Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an
American political figure, serving since January 2009 as the chairman of the
Republican National Committee. He is the first
African American to chair the Republican National Committee and the second to chair either major U.S. party's National Committee after
Ron Brown, who chaired the
Democratic National Committee.
[2] Steele was also the first African American to serve in a state-wide office in
Maryland, as the
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007, where he chaired the Minority Business Enterprise taskforce and actively sought expanded
affirmative action policies in the corporate world. He was the first
Republican elected to the office.
