Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin (born October 18, 1990) is an American real estate agent who is a former public speaker and reality television personality. She is the oldest daughter and second of five children of Todd and Sarah Palin.
Palin competed in the fall 2010 season of Dancing with the Stars and reached the finals, finishing in third place. In summer 2011, Palin released a memoir. In summer 2012, she starred in the Lifetime show Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp. Her most recent television series was as a member of the fall celebrity cast of Dancing with the Stars's 15th season in 2012, where she was eliminated in the fourth week of competition.
Palin was born in Wasilla, Alaska, to parents Todd and Sarah (née Heath) Palin. She was named "Bristol" after the Bristol Inn where her mother Sarah was employed; Bristol, Connecticut, the headquarters city of ESPN, where her mother Sarah hoped to work as a sportscaster; and the Bristol Bay area of Alaska, where her father Todd grew up. Her mother, Sarah, is of English, Irish, and German ancestry. Her father Todd has Yup'ik, Dutch, and English ancestry. Her father's grandmother Lena Andree grew up in the now abandoned community of Tuklung in a mixed race region of Bristol Bay. The daughter of a Dutch-American father and an enrolled Yup'ik mother, Andree spoke both English and Yup'ik, but was not herself enrolled. Because Bristol's father's blood quantum is one-eighth, hers is one-sixteenth. As a non-enrolled lineal descendant of an enrolled Alaska Native, she is eligible for health benefits under the 1970 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Tuklung was consolidated into the Manokotak Village, a federally recognized tribe.
Palin was raised largely in Wasilla and attended Juneau-Douglas High School when her mother was governor of Alaska. During 2008, she briefly lived in Anchorage with her aunt and uncle where she attended West Anchorage High School. After returning to Wasilla, she attended and then graduated from Wasilla High School in May 2009.
2008 Republican National Convention and pregnancy announcement
Bristol Palin was first thrown into the national spotlight after Senator John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate in late August 2008; his advisers had already been informed of the 17-year-old's pregnancy, which they believed would be a political liability because she was unmarried. On September 1, 2008, the opening day of the 2008 Republican National Convention, it was publicly announced that Bristol Palin was pregnant and engaged to Levi Johnston, her baby's father. Palin's entire immediate family, along with Johnston, appeared at the convention. McCain's advisers reportedly thought a wedding between Johnston and Palin would boost the waning popularity of the McCain-Palin ticket. Johnston denied claims that he was being pressured into a shotgun wedding, stating, "We were planning on getting married a long time ago with or without the kid. That was the plan from the start."
Palin first became the subject of media attention when her pregnancy was announced during her mother's vice presidential campaign. In February 2009, she told Fox News that abstinence is "not realistic at all," but that she would like it to become more accepted among people her age.
At age 18 in May 2009, Palin appeared on the Today show and Good Morning America in recognition of the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. She called for all teens to abstain from sex. Such observance was started by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Palin was not employed by the Campaign, nor was she a spokesperson for the organization. Palin said that her abstinence quote of February had been "taken out of context".
Also in May 2009, Palin was named a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Ambassador for the Candie's Foundation, a teen pregnancy prevention organization that is a division of the Candie's clothing brand. Her duties as a paid spokeswoman involved attending town hall meetings, talking about abstinence, public service announcements, and giving interviews on morning talk shows.
In September 2009, Palin formed BSMP, a lobbying, public relations and political consulting services firm. While the initial focus was to be work with Candie's Foundation, BSMP was planned to develop additional clients.
In May 2009, on Good Morning America, Palin said, "Regardless of what I did personally, abstinence is the only 100% foolproof way you can prevent pregnancy." In an interview on Good Morning America in April 2010, she said that "'Pause Before You Play' [a campaign of Candie's] hits a wider range of message, it can mean pause and go get a condom, it can be pause and think about your life, or it could be pause and wait until marriage."
Her role as a spokesperson drew some public criticism. Bonnie Fuller, former editor-in-chief of YM, questioned whether the net effect of Palin's public speaking had glamorized rather than discouraged teen pregnancy, noting that the "picture perfect" imagery of a People magazine spread seemed to make her "the poster girl for teen momhood". That same month, Meghan McCain stated her support for sex education, criticizing Palin's sexual abstinence campaign, saying it was "not realistic for this generation".
In April 2011 the media reported that Palin was paid more than $262,000 by Candie's Foundation for her work in 2009. This level of compensation, which constituted 12% of the foundation's annual budget, was criticized by some commentators as excessive.
In a July 10, 2011, interview with Drew Pinsky, Palin said she does not want to "be named as an abstinence preacher .... I'm not out there saying don't have sex. I hate that kind of stuff. Birth control needs to be used effectively each and every single time if you're gonna be having sex. ... I'm not advocating [abstinence] for everyone else."
On July 13, 2011, Palin had an interview with Christianity Today in which she reaffirmed her stance on abstinence. Discussing whether she still thought that abstinence was unrealistic, as she had said in 2009, she said "that quote was taken out of context. What I am trying to say is it's not realistic for everyone...but for me, my sisters, and my family, I believe that's the right way." Palin still feels that abstinence is the only choice for her and her family.
In 2015, Bristol Palin took to her blog to correct the media regarding what the Candies Organization is and her role within it, stating, "Let's get another thing straight, because I can't tolerate all the talk on this subject. I have never been paid as an "abstinence spokesperson". I was employed by the great people at The Candie's Foundation. They are a teen pregnancy prevention non-profit and I worked for them when I was 18 and 19 — when I could share first hand the challenges of being a teen mother. I know you remember me most from when Mom ran for Vice President. However, I'm not 17 anymore, I am 24. I've been employed at the same doctor's office for over six years now; I own a home; I have a well-rounded, beautiful son. I am pregnant [with my second child.] This is not the ideal situation, but life is important even if it's not in the most absolute ideal circumstance. This is more confirmation on what I've always stood for. I've always been pro-life and I am standing for life now."
In May 2010, the media reported that Palin had signed with the company Single Source Speakers, asking between $15,000 and $30,000 for each appearance. She was listed on the company's website as available for conferences, fundraisers, special events and holidays, as well as women's, youth, abstinence, and pro-life programs.
In January 2011, Palin was invited to speak by Washington University in St. Louis as the keynote speaker for "Abstinence in College" at Sexual Responsibility Week. Students protested both the high fee she was to be paid out of student-generated funds and her lack of expertise on abstinence in college. Her appearance was cancelled.