Who is Mike Huckabee?

Quick facts

• Full name: Michael Dale Huckabee
• Born: Hope, Arkansas
• Party: Republican
• Current role: 29th U.S. Ambassador to Israel (since April 2025)
• Previous role: 44th Governor of Arkansas (1996–2007)
• Education: B.A., Ouachita Baptist University; attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
• Spouse: Janet McCain Huckabee (married 1974)
• Children: 3, including Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders
• Author: 14 books

Their story

A Republican, he served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007, and ran for his party's presidential nomination in both 2008 and 2016. He assumed the governorship after his predecessor resigned, and with his reelection he became the third-longest serving governor in the state's history.

Often called the "accidental" or "reverend" governor, Huckabee was simultaneously active in both politics and ministry. Beginning in 1989, he served two terms as president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, and was the youngest president in the organization's 150-year history.

He is not a conventional diplomat. A Baptist pastor, former Arkansas governor, presidential candidate and television host, he came to the ambassadorship after decades in American public life and an even longer relationship with Israel. In 1973, Huckabee made his first trip to Israel as a recent high school graduate, and the experience of visiting the Biblical sites had such a profound impact on 17-year-old Mike Huckabee that he would go on to lead tens of thousands of people on similarly life-changing visits.

As Ambassador to Israel

Huckabee was nominated to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the State of Israel, and was confirmed by the Senate by a 53–46 vote. He assumed the office on April 21, 2025, succeeding Jack Lew.

He is renowned for his decades-long advocacy for the U.S.-Israel alliance and has been a vocal supporter of Israel's sovereignty, security and its historic right to Jerusalem as its eternal capital. He played a key role in building grassroots support for the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and has championed the Abraham Accords as a transformative step toward peace in the Middle East.

He became the first U.S. ambassador to visit the West Bank during his tenure when he traveled to the archaeological site of Shiloh and met with regional officials. He also participated in the signing of an agreement establishing a future permanent campus for the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

On the diplomatic front, Huckabee has rejected the idea that confronting Iran is chiefly Israel's problem. He has strongly defended Israelis who live in the territory widely known as the West Bank, but has also condemned recent attacks on Palestinians and described those responsible as terrorists.