FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – The Office of the First Lady on the Navajo Nation has for years served as a ceremonial post for wives of presidents to promote literacy, healthy living, the arts and anti-drunken driving efforts.

But the recent election of Russell Begaye as president has created a shift. This year, the vice president’s spouse is set to assume the first lady duties with the mysterious absence of the president’s wife.

Kyoon Chung Begaye did not appear with her husband on the campaign trail and lives 1,500 miles away in Georgia.

Begaye told the Navajo Times newspaper that the marriage was a “business decision,” but he hasn’t elaborated. He and his administration haven’t responded to multiple calls, emails or text messages from The Associated Press to clarify.

His wife has worked as a dentist in an Atlanta suburb and hasn’t responded to inquiries at her home or her former practice, where she advertised services to both English- and Korean-speaking patients.

With no answers about the first lady, numerous people on the reservation say they are perplexed about her whereabouts and wonder why Begaye never mentioned her during the presidential campaign.

The president’s wife wasn’t the only rarely mentioned aspect of Begaye’s background and resume as he ascended to become the top official on the nation’s largest American Indian reservation two weeks ago.

At one point Begaye wrote on his website that he owned a small housing construction company. That language was later removed, however, and he told the AP recently that he never registered his house-flipping business.

Begaye has also spent most of his adult life as an ordained Southern Baptist minister, but rarely brought up his faith while campaigning.

Begaye and Kyoon Chung were married in 1999, less than two years after the death of Begaye’s first wife. By then, Begaye said he was dabbling in the housing industry, taking classes at high schools and community colleges to learn about flipping houses, contracting services, tax laws and working with real-estate agents. He and Kyoon Chung Begaye have been listed as owners on multiple properties in Georgia and California, according to public records.

Begaye entered tribal politics as a lawmaker on the Navajo Nation Council four years ago and decided against a re-election bid to seek the presidency. He made it on the general ballot for the presidential contest when one of the top two candidates was disqualified for failing to prove he could speak fluent Navajo, a requirement for the job.

Begaye had a pro-business platform, touting his experience in vowing to revive the stagnant economy of the reservation. “Probably the smartest thing I ever did was take classes in the housing industry,” he told the AP.

Begaye maintains a strong connection with the Baptist church, one that formed decades ago when his father followed a fellow Native American Church roadman, or pastor, to the faith, said Begaye’s brother, former New Mexico state Rep. Ray Begaye.

After graduating from UCLA in 1974 with a degree in political science, Russell Begaye earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1977. That same year, he went to work for the Georgia-based North American Mission Board, which focuses on starting up new Baptist churches. Begaye worked with the board until 2011.

W. C. “Bill” Everett, a fellow seminary graduate of Begaye, was pastor at a church in Fort Worth and said he often called upon Begaye to take his place at the pulpit when he wasn’t able. He presided over the 1997 funeral services of Begaye’s first wife, Helen Shoemaker, a Choctaw woman who attended the same seminary as Begaye and married him in 1975.

“I’m sure if he’s remained true to his beliefs and his ethics, he will make a good president,” said Everett, 82, now a retired pastor.

Even Begaye’s most staunch supporters said they were unaware of his marriage to Kyoon Chung. Peterson Zah, a former Navajo chairman and president, said he knew about Begaye’s first wife but noted that Begaye never mentioned any other union.

Ray Begaye said he last saw his brother’s wife six years ago in Atlanta but that she has visited the Navajo Nation with Russell Begaye. He said she likely stayed in the Atlanta area because it would be difficult to start a business on the reservation.

In the absence of a first lady, Vice President Jonathan Nez’s wife, Phefelia Herbert, is expected to assume the role. The office has a budget of about $160,000 and one paid staff member.

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AP researchers Rhonda Shafner and Barbara Sambriski in New York, and AP writer Kathleen Foody in Atlanta contributed to this report.