The Hill's 50 Most Beautiful People

Age: 56
Hometown: Stillwater, Minn.
Political party: Republican
Relationship status: Married

In terms of style, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has come a long way. For a 2008 story on congressional wardrobes, she told The Hill, “I’m a bottom-feeder when it comes to clothes shopping,” and described her strategy as going for “markdown, markdown, markdown, and then 80 percent off of that.”

But nothing about her presidential-campaign wardrobe looked bargain-basement. Not only did she hire Fox News Channel makeup artist Tamara Robertson for her 2012 bid, she also debuted a sleeker, trendier hairdo that inspired attention from the likes of the New York Daily News, which ran an article last year on women asking their hairdressers to replicate Bachmann’s look. She also made noise — literally — wearing a French manicure that clicked and clacked on the podiums of the GOP primary’s many debates. Bachmann was a chic version of her Capitol Hill self while on the national stage this past year.

Since suspending her presidential campaign, the three-term lawmaker has settled back into a familiar role as a congressional agitator, President Obama attack dog and magnet for media attention. This month, she took some friendly fire from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and in the spring, she attracted headlines by first announcing that she had become a Swiss citizen and then later rejecting the citizenship, saying her allegiance lies solely with the United States. It might have looked like a stumble, but the episode fits in with Bachmann’s modus operandi. In 2009 she told The Hill, “Life around here is so fast, it’s like being in a blender and you hit frappé. You can’t look backward.”

Bachmann declined to be interviewed for this feature.

— Kris Kitto

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