Amid the ongoing presidential race campaigns, Nikki Haley‘s husband remains her number one support system. Michael Haley, who is currently serving a year-long deployment in Africa, is the first person the GOP hopeful expressed her gratitude towards during her speech following her Iowa caucus defeat. In her 2012 memoir, Can’t Is Not An Option: My American Story, Nikki wrote that she “would be lost without” Michael.
Michael, who is a National Guardsman, is currently deployed in Djibouti, Africa. His decision to serve the year-long deployment that began in June 2023, was voluntary. Nikki has often listed her husband’s military career as one of her motives for running. Despite supporting Nikki’s campaigns, Michael has somewhat always been away from the limelight
Nikki and Michael first met in college in 1989 through a mutual friend. The then-17-year-old Nikki told Michael, who was dating another girl at the time, “I don’t date people who also date other people,” according to her memoir.
Although the duo hit it off instantly, they didn’t start dating until Michael called things off with his then-girlfriend. “I can’t say I was heartbroken by the turn of events,” the 52-year-old Republican confessed in her book. From then on, Nikki and Michael were inseparable. Fast forward to 1996, they got married and now share two children: daughter, Rena and son, Nalin.
The National Guard Major, who was born in Ohio, was adopted as a child. According to his wife’s memoir, Michael’s biological father was “an alcoholic” and often had run-ins with the law. His birth parents’ house didn’t have running water or electricity.
As a toddler, Michael, along with his four siblings, was placed in foster care. Michael was adopted by Bill Haley, a steel mill manager, and Carol Haley, a teacher, when he was four years old. Nikki has credited Michael’s story as an influence behind her anti-abortion political stance, per People.
Nikki converted to Christianity for Michael
Nikki’s love and devotion for Michael have been immense throughout their decades-long relationship. Nikki, who was raised in the Sikh faith, converted to Christianity before her wedding to Michael. She told the New York Times in 2010, that she was baptized at St. Andrew By-the-Sea. However, the couple had both Sikh and Christian wedding ceremonies. Their children had also been baptized.
