Haley Barbour, former governor of Mississippi, is a founding partner of the BGR Group in Washington, D.C. and is of council with the law firm of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada in Ridgeland.
Barbour began his political career in 1968 as a member of Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign. By 1976, he was managing Gerald Ford’s campaign in the Southeast and would go on to serve as White House political director under President Ronald Regan and as a member of President George H.W. Bush’s campaign.
From 1993-1997, Barbour served as chairman of the Republican National Committee. In 2003, he made history as the second Republican governor elected in Mississippi since Reconstruction. As governor from 2004-2012, Barbour realigned economic development and created thousands of jobs, enacted what the Wall Street Journal termed the most comprehensive tort reform law in the country, reorganized job training efforts and balanced the state’s budget. In his two terms as governor, per capita income of Mississippians rose 34.2 percent.
Barbour received national recognition for his leadership including “Governor of the Year for 2006” by Governing magazine; the Gulf Guardian Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for his work to rebuild and protect sensitive coastal ecosystems; the 2008 Adam Smith Medal from BIPAC for his pursuit of the principles of free enterprise; and the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award.
Barbour returned to private practice at BGR Group and joined Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada in 2012.
He resides in Yazoo City with his wife, Marsha. They have two sons, Sterling and Reeves, and four grandchildren.