Candy Carson

Born Lacena Rustin on August 19, 1953, in Royal Oak Township, Michigan. Carson was raised in the Episcopal Church by her mother. She graduated from Ferndale High School. Carson met her future husband, also a Detroit native, in the 1970s when both were students at Yale University. A former concert violinist, Carson performed the national anthem during her husband's campaign kick-off. She has been a conductor for the University of Maryland Medical Center Chamber Players. ==Career==

In the Baltimore area, Carson worked in real estate, trust administration and insurance. == Carson Scholars Fund ==

In 1994, Carson and her husband started the Carson Scholars Fund, designed to provide scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities". Carson is the facilitator of the scholarship fund. ==Personal life==

Carson and her husband married in 1975. Together, they have three sons: Murray, Benjamin Jr., and Royceon, as well as several grandchildren. In line with her religious beliefs, Carson is a vegetarian. In 1981 Carson became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy. After this experience, when she became pregnant again in the following year, Carson was placed on bed rest by her doctor after the fourth month. She left her job and took this time to focus on self-care for the remainder of her pregnancy. Carson has co-authored four books with her husband, including One Nation, which made The New York Times Best Seller list and spent five weeks at #1. Her memoir A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson was released at the beginning of 2016. Books, with Ben Carson • . • . • • . • ==Portrayal in popular media==

Carson was portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis in the TNT made-for-TV movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (first airdate February 7, 2009), starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. She starred as herself in the 1991 biographical documentary about her husband, Gifted Hands. She was portrayed by Leslie Jones on the Saturday March 10, 2018, episode of Saturday Night Live. == Expenditure controversy ==

Carson received criticism for reportedly pressuring her husband's staff to spend up to $31,000 on a dining set in his Housing and Urban Development office in late 2017. This was discovered after Helen Foster, a former HUD chief administrative officer, filed a complaint alleging that she was demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecoration. The HUD inspector general found no evidence of undue influence by Mrs. Carson on any staffer. However, the Government Accountability Office ruled that, in making unauthorized purchases of a dishwasher and furniture for Ben Carson's office, HUD violated the law. ==References==