Who Is Nikki Haley’s Husband? All About Michael Haley

Nikki Haley and her husband William Michael Haley have been married since 1996.

They first met in college seven years ago and had two children: daughter Rena and son Nalin. Nikki — who was a contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — has been open about how much her husband and family mean to her.

“I would be lost without him,” Nikki wrote of Michael in her 2012 memoir. I can’t, it’s not an option: My American Story.

During their decades together, the couple has experienced both triumphs and challenges, including Michael’s engagement during Nikki’s tenure as governor of South Carolina. Michael, a major in the National Guard, served another one-year tour of duty in Djibouti, Africa, beginning in June 2023.

After campaigning for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, she dropped out of the race in March, telling a crowd in South Carolina that she was “filled with gratitude” for their support.

So who is Nikki Haley’s husband? Here’s everything you need to know about Michael Haley and his relationship with the politician.

Michael was adopted as a child

Nikki Haley and Michael Haley in 2021.

Nikki Haley’s Instagram

Michael was born in Ohio. According to Nikki’s memoir, Michael’s biological father “was an alcoholic who had trouble with the law,” and the home his family shared had no electricity or running water. When Michael was a child, he and his four siblings were placed in foster care. Their mother was due to regain custody until she was in a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her unable to care for the children.

Michael and his siblings were again placed in foster care. Bill Haley, a steel mill manager, and Carol Haley, a teacher, adopted 4-year-old Michael and his younger sister Lee Anne. The other three of Michael’s siblings were adopted by different families.

The Haleys eventually moved from Ohio to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where Michael graduated from high school. Nikki wrote that Michael did not reconnect with the rest of his siblings more than 15 years after the adoption.

Nikki credited Michael’s story with influencing her anti-abortion political stance.

“In politics, people assume that if you’re a Republican, you’re fertile because the party tells you to be,” she wrote I can’t is not an option. “I’m profitable because I get to spend every day with the love of my life knowing that I’m blessed that someone saved his life.”

They met in college while he was dating someone else

Nikki Haley and William Michael Haley are celebrating Valentine’s Day 2024.

Nikki Haley’s Instagram

In 1989, Nikki, then 17, started school at Clemson University; Michael, who was 19 at the time, enrolled at nearby Anderson University. Michael’s roommate, John, happened to be a friend of Nikki’s from her hometown and introduced them. They hit it off immediately and became fast friends, spending almost the entire weekend together. However, after Michael told Nikki he had a girlfriend, she didn’t pursue him.

The next weekend they saw each other at a party. Although Michael came with his girlfriend, he kept coming to talk to Nikki. “I wanted no part of it, but I thought it was funny that every time I left he came to check on me,” she wrote in I can’t is not an option. – Boys.

The next week, Nikki heard that Michael and his girlfriend had broken up. “I can’t say I was devastated by the turn of events,” she recalled.

They started dating, and Michael impressed Nikki with his honesty and gratitude – and his honesty may have saved their budding relationship. Michael told her he was interested in dating her and another girl at the same time, to which she replied, “I don’t date people who also date other people,” and wished him luck with another girl.

That was all she had to say: he never dated another girl, and Nikki and Michael were inseparable from that moment on. Michael even transferred to Clemson University to spend more time with her.

Nikki changed Michael’s nickname

Nikki Haley and her husband Michael Haley attend Day 3 of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Win McNamee/Getty

Before college, Michael was called Bill, short for his first name, William. However, after he and Nikki started dating, she thought “Bill” wasn’t right for him. When she learned his middle name, she started calling him Michael.

“Everyone who knows him before me knows him as Billa,” she wrote, “and everyone who knows him after me knows him as Michaela.”

Nikki converted to Christianity for Michael

Nikki Haley along with her husband Michael Haley are honored at the 2014 Golden Temple.

Sameer Sehgal/Hindustan Times/Getty

Born to Ajit Singh and Raj Kaur Randhawa, two immigrants from India, Nikki was raised in the Sikh faith. When she and Michael married in 1996—after initially postponing their wedding because of Hurricane Fran—they had two ceremonies: one Sikh and one Christian in St. Andrew By-the-Sea, Methodist Church in Hilton Head.

Nikki told in 2010 The New York Times that she was baptized in St. Andrija by the sea before their wedding; their children Rena and Nalin were also baptized in the Methodist church. She also said her family attended both Methodist and Sikh services.

Michael is in the National Guard

Nikki Haley and Michael Haley in 2015.

Kim Foster-Tobin/The State/Tribune News Service/Getty

Michael is a major in the South Carolina National Guard and served a year of service in Afghanistan in 2012 while Nikki was governor, making him one of the first spouses of a governor to enter active duty in a war zone.

“This deployment is why I joined the National Guard,” Michael said in a statement at the time, according to The August Chronicle. “The only thing that gives me pause is a year’s deployment away from my family. But in the end, I can’t help but think that I will give a year together with my comrades, as many have done before me, to ensure a life full of freedom for my family is well worth everything that comes with it.”

In June 2023, Michael was deployed to Djibouti for a year. “There are so many mixed emotions,” Nikki told reporters after the deployment ceremony, per ABC News. “There’s so much pride. As a wife, a military spouse, this is when we start a year-long prayer to make sure that they go out there, they do their job effectively, they do it in a way that’s strong and they come home safe.”

While Nikki was still running in the presidential primary, her campaign said Michael was the first spouse of a candidate to be engaged during a presidential race. “I am just one of the many military spouses watching their loved ones leave today and we feel an incredible sense of pride,” she added. “We feel an incredible sense of service. And maybe we feel an incredible sense of sadness. But at the same time, we couldn’t be happier to see them go and do what they were meant to do in their blood. And we’re so proud.”

They share two children together

Nikki Haley with her husband Michael Haley and their children, Rena and Nalin.

Nikki Haley’s Instagram

Nikki and Michael welcomed their first child, daughter Rena, on June 8, 1998, two years after they married. Their second child, son Nalin, was born on September 6, 2001 in South Carolina.

Although neither of her children was interested in her career in politics, both supported their mother’s race. Rena appeared at GOP debates in her father’s absence, while Nalin worked on Nikki’s campaign.

In an interview with FOX News’ Harris Faulkner, the two children spoke candidly about how Michael and Nikki raised them to appreciate their country while creating a sense of normalcy despite their father being in the National Guard and their mother working in the public sector service.

“We were always taught to love and respect this country and really understand what it means to be blessed to live in America,” Nalin said.

Rena added: “They tried really hard to make it very normal for us, we weren’t on TV a lot and they made it very homey.”

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Source: HIS Education