Jim Gilmore 2016: 5 Highlights From Pre-Politics Life of Potential GOP Presidential Hopeful

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, a 2016 GOP presidential hopeful, spent 10 years in the private sector, practicing law, before entering political life. He had been interested in politics at least since college when he joined a Republican political club.

In his first foray into politics in 1987, he was elected prosecutor in his home county of Henrico in suburban Richmond. He followed that up with his first statewide victory in 1994 as Virginia attorney general, but resigned in 1997 to run for governor. In 1998, he was elected governor, handily defeating Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, a Democrat, 56 percent to 43 percent.

While serving as governor, Gilmore became active on the national scene, especially as chairman of the Republican National Committee. He also was appointed by President George W. Bush to head the Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction or, more simply, the Gilmore Commission. He also chaired a Congressional advisory panel that opposed taxation of the Internet.

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Here are five facts from Gilmore's pre-politics life.

1. According to The New York Times, Gilmore learned to speak fluent German while stationed as an Army intelligence officer in West Germany. For his service there with NATO, he received the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Joint Service Commendation Medal.

2. He worked his way through high school and college as a grocery store cashier. While attending the University of Virginia he was a member of the university's College Republicans chapter and the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society. It was there where he recalled his days at the university during a commencement speech there when he returned as governor.

3. As a lawyer and partner with the law firm of Benedetti, Gilmore, Warthen, and Dalton, he specialized in corporate and technology law.

4. Gilmore and his wife, Roxane Gatling Gilmore, have two sons, Jay and Ashton. He met her while she was a teaching assistant at the University of Virginia. She also had been a member of the Jefferson Society. She went on to become a professor of classics at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.

5. His hobbies include stamp collecting and watching NASCAR races, according to The Washington Post.

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