Piyush Bobby Jindal Becomes Governor of Louisiana, Breaking a Long Color Barrier for that State Position

Republican United States Congressman Piyush Bobby Jindal was sworn in earlier today as the Governor of Louisiana. The chief executive of Louisiana, Piyush Bobby Jindal (of Indian descent), is the nation's youngest governor, just 36 years old, and is married with three children. Here's more about Piyush Bobby Jindal, who became the first nonwhite governor in Louisiana since post-Civil War Reconstruction. He won the governorship on his second try after losing his on his first attempt for this office back in 2003.

According to a news story at FoxNews.com, Jindal beat out 11 opponents and netted more than 50 per cent of the vote, which prevented a runoff in November. Piyush Bobby Jindal soundly defeated two multi-millionaires in the race, Walter Boasso and John Georges, neither of which even got 20 per cent of the vote with more than 90 per cent of the vote tallied. Yet Jindal raised some 11 million dollars for his campaign. Louisiana's new governor is pledging to fight corruption and freeloading off of the state, and is planning on calling a special session of the state legislature to address ethics reform.

The new governor of Louisiana was born in Baton Rouge on June 10, 1971, according to his biography at the State of Louisiana's website. After graduating high school in his home town in 1987, Jindal went to Brown University, where he graduated with honors. This led to his attending Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He had the chance to attend both Harvard and Yale, yet declined their offers to attend law and medical schools.