There is growing speculation that Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, may make a bid for the US presidency in 2024.
Pompeo is one of the figures in the administration of President Donald Trump who have come out with a reputation somewhat intact, and he looks well placed to be a frontrunner as the Republican nominee for President in four years’ time.
Pompeo has much experience in numerous areas of American policy. A native of California, he served in the US military after finishing high school, later qualifying as a lawyer at Harvard Law School. He then entered business in Kansas, before going into politics in that state and winning a seat in the House of Representatives. Pompeo was then appointed by Trump to head the Central Intelligence Agency, a position he served in until 2019, when he was confirmed as Secretary of State by the US Senate.
Pompeo has been a strong critic of expropriation without compensation in South Africa, speaking out against the policy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, earlier this year.
Pompeo may have blotted his copybook in recent times however, when he spoke about a second term for Trump in the White House. This was after it had become increasingly clear that Trump had lost his bid for a second term to challenger, Joe Biden.
Nevertheless, Washington insiders have speculated that a Pompeo bid for Presidency, with Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and governor of South Carolina, as his running mate, would be a formidable ticket to wrest control of the White House back for the Republicans in 2024. Joe Biden is likely to serve only one term as President, meaning that there will not be an incumbent running for President in 2024.