The many firsts of Nikki Haley's 2024 presidential campaign

Nikki Haley has made history before, even before her presidential campaign and the unusual victories she achieved along the way.

Nikki Haley was elected to two terms as the governor of South Carolina, making history as the state’s first female leader. Haley, 52, served as former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the UN before becoming the first Indian American to hold a cabinet-level role.

For months, moderate Republicans viewed Haley — whose campaign has frequently been characterized as quixotic — as the backup choice, someone who could wrest the party from the grasp of the nativist MAGA movement, which is supported by her opponent and most likely nominee, former President Donald Trump.

Even when Haley withdrew from the 2024 presidential contest on Wednesday, her candidacy for the office has achieved a number of firsts, such as being the first female to win two Republican primary.

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During an address in South Carolina to close her campaign, Haley declared she had “no regrets.”

“The campaign was grounded in my love for our country. Just last week, my mother, a first generation immigrant, got to vote for her daughter for president,” she said. “Only in America. I am filled with the gratitude for the outpouring of support we’ve received from all across our great country. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that.”

Supporters of Haley have stated that they do not want Trump—who is accused of 91 crimes in four separate cases—to be the Republican nominee. More than 2,400 South Carolina Republican primary voters participated in a Fox News Voter Analysis survey, and the results showed that six out of ten (59%) Haley supporters would not back Trump in the general election if he was the GOP nominee.

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Even if the former governor has decided not to run against Trump, here’s what you should know about how her campaign achieved historically high political ground.

Haley defeated her old boss, Trump, in a string of primary setbacks before taking first place in the Republican primary in Washington, D.C. She became the first woman to ever win a Republican presidential nomination, winning with 63 percent to Trump’s 33 percent.

“It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos,” said Olivia Perez-Cubas, Haley’s national campaign spokeswoman, in a statement following the win.

Haley had fallen short of the previous president in eight straight races before the race in Washington, D.C.; these races took place in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, the Virgin Islands, Michigan, Missouri, and Idaho. Nevertheless, her triumph was a significant one for Republican women.

Then, on Super Tuesday, Haley emerged victorious in a second primary in Vermont as voters in 16 states and one territory—American Samoa—voiced their choices for presidential nominees.

Haley is not the first female Republican presidential candidate. Elizabeth Dole (2000), Michele Bachmann (2012), and Carly Fiorina (2016) are on that list.

Running against Trump, who enjoys a sizable following within his party, is comparable to taking on a formidable incumbent.

In the event that Trump prevails in the 2024 presidential contest, he will become the first American president in 131 years—since Grover Cleveland—to seek reelection to the presidency four years later.

A few defeated presidents have attempted to return, but none of them have been successful: Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Martin Van Buren, and Millard Fillmore.

Additionally, a few of these presidents faced female rivals. Not one was from a major party, though.

The Equal Rights Party fielded Victoria Claflin Woodhull in 1872, making her the first female presidential candidate in American history. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, her opponents were Democrat Horace Greeley and Republican Grant.

Under the auspices of the Equal Rights Party, Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood sought the presidency twice, in 1888 and 1884. The two main party contenders in 1884 were Republican James G. Blaine and Democrat Cleveland. She also ran in the 1888 election, which was decided by the Electoral College. Republican Benjamin Harrison won the electoral vote and the presidency, although Cleveland won the popular vote.

When Nikki Haley’s family moved to Bamberg, South Carolina, in 1969, they were the only Indian family in the town of about 2,500 residents.

“I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants who reminded my brothers, my sister and me every single day how blessed we were to live in this country,” said Haley, as she announced her presidential campaign last February.

She’s also the only Indian American presidential candidate to have been on the ballot in more than 20 states.

Although Vice President Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, made history as the first Indian American vice president, her 2020 presidential run ended before the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primaries. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, the other Indian American 2024 candidate − and a dogged opponent of Haley’s − dropped out immediately after the Iowa Caucuses.

In her speech suspending her campaign, Haley did not endorse Trump, the likely nominee, but she said she wished him well.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond who did not support him,” she said. “I hope he does that at as the best politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away, and our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing.”

(With agency inputs)