Sarah Louise Palin (; née Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician who served as Governor of the U.S. state of Alaska from 2006 until 2009, and was the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States in 2008.Palin was a member of the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996 and the city's mayor from 1996 to 2002. After an unsuccessful campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska in 2002, she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 until her resignation in 2004. She was elected Governor of Alaska in November 2006. Palin was the first female governor of Alaska and the youngest person ever elected governor of that state.In 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose Palin as his running mate in that year's presidential election, making her the second female candidate and the first Alaskan candidate of either major party on a national ticket, as well as the first female vice-presidential nominee of the Republican ... more