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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

Biography
Palin was born as Sarah Louise Heath in Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S.A..

Palin was the point guard for the Wasilla High School Warriors when they won the Alaska small-school basketball championship, in 1982.[1] In 1984, Palin competed in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant after winning the Miss Wasilla contest earlier that year.[2] In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and also won Miss Congeniality.

Details of Palin’s personal life have contributed to her political image. She eats moose burgers and rides snowmobiles.[3] She admits that she used marijuana when it was legal in Alaska, but says that she did not like it.[4]

Palin holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Idaho. She briefly worked in the media and utility industries.[citation needed]

Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association. Her husband, Todd, works for BP at an oil field on the North Slope[5] and is a commercial fisherman.[citation needed] On September 11, 2007, the Palins’ son Track joined the Army. Age 18 at the time, he is the eldest of her five children.[6] She also has three daughters, Bristol, 17, Willow, 13, and Piper, 7.[7] On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome.[8] The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Anchorage.[6]

[edit] Pre-gubernatorial political experience
Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council from 1992 to 1996 and became a two-term mayor and city manager of Wasilla, one of Alaska’s fastest-growing communities. She was in office from 1996 to 2002.[9] Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.[7]

In 2002, Palin made a failed bid for Lieutenant Governor, coming in second to Loren Leman in a four-way race. After Frank Murkowski became governor (resigning his long-held U.S. Senate seat in mid-term), some considered Palin to be his possible successor.[citation needed] However, Murkowski appointed his daughter, then-Alaska State Representative Lisa Murkowski.

Then-Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission[10], where she served from 2003 to 2004 — until resigning in protest over what she perceived to be the “lack of ethics” of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders.[citation needed] Her critics included the state Republican party’s chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners (who was accused of doing work for the party on public time, and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail).[11] Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes (who was eventually acquitted). Palin also served an elected term on the Valley Hospital board.[citation needed]