Who is Matt Bevin? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Matthew Griswold Bevin

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Glenna Bevin (m. 1996)

father: Louise Bevin

mother: Avery Bevin

children: Brittiney Bevin (Daughter), Danial Bevin (Son), Grace Bevin (Daughter), Isaac Bevin (Son), Jonah Bevin (Son), Lydia Bevin (Daughter), Mackenzie Bevin (Daughter), Madison Bevin (Daughter), Olivia Bevin (Daughter), Sophia Bevin (Daughter)

Political Leaders American Men

political ideology: Republican

U.S. State: Colorado

City: Denver, Colorado

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Childhood & Early life

Matt was born Matthew Griswold Bevin on 9th January 1967 in Denver. He was born to a wood mill employee, Avery Bevin. His mother Louise Bevin worked part-time at a hospital admission department.

He was his parent’s second child, and had five siblings. Together they lived in a small farm house where they used to grow crops and rear animals. He grew up in a pious Christian home.

Learning the importance of work from a tender age, Matt began helping his parents when he was only six-year-old. He would help pack seeds and then sell it in the neighborhood.

He began his elementary education in a local school, but later sought admission into Gould Academy, which was a private high school. He took up small summer jobs, including dishwashing to pay for his fees.

After receiving his undergraduate degree he enrolled at Washington and Lee University in Virginia on a half ROTC scholarship. He then acquired his B.A degree in East Asian Studies in 1989, in Japan.

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Early Career in the Army

He returned from Japan to serve his country and enrolled in the United States Army. He completed a six week course called the Junior Maintenance Course in the year 1990 in Kentucky.

Matt was placed in Fort Polk in Louisiana in the 25th Field Artillery Regiment. During this time he also trained for forty hours at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

With his grit and dauntless demeanour he was promoted from a second lieutenant to the rank of a captain, earning himself medals of honour, following which he joined the Army reserve in 2003.

The Entrepreneur

Matt left his field duty in the American Army in 1993. He acted as finance consultant for SEI Investment Companies in Pennsylvania and Boston. He was also made the vice president of Putnam investments.

Matt gained enough experience in investment and finance business moved to Kentucky in 1999 and began two investment companies. The first one was 'Integrity Asset Management’ while the second was ‘Veracity Funds’.

However, in 2008 his ancestral company ‘Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company’, the only American Bell company to manufacture bells, began to face heavy losses and was soon to close down with a hundred and sixteen thousand dollar tax deficit.

Matt took complete control of the company and became the President of Bevin Brothers. Not only did he manage to pay the pending sum, he also made profit and increased the pay of his staff.

Misfortune struck the Bevin enterprise again when a lightning caused a fire in the factory and his goods were looted too. In such a moment of despair, Matt swore to rebuild the company started by his ancestors.

In 2012, he received a sum of a hundred thousand dollars to rebuild his business from Senator Richard Blumenthal. The rest of the sum he raised by selling souvenirs of the factory. The company was back in business the same year.

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Taking a Political Turn

In 2013, Matt made a political move when he announced that he would challenge Senate Minority Leader Mc. Connell in the 2014 U.S. Senate Republican primary election.

He received immense support from groups associated with the Tea Party Movement for his bold step. However, Mc. Connell’s allegations regarding Matt’s inconsistent statements and policies proved difficult for Matt.

Mc. Connell won his seat back for the sixth term after defeating Matt with more than 25 % of the votes. The war of words between the two was covered by national media until things cooled off after the election.

In 2015, Bevin registered in the run for governor of Kentucky. With his primary election win over James Comer by a mere 0.03% vote, he took the stage to run the general elections.

On 3rd November, 2015 he won the gubernatorial elections over Democrat nominee, Jack Conway with 8.71 percent votes. Both the elections were a close call but Matt came out victorious.

Upon assuming office he made wise choices for his cabinet as he chose senior and experienced members including his rival Hal Heiner as Secretary of Education and Workforce Cabinet and Derrick Ramsey as Secretary of Labor.

Bevin also joined a group of 25 other U.S. governors in refusing any Syrian refugee seeking immigration on account of the terror attacks that took place in Paris.

Bevin’s objectives as governor is to shrink the size of the government, provide pensions and inculcate values of “pro-life”. In regard to education he has opposed the “one size fits all” system of education and looks to invest in the interest of teachers and principals for their students.

Regarding taxes, he aims to remove the state death tax and lower individual and corporate taxes, leaving the bulk of wealth in the hands of its workers, using only the amount required for state development.

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Major Works

Matt served in the U.S. Army as a captain for a considerable time and became a philanthropist along the way. He has also served as the Chairman of the Board for the American Red Cross in the Louisville Area.

He has also extended monetary support towards education and has assisted with further education scholarship funds especially for those who do not have sufficient social and financial resources.

Awards & Achievements

After the completion of his active army career he was awarded several medals. Matt was bestowed with the ‘Army Achievement Medal’ as captain.

He received the ‘National Defence Service Medal’, ‘Army Service ribbon’, ‘Parachutist Badge’ along with a Commendation Medal with one ‘Oak Leaf Cluster’.

Personal Life & Legacy

When in the army he went on a blind date with his future wife and Glenna. The two fell in love and dated for six years before they got married in 1996.

The couple had six children but unfortunately they lost their eldest daughter Brittney in a fatal car accident in 2003; she was only seventeen.

In June 2012 , Bevins adopted four children from Ethiopia.

In the memory of her deceased daugther, Brittney, Matt created a non-profit organisation named after her to fund international and domestic trips for students of high school.

All his children are home-schooled. All members of their family profess the Christian faith and attend the Southeast Christian Church prayer services, known to be the 5th biggest evangelical church in the United States.

Every year Matt takes his wife and eight children to spend their summer holidays in Maine where they own a lakeside home at Bryant Pond.

Trivia

On his ‘LinkedIn’ profile Matt had mentioned that he was affiliated with a program of ‘Massachusetts Institute of Technology’. However, the Institute reported that he has attended a seminar that wasn’t linked with the school and he was accused of a misleading resume.

Matt Bevin Biography