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Daniels has called not only upon his experience in business, but also on his past service as chief of staff to Senator Richard Lugar, senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan, and director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President George W. Bush. He also served in the private sector as an executive at Eli Lilly and Company and CEO of the Hudson Institute. He is using this experience to focus on strengthening Indiana’s economy, reforming state government, and generating the fiscal integrity of the state.

Daniels was elected Governor of Indiana in 2004. As Governor, he reorganized the state’s commerce department into the public-private Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), became chairman of its board, and ordered it to act at the speed of business, not the speed of government, to attract new jobs. During its first year, the IEDC closed more transactions than in the previous two years combined. In 2006, the IEDC topped its 2005 results in only ten months.

In 2005, Daniels led the state to its first balanced budget in eight years and, without a tax increase, turned the $600 million deficit he inherited into a $300 million surplus in a single year. Governor Daniels used this surplus to repay hundreds of millions of dollars the state had borrowed from Indiana's public schools in previous administrations.

In 2006, Indiana landed three high profile automotive investments - Toyota, Honda, and Cummins. The governor's focus on renewing Indiana's agricultural sector and strengthening the state’s rural communities moved Indiana to the forefront in the biofuel and clean energy areas. Daniels and his wife Cheri have four daughters: Meagan, Melissa, Meredith and Maggie.