West VirginiaGovernor Joe Manchin III
A lifelong resident of Marion County, West Virginia, Governor Manchin earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from West Virginia University in 1970 and returned to Marion County to operate a family-owned retail carpet business. He later went on to own Enersystems, a privately held natural-resources company. He began his public service in 1982 when he was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates. In 1986 he was elected to the West Virginia State Senate; he was re-elected to the state senate in 1988 and 1992. Manchin became West Virginia's secretary of state in January 2001 and served in that capacity until November 2004, when he was elected to the first of his two terms as governor. |
