Meet the Press and similar shows specialize in interviewing national leaders on issues of politics, economics, foreign policy and other public affairs. These shows help fulfill the obligations of the networks to provide a public service to the community.
Meet the Press is the highest-rated of the American television Sunday morning talk shows.
The program's usual time slot over the NBC network is airing from 9-10 a.m. local time in most markets, though this may vary by markets due to commitments by affiliates to religious, E/I or local public affairs programing, and varies several weeks in the summer due to morning coverage of Grand Slam tennis and golf tournaments by NBC Sports. The program also re-airs on MSNBC Sunday afternoons at 2pm ET and early Monday mornings 4am ET (also over the Sirius/XM Satellite Radio simulcast of MSNBC audio), along with an early Monday morning replay as part of NBC's "All Night" lineup. The program is also distributed to radio stations via syndication by Westwood One, and aired as part of C-SPAN Radio's replay of the Sunday morning talk shows.
Occasionally, a final segment called "The Meet the Press Minute" was added. It was devoted to topical clips from the show's extensive archives.
Meet the Press is also available as an audio or video podcast, and is simulcast on radio stations by Westwood One.
==Moderators==
The following is the list of moderators for Meet the Press:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Martha Rountree
| 1947 – 1953
|-
| Ned Brooks
| 1953 – 1965
|-
| Lawrence E. Spivak
| 1966 – 1975
|-
| Bill Monroe
| 1975 – 1984
|-
| Roger Mudd / Marvin Kalb
(co-moderators)
| 1984 – 1985
|-
| Marvin Kalb
| 1985 – 1987
|-
| Chris Wallace
| 1987 – 1988
|-
| Garrick Utley
| 1989 – 1991
|-
| Tim Russert
| 1991 – 2008
|-
| Tom Brokaw
| 2008
|-
| David Gregory
| 2008 – present
|-
|}
On November 6, 1947 while still on the Mutual Broadcasting System, it was subsequently reincarnated on the NBC television network and renamed Meet the Press. The radio version also adopted the new name. Although some sources credit Mr. Spivak with the program's creation,
Under Russert, the show was expanded to one hour and became less of a televised press conference and more focused on Russert's questions and comments, with longer interviews and with Russert hosting panels of experts.
Russert signed off by saying, "That's all for today. We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press."
During the football season, Russert, a native of Buffalo, New York and an avid Buffalo Bills fan, sometimes added, "Go Bills!", and occasionally would ask panelists, "How 'bout those Sabres?" if the Buffalo NHL hockey team was doing well. Spoofs of the show on Saturday Night Live often reflect this addition.
Russert died on June 13, 2008 of a sudden coronary thrombosis (caused by a cholesterol plaque rupture). The former NBC Nightly News anchor and current special correspondent Tom Brokaw hosted a special edition of Meet the Press dedicated to the life of Russert on June 15, 2008, in which Tim Russert's chair was left empty, as a tribute.
Following Russert's death, Tom Brokaw was named the interim moderator through the 2008 general elections. Brokaw followed Russert's tradition by signing off with "We'll be back next Sunday because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press." In September the show was presented with limited commercials.
On August 10, David Gregory moderated the panel discussion during the second half-hour of the broadcast while Brokaw anchored the first half-hour from the Olympics in Beijing. The following week on August 17, he moderated the entire show. It was also reported on December 1, 2008, that the December 7 broadcast would be Brokaw's last, with David Gregory taking over full time the following Sunday.
Most frequent panelist appearances:
Category:1947 television series debuts Category:1940s American television series Category:1950s American television series Category:1960s American television series Category:1970s American television series Category:1980s American television series Category:1990s American television series Category:2000s American television series Category:2010s American television series Category:American news radio programs Category:American news television series Category:Black-and-white television programs Category:English-language television series Category:NBC network shows Category:NBC News Category:Peabody Award winners
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Name | Ron Paul |
|---|---|
| Image name | Ron Paul, official Congressional photo portrait, 2007.jpg|thumb|Paul's Congressional portrait |
| Imagesize | 220px |
| Birth date | August 20, 1935 |
| Birth place | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| State | Texas |
| District | 14th |
| Term start | January 3, 1997 |
| Preceded | Greg Laughlin |
| State2 | Texas |
| District2 | 22nd |
| Term start2 | January 3, 1979 |
| Term end2 | January 3, 1985 |
| Preceded2 | Robert Gammage |
| Succeeded2 | Tom DeLay |
| Term start3 | April 3, 1976 |
| Term end3 | January 3, 1977 |
| Preceded3 | Robert R. Casey |
| Succeeded3 | Robert Gammage |
| Party | Republican (1976–1988) Libertarian (1988 Presidential Election) Republican (1988–present) |
| Spouse | Carolyn "Carol" Paul |
| Children | Ronald "Ronnie" Paul, Jr. Lori Paul Pyeatt Randal "Rand" Paul Robert Paul Joy Paul-LeBlanc |
| Alma mater | Gettysburg College (B.S.) Duke University School of Medicine (M.D.) |
| Profession | Physician, Politician |
| Residence | Lake Jackson, Texas |
| Religion | Baptist |
| Website | U.S. House of Representatives Office of Ron Paul |
| Signature | Ron Paul signature.svg |
| Branch | United States Air Force United States Air National Guard |
| Serviceyears | 1962–1965 1965–1968 |
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American physician and Republican Congressman for the 14th congressional district of Texas. Paul serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Committee on Financial Services, where he has been an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policy. He has gained prominence for his libertarian positions on many political issues, often clashing with both Republican and Democratic Party leaders. He is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy. Paul has run for President of the United States twice, first in 1988 as the nominee of the Libertarian Party and again in 2008 as a candidate for the Republican nomination.
He is the founder of the advocacy group Campaign for Liberty and his ideas have been expressed in numerous published articles and books, including End The Fed (2009), and (2008). According to a 1998 study published in the American Journal of Political Science, Paul has the most conservative voting record of any member of Congress since 1937. His son Rand Paul was sworn in as a Senator for Kentucky in 2011, an event with made the elder Paul the first Representative in history to serve alongside a son or daughter in the Senate.
Paul has been married to Carol Wells since 1957. They have five children, who were baptized Episcopalian: Ronald, Lori, Rand, Robert, and Joy. Paul's son Rand is senator-elect of the state of Kentucky. They also have eighteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He has four brothers. Two of them, including David Paul, are ministers. Wayne Paul is a Certified Public Accountant.
Paul was the first Republican representative from the area; he also led the Texas Reagan delegation at the national Republican convention. His successful campaign against Gammage surprised local Democrats, who had expected to retain the seat easily in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Gammage underestimated Paul's support among local mothers: "I had real difficulty down in Brazoria County, where he practiced, because he'd delivered half the babies in the county. There were only two obstetricians in the county, and the other one was his partner."
On the House Banking Committee, Paul blamed the Federal Reserve for inflation, it is now available from the Ludwig von Mises Institute, to which Paul is a distinguished counselor.
In 1984, Paul chose to run for the U.S. Senate instead of re-election to the House, but lost the Republican primary to Phil Gramm. He returned to full-time medical practice In his House farewell address, Paul said, "Special interests have replaced the concern that the Founders had for general welfare. Vote trading is seen as good politics. The errand-boy mentality is ordinary, the defender of liberty is seen as bizarre. It's difficult for one who loves true liberty and utterly detests the power of the state to come to Washington for a period of time and not leave a true cynic."
As the "Libertarian standard bearer", Paul gained supporters who agreed with his positions on gun rights, fiscal conservatism, homeschooling, and abortion, and won approval from many who thought the federal government was misdirected. This nationwide support base encouraged and donated to his later campaigns.
According to Paul, his presidential run was about more than reaching office; he sought to spread his libertarian ideas, often to school and university groups regardless of vote eligibility. He said, "We're just as interested in the future generation as this election. These kids will vote eventually, and maybe, just maybe, they'll go home and talk to their parents."
After the election, Paul continued his medical practice until he returned to Congress. He also co-owned a coin dealership, Ron Paul Coins, for twelve years with Burt Blumert, who continued to operate it after Paul returned to office. He spoke multiple times at the American Numismatic Association's 1988 convention. In 1985 Ron Paul & Associates began publishing The Ron Paul Investment Letter and The Ron Paul Survival Report; it added the more controversial Ron Paul Political Report in 1987. Many articles lacked a byline, yet often invoked Paul's name or persona.
After his unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988, Paul returned to private medical practice and continued to allow the newsletters to be published bearing his name. For 1992, RP&A; earned $940,000 and employed Paul's family as well as Lew Rockwell (its vice-president and seven other workers. Murray Rothbard and other libertarians believed Rockwell ghostwrote the newsletters for Paul; Rockwell later acknowledged involvement in writing subscription letters, but attributed the newsletters to "seven or eight freelancers".
Paul considered running for President in 1992, but instead chose to support Pat Buchanan that year, and served as an adviser to his Republican presidential campaign against incumbent President George H. W. Bush.
Morris also accused Paul of authoring questionable statements in past newsletters, Paul's congressional campaign countered the statements were taken out of context. and that voters might not understand the "tongue-in-cheek, academic" quotes out of context. Further, the campaign rejected Morris' demand to release all back issues.
Paul went on to win the election in a close margin. It became the third time Paul had been elected to Congress as a non-incumbent. In both campaigns, the national Democratic Party and major unions continued to spend heavily on targeting Paul. On December 11, 2001, he told the independent movement that he was encouraged by the fact that the petition had spread the message of Constitutionalism, but did not expect a White House win at that time. Further prompting in early 2007 led him to enter the 2008 race.
Unlike many political candidates, Paul receives the overwhelming majority of his campaign contributions from individuals (97 percent in the 2006 cycle), and receives much less from political action committees (PAC's) than others, ranging from two percent (2002) to six percent (1998). The group Clean Up Washington, analyzing from 2000 to mid-2006, listed Paul as seventh-lowest in PAC receipts of all House members; one of the lowest in lobbyist receipts; and fourth-highest in small-donor receipts. He had the lowest PAC receipts percentage of all the 2008 Republican presidential candidates.
Paul was re-elected to his tenth term in Congress in November 2006. In the March 4, 2008, Republican primary for his Congressional seat, he defeated Friendswood city councilman Chris Peden, obtaining over 70 percent of the vote. On the 2008 ballot, Paul won his eleventh term in Congress running unopposed. In the 2010 Republican primary for his Congressional seat, Paul defeated three opponents with 80 percent of the vote.
Paul adds his own earmarks, such as for Texas shrimp promotion, but he routinely votes against most spending bills returned by committee. Earmarks permit members of Congress, rather than executive branch civil servants, to designate spending priorities for previously authorized funds directed otherwise. In , Paul states his views on earmarks this way: "The real problem, and one that was unfortunately not addressed in the 2007's earmark dispute, is the size of the federal government and the amount of money we are spending in these appropriations bills. Cutting even a million dollars from an appropriations bill that spends hundreds of billions will make no appreciable difference in the size of government, which is doubtless why politicians and the media are so eager to have us waste our time on [earmarks]."
Paul also spends extra time in the district to compensate for "violat[ing] almost every rule of political survival you can think of,"
In March 2001, Paul introduced a bill to repeal the 1973 War Powers Resolution (WPR) and reinstate the process of formal declaration of war by Congress. Later in 2001, Paul voted to authorize the president, pursuant to WPR, to respond to those responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks. He also introduced Sunlight Rule legislation, which requires lawmakers to take enough time to read bills before voting on them, after the Patriot Act was passed within 24 hours of its introduction. Paul was one of six Republicans to vote against the Iraq War Resolution, and (with Oregon representative Peter DeFazio) sponsored a resolution to repeal the war authorization in February 2003. Paul's speech, 35 "Questions That Won't Be Asked About Iraq", was translated and published in German, French, Russian, Italian, and Swiss periodicals before the Iraq War began. After a 2005 bill was touted as "slashing" government waste, Paul wrote that it decreased spending by a fraction of one percent and that "Congress couldn't slash spending if the members' lives depended on it." He said that in three years he had voted against more than 700 bills intended to expand government.
Paul has introduced several bills to apply tax credits toward education, including credits for parental spending on public, private, or homeschool students (Family Education Freedom Act); for salaries for all K–12 teachers, librarians, counselors, and other school personnel; and for donations to scholarships or to benefit academics (Education Improvement Tax Cut Act). In accord with his political positions, he has also introduced the Sanctity of Life Act, the We the People Act, and the American Freedom Agenda Act.
Note: The numbers for the current session of Congress may no longer reflect the actual numbers as they are still actively in session.
Paul was honorary chair of, and is a current member of, the Republican Liberty Caucus, a political action committee which describes its goal as electing "liberty-minded, limited-government individuals". Paul also hosts a luncheon every Thursday as chair of the Liberty Caucus, composed of 20 members of Congress. Washington DC area radio personality Johnny "Cakes" Auville gave Paul the idea for the Liberty Caucus and is a regular contributing member. He remains on good terms with the Libertarian Party and addressed its 2004 convention. He also was endorsed by the Constitution Party's 2004 presidential candidate, Michael Peroutka.
Paul was on a bipartisan coalition of 17 members of Congress that sued President Bill Clinton in 1999 over his conduct of the Kosovo war. They accused Clinton of failing to inform Congress of the action's status within 48 hours as required by the War Powers Resolution, and of failing to obtain Congressional declaration of war. Congress had voted 427–2 against a declaration of war with Yugoslavia, and had voted to deny support for the air campaign in Kosovo. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that since Congress had voted for funding after Clinton had actively engaged troops in the war with Kosovo, legislators had sent a confusing message about whether they approved of the war. Paul said that the judge's decision attempted to circumvent the Constitution and to authorize the president to conduct a war without approval from Congress.
*Committee on Financial Services
Paul's campaign showed "surprisingly strong" fundraising with several record-breaking events. He had the highest rate of military contribution for 2008, and donations coming from individuals, aided significantly by an online presence and very active campaigning by supporters, who organized moneybomb fundraisers netting millions over several months. Such fundraising earned Paul the status of having raised more than any other Republican candidate in 2007's fourth-quarter. Paul's name was a number-one web search term as ranked by Technorati, beginning around May 2007. He has led other candidates in YouTube subscriptions since May 20, 2007.
Paul was largely ignored by traditional media, including at least one incident where FOX News did not invite him to a GOP debate featuring all other presidential candidates at the time. One exception was Glenn Beck's program on Headline News, where Beck interviewed Paul for the full hour of his show.
Though projections of 2008 Republican delegate counts varied widely, Paul's count was consistently third among the three candidates remaining after Super Tuesday. According to CNN and the New York Times, by Super Tuesday Paul had received five delegates in North Dakota, and was projected to receive two in Iowa, four in Nevada, and five in Alaska based on caucus results, totaling 16 delegates. However, Paul's campaign projected 42 delegates based on the same results, including delegates from Colorado, Maine, and Minnesota.
In the January Louisiana caucus, Paul placed second behind John McCain, but uncommitted delegates outnumbered both candidates' pledged delegates, since a registration deadline had been extended to January 12. Paul said he had the greatest number of pledged Louisiana delegates who had registered by the original January 10 deadline, and formally challenged the deadline extension and the Louisiana GOP's exclusion of voters due to an outdated list; he projected three Louisiana delegates. The Super Tuesday West Virginia caucus was won by Mike Huckabee, whose state campaign coordinators reportedly arranged to give three Huckabee delegates to Paul in exchange for votes from Paul's supporters. Huckabee has not confirmed this delegate pledge.
Paul's preference votes in primaries and caucuses began at 10 percent in Iowa (winning Jefferson County) and eight percent in New Hampshire, where he had the support of state sovereignty champion, State Representative Dan Itse; on Super Tuesday they ranged from 25 percent in Montana and 21 percent in North Dakota caucuses, where he won several counties, to three percent in several state primaries, averaging under 10 percent in primaries overall. After sweeping four states on March 4, McCain was widely projected to have a majority of delegates pledged to vote for him in the September party convention. Paul obliquely acknowledged McCain on March 6: "Though victory in the political sense [is] not available, many victories have been achieved due to hard work and enthusiasm." He continued to contest the remaining primaries, having added, "McCain has the nominal number ... but if you're in a campaign for only gaining power, that is one thing; if you're in a campaign to influence ideas and the future of the country, it's never over." Paul's recent book, , became a New York Times and Amazon.com bestseller immediately upon release. His newest book, End the Fed, has been released.
On June 12, 2008, Paul withdrew his bid for the Republican nomination, citing his resources could be better spent on improving America. Some of the $4 million remaining campaign contributions was invested into the new political action and advocacy group called Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty. Paul told the newsmagazine NOW on PBS the goal of the Campaign for Liberty is to "spread the message of the Constitution and limited government, while at the same time organizing at the grassroots level and teaching pro-liberty activists how to run effective campaigns and win elections at every level of government."
Controversial claims made in Ron Paul's newsletters, written in the first person, included statements such as "Boy, it sure burns me to have a national holiday for that pro-communist philanderer Martin Luther King. I voted against this outrage time and time again as a Congressman. What an infamy that Ronald Reagan approved it! We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day." Along with "even in my little town of Lake Jackson, Texas, I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming." Another notable statement that garnered controversy was "opinion polls consistently show only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions, if you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be" An issue from 1992 refers to carjacking as the "hip-hop thing to do among the urban youth who play unsuspecting whites like pianos." In an article title "The Pink House" the newsletter wrote that " "Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities."
Shortly afterwards, The New Republic released many previously unpublicized quotations attributed to Paul in James Kirchick's "Angry White Man" article. Kirchick accused Paul of having made racist, sexist, and derogatory comments geared towards African Americans, women, and the LGBT community. Kircheck also accused Paul of possessing "an obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry." CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer that the writing "Didn't sound like the Ron Paul I've come to know." Later, Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP, also defended Paul.
Reason republished Paul's 1996 defense of the newsletters, and later reported evidence from "a half-dozen longtime libertarian activists" that Lew Rockwell had been the chief ghostwriter.
Paul had given his own account of the newsletters in March 2001, stating the documents were authored by ghostwriters, and that while he did not author the challenged passages, he bore "some moral responsibility" for their publication.
On September 10, 2008, Paul confirmed his "open endorsement" (CNN) for the four candidates at a press conference in Washington D.C. He also revealed that he had rejected a request for an endorsement of John McCain. He later appeared on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer with Nader where they presented and briefly laid out the four principles that all the independent candidates had agreed on as the most important key issues of the presidential race. On September 22, 2008, in response to a written statement by Bob Barr, Paul abandoned his former neutral stance and announced his support of Chuck Baldwin in the 2008 presidential election.
In the 2008 general election, Paul still received 41,905 votes despite not actively running for the seat. He was listed on the ballot in Montana on the Constitution Party label, and in Louisiana on the "Louisiana Taxpayers Party" ticket, and received write-in votes in California (17,006), Pennsylvania (3,527), New Hampshire (1,092), and other states. (Not all U.S. jurisdictions require the counting or reporting of write-in votes.)
In the 2009 CPAC Presidential Preference straw poll for the 2012 election, Paul tied 2008 GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin for third place with 13% of the vote, behind fellow former candidate Mitt Romney and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. However, in the 2010 CPAC straw poll, he came out on top, decisively winning with 31%, followed distantly by Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, among others. In the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll, Paul finished second place with 24% of the vote (438 votes), behind only Mitt Romney (with 439 votes). An April 2010 Rasmussen poll found that Ron Paul and President Obama were nearly tied for the 2012 presidential election among likely voters, although later polls showed him trailing significantly. He also trails in polls for the Republican presidential nomination, typically behind Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Newt Gingrich.
Jesse Benton, Senior VP of Campaign for Liberty, has said of the prospective run: "If the decision had to be made today, it would be 'no', but he is considering it very strongly and there is a decent likelihood that he will. A lot of it depends on things going on in his personal life and also what's going on in the country."
As part of an effort to encourage Ron Paul to run for president in 2012, a Tea Party moneybomb has been set up with the aim of repeating the 2007 Ron Paul Tea Party moneybomb, which gave Paul's 2008 presidential campaign over $6 million in one day. The goal of The Ron Paul Tea Party is to have 100,000 people donate $100 each on December 16, 2010 to kick off Paul's 2012 presidential run, should he decide to run.
Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, June 15, 2007.]]
Paul has been described as conservative, Constitutionalist, and libertarian. reflects both his medical degree and his insistence that he will "never vote for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution." One scoring method published in the American Journal of Political Science found Paul the most conservative of all 3,320 members of Congress from 1937 to 2002. Paul's foreign policy of nonintervention made him the only 2008 Republican presidential candidate to have voted against the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. He advocates withdrawal from the United Nations, and from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, for reasons of maintaining strong national sovereignty. He supports free trade, rejecting membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization as "managed trade". He supports tighter border security and opposes welfare for illegal aliens, birthright citizenship and amnesty; he voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006. He voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks, but suggested war alternatives such as authorizing the president to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal targeting specific terrorists.
Paul adheres deeply to Austrian school economics; he has authored six books on the subject, and displays pictures of Austrian school economists Friedrich Hayek, Murray Rothbard, and Ludwig von Mises (as well as of Grover Cleveland) he cast two thirds of all the lone negative votes in the House during a 1995–1997 period. and states he has never voted to approve a budget deficit. Paul believes that the country could abolish the individual income tax by scaling back federal spending to its fiscal year 2000 levels; financing government operations would primarily come through the corporate income tax, excise taxes and tariffs. He supports eliminating most federal government agencies, calling them unnecessary bureaucracies. Paul also believes the longterm erosion of the U.S. dollar's purchasing power through inflation is attributable to its lack of any commodity backing. However, Paul does not support a complete return to a gold standard, instead preferring to legitimize gold and silver as legal tender and to remove the sales tax on them. He also advocates gradual elimination of the Federal Reserve System.
Paul supports constitutional rights, such as the right to keep and bear arms, and habeas corpus for political detainees. He opposes the Patriot Act, federal use of torture, presidential autonomy, a national ID card, domestic surveillance, and the draft. Citing the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, Paul advocates states' rights to decide how to regulate social matters not directly found in the Constitution. Paul calls himself "strongly pro-life", "an unshakable foe of abortion", and believes regulation or ban on medical decisions about maternal or fetal health is "best handled at the state level". He says his years as an obstetrician led him to believe life begins at conception; his abortion-related legislation, like the Sanctity of Life Act, is intended to negate Roe v. Wade and to get "the federal government completely out of the business of regulating state matters." Paul also believes that the notion of the separation of church and state is currently misused by the court system: "In case after case, the Supreme Court has used the infamous 'separation of church and state' metaphor to uphold court decisions that allow the federal government to intrude upon and deprive citizens of their religious liberty."
He opposes federal regulation of the death penalty, of education, and of marriage, and supports revising the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy to focus on disruptive sexual behavior (whether heterosexual or homosexual). As a free-market environmentalist, he asserts private property rights in relation to environmental protection and pollution prevention. He also opposes the federal War on Drugs, and thinks the states should decide whether to regulate or deregulate drugs such as medical marijuana. Paul pushes to eliminate federal involvement in and management of health care, which he argues would allow prices to drop due to the fundamental dynamics of a free market. He is an outspoken proponent for increased ballot access for 3rd party candidates and numerous election law reforms which he believes would allow more voter control. Ron Paul has also stated that “The government shouldn't be in the medical business." He is also opposed to government flu inoculation programs.
Paul takes a critical view of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, arguing that it was unconstitutional and did not improve race relations.
;Congress
;Organizations Founded
;Presidential campaign
Category:1935 births Category:Living people Category:American anti-Iraq War activists Category:American foreign policy writers Category:American libertarians Category:American physicians Category:American political writers Category:American writers of German descent Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Classical liberals Category:Conservatism in the United States Category:Drug policy reform activists Category:Duke University alumni Category:Gettysburg College alumni Category:Internet memes Category:Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:Libertarian theorists Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Category:Military physicians Category:People from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Category:People from Brazoria County, Texas Category:Physicians from Texas Category:Politicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Texas Republicans Category:Texas Libertarians Category:United States Air Force officers Category:United States presidential candidates, 1988 Category:United States presidential candidates, 2008 Category:University of Pittsburgh people
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| Name | John McCain |
|---|---|
| Jr/sr | Senior Senator |
| State | Arizona |
| Term start | January 3, 1987 |
| Term end | |
| Alongside | Jon Kyl |
| Predecessor | Barry Goldwater |
| State2 | Arizona |
| District2 | 1st |
| Term start2 | January 3, 1983 |
| Term end2 | January 3, 1987 |
| Predecessor2 | John Jacob Rhodes Jr. |
| Successor2 | John Jacob Rhodes III |
| Order5 | Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs |
| Term start5 | January 3, 1995 |
| Term end5 | January 3, 1997 January 3, 2005 January 3, 2007 |
| Predecessor5 | Daniel Inouye (1995) Ben Nighthorse Campbell (2005) |
| Successor5 | Ben Nighthorse Campbell (1997) Byron Dorgan (2007) |
| Order6 | Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation |
| Term start6 | January 3, 1997 |
| Term end6 | June 6, 2001 January 3, 2005 January 3, 2007 |
| Predecessor6 | Larry Pressler (1997) Ernest Hollings (2003) |
| Successor6 | Ernest Hollings (1997) Ted Stevens (2005) |
| Birth date | August 29, 1936 |
| Birth place | Coco Solo Naval Air Station, Panama Canal Zone |
| Birthname | John Sidney McCain III |
| Nationality | American |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Carol Shepp (m. 1965, div. 1980) Cindy Lou Hensley (m. 1980) |
| Children | Douglas (b. 1959, adopted 1966), Andrew (b. 1962, adopted 1966), Sidney (b. 1966), Meghan (b. 1984), John Sidney IV "Jack" (b. 1986), James "Jimmy" (b. 1988), Bridget (b. 1991, adopted 1993) |
| Residence | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Alma mater | U.S. Naval Academy (B.S.) |
| Profession | Naval Aviator Politician |
| Religion | Baptist congregant (Brought up Episcopalian) |
| Net worth | $40.4 million (USD) |
| Signature | John mccain signature2.svg |
| Website | U.S. Senator John McCain: Arizona |
| Footnotes | |
| Before | John Jacob Rhodes |
| State | Arizona |
| District | 1 |
| Years | 1983–1987 |
| After | John Jacob Rhodes III}} |
* Category:2008 Republican National Convention Category:American memoirists Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American military writers Category:American motivational writers Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:American political writers Category:American prisoners of war Category:American torture victims Category:Arizona Republicans Category:Baptists from the United States Category:English-language writers Category:International Republican Institute Category:Jeopardy! contestants Category:Living people Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona Category:Military brats Category:Politicians with physical disabilities Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:Recipients of the Order of the Three Stars, 2nd Class Category:Recipients of the Prisoner of War Medal Category:Recipients of the Purple Heart medal Category:Recipients of the Silver Star Category:Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:Shot-down aviators Category:Skin cancer survivors Category:Sons of the American Revolution Category:United States Naval Academy graduates Category:United States naval aviators Category:United States Navy officers Category:United States presidential candidates, 2000 Category:United States presidential candidates, 2008 Category:United States Senators from Arizona Category:Vietnam War prisoners of war Category:Writers from Arizona Category:Zonians Category:1936 births Category:Republican Party United States Senators
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Despite his parents' pronunciation of his name as , Powell has pronounced his name since childhood, after the heroic World War II flyer Colin P. Kelly Jr. Public officials and radio and television reporters have used Powell's preferred pronunciation.
Powell was a captain during the Vietnam War, serving as a South Vietnamese Army adviser from 1962 to 1963. While on patrol in a Viet Cong-held area, he was wounded by stepping on a punji stake. He returned to Vietnam as a major in 1968, serving in the Americal Division (23rd Infantry Division), then as assistant chief of staff of operations for the Americal Division. He was charged with investigating a detailed letter by Tom Glen (a soldier from the 11th Light Infantry Brigade), which backed up rumored allegations of the My Lai Massacre. Powell wrote: "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent." Later, Powell's assessment would be described as whitewashing the news of the massacre, and questions would continue to remain undisclosed to the public. In May 2004 Powell said to Larry King, "I mean, I was in a unit that was responsible for My Lai. I got there after My Lai happened. So, in war, these sorts of horrible things happen every now and again, but they are still to be deplored."
Powell served a White House fellowship, a highly selective and prestigious position, under President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1973.
In his autobiography, My American Journey, Powell named several officers he served under that inspired and mentored him. As a lieutenant colonel serving in South Korea, Powell was very close to General Henry "Gunfighter" Emerson. Powell said he regarded Emerson as one of the most caring officers he ever met. Emerson was reputedly eccentric; he insisted his troops train only at night and made them repeatedly watch the television film Brian's Song to promote racial harmony. Powell always professed, however, that what set Emerson apart, was his great love of his soldiers and concern for their welfare.
In the early 1980s, Powell served at Fort Carson, Colorado. After he left Fort Carson, Powell became senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, whom he assisted during the 1983 invasion of Grenada and the 1986 airstrike on Libya.
In 1986, he took over the command of V Corps in Frankfurt, Germany, from Robert Lewis "Sam" Wetzel. Following the Iran Contra scandal, Powell became Ronald Reagan's National Security Advisor, serving from 1987 to 1989. In April 1989, Powell was promoted to General and briefly served as the Commander in Chief, Forces Command, headquartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Later that year, President George H.W. Bush selected him as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
{| class="wikitable" |+ Promotions ! Insignia !! Rank !! Date |- |||GEN||1989 |- |||LTG||1986 |- |||MG||1983 |- |||BG||1979 |- |||COL||1976 |- |||LTC||1970 |- |||MAJ||1966 |- |||CPT||1962 |- |||1LT||1959 |- |||2LT||1958 |}
His last military assignment, from October 1, 1989 to September 30, 1993, was as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense. At age 52, he became the youngest officer, and first Afro-Caribbean American, to serve in this position. In 1989, he joined Dwight D. Eisenhower and Alexander Haig as the third general since World War II to reach four-star rank without ever being a divisional commander. During this time, he oversaw 28 crises, including the invasion of Panama in 1989 to remove General Manuel Noriega from power and Operation Desert Storm in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. During these events, Powell earned his nickname, "the reluctant warrior." He rarely advocated military intervention as the first solution to an international crisis, and instead usually prescribed diplomacy and containment.
In his autobiography, Powell said he is haunted by the nightmare of the Vietnam War and felt that the leadership was very ineffective. Powell served a tour in Vietnam as a military adviser, and was mildly injured when he stepped on a bamboo "punji stick". The large infection made it difficult for him to walk, and caused his foot to swell for a short time, shortening his first tour. It was also during his Vietnam service, his second tour, that Powell was decorated for bravery. He single-handedly rescued several men from a burning helicopter, one of them being Maj. Gen. Charles Gettys, the commander of the Americal Division.
Additionally, Powell has been critical of other instances of U.S. foreign policy in the past, such as its support for the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. From two separate interviews in 2003, Powell stated in one about the 1973 event "I can't justify or explain the actions and decisions that were made at that time. It was a different time. There was a great deal of concern about communism in this part of the world. Communism was a threat to the democracies in this part of the world. It was a threat to the United States." In another interview, however, he also simply stated "With respect to your earlier comment about Chile in the 1970s and what happened with Mr. Allende, it is not a part of American history that we're proud of."
As a military strategist, Powell has advocated an approach to military conflicts that maximizes the potential for success and minimizes casualties. A component of this approach is the use of overwhelming force, which he applied to Operation Desert Storm in 1991. His approach has been dubbed the "Powell Doctrine".
In 1997 Powell founded America's Promise with the objective of helping children from all socioeconomic sectors.
In the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election Powell campaigned for Senator John McCain and later Texas Governor George W. Bush after the latter secured the Republican nomination. Bush eventually won, and Powell was appointed Secretary of State.
On September 11, 2001, Powell was in Lima, Peru, meeting with President Alejandro Toledo and US Ambassador John Hamilton, and attending the special session of the OAS General Assembly that subsequently adopted the Inter-American Democratic Charter. After the terrorist attacks, Powell's job became of critical importance in managing America's relationships with foreign countries in order to secure a stable coalition in the War on Terrorism.
Powell came under fire for his role in building the case for the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. In a press statement on February 24, 2001 he had said that sanctions against Iraq had prevented the development of any weapons of mass destruction by Saddam Hussein. As was the case in the days leading up to the Persian Gulf War, Powell was initially opposed to a forcible overthrow of Saddam, preferring to continue a policy of containment. However, Powell eventually agreed to go along with the Bush administration's determination to remove Saddam. He had often clashed with others in the administration, who were reportedly planning an Iraq invasion even before the September 11 attacks, an insight supported by testimony by former terrorism czar Richard Clarke in front of the 9/11 Commission. The main concession Powell wanted before he would offer his full support for the Iraq War was the involvement of the international community in the invasion, as opposed to a unilateral approach. He was also successful in persuading Bush to take the case of Iraq to the United Nations, and in moderating other initiatives. Powell was placed at the forefront of this diplomatic campaign.
, presented by Powell at the UN Security Council. On May 27, 2003, US and UK experts examined the trailers and declared they had nothing to do with biological weapons.]] while giving a presentation to the United Nations Security Council]]
Powell's chief role was to garner international support for a multi-national coalition to mount the invasion. To this end, Powell addressed a plenary session of the United Nations Security Council on February 5, 2003 to argue in favor of military action. Citing numerous anonymous Iraqi defectors, Powell asserted that "there can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more." Powell also stated that there was "no doubt in my mind" that Saddam was working to obtain key components to produce nuclear weapons. A 2004 report by the Iraq Survey Group concluded that the evidence that Powell offered to support the allegation that the Iraqi government possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) was inaccurate.
A Senate report on intelligence failures would later detail the intense debate that went on behind the scenes on what to include in Powell's speech. State Department analysts had found dozens of factual problems in drafts of the speech. Some of the claims were taken out, but others were left in, such as claims based on the yellowcake forgery. The administration came under fire for having acted on faulty intelligence. Powell later recounted how Vice President Dick Cheney had joked with him before he gave the speech, telling him, "You've got high poll ratings; you can afford to lose a few points." Powell's longtime aide-de-camp and Chief of Staff from 1989–2003, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, later characterized Cheney's view of Powell's mission as to "go up there and sell it, and we'll have moved forward a peg or two. Fall on your damn sword and kill yourself, and I'll be happy, too."
In September 2005, Powell was asked about the speech during an interview with Barbara Walters and responded that it was a "blot" on his record. He went on to say, "It will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now."
Wilkerson said that he participated in a hoax on the American people in preparing Powell's erroneous testimony before the United Nations Security Council.
Because Powell was seen as more moderate than most figures in the administration, he was spared many of the attacks that have been leveled at more controversial advocates of the invasion, such as Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. At times, infighting among the Powell-led State Department, the Rumsfeld-led Defense Department, and Cheney's office had the effect of polarizing the administration on crucial issues, such as what actions to take regarding Iran and North Korea.
After Saddam Hussein had been deposed, Powell's new role was to once again establish a working international coalition, this time to assist in the rebuilding of post-war Iraq. On September 13, 2004, Powell testified before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, acknowledging that the sources who provided much of the information in his February 2003 UN presentation were "wrong" and that it was "unlikely" that any stockpiles of WMDs would be found. Claiming that he was unaware that some intelligence officials questioned the information prior to his presentation, Powell pushed for reform in the intelligence community, including the creation of a national intelligence director who would assure that "what one person knew, everyone else knew."
Powell announced his resignation as Secretary of State on November 15, 2004. According to The Washington Post, he had been asked to resign by the president's chief of staff, Andrew Card. The accusation came at the same time as the settlement of an agreement between Iran, the IAEA, and the European Union.
On December 31, 2004, Powell rang in the New Year by throwing the ball in Times Square with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, ushering in the year 2005. He appeared on the networks that were broadcasting New Year's Eve specials and talked about this honor, as well as being a native of New York City.
.]] On April 28, 2005, an opinion piece in The Guardian by Sidney Blumenthal (a former top aide to President Bill Clinton) claimed that Powell was in fact "conducting a campaign" against Bolton because of the acrimonious battles they had had while working together, which among other things had resulted in Powell cutting Bolton out of talks with Iran and Libya after complaints about Bolton's involvement from the British. Blumenthal added that "The foreign relations committee has discovered that Bolton made a highly unusual request and gained access to 10 intercepts by the National Security Agency. Staff members on the committee believe that Bolton was probably spying on Powell, his senior advisors and other officials reporting to him on diplomatic initiatives that Bolton opposed."
In July 2005, Powell joined Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, a well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm, with the title of "strategic limited partner."
In September 2005, Powell criticized the response to Hurricane Katrina. Powell said that thousands of people were not properly protected, but because they were poor rather than because they were black.
On January 5, 2006, he participated in a meeting at the White House of former Secretaries of Defense and State to discuss United States foreign policy with Bush administration officials. In September 2006, Powell sided with more moderate Senate Republicans in supporting more rights for detainees and opposing President Bush's terrorism bill. He backed Senators John Warner, John McCain and Lindsey Graham in their statement that U.S. military and intelligence personnel in future wars will suffer for abuses committed in 2006 by the U.S. in the name of fighting terrorism. Powell stated that "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of [America's] fight against terrorism."
Also in 2006, Powell began appearing as a speaker at a series of motivational events called Get Motivated, along with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In his speeches for the tour, he openly criticized the Bush Administration on a number of issues. Powell has been the recipient of mild criticism for his role with Get Motivated which has been called a "get-rich-quick-without-much-effort, feel-good schemology."
Most recently he joined the Board of Directors of Steve Case's new company Revolution Health. Powell also serves on the Council on Foreign Relations Board of directors.
Powell, in honor of Martin Luther King Day, dropped the ceremonial first puck at a New York Islanders hockey game at Nassau Coliseum on January 21, 2008. On November 11, 2008, Powell again dropped the puck in recognition of Military Appreciation Day and Veterans Day.
Recently, Powell has encouraged young people to continue to use new technologies to their advantage in the future. In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies to a room of young professionals, he said, "That's your generation...a generation that is hard-wired digital, a generation that understands the power of the information revolution and how it is transforming the world. A generation that you represent, and you're coming together to share; to debate; to decide; to connect with each other." At this event, he encouraged the next generation to involve themselves politically on the upcoming Next America Project, which uses online debate to provide policy recommendations for the upcoming administration.
In 2008, Powell served as a spokesperson for National Mentoring Month, a campaign held each January to recruit volunteer mentors for at-risk youth.
Soon after Barack Obama's 2008 election, Powell began being mentioned as a possible cabinet member.
The Vietnam War had a profound effect on Powell's views of the proper use of military force. These views are described in detail in the autobiography My American Journey. The Powell Doctrine, as the views became known, was a central component of US policy in the Gulf War (the first U.S. war in Iraq) and U.S. invasion of Afghanistan (the overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks). The hallmark of both operations was strong international cooperation, and the use of overwhelming military force.
Powell was the subject of controversy in 2004 when, in a conversation with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, he reportedly referred to neoconservatives within the Bush administration as "fucking crazies." In addition to being reported in the press (though generally, the expletive was censored in the U.S. press), the quote was used by James Naughtie in his book, The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency, and by Chris Patten in his book, Cousins and Strangers: America, Britain, and Europe in a New Century.
In a letter to Sen. John McCain, General Powell expressed opposition to President Bush's push for military tribunals of those formerly and currently classified as enemy combatants. Specifically, he expressed concern of Bush's plan to "amend the interpretation of Article III of the Geneva Conventions." He also pointed out that perception of the War on Terror may be losing moral support saying, "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism."
Powell went on to say that he believed Iraq was in a state of civil war. "The civil war will ultimately be resolved by a test of arms. It's not going to be pretty to watch, but I don't know any way to avoid it. It is happening now." He further noted, "It is not a civil war that can be put down or solved by the armed forces of the United States," and suggested that all the U.S. military could do was put "a heavier lid on this pot of boiling sectarian stew."
In a July 2009 CNN interview with John King, Powell expressed concern over President Obama growing the size of the federal government and the size of the federal budget deficit.
==Civilian awards and honors== Powell's civilian awards include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President's Citizens Medal, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal, the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award. Several schools and other institutions have been named in his honor and he holds honorary degrees from universities and colleges across the country.
*In 1991, Powell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H. W. Bush.
*In 1991, Powell was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, which "honors the achievements of outstanding individuals in U.S. society who have succeeded in spite of adversity and of encouraging young people to pursue their dreams through higher education."
*On September 30, 1993, Powell was awarded his second Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.
*On November 9, 1993, Powell was awarded the second Ronald Reagan Freedom Award, by President Ronald Reagan. Powell served as Reagan's National Security Advisor from 1987-1989.
Azure, two swords in saltire points downwards between four mullets Argent, on a chief of the Second a lion passant Gules. On a wreath of the Liveries is set for Crest the head of an American bald-headed eagle erased Proper. And in an escrol over the same this motto, "DEVOTED TO PUBLIC SERVICE."The swords and stars refer to the former general's career, as does the crest, which is the badge of the 101st Airborne (which he served as a brigade commander in the mid-1970s). The lion may be an allusion to Scotland. The shield can be shown surrounded by the insignia of an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath (KCB), an award the General received after the first Gulf War.
Category:1937 births Category:African American members of the Cabinet of the United States Category:African-American military personnel Category:American Episcopalians Category:American military personnel of Jamaican descent Category:American military personnel of the Gulf War Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American politicians of Jamaican descent Category:Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Category:City College of New York alumni
Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:George W. Bush Administration cabinet members Category:George Washington University alumni Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Iraq and weapons of mass destruction Category:Jamaican people of Scottish descent Category:Joint Chiefs of Staff Category:Légion d'honneur recipients Category:Living people Category:Military leaders of the Gulf War Category:My Lai Massacre Category:National War College alumni Category:New York Republicans Category:People from McLean, Virginia Category:People from the Bronx Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Reagan Administration personnel Category:Recipients of Skanderbeg's Order Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal Category:Recipients of the Combat Infantryman Badge Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:Recipients of the Purple Heart medal Category:Recipients of the Ranger tab Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Maurice Category:Recipients of the Soldier's Medal Category:Spingarn Medal winners Category:United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Category:United States Army Command and General Staff College faculty Category:United States Army generals Category:United States National Security Advisors Category:United States Secretaries of State Category:Presidential Citizens Medal recipients
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| Name | Pete Sessions |
|---|---|
| Image name | Pete Sessions, official 109th Congress photo.jpg |
| Date of birth | March 22, 1955 |
| Place of birth | Waco, Texas |
| State | Texas |
| District | 32nd |
| Term start | January 3, 2003 |
| Preceded | New District |
| Succeeded | Incumbent |
| State2 | Texas |
| District2 | 5th |
| Term start2 | January 3, 1997 |
| Term end2 | January 3, 2003 |
| Preceded2 | John Bryant |
| Succeeded2 | Jeb Hensarling |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Juanita Sessions |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Alma mater | Southwestern University |
| Residence | Dallas, Texas |
| Occupation | telecommunications executive |
Peter Anderson Sessions (born March 22, 1955) is a politician from the state of Texas. He is a Republican, and currently represents the 32nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
He is an Eagle Scout with four generations of Boy Scouts in his family, and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America, as well as a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. As a Congressman, Sessions has sponsored legislation to raise money for the Boy Scouts. At the 2007 National Convention, Sessions was presented with the Pi Kappa Alpha Distinguished Alumni Award.
Sessions and his wife Juanita have two sons, Bill (age 21) and Alex (age 16).
In 1993, Sessions left his job with Southwestern Bell to again run for Congress, against 5th District incumbent Democrat John Bryant. Sessions made a tour of the district with a livestock trailer full of horse manure, claiming that the Clinton administration's health care plan stank more than the manure. Sessions lost by 2,400 votes. He subsequently became Vice President for Public Policy at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a Dallas-based conservative public policy research institute.
In 1996, when Bryant decided to seek a Senate seat, Sessions was elected to succeed him in the 5th District, defeating Democrat John Pouland with 47 percent of the vote. Sessions was re-elected in 1998, defeating school teacher Victor Morales with 56 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2000 with 54 percent of the vote.
When redistricting after the 2000 Census made the 5th slightly more Democratic, Sessions moved to the new 32nd District (map) for the 2002 election. He won that with 68 percent of the vote over Pauline Dixon.
In 2004, Sessions defeated fellow Congressman Martin Frost, a 13-term Democrat, who had moved to the 32nd after the Republican-engineered redistricting in 2003 eliminated Frost's former district. Sessions won 54-44%, in what was considered the most expensive U.S. House race in the nation. According to the Associated Press, "The race also was one of the nastiest, with Frost unearthing a decades-old streaking incident by Sessions in his college days and questioning Sessions' commitment to security with an ad featuring the World Trade Center towers in flames. Sessions criticized Frost for booking Peter Yarrow of the 1960s group Peter, Paul and Mary for a fundraiser. Yarrow had faced an indecency with a child charge years earlier."
March 2010 Sessions will face David Smith in a Primary Election. Sessions opponent, David Smith, is a businessman that is running partly due to the votes Sessions has cast over the years. Smith campaign has focused on Sessions support of the bailouts, increased federal spending, and Sessions being voted as one of the most corrupt Representatives in Congress. Sessions has faced over the years numerous ethics complaints which included among others holding a fundraiser at a Las Vegas strip club. Whoever wins the primary will face noted Dallas businessman and attorney Grier Raggio in the general election.
In October 2010, less than three weeks before Election Day, Sessions was once again named to CREW's most corrupt in Washington list.
On January 11, 2002, Sessions traveled to Malaysia with two of Abramoff's co-workers from the law firm Greenberg Traurig. The trip allegedly was sponsored by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies and a Malaysian think tank with ties to that country’s government. Various news reports, however, suggest that a Malaysian client secretly paid Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, an Abramoff associate, through a sham think tank that Scanlon created, the American International Center. His office said that Sessions went on the trip to strengthen ties with an Islamic ally.
In September, Adrian Plesha sued Jim G. Ferguson & Associates for non-payment of fees and expenses connected with his lobbying effort on their behalf. The lawsuits mentions the dirigible research project, saying, "as a direct result of Plesha’s services in 2007 through 2008, Plesha was able to secure a $1.6 million appropriation for defendants in September 2008...".
Less than two weeks after his "white guys" comments Sessions made derogatory comments about African-American support for Democratic candidates.
Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Category:People from Waco, Texas Category:Southwestern University alumni Category:Texas Republicans Category:Distinguished Eagle Scouts Category:American Methodists
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| Name | Gwen Ifill |
|---|---|
| Caption | Gwen Ifill at a political rally in Erlanger, Kentucky in October 2010. |
| Birthname | Gwendolyn Ifill |
| Birth date | September 29, 1955 |
| Birth place | New York City, New York, USA |
| Education | Simmons College |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Credits | The New York Times News Hour with Jim Lehrer The Washington Post Washington Week |
Gwendolyn L. "Gwen" Ifill (, ; born September 29, 1955) is an American journalist, television newscaster and author. She is the managing editor and moderator for Washington Week (PBS) and a senior correspondent for The NewsHour (PBS). She is a political analyst, and moderated the 2004 and 2008 Vice Presidential debates. She is the author of the book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.
In October 1999, she became moderator of the PBS program Washington Week in Review. She is also senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. Ifill has appeared on various news shows, including Meet the Press.
She serves on the board of the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Museum of Television and Radio and the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
Ifill also moderated the October 2, 2008 vice-presidential debate between Democratic Senator Joe Biden and Republican Governor Sarah Palin at Washington University in St. Louis. The debate's format offered Ifill freedom to cover domestic or international issues.
Prior to the 2008 Vice-Presidential debate, Ifill's objectivity was questioned by conservative talk radio, blogs and cable news programs, as well as some independent media analysts, because of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, which was scheduled to be released on Inauguration Day, 2009, but whose contents had not been disclosed to the debate commission or the campaigns. The book was reported in the Washington Times and appeared in trade catalogs as early as July 2008, well before Ifill was selected by the debate committee. Several analysts viewed Ifill's book as creating a conflict of interest, including Kelly McBride of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies who said, “Obviously the book will be much more valuable to her if Obama is elected.”
To critics, Ifill responded, "I've got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I'm not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation. The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I've done my job."
After the debate, Ifill received praise for her performance. The Boston Globe reported that she "is receiving high marks for equal treatment of the candidates."
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| Name | Bobby Jindal |
|---|---|
| Order | 55th |
| Office | Governor of Louisiana |
| Lieutenant | Mitch Landrieu Scott Angelle Jay Dardenne |
| Term start | January 14, 2008 |
| Predecessor | Kathleen Blanco |
| State2 | Louisiana |
| District2 | 1st |
| Term start2 | January 3, 2005 |
| Term end2 | January 14, 2008 |
| Predecessor2 | David Vitter |
| Successor2 | Steve Scalise |
| Birth date | June 10, 1971 |
| Birth place | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Party | Republican Party |
| Spouse | Supriya Jolly |
| Children | Selia Elizabeth Shaan Robert Slade Ryan |
| Residence | Governor's Mansion |
| Alma mater | Brown University New College, Oxford |
| Profession | Business consultant |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website | Official website |
| Signature | Bobby Jindal signature.svg |
Piyush Amrit "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party.
On October 20, 2007, Jindal was elected governor of Louisiana, winning a four-way race with 54.2% of the vote. At age 36, Jindal became the youngest current governor in the United States. He is the first elected non-white Governor of Louisiana and the first Indian-American governor in the country. In 2008, Governor Jindal was ranked one of the nation's most popular governors with an approval rating of 77%.
Before Jindal was elected governor, he was a member of Congress for Louisiana's 1st congressional district, elected in 2004. Jindal was re-elected to the House in the 2006 election with 88% of the vote. He is the second Indian-American elected to Congress.
Jindal attended Baton Rouge Magnet High School, graduating in 1988. He competed in tennis tournaments, started a computer newsletter, a retail candy business, and a mail-order software company. He spent his free time working at the concession stands during LSU football games.
Jindal was named a member of the 1992 USA Today All-USA Academic Team. He was accepted by both Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School, but studied at New College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. He received an M.Litt. degree in political science with an emphasis in health policy from the University of Oxford in 1994 for his thesis "A needs-based approach to health care". but instead joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
Jindal's father, Amar Jindal, received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Guru Nanak Dev University. Jindal's mother, Raj (Pal) Jindal, Prior to immigrating to the United States, both his parents were lecturers at an Indian engineering college. According to Jindal, his mother was already four months pregnant with him when they arrived from India. Jindal has a younger brother, Nikesh, who is a registered Republican and supported his brother's campaign for Governor. Nikesh went to Dartmouth College and then Yale Law School, where he graduated with honors. He is now a lawyer in Washington, D. C.. He has been known by his nickname ever since, though his legal name remains Piyush Jindal.
In 1997, Jindal married Supriya Jolly who was born in New Delhi, India and moved to Baton Rouge with her parents when she was four years old. They attended the same high school, but Supriya's family moved from Baton Rouge to New Orleans after her freshman year and they did not begin dating until later, when Jindal invited her to a Mardi Gras party after another friend had canceled. Supriya Jindal earned a Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and an M.B.A. degree from Tulane University. She will receive a Ph.D. in marketing at Louisiana State University when she successfully completes her dissertation. She created The Supriya Jindal Foundation for Louisiana's Children, a non-profit organization aimed at improving math and science education in grade schools. They have three children: Selia Elizabeth, Shaan Robert, and Slade Ryan. Shaan was born with a congenital heart defect and had surgery as an infant. The Jindals have been outspoken advocates for children with congenital defects, particularly those without insurance. In 2006, Jindal and his wife delivered their third child at home. Barely able to call 911 before the delivery, Jindal received medical coaching by phone to deliver their eight-pound, 2.5 ounce boy.
In 1999, at the request of the Louisiana Governor's Office and the Louisiana State Legislature, Jindal volunteered his time to study how Louisiana might use its $4.4 billion share of the tobacco settlement. In that same year, at only 28 years of age, Jindal was appointed to become the youngest-ever president of the University of Louisiana System, the nation's 16th largest system of higher education with over 80,000 students per year. In March 2001 he was nominated by President George W. Bush to be Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation. He was later unanimously confirmed by a vote of the United States Senate and began serving on July 9, 2001. In that position, he served as the principal policy advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He resigned from that post on February 21, 2003, to return to Louisiana and run for governor.
In what Louisianans call an "open primary" (but which is technically a nonpartisan blanket primary), Jindal finished first with 33 percent of the vote. He received endorsements from the largest paper in Louisiana, the New Orleans' Times-Picayune; the newly elected Democratic mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin; and the outgoing Republican governor, Mike Foster. In the second balloting, Jindal faced the outgoing lieutenant governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Lafayette, a Democrat. Despite winning in Blanco's hometown, he lost many normally conservative parishes in north Louisiana, and Blanco prevailed with 52 percent of the popular vote.
Political analysts have speculated on myriad explanations for his loss. Some have blamed Jindal for his refusal to answer questions targeted at his religion and ethnic background brought up in several Democratic advertisements, which the Jindal Campaign called "negative attack ads." Others note that a significant number of conservative Louisianans remain more comfortable voting for a conservative Democrat, than for a Republican. Still others maintain that his defeat in typically conservative parishes in the northern portion of the state as evidence of racial prejudice against the Indian-American Jindal. Despite his losing the election in 2003, the run for governor made Jindal a well-known figure on the state's political scene and a rising star within the Republican party.
A few weeks after the 2003 gubernatorial runoff, Jindal decided to run for Louisiana's 1st congressional district. The incumbent, David Vitter, was running for the Senate seat being vacated by John Breaux. The Louisiana Republican Party endorsed him in the primary although Mike Rogers, also a Republican, was running for the same seat. The 1st District has been in Republican hands since a 1977 special election and is widely considered to be staunchly conservative. Jindal also had an advantage because his campaign was able to raise over $1 million very early in the campaign, making it harder for other candidates to effectively raise funds to oppose him. He won the 2004 Election with 78 percent of the vote. Jindal secured reelection in 2006 with an overwhelming 88 percent of the vote.
He was appointed to the House Committee on Homeland Security, the House Committee on Resources, and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. He was made Vice-Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attacks. Jindal served as President of the incoming Freshman class of congressmen in 2004. He was elected to the position of House Assistant Majority Whip, a senior leadership role; he served in this capacity from 2004-2006. Polling data showed him with an early lead in the race, and he remained the favorite throughout the campaign. He defeated eleven opponents in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, including two prominent Democrats, State Senator Walter Boasso of Chalmette and Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell of Bossier City, and an independent, New Orleans businessman John Georges.
Jindal finished with 699,672 votes (54 percent). Boasso ran second with 226,364 votes (17 percent). Georges finished with 186,800 (14 percent), and Campbell, who is also a former state senator, ran fourth with 161,425 (12 percent). The remaining candidates collectively polled three percent of the vote. Jindal polled pluralities or majorities in 60 of the state's 64 parishes (equivalent to counties in other states). He lost narrowly to Georges in Orleans Parish, to Boasso in St. Bernard Parish (which Boasso represented in the Legislature), and in the two neighboring north Louisiana parishes of Red River and Bienville located south of Shreveport, both of which are historically Democratic and supported Campbell. In the 2003 contest with Blanco, Jindal had lost most of the northern parishes. This marked the first time that a non-incumbent candidate for governor was elected without a runoff under the Louisiana election system.
In a salute to the 2007 LSU Tigers football national championship team during his January 14, 2008 inauguration speech, Jindal stated in part "...They revere our athletes. Go Tigers...."
On May 3, 2008 a special election was held to determine Jindal's replacement in the 1st Congressional District. Steve Scalise, a state legislator, was elected with 75 percent of the vote over University of New Orleans professor Dr. Gilda Reed.
On June 27, 2008, Louisiana's Secretary of State confirmed that a recall petition had been filed against Governor Jindal in response to Jindal's refusal to veto a bill that would more than double the current state legislative pay. During his campaign for Governor, Jindal had pledged to prevent legislative pay raises that would take effect during the current term. Jindal responded by saying that he is opposed to the pay increase but that he had pledged to let the legislature govern themselves. On June 30, 2008, Governor Jindal reversed his earlier position by vetoing the pay raise legislation, stating that he made a mistake by staying out of the pay raise issue. In response, the petitioners dropped their recall effort.
The Standard and Poor's raised Louisiana's bond rating and credit outlook from stable to positive in 2009. In announcing this change, the organization gave credit to the state’s strong management and “commitment to streamlining its government functions.” Jindal met with President Barack Obama in October 2009 where the governor pushed for increased federal dollars to cover rising Medicaid costs, speeding the construction of hurricane-protection barriers, and financing the proposed Louisiana State University teaching hospital. During a town hall meeting, Obama praised Jindal as a "hard working man who is doing a good job" for the State, and expressed support for the Governor's overhaul of the State's educational system in the area of increased charter schools.
Louisiana state government watchdog C.B. Forgotston, former counsel to the House Appropriations Committee who supported Jindal's election in 2007, has expressed disappointment with the governor in regard to the legislative pay raise and other fiscal issues. Forgotston, said he would grade Jindal an A+ in public relations and a D in fiscal performance in office.
Jindal negotiated an agreement whereby Foster Farms, a private chicken processor, would receive $50 million in taxpayer funds to purchase a chicken processing plant owned by bankrupt Pilgrim's Pride. Some have argued that there is a conflict of interest in that Pilgrim's Pride founder Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim contributed $2500 to Jindal's campaign in 2007. Other contributors to Jindal's campaign who benefited from economic development spending include Albemarle and Edison Chouest Offshore. Jindal however released a statement saying that this legislation saved over 1,000 jobs, serves as a stimulus to Louisiana's economy, and had wide bipartisan support.
Jindal oversaw one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history (nearly two million people) in late August 2008 prior to the Louisiana landfall of Hurricane Gustav. He issued mandatory evacuation orders for the state’s coastal areas and activated 3,000 National Guardsman to aid in the exodus. He also ordered the state to purchase generators to provide needed power to hospitals and nursing homes without power. Government officials vacated hospitals and nursing homes and put the poor, the ill, and the elderly on buses and trains out of town. The evacuation was credited as one reason that Gustav only resulted in 16 deaths in the U.S. The state's successful response to Hurricane Gustav was in stark contrast to the failed hurricane response system for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Jindal received bipartisan praise for his leadership during Gustav. Jindal had been scheduled to address the Republican National Convention, but cancelled his plans to focus on Louisiana’s needs during the storm.
Jindal's story of meeting Lee in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was questioned following the speech, as Jindal was not in New Orleans at the time. On February 27, 2009, a spokesman for Jindal clarified the timing of the meeting, stating that the story took place days after the storm. The opportunity to give the response speech to the then very popular President Obama was compared by some commentators to winning "second prize in a beauty contest," a reference to the board game Monopoly.
Former Republican State Representative Henry "Tank" Powell of Ponchatoula in Tangipahoa Parish (1996–2008) along with former Democratic Sheriff Leonard "Pop" Hataway of Grant Parish (1976–2008) were appointed to the influential Louisiana Board of Pardons. Democrats Sydnie Mae Durand and Chris Ullo were appointed to the state Pharmacy Board and the Crescent City Connection board, respectively. Jindal also re-appointed Democratic Community and Technical College members Michael Murphy of Bogalusa and Stephen Toups of Baton Rouge. Jindal and Speaker Jim Tucker named the Democrat James R. Fannin of Jonesboro as chairman of the critical House Appropriations Committee.
The Jindal for President Draft Council Inc. PAC has been formed to raise funds for a future presidential run. Jindal claims to have no involvement with the PAC.
In April 2010, while speaking at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Jindal ruled out running for President in 2012. Yet his frequent trips out of the state in the fall of 2010 have continued to fuel speculation about his national ambitions. In a time of severe budget crisis they also led to national news stories in October 2010 when LSU student body president J. Hudson published a letter in the Keene New Hampshire newspaper while Governor Jindal was doing fundraising there. Hudson wrote, "Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is spending more time in your state than the one he was elected to represent. I read almost daily about his trips to other states, which makes me believe that he is more interested in running for president than running the state of Louisiana."
Since taking office, Governor Jindal has cut taxes a total of six times, which included the largest income tax cut in Louisiana's history - giving back $1.1 billion over five years, along with accelerating the elimination of the tax on business investments.
Jindal opposes race-based social entitlements, and has voted against distributing race-based college grants. He also opposes the Fairness Doctrine on the grounds that it is a violation of the Constitution's guarantee of free speech and vowed protection of property rights. Jindal voted to extend the PATRIOT Act, voted in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, supported a constitutional amendment banning flag burning, and voted for the Real ID Act of 2005. In the 2009 legislative session, Jindal expressed support for a bill by State Representative James H. "Jim" Morris of Oil City, which would permit motorcyclists to choose whether or not to wear a helmet. Morris' bill easily passed the House but was blocked in the Senate Health Committee.
He has voted to expand services to facilitate offender re-entry and rehabilitation into society. As governor, he signed legislation providing additional infrastructure for criminal investigations, including $1.8 million for the state's DNA Unit and Physical Evidence Unit, to promote more timely and accurate identification of criminals. This law was hailed by defendant rights advocates as a safeguard against errors in sentencing.
Jindal has voted against giving the federal government jurisdiction to help local law enforcement with hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability. He believes local and state law enforcement agencies are competent and financed enough to deal with such cases and that the federal government should instead focus on issues such as border security and national defense.
Jindal’s pre-2001 writings include several articles in the New Oxford Review, one of which later made news during his 2003 gubernatorial race. In that 1994 article titled "Physical Dimensions of Spiritual Warfare", Jindal described the events leading up to an apparent exorcism of a friend and how he felt unable to help her at the time. However, Jindal questioned if what he saw was actually an example of "spiritual warfare".
In the month of November 2010, Jindal published the book "Leadership and Crisis," a book on leadership in crisis significantly influenced by the Governor's experiences with the most recent Gulf Oil Spill.
:Second Ballot, November 15, 2003 {| class="wikitable" |- ! Candidate ! Affiliation ! Support ! Outcome |- style="background:#def;" | Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 731,358 (52%) | Elected |- style="background: #FFE8E8;" | Bobby Jindal | Republican | 676,484 (48%) | Defeated |}
;U. S. Representative, 1st Congressional District, 2004 :Threshold > 50% :First Ballot, November 2, 2004 {| class="wikitable" |- ! Candidate ! Affiliation ! Support ! Outcome |- style="background: #FFE8E8;" | Bobby Jindal | Republican | 225,708 (78%) | Elected |- style="background:#def;" | Roy Armstrong | Democratic | 19,266 (7%) | Defeated |- | Others | n.a. | 42,923 (15%) | Defeated |}
;U. S. Representative, 1st Congressional District, 2006 :Threshold > 50% :First Ballot, November 7, 2006 {| class="wikitable" |- ! Candidate ! Affiliation ! Support ! Outcome |- style="background: #FFE8E8;" | Bobby Jindal | Republican | 130,508 (88%) | Elected |- style="background:#def;" | David Gereighty | Democratic | 10,919 (7%) | Defeated |- | Others | n.a. | 6,701 (5%) | Defeated |}
;Governor of Louisiana, 2007 :Threshold > 50% :First Ballot, October 20, 2007 {| class="wikitable" |- ! Candidate ! Affiliation ! Support ! Outcome |- style="background: #FFE8E8;" | Bobby Jindal | Republican | 699,672 (54%) | Elected |- style="background:#def;" | Walter Boasso | Democratic | 226,364 (17%) | Defeated |- |John Georges |Independent |186,800 (14%) |Defeated |- style="background:#def;" | Foster Campbell | Democratic | 161,425 (12%) | Defeated |- | Others | n.a. | 23,682 (3%) | Defeated |}
|- |- |- }} |-
Category:1971 births Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford Category:American anti-illegal immigration activists Category:American political writers Category:American politicians of Indian descent Category:American Rhodes scholars Category:American Roman Catholic politicians Category:American state governors of Asian descent Category:American university and college presidents Category:American writers of Indian descent Category:Brown University alumni Category:College Republicans Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Hinduism Category:Federal Emergency Management Agency critics Category:George W. Bush Administration personnel Category:Governors of Louisiana Category:Indian American history Category:Intelligent design advocates Category:Living people Category:Louisiana Republicans Category:Management consultants Category:McKinsey & Company people Category:Members of the United States Congress of Asian descent Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana Category:People associated with renewable energy Category:People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Category:People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Category:State cabinet secretaries of Louisiana Category:United States Department of Health and Human Services officials Category:Writers from Louisiana
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| Name | Bill Cosby |
|---|---|
| Caption | Cosby speaking at Riverside Church, New York City, in 2010 |
| Birth name | William Henry Cosby, Jr. |
| Birth date | July 12, 1937 |
| Birth place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Spouse | Camille Hanks (1964–present) Five children |
| Website | http://www.billcosby.com/ |
During the 1980s, Cosby produced and starred in what is considered to be one of the decade's defining sitcoms, The Cosby Show, which aired eight seasons from 1984 to 1992. The sitcom highlighted the experiences and growth of an upper-middle-class African-American family. He also produced the spin-off sitcom A Different World, which became second to The Cosby Show in ratings. He starred in the sitcom Cosby from 1996 to 2000 and hosted Kids Say the Darndest Things for two seasons.
He has been a sought-after spokesman, and has endorsed a number of products, including Jell-O, Kodak film, Ford, Texas Instruments, and Coca-Cola, including New Coke. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included him in his book, the 100 Greatest African Americans.
In 1976, Cosby earned a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts. For his doctoral research, he wrote a dissertation entitled, "An Integration of the Visual Media Via 'Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids' Into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning".
While serving in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman for four years, Cosby worked in physical therapy with some seriously injured Korean War casualties, He then won a track and field scholarship to Philadelphia's Temple University in 1961–62, and studied physical education while running track and playing fullback on the football team. Cosby also joined the school's chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Cosby loved humor, and he called himself the class clown. Even as he progressed through his undergraduate studies, Cosby had continued to hone his talent for humor, joking with fellow enlistees in the service and then with college friends. When he began bar tending at the Cellar, a club in Philadelphia, to earn money, he became fully aware of his ability to make people laugh. He worked his customers and saw his tips increase, then ventured on to the stage.
Cosby left Temple to pursue a career in comedy, though he would return to collegiate studies in the 1970s. He lined up gigs at clubs in Philadelphia and soon was off to New York City, where he appeared at The Gaslight Cafe starting in 1962.
Carl Reiner, at the awarding to Cosby of the Mark Twain Prize in 2009, described a step in Cosby's career. Reiner's son Rob Reiner, then in his early teens, delivered what the father regards as a word-for-word rendition of Cosby's performance on The Ed Sullivan Show of the "Right!" routine, from his "Noah" series that also appears on the 1963 album Bill Cosby Is A Very Funny Fellow...Right!. The father's interest led him first to obtain the video-taped performance, and then to propose Cosby as a guest for The Dick Van Dyke Show. Asked about whether the comic could act, he asserted anyone who could pull off the role of The Lord in the "Right!" routine must be a skilled actor. Cosby's official agency biography differs, saying Carl Reiner had caught Cosby's act in Pittsburgh "and introduced Cosby to producer Sheldon Leonard, who signed him to star in the I Spy series." Subsequently, Temple University, where Cosby had begun but never finished his undergraduate studies, would grant him his bachelor's degree on the basis of "life experience".
Also during the 1970s, Cosby and other African-American actors, including Sidney Poitier, joined forces to make some successful comedy films that countered the violent "blaxploitation" films of the era. Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Let's Do It Again (1975) were generally praised, but much of Cosby's film work has fallen flat. Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976) costarring Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel; A Piece of the Action, with Poitier; and California Suite, a compilation of four Neil Simon plays, were all panned. In addition, Cos (1976) an hour-long variety show featuring puppets, sketches, and musical numbers, was canceled within the year. Cosby was also a regular on children's public television programs starting in the 1970s, hosting the "Picture Pages" segments that lasted into the early 1980s.
Much of the material from the pilot and first season of The Cosby Show was taken from his then popular video , released in 1983. The series was an immediate success, debuting near the top of the ratings and staying there for most of its long run. The Cosby Show is one of only three American programs that have been #1 in the Nielsen ratings for at least five consecutive seasons, along with All in the Family and American Idol. Idol is the only program to be ranked #1 for six consecutive seasons. People magazine called the show "revolutionary", and Newsday concurred that it was a "real breakthrough."
In 1987, Cosby attempted to return to the big screen with the spy spoof Leonard Part 6. Although Cosby himself was producer and wrote the story, he realized during production that the film was not going to be what he wanted and publicly denounced it, warning audiences to stay away.
A series for preschoolers, Little Bill, made its debut on Nickelodeon in 1999. The network renewed the popular program in November 2000. In 2001, at an age when many give serious consideration to retirement, Cosby's agenda included the publication of a new book, as well as delivering the commencement addresses at Morris Brown College, Ohio State University, and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Also that year, he signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to develop a live-action feature film centering on the popular Fat Albert character from his 1970s cartoon series. Fat Albert was released in theaters in December 2004. In May 2007 he spoke at the Commencement of High Point University.
In the summer of 2009, Cosby hosted a comedy gala at Montreal's Just for Laughs comedy festival, the world's largest.
Cosby met his wife Camille Hanks while he was performing stand-up in Washington, D.C., in the early 1960s, and she was a student at the University of Maryland. They married on January 25, 1964, and had five children: daughters Erika Ranee (b. 1965), Erinn Chalene (b. 1966), Ensa Camille (b. 1973), and Evin Harrah (b. 1976), and son Ennis William (1969–1997). His son Ennis was shot dead while changing a flat tire on the side of the Interstate 405 in Los Angeles on January 16, 1997.
Bill Cosby is an active alumnus supporter of his alma mater, Temple University, and in particular its men's basketball team, whose games Cosby frequently attends.
Cosby is a devoted fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2002, when both the Eagles' starting and backup quarterbacks were injured, Cosby sent a letter to head coach Andy Reid, joking that he was ready to play if needed.
Cosby also attends many public events, such as the 100th Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 2, 2007. His love for track and field athletics has also been shown with his long time sponsorship, and on-track work with the Penn Relays. For many years, Cosby has been known to work the finish line at Franklin Field and congratulate athletes. in Atlanta, October 3, 2006]]
Cosby maintains homes in Shelburne, Massachusetts, and Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.
During the 2009 NFL Draft, he celebrated the draft with former Texas Longhorns' wide receiver Quan Cosby as a means of support, though the two are not related. He even wore a Temple University helmet and jersey.
Bill Cosby has hosted the Los Angeles Playboy Jazz Festival since 1979. An avid musician, he's best known as a jazz drummer although he can be seen playing bass guitar with Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis, Jr. on Hugh Hefner's 1970s talk show. His story "The Regular Way" was featured in Playboy's December 1968 issue.
* Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, December 5, 2008. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Carnegie Mellon University, May 20, 2007; he was also the keynote speaker for the commencement ceremony. Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, May 8, 2004. Cosby was also the host of the school's 60th Anniversary Concert in January 2006. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Baylor University, September 4, 2003, at the "Spirit Rally" for the Baylor and Central Texas communities. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Yale University, May 26, 2003.
In "Pound Cake," Cosby, who holds a doctorate in education, asked that African American parents begin teaching their children better morals at a younger age. Cosby told the Washington Times, "Parenting needs to come to the forefront. If you need help and you don't know how to parent, we want to be able to reach out and touch" (DeBose, Brian). Richard Leiby of The Washington Post reported, "Bill Cosby was anything but politically correct in his remarks Monday night at a Constitution Hall bash commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision."
Cosby again came under sharp criticism, and again he was largely unapologetic for his stance when he made similar remarks during a speech in a July 1 meeting commemorating the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. During that speech, he admonished blacks for not assisting or concerning themselves with the individuals who are involved with crime or have counter-productive aspirations. He further described those who needed attention as "blacks [who] had forgotten the sacrifices of those in the Civil Rights Movement." The speech was featured in the documentary 500 Years Later which set the speech to cartoon visuals.
Georgetown University sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson wrote a book in 2005 entitled Is Bill Cosby Right or Is the Black Middle Class Out of Touch? In the book, Dyson wrote that Cosby was overlooking larger social factors that reinforce poverty and associated crime; factors such as deteriorating schools, stagnating wages, dramatic shifts in the economy, offshoring and downsizing, chronic underemployment, and job and capital flight. Dyson suggested Cosby's comments "betray classist, elitist viewpoints rooted in generational warfare."
In a 2008 interview, Cosby mentioned Chicago; Atlanta; Philadelphia; Oakland; Detroit; and Springfield, Massachusetts among the cities where crime was high and young African-American men were being murdered and jailed in disproportionate numbers. Cosby stood his ground against criticism and affirmed that African-American parents were continuing to fail to inculcate proper standards of moral behavior. Cosby still lectures to black communities (usually at churches) about his frustrations with certain problems prevalent in underprivileged urban communities such as taking part in illegal drugs, teenage pregnancy, Black Entertainment Television, high school dropouts, anti-intellectualism, gangsta rap, vulgarity, thievery, offensive clothing, vanity, parental alienation, single-parenting and failing to live up to the ideals of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the African-American ancestors that preceded Generation X. Cosby criticizes those African Americans who associate his ideals with race treachery.
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Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:African American comedians Category:African American television actors Category:American activists Category:American film actors Category:American game show hosts Category:American football running backs Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American voice actors Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Pennsylvania Democrats Category:Writers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Temple Owls football players Category:Temple University alumni Category:United States Navy sailors Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:Spingarn Medal winners
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
