Sarah Palin is an American politician who served as the ninth Governor of Alaska, from 2006 to 2009. A Republican, she ran for the office of the Vice President in the 2008 Presidential election, alongside the presidential nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, becoming the first Republican woman to be nominated for the Vice Presidency. The daughter of a school teacher, she grew up to be an intelligent, beautiful and confident young woman. As a teenager, she was known for her competitive spirit and was very active in sports during her high school years. The versatile youngster was also musically inclined and was well-known for her beauty and poise—in fact she finished third in the Miss Alaska pageant. She completed a degree in communications at the University of Idaho and entered politics a few years later when she won a seat on the Wasilla city council. She went on to become the city’s mayor and had a successful stint that further fuelled her political ambitions. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected the Governor of Alaska in 2006, becoming the youngest person and first woman to be elected to the post. A popular politician, she gained national prominence when John McCain selected her to be his Vice Presidential running mate in 2008. The duo lost the election and Palin returned to her duties as the governor. In early 2015, the media speculated that she might be running for the Republican ticket for the 2016 Presidential election