Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, speaker, and presidential candidate. She began her professional career as spiritual leader of the Church of Today, a Unity Church in Warren, Michigan. Williamson has written several self-help books, including A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles in 1992, which became a New York Times Best Seller. She was launched into prominence by Oprah Winfrey, being a frequent guest on her daytime talk show and becoming known as her 'spiritual advisor'. Williamson ran unsuccessfully as an independent for California's 33rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives in 2014, finishing fourth with 13.2% of the vote. She ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, eventually dropping out and endorsing Bernie Sanders. She is running again in the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Williamson's presidential platform calls for a federal minimum wage increase, reparations for racial injustice, addressing climate change, and creating a U.S. Department of Peace. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)