English: Citizens United and Congressman Jeff Duncan are teaming up to bring grassroots activists from across South Carolina and the surrounding area to hear directly from national conservative leaders at the South Carolina Freedom Summit on Saturday, May 9, 2015. With the critically important South Carolina Primary less than a year away, the Summit will be a launch point for conservative ideas as we head towards 2016.
The Freedom Summit will focus on how we can get America back on track by focusing on our core conservative principles of pro-growth economics, social conservatism, and a strong national defense. This must-attend Summit in the Palmetto State is free to the public and will be held at the beautiful Peace Center in Greenville.
Stay tuned for further updates as we announce more nationally recognized speakers in the weeks ahead. Since the Summit is free, we encourage you to sign up early because we have a limited number of seats. Please tell your family and friends about this important grassroots event. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, May 9th in Greenville for the South Carolina Freedom Summit!
Carly Fiorina (born Cara Carleton Sneed; September 6, 1954) is a former business executive who is actively seeking the Republican Party's nomination for President of the United States. Starting in 1980, Fiorina rose through the ranks to become an executive at AT&T and its equipment and technology spinoff, Lucent. As chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard (HP) from 1999 to 2005, she was the first woman to lead one of the top twenty U.S. companies.
In 2002, Fiorina pushed through the biggest high-tech merger in history with rival computer company Compaq, which made HP the world's largest personal computer manufacturer. HP gained market share following the merger and subsequently laid off 30,000 of its American workers. Fiorina famously said to Congress in 2004: "There is no job that is America's God-given right anymore. We have to compete for jobs as a nation." By the end of 2005, the merged company had more employees worldwide than they had separately before the merger.
On February 9, 2005, in the wake of the controversial Compaq merger, and following a 65% drop in the HP stock price, Fiorina was forced to resign as chief executive officer and chairman of Hewlett-Packard in what she described as being "fired in a boardroom brawl". Since then, she has served on the boards of a number of other organizations.
Assessments of Fiorina's business career have varied. During her time at Lucent and Hewlett-Packard she was named by Fortune Magazine the most powerful woman in business. However, two days before her ousting from HP, Fortune described her merger plan as "failing" and the prognosis as "doubtful". She has been described as one of the worst tech CEOs of all time, though others have defended her leadership decisions and business reputation.
Fiorina served as an advisor to Republican John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. She won a three-way race for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate from California in 2010, but lost the general election to incumbent Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer. On May 4, 2015, Fiorina announced on Good Morning America that she is running for President of the United States in 2016.