Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Robert Francis "Bob" McDonnell was elected as the governor for the State of Virginia in 2009. He is of the Republican political party. His family is of Irish background.

His father was a United States Air Force Officer, and so young McDonnell grew up around the world, spending his first several years in Germany. The family then setttled in Fairfax County, Virginia, where his mother worked at George Washington's home, Mount Vernon. McDonnell attended parochial schools, and graduated from Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was a football star.

Following high school graduation, he enrolled at the University of Notre Dame. He studied under an ROTC scholarship and received a B.B.A. in Management. He then fulfilled his military service requirement by serving as a medical supply officer. He was stationed in Germany and Newport News, Virginia over the space of four years, when he left active duty. He then put his business degree to work at American Hospital Supply Corporation.

By the mid 1980s, McDonnell's interests shifted again to law and politics. He enrolled at the Christian Evangelical Regent University and earned an M.A. and J.D. Regent University's mission statement, according to their website, is to "serve as a leading center of Christian thought and action providing an excellent education from a biblical perspective and global context in pivotal professions to equip Christian leaders to change the world."

His Christian education in hand, McDonnell entered public life. Initially he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, serving a total of fourteen years, representing the 84th district in Virginia Beach. He continued his military service as an officer in the Army Reserve, retiring in 1997 as a Lt. Colonel. In 2005 he ran for and was subsequently elected as Virginia Attorney General, campaigning on protecting children, drug enforcement, gang violence, and terrorism. His opponent, Democrat state Senator Creigh Deeds, filed for a recount after the election, foreshadowing a future encounter when the two politicians would both run for governor of the state.

In 2007 McDonnell announced his candidacy for Virginia's governor in the 2009 election. He focused on economic issues, transportation, and public safety. He proposed increasing Virginia's tourism and film industries, and proposed educational reforms that would include specialized, trade-oriented high schools for employment in high-demand industries. McDonnell is openly pro-life and opposes state and federal funding for abortions. He also favors a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

McDonnell's master's thesis, written for Regent University in 1989, came back to haunt him during and after his successful bid for governor. He argues for making abortion illegal, support for school vouchers, and tax policies favoring heterosexual families. He specifically wrote that "government policy should favor married couples over 'cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators." He also wrote in his thesis that working women and feminists were "detrimental" to the family. Additionally, his thesis criticized a 1965 Supreme Court decision legalizing use of contraceptives, and he wrote that "man's basic nature is inclined towards evil, and when the exercise of liberty takes the shape of pornography, drug abuse, or homosexuality, the government must restrain, punish, and deter."

McDonnell defended himself by stating that "Virginians will judge me on my 18-year record as a legislator and attorney general and the specific plans I have laid out for our future..." However, as recently as April 2010, only months into his administration, McDonnell reestablished Confederate History Month, stirring up controversy among some Virginia residents, including the African-American community, who critiqued the governor for not acknowledging the role slavery played in the Confederacy.

McDonnell is focused on making Virginia the "Energy Capital" of the country, pushing for offshore drilling, and is favorable to a uranium mine operation proposed in Pittsylvania County. While he is a proponent for sustainable or renewable energy, traditional energy sources has been his major focus during his first 100 days in office.

McDonnell is married to Maureen Patricia Gardner McDonnell. The couple is parent to five children, including a daughter, Jeanine, who served the U.S. Army in Iraq.