Who Is Marianne Williamson? New Details About The Woman Who Announced Her Bid For Presidency
She has officially entered the 2020 presidential race.
Twitter There's a new candidate throwing their hat into the ring for the 2020 presidential election.
After revealing that she was considering running for President back in November 2018, Marianne Williamson officially announced her bid for the upcoming Democratic nomination.
Although Williamson may be more well-known for her success as a best-selling author, activist, and public speaker, she's certainly no stranger to the political world either.
Who is Marianne Williamson? Here are some details to know about the possible presidential candidate.
1. Williamson is famous for her best-selling self-help books and her work as a spiritual guide.
She's a highly successful, well-known author. Williamson has published twelve books, four of which have held the top spot on the New York Times list of best-sellers.
Williamson's first novel, A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principle of A Course in Miracles, also became her most popular and best-selling one. A Return To Love was at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for more than six months. The novel went on to be lauded for Williamson's passionate narrative and the book's powerful quotes on self, relationships, and personal achievement. Her newest book is coming out in 2019 and is fittingly titled, A Politics of Love: Handbook for a New American Revolution.
Williamson's professional website also describes her as an "internationally acclaimed lecturer" who "has been one of America’s most well known public voices for more than three decades."
2. She's the founder of more than one non-profit organization.
Williamson founded the non-profit Project Angel Food in Los Angeles in 1989. The organization serves food to people with serious illnesses. In 2017, Project Angel Food had served its eleventh million meal.
In addition, Williamson is the co-founder of the Peace Alliance. The non-profit's website states that it "focuses on proactive approaches to cultivating peace." The Peace Alliance was created in 2004.
3. This won't be Williamson's first venture into the political world.
To add to her extensive resume, Williamson ran as an independent candidate to succeed the Democratic Representative Henry Waxman in 2014 in California. She raised $2 million in her bid and out of sixteen candidates, she came in fourth with 13 percent of the vote.
Williamson also received support from some famous friends such as Nicole Richie, Jane Lynch, and Eva Longoria. And singer Alanis Morissette produced a song for the campaign.
Although she didn't win, Williamson revealed in an interview with Oprah that the experience had taught her something about politics. “I kept waiting for people to tell me what to do and [I] tried to hire people who would tell me what to do. It taught me what I should have already known: to only listen to myself,” she disclosed.
4. Williamson has announced that she'll be running for president in 2020.
News that Williamson was exploring a potential bid for office broke back in November 2018. She released an announcement via video with a message to her viewers about her plans to run. “We had a miracle in this country in 1776 and we need another one. It’s going to be a co-creative effort, an effort of love and a gift of love, to our country and hopefully to our world,” she said in the video.
Williamson also set up her own campaign website.
On Monday, January 28, Williamson officially announced her bid for the 2020 presidential race. During the announcement, Williamson described her plans for the campaign.
"I want to engage voters in a more meaningful conversation about America. About our history, about how each of us fit into it, and how to create a sustainable future. Our national challenges are deep, but our political conversation is shallow. My campaign is for people who want to dig deeper into the questions we face as a nation, and deeper into finding the answers. We need more than a better version of the same old same old. We need a fundamental disruption of a sociopathic economic order, and an alignment of our politics with our deepest democratic and human values."
She also acknowledged the support of the thousands who had shown up to join her in celebrating the official reveal. "All Americans know they have an important part to play in determining the conversation that will dominate our politics over the next two years, and they take it very seriously. I'm honored to be part of the process and feel very grateful that they're showing up to engage me in this conversation."
Sloane Solomon is a YourTango editor and writer who covers pop culture, lifestyle topics, and love and relationships.