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Candy Carson

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Candy Carson
Carson in 2014
Personal details
Born
Lacena Rustin

(1953-08-19) August 19, 1953 (age 71)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
(m. 1975)​
Children3
Alma materYale University (BA)
Johns Hopkins University (MBA)
Occupation
  • Author
  • educator
Candy Carson and Ben Carson with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush in 2008

Lacena "Candy" Carson (née Rustin; born August 19, 1953) is an American author and educator. She is the spouse of former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, with whom she co-founded the Carson Scholars Fund in 1994. Alongside her husband, she is the co-author of four books.[1] During his 2016 run for President of the United States, Carson was active on the campaign trail by conducting live interviews and television appearances.[2]

Early life and education

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Born Lacena Rustin on August 19, 1953, in Royal Oak Township, Michigan. Carson was raised in the Episcopal Church by her mother.[3] She graduated from Ferndale High School. Carson met her future husband, also a Detroit native, in the 1970s when both were students at Yale University.[3]

Following her graduation from Yale, Carson attended Johns Hopkins Carey Business School where she earned her MBA.[4][5][6]

A former concert violinist,[7] Carson performed the national anthem during her husband's campaign kick-off.[8] She has been a conductor for the University of Maryland Medical Center Chamber Players.[9][10]

Career

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In the Baltimore area, Carson worked in real estate, trust administration and insurance.[9]

Carson Scholars Fund

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Carson alongside her husband Ben during his 2016 presidential campaign

In 1994, Carson and her husband started the Carson Scholars Fund, designed to provide scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".[11] The foundation was started after the Carsons read that U.S. students ranked second to last in terms of math and science testing among 22 countries, feeling that their efforts could assist in encouraging academic efforts as they noted schools award athletes with trophies whereas honor students received only "a pin or certificate". Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education and has awarded upward of 6,700 scholarships.[11][12]

Carson is the facilitator of the scholarship fund.[4][8][13][14]

Personal life

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Carson and her husband married in 1975. Together, they have three sons: Murray, Benjamin Jr., and Rhoeyce, as well as several grandchildren.[8] Until 2013, the couple lived in West Friendship, Maryland, and then relocated to Florida.[6] Both she and her husband are long-time members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[15][16] In line with her religious beliefs, Carson is a vegetarian.[17][18][19][20]

In 1981 Carson became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.[21] After this experience, when she became pregnant again in the following year, Carson was placed on bed rest by her doctor after the fourth month.[21] She left her job and took this time to focus on self-care for the remainder of her pregnancy.[21]

Carson has co-authored four books with her husband, including One Nation, which made The New York Times Best Seller list and spent five weeks at #1.[1] Her memoir A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson was released at the beginning of 2016.

Books, with Ben Carson

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  • America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great. Scotland: Thomas Nelson. 2013. ISBN 978-0310330912..
  • One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future. New York: Sentinel. 2014. ISBN 978-1595231123..
  • One Vote: Make Your Voice Heard. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House. 2014. ISBN 978-1496406323.
  • A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties. New York: Sentinel. 2015. ISBN 978-0698195004..
  • A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson. New York: Sentinel. 2016. ISBN 978-1595231246.
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Carson was portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis in the TNT made-for-TV movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (first airdate February 7, 2009), starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. She starred as herself in the 1991 biographical documentary about her husband, Gifted Hands.[22][23]

She was portrayed by Leslie Jones on the Saturday March 10, 2018, episode of Saturday Night Live.

Expenditure controversy

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Main article: Ben Carson office furnishing scandal

Carson received criticism for reportedly pressuring her husband's staff to spend up to $31,000 on a dining set in his Housing and Urban Development office in late 2017.[24] This was discovered after Helen Foster, a former HUD chief administrative officer, filed a complaint alleging that she was demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecoration.[25] The HUD inspector general found no evidence of undue influence by Mrs. Carson on any staffer. However, the Government Accountability Office ruled that, in making unauthorized purchases of a dishwasher and furniture for Ben Carson's office, HUD violated the law.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b Barnes, Fred (January 26, 2015). "Taking Ben Carson Seriously". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  2. ^ "With Ben Carson a contender, a look at wife Candy". The Hill. October 23, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Banks, Adelle (January 5, 2016). "Candy Carson: Wife of GOP candidate sees God working in campaign, marriage". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Clark Mindock (October 22, 2015). "Who Is Candy Carson? Ben Carson's Wife Gets Compared To Michelle Obama". International Business Times. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  5. ^ Philip Elliott (July 16, 2015). "The GOP's New Better Halves". Time. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Candy Carson". Penguin Random House. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  7. ^ "Concert Violinist Candy Carson Tours and Performs at Opportunity Village". Opportunity Village. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Frederick Reese (August 4, 2015). "Candy Carson, Ben's Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "6 Things You Should Know About Ben Carson's Wife Lacena 'Candy' Carson!". Jawbreaker. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  10. ^ "Candy Carson". Penguin Random House. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Madeleine Buckley. "Our History". Carson Scholars Fund. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  12. ^ Simmons, Deborah (February 1, 2009). "Carson fund helps to inspire students". The Washington Times.
  13. ^ Interview with Candy Carson. YouTube. January 24, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  14. ^ "Updates on Past Winners, 2001-2013". Philanthropy Roundtable. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  15. ^ "Encyclopedia of World Biography: Biography of Benjamin S. Carson". Notable Biographies. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  16. ^ "Ben Carson". Redland Baptist Church. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  17. ^ "Grain, Bean Combinations Protein-rich". tribunedigital-sunsentinel. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  18. ^ "Dr. Ben Carson Tells His Life Story". Baltimore. February 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  19. ^ "Ben Carson likes his burgers - and his bees". agri-pulse.com. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  20. ^ "In Good Hands". Vegetarian Times. June 1990. Retrieved October 28, 2015 – via Google Books.
  21. ^ a b c Carson, Ben; Murphey, Cecil (1990). Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. p. 105. ISBN 0-310-29555-6.
  22. ^ "Gifted Hands". January 1, 2000. Retrieved March 2, 2017 – via IMDb.
  23. ^ "Dr. Ben Carson Gifted Hands documentary". YouTube. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  24. ^ "Ben Caron's HUD Spends $31,000 on Dining Set for His Office". The New York Times Retrieved July 9, 2019
  25. ^ '$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair':HUD staffer files complaint over Ben Carson office redecoration CNN Retrieved July 9, 2019
  26. ^ Bowden, John (September 12, 2019). "HUD watchdog finds no misconduct by Carson in furniture controversy: report". The Hill. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
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