Name: Beauregard “Beau” Anderson Goodwin
Seat: NC - Class 2
Party: Republican
Avatar: Lee Roberts
Major Caucus: MainStreet Partnership
GENDER:
Male: 0 Points
AGE:
55 years old: 0 Points
SEXUALITY:
Straight, married with < 3 children: -5 Points
RACE/ANCESTRY:
White/Caucasian: 0 Points
RELIGION:
Evangelical or Mainline Protestant: 0 Points
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY:
B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1982) 10 Points
J.D., University of North Carolina School of Law (1985) 10 Points
SOCIOECONOMIC HISTORY:
Upper Class: -5 points
CAREER HISTORY:
Attorney, Fitzhugh, Polk & Associates (1985-1999) 10 Points
President of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation (1999-2004) 30 Points
President of High Point University (2004-2009) 15 Points
President of the University of North Carolina System (2009-2014) 15 Points
U.S. Senator from North Carolina (2015-)
Key votes:
Both: Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 - NAY
Total Points: 80
Narrative:
Beauregard “Beau” Anderson Goodwin was born May 1st, 1961 in High Point, North Carolina. He was the second child of Anderson and Betty Goodwin, part of the family owning the Goodwin Furniture company. He attended High Point High School where he was a breakout basketball star and gradated near the top of his class in 1979. He studied business and political since at UNC Chapel Hill and was a member of the North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team including as a senior on the 1982 team which won the NCAA championship. While a very good basketball player he was not a great one and did not enter the draft instead choosing to become an attorney. He attended the University of North Carolina School of Law and graduated in the top quarter of his class in 1985. In 1986 he met and later married Cindy Cunningham who was the daughter of a well known surgeon in Raleigh. Thanks in part to his academic performance as well as his family connections he secured a position with the prestigious Fitzhugh, Polk & Associates law firm. He spent the next 14 years representing VIP clients on everything from businesses and tax cases to labor disputes and became a fixture of the triangle social scene along with his wife. He took a personal interest in non-profit and higher education work, frequently serving as chief fundraiser for charitable campaigns and efforts and was an active member of the UNC Alumni Association. In 1999 he was approached to become President of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and spent the next 5 years increasing the size and scope of the foundation’s footprint in the Carolinas. He stepped away briefly in 2004 to work as a fundraiser for President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign. At the end of 2004 he was approached by High Point University Board of Trustees to become President. The university was in trouble and needed an administrator, fundraiser and chief executive that could place the university on stable footing. The couple relocated to High Point, North Carolina and during his time as President he made major contributions to the university’s financial state, recruited talented faculty and expanded the physical presence of the campus. In 2008 he was a fundraiser for John McCain’s presidential campaign and adviser on higher education. In 2009, following some significant behind the scenes lobbying from influential individuals, he was elected President of the University of North Carolina System overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics. Much as he had done at High Point University, he focused on expanding the system’s footprint, academic performance and graduation rate. After much speculation, he announced he would step down from his UNC position in January 2014 and would run for the United States Senate. Having secured the support and financial backing of many establishment Republicans within the state and drawing on his extensive business and social connections he defeated N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis in the Republican primary and went on to narrowly defeat incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan in the general election. He and his wife reside in Chapel Hill and have 2 children (Robert age 29, Margaret age 26). He is considered on the center-right of the Republican party. His private interests include golf, hunting, and flying his private aircraft. His wife is a former hospital administrator and sits on the Wake Forest Baptist Hospital Board.
