Irene Taylor

Irene Taylor
File:Helen-mirren.jpeg
Secretary of Commerce and Labor
Incumbent
Assumed office November 10, 2022
Preceded by	Glass
Senator
Incumbent
Assumed office November 17, 2022
Preceded by	James Bruhman
Secretary of Education, Dixie
Incumbent
Assumed office November 4, 2022
Assemblywoman, Dixie-4
Incumbent
Assumed office October 11, 2022

Irene Dorothea Gallagher Taylor (née Gallagher, born July 26, 1958) is an American musician, educator, and politician currently serving as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor and as Senate Majority Leader in Dixie's Class I Senate seat. Taylor is also Party Chair of the New American Left, Dixie Secretary of Education, and assemblywoman for its fourth district. However, on December 16, 2022, she announced she would not seek the assembly seat again.

Born and raised in Pigeon Forge, Dixie, Taylor graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1981. She served in the Pigeon Forge Chamber of Commerce, as Director of Marketing and Sales from 1983 to 1991 and then as Executive Director from 1991 to 1993. Taylor left the Chamber that year in a bid to become Superintendent of the Sevier County Public School System, which she garnered in 1994. From 1994 to 2021, Taylor served as Sevier County's head educational official, a tenure notable for the implementation of CTE programs in the county's high schools, the School Board's approval and negotiation with the local teachers union, and Taylor's personal advocacy for masking and vaccinations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor announced her retirement from the position in the summer of 2021, alongside her successful completion of the federal bar exam.

On October 11, 2022, Taylor became the newest assemblywoman for Dixie's fourth state district, after running a small and unopposed campaign. Her tenure in the body has been marked by minor legislative activity and, more recently, a high-profile corruption hearing surrounding Draven Prince's illegal activity as Dixie's Attorney General. Governor Grant of Dixie announced Taylor's nomination to the Secretary of Education in early November, and on the fourth of the month, she was formally confirmed and sworn in. Perhaps the most inactive of Taylor's responsibilities, she's primarily focused on expanding programs outlined under the self-authored CATT Act and the teaching of Indigenous histories and cultures of Dixie in the state's high schools. Despite being nominated under President XRT, Taylor was not formally confirmed as the United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor until November 10, 2022. In this position, Taylor has executed and aided a number of significant measures, including a resolution to the Ddet Patent Controversy and a newly consummated trade deal with the United Kingdom.

On November 8, 2022, Taylor filed for the Class I Dixie Senate seat held by James Bruhman and subsequently announced her run. Advertisements and campaigning on Taylor's behalf high-lighted Bruhman's purported inactivity and overheld tenure with Taylor's own relatively fresh political history. During Debate, Taylor was criticized on the freshness of her activity as questions continually arose about her ability to govern, given such a recent entry into governance at large. Nonetheless, Taylor garnered just over 53% of the vote to beat incumbent Senator Bruhman. She was then elected Senate Majority Leader.

Due to her several high-profile roles, as well as her involvement in the Ddet Patent Controversy, the Draven Prince Scandal, and the Small Exodus, Taylor has continued to be a highly controversial figure. Opponents have criticized Taylor for mismanagement of the New American Left, commenting more specifically on the inability of the party to coordinate across its caucus and further vet the legislation members of that caucus introduce. Furthermore, some have claimed that pieces of legislation supported or written by Taylor, namely the Agricultural Labor Rights Act and the Federal Education Reauthorization Act, are illegal or unconstitutional. Perceived involvement in Draven Prince's ploy to manipulate his then-powers as Attorney General has also drawn particular ire and criticism.

Early life and education

Early Life

Irene Dorothea Gallagher was born on July 26, 1958, in Pigeon Forge, Dixie. She was raised in a Christian Baptist family that had lived in Pigeon Forge for generations. When she was two years old, her mother, Diane Gallagher, died of pancreatic cancer. Her father, Tom Gallagher, a Baptist preacher and woodworker, was then her sole caretaker. The Gallagher family was of English, Irish, and Welsh descent, primarily descended from Irish rail workers. Her mother, of the Waylan family, was of French, Welsh, and Cherokee heritage.

As a child, Taylor participated in softball and quiz bowl and earned numerous badges as a Brownie and Girl Scout. She assisted her father in his woodworking into her teenage years, where she garnered self-attested values of diligence and hard work. Taylor received a saxophone at age twelve and spent much of her middle and high school education practicing music. Having been twice-accepted into all-state bands, Taylor was the recipient of the 1973 Pigeon Forge Youth Excellence Award for her work in music. In 1974, she performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra as a selected student in their Cumberland Blues concert series. She was a National Merit Finalist and was the 1976 Youth Saxophone Champion of the All-State Dixie Student Music Competition.

Taylor was reared in a politically conservative family and her father preached right-leaning views from his pulpit. While this caused significant friction between Taylor and her extended family as her views steered left into her adulthood, she maintained a civil relationship with many of them and, in particular, with her father. She lauded her father's "valiant dedication to pure Christianity" at his funeral in 2017.

Role in the New American Left

Taylor was a founding member of the New American Left and the primary author of its present constitution and platform.

Secretary of Commerce and Labor

US-UK Trade Deal

Taylor was a founding member of the New American Left and the primary author of its present constitution and platform.