Caroline Simone

The Honorable Caroline Simone
62nd Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office September 9th, 2019
Predecessor	Malcolm Douglas (D)
Chair of the House Democratic Caucus
In office April 8th, 2019 – September 9th, 2019
Predecessor	???
Successor	To be decided
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy and Environment
In office January 11th, 2018 – September 9th, 2019
Predecessor	???
US Representative for the 12th District of the State of New York
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3rd, 2014
Predecessor	???
US Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey
In office February 19th, 2009 – August 24th, 2012
Predecessor	???
Successor	???
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
In office March 7th, 2006 – February 18th, 2009
Predecessor	???
Successor	???
Born	March 15th, 1951 (age 68) Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	George Hayes (m. 1975, div. 1993)
Children	1
Residence	Brooklyn Heights, New York City, United States
Secondary Residence	Washington District of Columbia, United States
Alma mater	Cornell University (MA)
Religion	Roman Catholic

Biography

Caroline Simone was born on Thursday March 15th 1951 to Daniel and Paola Simone in Brooklyn, New York City. Her father, a World War II veteran, lived a comfortably upper middle class existence on account of his occupation as an architect, whilst her mother - an Italian emigré who had met Daniel in the course of the War - was a stay-at-home mother and housewife. The strict Catholic faith of both parents would impart a strong importance of faith upon the young Caroline, who - whilst not adopting the socially conservative aspects of her Catholic faith - came to believe strongly in the need to act in order to better others' lives. Educated at a series of Catholic schools, from elementary to high, she expressed little interest in student politics, but kept a keen eye on ongoing affairs - the turbulence of the Cold War around her, especially the political upheaval of the Vietnam conflict, aroused her interest in world affairs, and this ultimately guided her towards studying first for a bachelors degree in Government, and then a masters in Near Eastern Studies, both at Cornell.

For the time being, Caroline continued to focus on academia, and on her new family - having met her husband George at Cornell in 1972, marrying him in 1975 and bearing him their son Damian in that same year. Once she completed her masters degree, she spent some time out of employment to continue raising her family. In 1980, with the foundation of the Foreign Policy Institute at John Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, she accepted a job as a researcher for that particular think tank. This led to a degree of estrangement between Caroline and her husband, and whilst she took up residence in Washington D.C., he remained in New York City to continue his business interests. In 1992, she sought and obtained a minor post in the State Department and began her career working for the U.S. Government. In establishing herself permanent in D.C. in this manner, her marriage irrevocably broke down, and the couple divorced in 1993.

By 2006, Caroline had worked her way up to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, responsible for the Office of Southern European Affairs, covering Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. There she worked with the Burke Administration, and then the incoming Baharia Administration to support the maintenance of good relations between Greece and Turkey, and to support intercommunal talks on the island of Cyprus. The ascendancy of her diplomatic career would eventually result in her appointment to the position of U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey in 2009, a position in which she served for three years. In this role, she took particular interest in supporting US foreign policy objectives in the Middle East, including the continuing reduction of military commitments in Iraq, a decision with which she vehemently disagreed.

It would be her disagreement with President Baharia's non-interventionist policies which spurred her to action. Not having accepted the naysaying of her ex-husband before, she felt a perhaps conceited need to sustain her position on the issue. Eventually retiring from the Foreign Service in 2012 after almost three years as Ambassador to Turkey, she sought the nomination to the recently vacated 12^th District in New York, returning to the city of her birth. After running a clean campaign, where her generally liberal policy positions resonated cleanly with primary voters, along with her perceived closeness to President Baharia, and her lack of political baggage allowed her to manoeuvre around rival candidates, she was chosen as the nominee for the 2013 midterm elections, and joined the US House of Representatives in January 2014 after a successful election.

During her time in the House of Representatives, she was supportive of most of the Baharia Administration's legislative agenda, including the Iran Nuclear Deal on which she spoke with particular eloquence and interest, though she joined Republicans in being critical of the Cuban Thaw, and opposed the US cessation of combat operations in Afghanistan in 2016. The policy positions she supported were quite similar to other House Democrats, with a more liberal lean on social policy, a moderate lean on financial policy, and a mixed approach on foreign policy - firm in her anti-Russia and anti-Syria positions, but supportive of the objectives of the Iran Deal. She has a general tendency to stay loyal to the Caucus and its unity, sticking close to the Speakership in contrast to the rise of newer progressive faces. She is, nonetheless, very liberal on social issues, moreso than Democratic moderates. Her greatest legislative achievement was to co-author bipartisan legislation regarding anti-Russia directed sanctions, on which she spoke eloquently on the House floor.

In the 2016 US Election, Congresswoman Simone was an active and vocal supporter of Secretary Diane Clifford's campaign for the Presidency, and was openly critical of Senator not-Sanders for harming the Democratic vote. She was an active campaign surrogate on the news cycle for Mrs Clifford, especially with regards to defending her foreign policy record with regards to supporting the Iraq War and advising President Baharia to enforce a no-fly zone in Syria. She was seen to be quite intensely crestfallen following the election, and avoided news coverage for some time as a consequence.

Since the election of President Wolf, she has been critical of the President's foreign and domestic policy with equal vigour, and has been a somewhat consistent opponent of the Wolf Administration.