Learning about Sarah Palin - Bio, Timeline, Troopergate, Alaskan media

Feb. 11, 1964 -- Born in Sandpoint, Idaho.

1982 -- Graduated from Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska.

1987 -- Graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho.

August 29, 1988 -- Married Todd Palin, whom she would have five children with.

1992-1996 -- Entered public life, serving two terms on the Wasilla City Council.

1996-2002 -- Elected mayor of Wasilla City, Alaska, for two terms until term limits forced her from office.

2002 -- Lost her first statewide campaign for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor.

2002 -- Frank Murkowski left the Senate to become governor and named Palin chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

2003 -- Split with the party leaders by battling Randy Ruedrich, the head of Alaska's Republican Party.

2006 -- Upset then-Gov. Murkowski in the Republican primary, then defeated former two-term Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, in the general election.

2007 -- Pressured lawmakers to get the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act passed, to build a natural gas pipeline to deliver 35 trillion cubic feet of North Slope natural gas to market.

Aug. 29, 2008 -- Chosen as Sen. John McCain's vice-presidential running mate in the 2008 election.

"Sarah Palin's chief qualification for being elected governor was that she was not Frank Murkowski. ... She was not elected because she was a conservative. She was not elected because of her grasp of issues or because of her track record ..."

Dermot Cole, a longtime columnist for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner