Known for her fiery rhetoric and willing to court controversy, CynthiaMcKinney is one of the most widely known members of the United StatesCongress. She is the daughter of Billy and Leola McKinney, an ambitiouscouple with high hopes for their daughter. Her father was a policeman,at a time when that was dangerous for an African-American, and hermother was a nurse. In 1972, her family became prominent when BillyMcKinney was elected to the state House of Representatives. In school,she was a capable and strong-willed student and is known for takingafter her outspoken father. She attended college in California,graduating with a Masters of Art in Law and Diplomacy from the FletcherSchool of Law & Diplomacy. Her political career began unexpectedly in1986 when her father submitted her name as a write-in candidate forstate Representative in a district near his. To her surprise, shepolled some 40%, and encouraged by her showing, she moved to Atlanta,Georgia and ran in 1988. She won that election, and immediately made animpact for a combative demeanor and left wing views. She was notpopular with most of her colleagues, but was secure in her district. In1992, redistricting created a new, African-American majority district,and she ran. After some difficulty, she won the Democratic primaryagainst more moderate opponents. In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled thather district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, and a newdistrict centered on African-American dominated DeKalb County, asuburban county northeast of Atlanta. She moved there and won withlittle fuss. Her outspoken ways generated some negative publicity, asdid her anti-Israeli, pro-Arab views on foreign policy. She faced aserious challenge in 1996, and was embarrassed when her father calledher Republican opponent "a racist Jew", but won comfortably. She wonthe next two elections without incident, but after terrorists bombedthe World Trade Center in New York City, she caused an uproar when sheclaimed that PresidentGeorge W. Bush had prior knowledge of the impendingattacks. In 2002 she was challenged in the Democratic primary by DeKalbCounty Judge Denise Majette, who attacked McKinney for frequent foreigntravel in office and accused her of ineffectiveness. McKinney and wassoundly defeated. Her father was defeated that same year, after 30years in the state legislature. Her political career seemed to be over,but in 2004, Majette ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. McKinneysought to return to Congress and succeeded. In the beginning of her newterm, she kept a low profile and managed to avoid controversy. However,in early 2006, she made negative headlines again. When a Capitol Hillsecurity guard didn't recognize her and blocked her from enteringCongress, she struck him with her cell phone and cursed him. Shegenerated criticism around the country and embarrassed her own party'sleadership. After initially accusing the guard of racism, she backeddown and apologized. However, the incident just reminded herconstituents of why they had rejected her before. In the 2006Democratic primary runoff, she lost to DeKalb County Commissioner HankJohnson by an even larger margin than she had lost to Majette in 2002.This appears to be the end of her career in elected office.