The Infamous Steve Bannon
Meet Stephen Bannon, the man appointed by president-elect Donald Trump, as his chief White House Strategist. He is the same guy who served as chief executive of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
The 62-year-old businessman has gone from working-class Navy man to Goldman Sachs financier, Hollywood producer and then king of America’s right-wing media.
Bannon was born Stephen Kevin Bannon on November 27, 1953 –in Norfolk, Virginia. Bannon grew up in the sight of the naval yard and signed up on leaving college, spending four years at sea aboard a destroyer. Deployed to the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf in 1979.
Mr Bannon left the navy and studied for an MBA at Harvard Business School, landing a job at Goldman Sachs. According to Bloomberg, Mr Bannon received his MBA from Harvard University. He received his undergraduate degree from Virginia Polytechnical Institutes College of Architecture and has a graduate degree in Government from Georgetown University. Mr Bannon has a Master of Arts from Georgetown University.
In 1990 Mr Bannon left Goldman Sachs to start up an investment firm with a couple of former colleagues, and Bannon & Co was born.
His company ended up working on MGM’s studio financing and handling the acquisitions when Polygram Records moved into the film business. And so, Bannon himself began gaining recognition in the film industry with a series of projects.
You can find him on social media as well through these links:
- Twitter – Bannon had a Twitter account but was suspended permanently after suggesting that leading figures in the US should be beheaded!
Stephen has been married three times and divorced three times. From his relationships, he is the father of three adult daughters. Keep reading to know about his wives and children. Let’s take a look at Bannon’s personal life in a little more detail.
Bannon’s Many Wives
Cathleen Houff Jordan
Let’s start with Bannon’s three wives, all of which he has divorced. 67-year-old Bannon’s first wife was Cathleen Houff Jordan. They would have one daughter named Maureen Bannon (more on her later). The marriage was kept very private, and even to this day, very little is known of Jordan and where she is. What is not private information is that after some years, potentially the late 1980s, they divorced, which led the way to Bannon’s second marriage some years later. Despite the divorce, one could argue that given Bannon’s stormy personal and political career to come, she escaped at the right time!
Mary Louise Picard
He went on to wed his second wife, Mary Piccard (pictured below), in 1995.
Former investment banker Mary Piccard and Steve Bannon tied the knot in April 1995. Things were great for a little while, and they would have twin daughters Grace and Emily Picard just days after their wedding. However, within a year of their marriage, Picard reported several domestic and verbal abuse incidents. She even claimed in a sworn statement in 2007 that Bannon made three separate anti-Semitic remarks when they were choosing a school for their daughters. The charges of domestic abuse would be filed by the police but would later be dropped because Picard could not afford to fight a legal battle. Instead, she wanted to provide for her twins.
The pair would officially divorce in 1997, and since then, Picard has kept a low profile. Much of this shocking news did not surface until Bannon’s time in the Trump administration, and many outlets have branded Steve Bannon as a wife-beater ever since.
Diane Clohesy – Steve Bannon’s Third Wife
Bannon would marry his third wife, Diane Clohesy, in 2006.
Born in Ireland, Clohesy would move to the US in 1990 to look for her modelling and acting career opportunities. She would certainly find that opportunity in Bannon, who would eventually help her get a green card and aided in launching her modelling and acting careers.
Her personal life is not without its controversy. In 2002, she was said to have assaulted a flight attendant because she could not bring alcohol on board. This led her to be banned from ‘Aer Lingus’ flights.
The pair were married for only three years and had no children, divorcing in 2009. Clohesy currently lives in Miami with a new man in a house that Bannon himself owns, and he seems to still offer her financial support. This perhaps suggests that their split was amicable.
Children
Bannon is the father of three daughters. But has been quoted in offering some suspect parenting advice. In a 2015 email to a fellow Breitbart colleague, Bannon was quoted as stating that the best way to cure mental health issues in children in the wake of mass shootings was to “spank them more often”. Not too sure how solid that advice is, Steve, but you do you!
Maureen Bannon
Maureen Bannon is his eldest child. She was born from his first marriage to Cathleen Houff Bannon. She attended WestPoint High School and was a volleyball star. Maureen would also join the army and served in the 101st airborne division when deployed to Iraq. She regularly speaks to Bannon and has been a guest on his Breitbart News Saturday show. While her Facebook and Twitter profiles are private, the few public Facebook posts about her reveal that Bannon is active within the CrossFit community, even competing in the fitness sport’s regional competition, Rise of the South. Clearly an accomplished athlete and army lieutenant, it is clear that Maureen, who is said to be in her late 20’s, did not let a turbulent childhood get the best of her.
Grace and Emily Picard
Unfortunately, as for Bannon’s twin daughters Emily and Grace (pictured below), their younger years and presence seems to be defined by Bannon’s domestic abuse troubles with their mother, Mary Picard. We know about them because they are about 26 years of age, but that seems to be it. Their life appears to be very private. Much of what we do know about them is surrounded by the Picard and Bannon cas e, in which Mar Picard claimed that Bannon “jumped over her and the twins to grab the phone from her”. What makes this worse is that the girls were only 7-8 months old at the time of the alleged abuses.
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