Before dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann capitalized on support from the conservative Tea Party movement.

Bachmann helped found the Tea Party caucus in the House of Representatives. In August, she became the first woman to win the Iowa straw poll, a non-binding early test of popularity that does not officially influence the primary elections. But her popularity was soon eclipsed by Texas Governor Rick Perry's entry into the race.

Trained as a tax attorney, Bachmann and her husband, clinical therapist Marcus Bachmann, run a Christian counseling center in Minnesota. The couple have five children and have fostered 23 others.

On the campaign trail, the 55-year-old Bachmann advocated tax reform, deep cuts to government spending and repeal of the health care reform law authored by the Obama administration. She also supports federal and state constitutional amendments that would ban same-sex marriage, and she opposes abortion.