
Purchase
Can't Is Not An Option
Nikki Haley
My American Story
Sentinel
April 2012
On Sale: March 27, 2012
256 pages ISBN: 1595230858 EAN: 9781595230850 Kindle: B005ZO7T3M Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Memoir
> A rising star in the Republican Party shares her
inspirational memoir of family, hope, and the power of the
American Dream. Decades before their daughter
surprised the nation by becoming governor of South
Carolina, Nikki Haley's parents had a dream. Ajit and Raj
Randhawa were well-educated, well-off Sikhs in the Punjab
region of India. But despite their high social status, the
Randhawas wanted more for their family-the opportunities
that only America could offer. So they left behind all
they had known and settled in Bamberg, South Carolina
(population: 2,500). As the first Indian family in a small
Southern town in the early 1970s, the Randhawas faced
ignorance, prejudice, and sometimes blatant hostility.
Nikki remembers stopping at a roadside produce stand with
her father, who always wore his traditional Sikh turban.
Within minutes, two police cars pulled to make sure they
weren't thieves. But the Randhawas taught their
children that they should never think of themselves as
victims. They stressed that if you work hard and stay true
to yourself, you can overcome any obstacle. The key is
believing that can't is not an option. The family
struggled to make ends meet while starting a clothing
business in their living room, eventually growing it into a
multimillion- dollar success. At age twelve, Nikki started
to do the bookkeeping and taxes after school. After
graduating from college and entering the business world,
she watched business owners like her parents battle
government bureaucracy and overregulation. Her
frustration inspired her to get into politics and run for
the state legislature. That first campaign, against an
entrenched incumbent, led to racial and religious slurs and
threats-but Haley, like her parents, refused to back down.
She won on a promise to fight for reform, lean budgets, and
government accountability, which is exactly what she
did-much to the dismay of South Carolina's old guard
politicians. Soon she had a reputation as a
conservative leader who could get things done. In the same
state where her family was once ridiculed, she inspired a
diverse grassroots following. In November 2010 she was
elected South Carolina's first female governor and first
nonwhite governor, and only the second Indian American
governor in the country. Haley's story, as told
firsthand in this inspiring memoir, is a testament to the
power of determination, faith, and family. And it's proof
that the American Dream is still strong and true in the
twenty- first century.
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