Dmitry Peskov

Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (Russian: Дмитрий Серге́евич Песков (born October 17, 1967) is a Russian diplomat, and since 2012 the press spokesman for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

Early life and education

Peskov was born in Moscow in 1967. His father, Sergey, headed the Soviet diplomatic mission in Pakistan.

In 1989 he graduated from the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University specializing in history and Eastern studies. In the same year he joined the Soviet Foreign Ministry.

Career

Over the course of ten years, Peskov rose through the ranks to become the first secretary of the Russian embassy in Ankara, Turkey.

In 2000 he returned to Russia to work at the press service of the Russian President, serving a number of positions, including a four-year term as first deputy press secretary of the Russian president from 2004 to 2008. He has served as Putin’s spokesperson since April 2000.

Dmitry Peskov was named as Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov's press secretary on 25 April 2008, putting him in place to lead Vladimir Putin's press operations when he moved to the job of Prime Minister under Dmitry Medvedev's presidency. In May 2012, when Putin again became President, Peskov succeeded Natalya Timakova as the presidential spokesperson.

Fareed Zakaria

Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (/fəˈriːd zəˈkɑːriə/; Marathi: फरीद जकारिया, Urdu: فرید زکریا; born January 20, 1964) is an Indian-born American journalist and author. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor-at-large of Time. He is the author of five books, three of them international bestsellers, and the co-editor of one.

Early life

Zakaria was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, to a Konkani Muslim family. His father, Rafiq Zakaria, was a politician associated with the Indian National Congress and an Islamic scholar. His mother, Fatima Zakaria, was for a time the editor of the Sunday Times of India.

Zakaria attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in Bombay. He graduated as a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, where he was president of the Yale Political Union, editor-in-chief of the Yale Political Monthly, a member of the Scroll and Key society, and a member of the Party of the Right. He later gained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Government from Harvard University in 1993, where he studied under Samuel P. Huntington and Stanley Hoffmann, as well as international relations theorist Robert Keohane.

Donald Trump

Donald John Trump, Sr. (born June 14, 1946) is an American businessperson and media personality. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's career, branding efforts, personal life, wealth, and outspoken manner have made him famous throughout the country. Since 2015, he is also a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election.

Trump is a native of New York City and a son of Fred Trump, who inspired him to enter real estate development. After two years at Fordham University and while studying at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Trump worked for his father's firm, Elizabeth Trump & Son. Upon graduating in 1968 he joined the company, and in 1971 was given control, renaming the company "The Trump Organization". Since then he has built hotels, golf courses, and other properties, many of which bear his name. He is a major figure in the American business scene and has received prominent media exposure. The NBC reality show The Apprentice bolstered his fame, and his three marriages were extensively reported in tabloids.

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (/ˈpuːtɪn/; Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин; IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ˈputʲɪn], born 7 October 1952) has been the President of Russia since 7 May 2012, succeeding Dmitry Medvedev. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008, and as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. During his last term as Prime Minister, he was also the chairman of United Russia, the ruling party.

For 16 years, Putin was an officer in the KGB, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel before he retired to enter politics in his native Saint Petersburg in 1991. He moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin's administration where he rose quickly, becoming Acting President on 31 December 1999 when Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned. Putin easily won the subsequent 2000 presidential election and was reelected in 2004. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term in 2008. Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential election and appointed Putin as Prime Minister, beginning a period of so-called "tandemocracy". In September 2011, following a change in the law extending the presidential term from four years to six, Putin announced that he would seek a third, non-consecutive term as President in the 2012 presidential election, an announcement which led to large-scale protests in many Russian cities. In March 2012, he won the election, which was criticized for procedural irregularities, and is serving a six-year term.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is an American politician and former United States Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009. She is the wife of the 42nd President of the United States William "Bill" Jefferson Clinton, and was First Lady of the United States during his tenure from 1993 to 2001. She served under current President Barack Obama as the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013. She is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election.

A native of the Chicago area, Hillary Rodham graduated from Wellesley College in 1969, where she became the first student commencement speaker. She went on to earn her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1973. After a stint as a congressional legal counsel, she moved to Arkansas, marrying Bill Clinton in 1975. She co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families in 1977, became the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978, and was named the first female partner at Rose Law Firm in 1979. While First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and 1983 to 1992, she led a task force that reformed Arkansas' public school system, and served on the board of directors of Wal-Mart among other corporations.