: Scott Eisen/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2017
200 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during a rally "to fight-back against the Republican war on the working class" February 16, 2017 at Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Activists held a rally to celebrate Andrew Puzder's decision to withdraw from consideration to be secretary of labor and Òto hold Trump accountable to the working class."
(Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2017
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, USA
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee members (L-R) Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) request a second round of questions during the confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be the next Secretary of Education, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. DeVos is known for her advocacy of school choice and education voucher programs and is a long-time leader of the Republican Party in Michigan.
(Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2017
First St SE, Washington, DC 20004, USA
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) (C) is joined by fellow Democrats from both the House and Senate, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R), following a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol January 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. Obama came to Capitol Hill to encourage his fellow Democrats to work to preserve his signature health care law, also known as Obamacare.
(JSource: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2017
51 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest Sen. Elizabeth Warren during Tuesday's November 20, 2017 show.
(Source: CBS)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2017
First St SE, Washington, DC 20004, USA
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) addresses a rally against the Republican tax plan outside the U.S. Capitol November 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. The rally was organized by Patriotic Millionaires, left-wing group of weathy people who support political representation for all citizens and believe that the rich should shoulder a greater burden of taxes.
(Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2018
Washington, DC 20002, USA
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (C) watches during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. This is the first State of the Union address given by U.S. President Donald Trump and his second joint-session address to Congress.
(Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2018
120 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002, USA
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) poses for a photo with demonstrators during a demonstration against Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the Hart Senate Office Building on September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. On Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
(Source: Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2010
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
U.S. President Barack Obama (C) speaks as Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (L) and Congressional Oversight Panel Chair Elizabeth Warren (R) listen during a Rose Garden announcement September 17, 2010 at the White House in Washington, DC. Obama has appointed Warren to be his assistant and special adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
(Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2012
138 St James Ave, Boston, MA 02116, USA
Elizabeth Warren waves to the crowd after her acceptance speech after beating incumbent U.S. Senator Scott Bown at the Copley Fairmont November 6, 2012 Boston, Massachusetts. The campaign was highly contested and closely watched and went down to the wire. Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
(Source: Darren McCollester/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2012
138 St James Ave, Boston, MA 02116, USA
Elizabeth Warren takes the stage for her acceptance after beating incumbent U.S. Senator Scott Bown at the Copley Fairmont November 6, 2012 Boston, Massachusetts. The campaign was highly contested and closely watched and went down to the wire.
(Source: Darren McCollester/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2014
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) campaigns for U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) on October 19, 2014 in Des Moines, Iowa. Braley is in a tight race for a Senate seat against Republican challenger Joni Ernst.
(Source: Steve Pope/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2014
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, USA
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) addresses a rally in support of Social Security and Medicare on Capitol Hill September 18, 2014 in Washington, DC. The rally was organized by American United for Change, a liberal advocacy group founded to fight the privitization of Social Security.
(Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2014
First St SE, Washington, DC 20004, USA
L-R) U.S. Sen. Barabara Mikulski (D-MD), U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) join other women Democratic senators for a news conference to announce their support for raising the minimum wage to $10.10 at the U.S. Capitol January 30, 2014 in Washington, DC. Twelve of the 16 Democratic women senators made appearances during the news conference.
(Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2015
1919 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) delivers remarks during the Good Jobs Green Jobs National Conference at the Washington Hilton April 13, 2015 in Washington, DC. Sponsored by a varied coalition including lightweight metals producer Alcoa, the United Steelworks union, the Sierra Club and various other labor, industry and telecommunications leaders, the conference promotes the use of efficient and renewable energy and cooperation in updating the country's energy infrastructure.
(April 12, 2015 - Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2016
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) receives the AARP “Champion of The 50+” award from AARP Massachusetts State Director Mike Festa and AARP Massachusetts Executive Council Member Deb Washington.
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2016
100 St Anselm Dr, Manchester, NH 03102, USA
Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) greet supporters during a campaign rally at Saint Anselm College on October 24, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire. With just over two weeks to go until the election, Hillary Clinton is campaigning in New Hampshire.
(Source: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Elizabeth Warren
2016
First St SE, Washington, DC 20004, USA
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-MA) speaks about social security while flanked by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, (D-WI) and a group of senior citizens during a news conference on Capitol Hill, February 9, 2016 in Washington, DC. Senate democrats are urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the "Seniors and Veterans Emergency Benefits Act" to the floor for a vote.
(March 8, 2016 - Source: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)
Achievements
Membership
Order of the Coif
2011
Awards
Campaign for America’s Future Progressive Champion Award
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) receives the AARP “Champion of The 50+” award from AARP Massachusetts State Director Mike Festa and AARP Massachusetts Executive Council Member Deb Washington.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award
2018
160 Warren St, Roxbury, MA 02119, USA
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren shows off her Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award at the Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury
Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World
Hi guys, I’m Roberto Edward, and I believe that nobody can fight cybercrime alone. Let’s unite and overcome the biggest challenge of our age. I live in Dubai City, UAE, and my dream is to see a Cybercrime free world.
Members of the Congressional Oversight panel, which was created to oversee the expenditure of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), (L-R) Paul Atkins, Chair Elizabeth Warren, Damon Silvers, and Richard Neiman, listen during a hearing before the panel December 10, 2009 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The hearing was to evaluate whether the TARP helping to improve the nation?s financial situation.
(Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)
Elizabeth Warren, Chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel on TARP, takes her seat to testify before the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill on June 9, 2009 in Washington, DC. Warren was testifying about the health of banks and asked for the release of more information about how the bank stress tests were conducted.
(June 9, 2009 - Source: Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images North America)
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
U.S. President Barack Obama (C) speaks as Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (L) and Congressional Oversight Panel Chair Elizabeth Warren (R) listen during a Rose Garden announcement September 17, 2010 at the White House in Washington, DC. Obama has appointed Warren to be his assistant and special adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
(Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)
Elizabeth Warren waves to the crowd after her acceptance speech after beating incumbent U.S. Senator Scott Bown at the Copley Fairmont November 6, 2012 Boston, Massachusetts. The campaign was highly contested and closely watched and went down to the wire. Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
(Source: Darren McCollester/Getty Images North America)
Elizabeth Warren takes the stage for her acceptance after beating incumbent U.S. Senator Scott Bown at the Copley Fairmont November 6, 2012 Boston, Massachusetts. The campaign was highly contested and closely watched and went down to the wire.
(Source: Darren McCollester/Getty Images North America)
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) campaigns for U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) on October 19, 2014 in Des Moines, Iowa. Braley is in a tight race for a Senate seat against Republican challenger Joni Ernst.
(Source: Steve Pope/Getty Images North America)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) addresses a rally in support of Social Security and Medicare on Capitol Hill September 18, 2014 in Washington, DC. The rally was organized by American United for Change, a liberal advocacy group founded to fight the privitization of Social Security.
(Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
L-R) U.S. Sen. Barabara Mikulski (D-MD), U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) join other women Democratic senators for a news conference to announce their support for raising the minimum wage to $10.10 at the U.S. Capitol January 30, 2014 in Washington, DC. Twelve of the 16 Democratic women senators made appearances during the news conference.
(Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
1919 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) delivers remarks during the Good Jobs Green Jobs National Conference at the Washington Hilton April 13, 2015 in Washington, DC. Sponsored by a varied coalition including lightweight metals producer Alcoa, the United Steelworks union, the Sierra Club and various other labor, industry and telecommunications leaders, the conference promotes the use of efficient and renewable energy and cooperation in updating the country's energy infrastructure.
(April 12, 2015 - Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) receives the AARP “Champion of The 50+” award from AARP Massachusetts State Director Mike Festa and AARP Massachusetts Executive Council Member Deb Washington.
Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) greet supporters during a campaign rally at Saint Anselm College on October 24, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire. With just over two weeks to go until the election, Hillary Clinton is campaigning in New Hampshire.
(Source: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-MA) speaks about social security while flanked by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, (D-WI) and a group of senior citizens during a news conference on Capitol Hill, February 9, 2016 in Washington, DC. Senate democrats are urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the "Seniors and Veterans Emergency Benefits Act" to the floor for a vote.
(March 8, 2016 - Source: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) waves as she enters the Our Revolution Massachusetts Rally at the Orpheum Theatre on March 31, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts.
(March 30, 2017 - Source: Scott Eisen/Getty Images North America)
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during a rally "to fight-back against the Republican war on the working class" February 16, 2017 at Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Activists held a rally to celebrate Andrew Puzder's decision to withdraw from consideration to be secretary of labor and Òto hold Trump accountable to the working class."
(Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee members (L-R) Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) request a second round of questions during the confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be the next Secretary of Education, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. DeVos is known for her advocacy of school choice and education voucher programs and is a long-time leader of the Republican Party in Michigan.
(Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) (C) is joined by fellow Democrats from both the House and Senate, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R), following a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol January 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. Obama came to Capitol Hill to encourage his fellow Democrats to work to preserve his signature health care law, also known as Obamacare.
(JSource: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) addresses a rally against the Republican tax plan outside the U.S. Capitol November 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. The rally was organized by Patriotic Millionaires, left-wing group of weathy people who support political representation for all citizens and believe that the rich should shoulder a greater burden of taxes.
(Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (C) watches during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. This is the first State of the Union address given by U.S. President Donald Trump and his second joint-session address to Congress.
(Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)
120 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002, USA
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) poses for a photo with demonstrators during a demonstration against Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the Hart Senate Office Building on September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. On Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
(Source: Getty Images North America)
The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke
(More than two decades ago, the women's movement flung ope...)
More than two decades ago, the women's movement flung open the doors of the workplace. Although this social revolution created a firestorm of controversy, no one questioned the idea that women's involvement in the workforce was certain to improve families' financial lot. Until now.In this brilliantly argued book, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and business consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are suffering from an unprecedented and totally unexpected economic meltdown. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but actually has less discretionary income once their fixed monthly bills are paid.How did this happen? Warren and Tyagi provide convincing evidence that the culprit is not "overconsumption," as many critics have charged. Instead, they point to the ferocious bidding war for housing and education that has quietly engulfed America's suburbs. Stay-at-home mothers once provided a financial safety net if disaster struck; their move into the workforce has left today's families chillingly at risk. The authors show why the usual remedies--child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women--won't solve the problem, and propose a set of innovative solutions, from rate caps on credit cards to open-access public schools, to restore security to the middle class. More than two decades ago, the women's movement flung open the doors of the workplace. Although this social revolution created a firestorm of controversy, no one questioned the idea that women's involvement in the workforce was certain to improve families' financial lot. Until now.In this brilliantly argued book, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and business consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are suffering from an unprecedented and totally unexpected economic meltdown. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but actually has less discretionary income once their fixed monthly bills are paid.How did this happen? Warren and Tyagi provide convincing evidence that the culprit is not "overconsumption," as many critics have charged. Instead, they point to the ferocious bidding war for housing and education that has quietly engulfed America's suburbs. Stay-at-home mothers once provided a financial safety net if disaster struck; their move into the workforce has left today's families chillingly at risk. The authors show why the usual remedies--child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women--won't solve the problem, and propose a set of innovative solutions, from rate caps on credit cards to open-access public schools, to restore security to the middle class.
(This personal finance guide from Dr. Phil’s financial gur...)
This personal finance guide from Dr. Phil’s financial guru, Elizabeth Warren, offers a new way of thinking about and managing your money that will allow you lifelong emotional peace and financial well-being. You work hard and try to save money, so why is there never enough to cover all the bills, to put some away in your child’s college fund, to pay off your credit card debt—or to relax and have some fun, for once? In the New York Times bestseller All Your Worth, mother/daughter team Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi—authors of the acclaimed The Two-Income Trap—tell you the truth about money. The authors lay out a groundbreaking approach to getting control of your money so you can finally start building the life you’ve always wanted. The result of more than twenty years of intensive research, All Your Worth offers you a step-by-step plan that will let you master your finances—for the rest of your life. The secret? It’s simple, really: get your money in balance. Warren and Tyagi show you how to balance your money into three essential parts: the Must-Haves (the bills you have to pay every month), the Wants (some fun money for right now), and your Savings (to build a better tomorrow). No complicated budgets, no keeping track of every penny. Warren and Tyagi will show you a whole new way of looking at money—and yourself—that will help you get your finances on track so you can enjoy peace of mind for the rest of your life.
(An unlikely political star tells the inspiring story of t...)
An unlikely political star tells the inspiring story of the two-decade journey that taught her how Washington really works—and really doesn't—in A Fighting Chance As a child in small-town Oklahoma, Elizabeth Warren yearned to go to college and then become an elementary school teacher—an ambitious goal, given her family's modest means. Early marriage and motherhood seemed to put even that dream out of reach, but fifteen years later she was a distinguished law professor with a deep understanding of why people go bankrupt. Then came the phone call that changed her life: could she come to Washington DC to help advise Congress on rewriting the bankruptcy laws? Thus began an impolite education into the bare-knuckled, often dysfunctional ways of Washington. She fought for better bankruptcy laws for ten years and lost. She tried to hold the federal government accountable during the financial crisis but became a target of the big banks. She came up with the idea for a new agency designed to protect consumers from predatory bankers and was denied the opportunity to run it. Finally, at age 62, she decided to run for elective office and won the most competitive—and watched—Senate race in the country. In this passionate, funny, rabble-rousing book, Warren shows why she has chosen to fight tooth and nail for the middle class—and why she has become a hero to all those who believe that America's government can and must do better for working families.
This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class
(The fiery U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and bestselling...)
The fiery U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and bestselling author offers a passionate, inspiring book about why our middle class is under siege and how we can win the fight to save it Senator Elizabeth Warren has long been an outspoken champion of America’s middle class, and by the time the people of Massachusetts elected her in 2012, she had become one of the country’s leading progressive voices. Now, at a perilous moment for our nation, she has written a book that is at once an illuminating account of how we built the strongest middle class in history, a scathing indictment of those who have spent the past thirty-five years undermining working families, and a rousing call to action. Warren grew up in Oklahoma, and she’s never forgotten how difficult it was for her mother and father to hold on at the ragged edge of the middle class. An educational system that offered opportunities for all made it possible for her to achieve her dream of going to college, becoming a teacher, and, later, attending law school. But now, for many, these kinds of opportunities are gone, and a government that once looked out for working families is instead captive to the rich and powerful. Seventy-five years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal ushered in an age of widespread prosperity; in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan reversed course and sold the country on the disastrous fiction called trickle-down economics. Now, with the election of Donald Trump—a con artist who promised to drain the swamp of special interests and then surrounded himself with billionaires and lobbyists—the middle class is being pushed ever closer to collapse. Written in the candid, high-spirited voice that is Warren’s trademark, This Fight Is Our Fight tells eye-opening stories about her battles in the Senate and vividly describes the experiences of hard-working Americans who have too often been given the short end of the stick. Elizabeth Warren has had enough of phony promises and a government that no longer serves its people—she won’t sit down, she won’t be silenced, and she will fight back.
Elizabeth Ann Warren, née Elizabeth Herring, is an American legal scholar and politician. She is a Democrat from Massachusetts who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012. She previously worked as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among several other roles.
Background
Warren was born Elizabeth Ann Herring in Oklahoma City on June 22, 1949, the fourth child of middle-class parents Pauline (née Reed, 1912–1995) and Donald Jones Herring (1911–1997). Warren has described her family as teetering "on the ragged edge of the middle class" and "kind of hanging on at the edges by our fingernails". She had three older brothers.
Warren lived in Norman until she was 11 years old, when the family moved to Oklahoma City. When she was 12, her father, a salesman at Montgomery Ward, had a heart attack, which led to many medical bills as well as a pay cut because he could not do his previous work. Eventually, their car was repossessed because they failed to make loan payments. To help the family finances, her mother found work in the catalog order department at Sears. When she was 13, Warren started waiting tables at her aunt's restaurant.
Warren has said that as a child she was told by older family members that she had Native American ancestry, and that "being Native American has been part of my story, I guess, since the day I was born".
Education
Warren became a star member of the debate team at Northwest Classen High School and won the state high school debating championship. She also won a debate scholarship to George Washington University (GWU) at the age of 16. She initially aspired to be a teacher, but left GWU after two years in 1968.
Elizabeth Warren enrolled in the University of Houston and graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree in speech pathology and audiology. Warren enrolled in Rutgers Law School at Rutgers University–Newark. After she received her J.D. and passed the bar examination, she decided to perform legal services from home; she wrote wills and did real estate closings.
Elizabeth embarked on a career as a law-school professor that eventually took her to Harvard University. Along the way, she became an expert on bankruptcy law.
Warren testified before congressional committees about financial matters affecting Americans, a topic that she wrote about in a number of books, including The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt (2000) and The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke (2003). It was as the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the body authorized under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to rescue foundering American financial institutions in 2008, that Warren became a national figure. She then championed the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was established under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. As interim director, Warren structured and staffed the bureau tasked with protecting people from financial fraud and chicanery, but she was not nominated as its permanent head by U.S. Pres. Barack Obama, who, according to some, feared that Republicans would block her appointment. Nevertheless, Warren had become a populist bellwether and a liberal icon, celebrated by talk-show hosts Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, on whose programs she appeared.
In 2011 Warren began seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat long held by Ted Kennedy before his death. She captured nearly 96 percent of the votes at the party’s state convention and thereby avoided a primary election. Like her Republican opponent, incumbent Scott Brown, who had won the special election to replace Kennedy, Warren campaigned as a defender of the embattled middle class. She confounded accusations of Harvard elitism with her down-to-earth personality and argued the benefits of good government, confronting Brown’s advocacy of rugged individualism with her contention that every entrepreneur had benefited from public works and from employees well educated in public schools. After Warren was accused of having misrepresented herself as being of partly Native American descent (which she could not formally document), she explained that her identification as partly Cherokee and Delaware came by way of family stories. In the November 2012 election, Warren defeated Brown; upon taking office in January 2013, she became the first woman to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate.
In 2014 Warren released a memoir, A Fighting Chance, in which she chronicled formative portions of her early life as well as some of her experiences in government. Having campaigned energetically for the Democratic candidate in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton, Warren took a leading role in aggressively questioning and opposing a number of the cabinet nominees of the winner of that election, Republican U.S. Pres. Donald Trump, notably the eventual secretary of education Betsy DeVos and attorney general Jeff Sessions. In February 2017, as part of her opposition to Sessions’s nomination, she was reading a letter that civil rights activist Coretta Scott King had written to the Senate in 1986 opposing Sessions’s nomination to a federal court judgeship when Warren was silenced and formally rebuked for having violated a seldom-used rule that prohibited senators from impugning the conduct or motives of other senators during debate. Warren finished reading the letter on Facebook in a video posting that was viewed by millions. Later in 2017 she published This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America’s Middle Class.
In September 2018 Warren’s assertion of Native American heritage was back in the news when an investigative report by The Boston Globe concluded that Warren had never used claims of Indian ancestry to further her career, a charge that had been central to accusations of her critics, including Trump, who referred to her derisively as Pocahontas. In October Warren, running for reelection to the Senate, posted a video in which she attempted to contextualize and explain her identification as Native American and in which she reported the results of DNA testing that indicated strong support for the existence of a Native American ancestor for Warren, probably between 6 and 10 generations ago. Trump and other critics belittled the finding, emphasizing that it indicated that Warren had only between 1/64 and 1/1,024 Native American blood. Moreover, representatives of the Cherokee Nation dismissed the relevance of the genetic testing and instead pointed to legal criteria and genealogical evidence as the appropriate determinant of Indian heritage.
Warren captured some three-fifths of the vote in the November 2018 polling to win reelection to the Senate over Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who had been a cochair of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Massachusetts, and independent Shiva Ayyadurai. Warren then became the first major figure to enter the field for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 when she announced her candidacy at the end of December 2018.
(The fiery U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and bestselling...)
2017
Religion
Elizabeth was raised as a Methodist.
Politics
Warren is known for her progressive politics and her populist views on the economy.
In December 2016, Warren announced plans to introduce a bill to address President-elect Donald Trump's perceived conflicts of interest related to his business empire. Under her proposed bill, Donald Trump could face impeachment if he fails to declare conflicts of interest between his presidential role and his business interests. Warren states, "The only way for President-elect Trump to truly eliminate conflicts-of-interest is to divest his financial interests and place them in a blind trust. This has been the standard for previous presidents, and our bill makes clear the continuing expectation that President-elect Trump do the same." On January 9, 2017, the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act, was first read in the Senate.
In November 2018, Warren said she will not vote for Trump's United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) saying, "It won't stop outsourcing, it won't raise wages, and it won't create jobs. It's NAFTA 2.0." She also believes that it will make it harder to reduce drug prices because it will allow drug companies to lock in the prices they are currently charging for many drugs.
In 2018, Warren had called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In January 2019, Warren criticized President Donald Trump's announcement of his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan. Although she agreed that US troops should be withdrawn from Syria and Afghanistan, she said such withdrawals should be part of a "coordinated" plan formed with US allies.
Views
Warren supports abortion rights and opposes any Supreme Court nominees who "oppose legal abortion".
She supports same-sex marriage and passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
Warren supports the right of states to legalize marijuana, both for medical and recreational purposes, and introduced the STATES Act during the 115th U.S. Congress to amend the Controlled Substances Act to lift the Federal prohibition of marijuana in states that have passed legislation to legalize it.
Quotations:
“The word’s out: I’m a woman, and I’m going to have trouble backing off on that. I am what I am. I’ll go out and talk to people about what’s happening to their families, and when I do that, I’m a mother. I’m a grandmother.”
“As one of the great philosophers of our time has said, ‘Haters going to hate, hate, hate hate, hate, ‘” Warren said. “Knowing who you are helps you ‘Shake It Off.’”
“Americans are fighters. We’re tough, resourceful and creative, and if we have the chance to fight on a level playing field, where everyone pays a fair share and everyone has a real shot, then no one – no one can stop us.”
“You can’t predict it all. People will tell you to plan, to focus. They will tell you that if you want to succeed, you must stubbornly stay on your path no matter what. And they will be right. But they will also be wrong.”
“Don’t be so focused in your plans that you are unwilling to consider the unexpected.”
“You have to figure out who you are, and who you are isn’t about what job you have or what kind of car you drive. You have to think hard about what really matters to you.”
“Change is hard. And if you don’t fight for it, you can’t win. But change can happen.”
Membership
In 2011, she obtained a membership in the Order of the Coif.
Order of the Coif
2011
Personality
She is widely credited for the original thinking, political courage, and relentless persistence that led to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
She married her high-school sweetheart, mathematician Jim Warren, at age 19 and moved to Texas. The couple had two children, Amelia and Alexander, before they divorced in 1978. Two years later, Warren married Bruce H. Mann, a law professor, but she decided to retain the surname of her first husband. She also has grandchildren.