Sarah Palin's Husband the "First Dude of Alaska"

The First Gentleman of Alaska is referred to as the "First Dude" by his wife, Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska, and the nominee for the Republican Vice-President of the United States. Todd Mitchell Palin, born September 6, 1964, in Dillingham, Alaska is the son of James and Blanche Palin.

His father is the former general manager of Matanuska Electrical Association. His mother is the former secretary of the Alaska Federation of Natives. Her heritage is one-quarter Yup'ik. His maternal grandmother, Lena Andre, is a member of the Curyung Tribe. Todd Palin is 1/8 Alaskan Native American.

Todd Palin appears to be his own man. He offers a diverse background of both interests and hobbies. A lifelong Alaskan he is 44 years old and recently celebrated his 20^th wedding anniversary with his governor-wife.

The digging continues on both of the Palin's. It presently seems as though the biggest negative to be found about Palin is that he was arrested, at the age of 20, in 1984 for drunken driving. It should be clarified that no injuries were involved and there was no accident that led to his arrest.

He completed high school and he has some college classes under his belt.  Palin has made an effort, as First Gentleman, to encourage young adults, unable to afford to attend college, to be open to accepting jobs in the oil and gas industry. He considers this as a strong training ground. He advised his wife on workforce development issues for the natural gas pipeline she seemingly supports. Palin also does community volunteer work. This involves coaching basketball and hockey while working in other youth sports.

Palin married Sarah Heath in August, 1988. Rumor has it that the couple eloped so her parents would not have too cough up the cost of a formal wedding. When meeting with the justice of the peace, on their wedding day, they were not aware they needed a witness for the ceremony. This was soon solved by visiting the home next door, to the justice, and recruiting two senior citizens.

During their years together they have had five children. The youngest of these children is just a few months of age and he was named Trig. Their eldest son is named Track. He has been a member of the U.S. Army for one year and he was deployed to Iraq this very day. The couple has three girls: Bristol, Willow, and Piper.

His career job has been with British Petroleum for 18 years. Since he was in a management position he took a leave of absence last year to avoid any conflict with his wife's position as governor. This lasted just seven months when the family realized they needed an additional income. Palin returned to BP in a non-management capacity. He is also a commercial salmon fisherman. He is a member of the United Steelworkers. In 2007 he declared that he earned $92,790.

Aside from raising a family, being the first gentleman of Alaska, working, and volunteering, Palin also has a Private Pilot Certificate. Too, he has been a champion snowmobile racer.  Earlier this year, while defending his Tesoro Iron Dog Championship, he was thrown 70 feet from his machine. Although he was sent to the hospital with a broken arm, he managed to finish in fourth place. He has been the champion of this race four times.

Palin appears to be an all-around athlete. Above that, however, he seems to be an involved family man. Aside from his work he also manages to do volunteer work. It seems as though he has been able to fit the position of first gentleman into his schedule. He may have a new agenda item to add, later in the year, as  that of the husband of the Vice-President of the United States.

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