Photos capture how Elizabeth Warren became an academic, a US Senator, and a leading Democratic presidential contender

Joseph Zeballos-Roig

Jun 29, 2019, 17:30 IST

Photos capture how Elizabeth Warren became an academic, a US Senator, and a leading Democratic presidential contender

Reuters/Rachel Mummey

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on a campaign swing through Fairfield, Iowa.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren has forged a political identity as a fighter who wants to level the playing field for the American middle class.
Now she is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency, centering her campaign on a progressive vision to tilt the economic scales of power away from corporations and the rich.
Warren's life trajectory has taken her from the prairies of Oklahoma to the classrooms of Harvard Law School and finally into the halls of Congress.
Here's how a spirited academic became an influential senator and now a leading contender for the presidency.
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Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has forged a political identity as a fighter aiming to level the playing field for the American middle class. First a respected academic, Warren started rising to national prominence after the 2008 financial crisis. When she arrived to Washington, she blasted the lack of government accountability for the banks and financiers that nearly caused an economic meltdown.

Then she ran for the Senate in 2012 and won a competitive race against Republican incumbent Scott Brown, becoming the first female senator to represent Massachusetts.

Now she is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency, centering her campaign on a progressive vision to tilt the economic scales of power away from corporations and the rich.

On the campaign trail, she regularly talks about a critical juncture in her childhood: her mother's decision to get a minimum-wage job answering phones at Sears.

In the 1960s, Warren's father suffered a heart attack. He then lost his job as a salesman in Oklahoma City, and their options were very limited. Suddenly, the Warren family risked losing their home and were on the brink of financial ruin.

She credits her mother's job with keeping the family out of poverty, which gave them the money to pay the bills and stay afloat during hard times.

"It's a story about government. And about no matter how hard you work, the rules made by the people in government will still make the big difference in your life," she said at a presidential candidate forum earlier this year.

Here's how a spirited academic became an influential senator and now a leading contender for the presidency:

Elizabeth Warren was born Elizabeth Herring in Norman, Oklahoma on June 12, 1949. Growing up, her family called her 'Betsy.'

Warren had three older brothers, all of whom later served in the military.

A brilliant student, Warren skipped the sixth grade. And the family later moved to Oklahoma City so she could attend a better school.

In the 1960s, Warren's father suffered a heart attack and lost his job. Warren credits her mother Pauline's decision to get a job at Sears with rescuing her family from financial ruin. Warren said: 'That minimum-wage job saved our home, and my mother saved our family.'

By the age of 16, Warren was the state debate champion and graduating high school. She enrolled at George Washington University that same year on a debate scholarship and had a desire to become a teacher.

Warren dropped out of GW during her sophomore year to marry her high-school boyfriend. She later graduated from the University of Houston, moved to New Jersey and gave birth to her first daughter Amelia in 1971.

In 1980, Warren married her second husband, Harvard Law School Professor Bruce Mann. After earning her law degree, Warren went on to teach law at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School among other schools.

Warren spent much of her academic career researching why Americans filed for bankruptcy. She found most financial victims were middle-class families who had faced a devastating personal event: job loss, divorce, or health problems. Her research overturned traditional ideas of who experienced financial hardship and why.

Lawmakers in Washington began relying on Warren's financial expertise and she traveled there to testify on various bills. During the 2008 financial crisis, she was appointed to head the panel overseeing the $700 billion bailout fund, known as the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

As head of the bailout fund, she criticized Obama's Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner for not doing more for small businesses and homeowners impacted by the financial crisis. In his memoir, Geithner said Warren's oversight hearings resembled 'made-for-YouTube inquisitions rather than serious inquiries.'

The financial crisis deepened Warren's view that there needed to be a federal agency charged with protecting consumers from predatory lending and other fraudulent practices. Then President Obama appointed her to help set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in September 2010.

When Obama passed her over to lead the CFPB, Warren returned to Massachusetts to run for the Senate against a Republican incumbent in 2012. Her opponent lambasted her 'elitist attitude' and called her 'anti-free enterprise.'

But Warren came from behind to win 54% of the vote, becoming the first female US Senator from Massachusetts.

Warren's time in the Senate cemented her identity as a policy wonk. She continued pushing for greater transparency from Wall Street and introduced a bill on student loan reform.

In one memorable hearing, Warren called Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf 'gutless' for his handling of a fake bank account scandal. She also demanded Stumpf's resignation.

Warren briefly considered a 2016 presidential run before opting out. In the Democratic primary, she supported former Secretary of State Hillary over Sen. Bernie Sanders. Warren later delivered the keynote address at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

During the Trump presidency, Warren has fiercely opposed many of the administration's policies on immigration, healthcare and the economy. But she's also been critical of the Democratic party's approach, saying: 'Far too often, Democrats have been unwilling to get out there and fight.'

Last year, Warren was criticized for taking a DNA test to prove she had distant Native American ancestry. She apologized, and went on to win reelection in the Senate.

Warren announced her candidacy earlier this year, campaigning on a stream of policy ideas that would remake the American economy. Now a leading contender, she's rolling out detailed policy proposals on taxes, student loans and universal child care. Warren's campaign has embraced the slogan: 'I have a plan for that.'

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