Jeanine Pirro was born on June 2, 1951 in Elmira, NY. She is an American TV personality and the host of Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News. She was also a former judge, prosecutor, and Republican politician in New York.
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Upbringing
Jeanine is a Lebanese by ethnicity. Her parents were Esther Ferris and Nasser Ferris. Her mother was a model for a department store while her father worked as a mobile home salesman.
Pirro received graduated from Notre Dame High School. Then she went on to the University of Buffalo where she graduated magna cum laude. In 1975, she received a J.D. degree from Albany Law School.
Transition from being a Legal Professional to a Public Figure
She was an Assistant District Attorney of Westchester County since 1978. In 1986, Pirro acted as a running mate for Andrew O’Rourke in his campaign for the GOP gubernatorial candidate. She gave up this position just 2 days later for Michael Kavanagh to grab it up immediately after.
In 1993, she set another record for being the first female to hold the position of District Attorney of Westchester County. She kept working as the District Attorney of Westchester County for two more consecutive terms after being re-elected in 1997 and 2001. In 1997, she was honored by People Magazine as one of its fifty most beautiful people of the year.
She chaired the New York State Commission on Domestic Violence Fatalities on the recommendation of Governor George Pataki in 1997. This same commission made it possible for legislation for the victims of domestic violence to pass with the help of reports and recommendations.
On August 10, 2005, she filed her nomination against Democrat Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Senator election in New York. A couple of months after starting her campaign, Pirro dropped out of the Senate race, due to continuing pressure from party leaders, a lagging fundraising effort, and polls showing she would be defeated by Clinton. “I have decided that my law enforcement background better qualifies me for a race for New York State attorney general than a race for the United States Senate,” she said when she gave up on her bid.
The former judge couldn’t stay out of political races for too long. She announced that the 2016 presidential election was too important to sit on the sidelines. She started to back conservative businessman Donald J. Trump for President. She seemed to admire Trump for his boldness in facing the Republican establishment, who failed to stop Obama’s radical agenda during his previous 8 year run as US president. She posted a tweet in support for Trump’s decision to run for president and also to highlight the battle he had in trying to become the leader of the Republican party: “Mitch McConnell uses FEAR tactics against @realDonaldTrump so establishment cronies can feather their nests. American people be damned.” She had the support of conservative fans but people on the left started to dislike her after she publicly supported Donald Trump.
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The Entertainment Industry
Later in her life, she started a new chapter by becoming a famous TV personality. She has been a guest host on a bunch of different TV shows like Geraldo at Large, Larry King Live and The Joy Behar Show. Red Eye Greg Gutfeld, a late night show on Fox, welcomed her frequently on its stage as a guest. She is also gifted in writing, which she proved with her book “To Punish and Protect.” This book was classified in the nonfiction genre and describes the life within a criminal justice system.
Pirro never shied away from sharing her professional experience with the public. With the help of an author, Pete Earley, she narrated her own real life experience as a District Attorney. She recounted her perspective as an investigation attorney in a high-profile case in the serial show “Jinx” of HBO. She also hosted the show “Judge Jeanine Pirro” on the WB network.
Jeanine’s prime-time weekend program was a smooth transition from a real life judge to a TV judge. On Justice with Judge Jeanine, she expresses her legal perspective about news throughout the week, latest high profile cases and recent happenings in the sphere of justice and crime.
Jeanine joined the Fox News Channel in 2006 where she was the host of a television court program called Judge Jeanine Pirro which later became known simply as Judge Pirro. She was also hosting a court show on weekdays which was produced by Warner Brothers. She even won an Emmy award for her TV work. She won many fans because of her charisma and interesting personality.
A Happy Family Life Turned Sour
Jeanine Pirro and Albert Pirro were married in 1975. Her husband was a lobbyist. They had a very good married relationship till the year 2000. They have 2 children, a son and a daughter from their marriage. In the year 2000, her husband Albert Pirro was convicted and sent to prison for evasion of federal tax. This badly affected her political career. She was a highly ambitious woman contesting for State Attorney General Position when she was taken aback by the disturbing piece of news involving her husband.
Albert Pirro was involved in a scandal where he developed an illegitimate relationship with a woman and even fathered her child. This created news waves and negatively affected her political career. She was embarrassed in public by Albert who blamed her for his affair saying that she was responsible for it because she was not showing enough attention to him. This left Jeanine Pirro shattered and started an end to her political career as well. A relationship of three decades long came to a bitter end because of an affair.
She was subjected to an investigation by the FBI for charges of taping her husband, Albert’s conversation with a woman to prove his infidelity. This took a toll on their relationship and they wanted to end it amicably. They filed for divorce in the 2007 and ended the relationship. In spite of standing by her husband through all the rough patches, she decided to end their relationship as it was taking a toll on their lives.
She is regarded as a strong woman who endured all the storms in her life with a smile. Infidelity is something which makes a relationship go sour and cannot be repaired. Many celebrity couples fall prey to affairs in spite of having a very successful and happy lives.
Last Modified: Apr 8, 2020
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