Events

362 – Athanasius returns to Alexandria.

1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.

1440 – The Prussian Confederation is formed.

1543 – Battle of Wayna Daga – A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeats a Muslim army led by Ahmed Gragn.

1613 – Mikhail I is elected unanimously as Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.

1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.

1842 – John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.

1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish ''The Communist Manifesto''.

1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.

1874 – The ''Oakland Daily Tribune'' publishes its first edition.

1878 – The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.

1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.

1913 – Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.

1916 – World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.

1918 – The last Carolina Parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.

1919 – Kurt Eisner, German socialist, is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany.

1921 – Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution.

1925 – ''The New Yorker'' publishes its first issue.

1937 – Initial flight of the first successful flying car, Waldo Waterman's Arrowbile.

1937 – The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.

1945 – World War II: Japanese Kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier ''Bismarck Sea'' and damage the ''Saratoga''.

1947 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.

1948 – NASCAR is incorporated.

1952 – The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free".

1958 – The Peace symbol, commissioned by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.

1965 – Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam.

1970 – Swissair Flight 330: A mid-air bomb explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members near Zürich, Switzerland.

1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.

1972 – President Richard Nixon visits the People's Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.

1972 – The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.

1973 – Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108.

1974 – The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.

1975 – Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.

1995 – Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.

2004 – The first European political party organization, the European Greens, is established in Rome.

Births

1484 – Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg (d. 1535)

1556 – Sethus Calvisius, German calendar reformer (d. 1615)

1621 – Rebecca Nurse, English colonist executed during Salem witch trials (d. 1692)

1675 – Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (d. 1750)

1703 – Shah Waliullah, Islamic Scholar and Reformer (d. 1762)

1705 – Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, British naval officer (d. 1781)

1721 – John McKinly, American physician (d. 1796)

1723 – Louis-Pierre Anquetil, French historian (d. 1808)

1728 – Tsar Peter III of Russia, husband of Catherine the Great (d. 1762)

1783 – Princess Catharina of Württemberg, Queen consort of Westphalia (d. 1835)

1791 – Carl Czerny, Austrian composer (d. 1857)

1794 – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican president (d. 1876)

1801 – John Henry Newman, English Catholic cardinal (d. 1890)

1817 – Jose Zorrilla y Moral, Spanish dramatist (d. 1893)

1821 – Charles Scribner I, American publisher (d. 1871)

1836 – Léo Delibes, French composer (d. 1891)

1844 – Charles-Marie Widor, French composer (d. 1937)

1860 – Karel Matěj Čapek-Chod, Czech journalist (d. 1927)

1860 – Goscombe John, Welsh sculptor (d. 1952)

1865 – John Haden Badley, English school founder (d. 1967)

1867 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German millionaire (d. 1934)

1875 – Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian and longest-lived human on record (d. 1997)

1876 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (d. 1956)

1878 – Mirra Alfassa, Indian spiritual leader (d. 1973)

1880 – Waldemar Bonsels, German writer (d. 1952)

1885 – Sacha Guitry, Russian dramatist (d. 1957)

1888 – Clemence Dane, British novelist and playwright (d. 1965)

1893 – Celia Lovsky, Russian-born actress (d. 1979)

1893 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (d. 1987)

1895 – Henrik Dam Danish biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1976)

1900 – Madeleine Renaud, French theater actress (d. 1994)

1903 – Fairfax M. Cone, American advertising executive (d. 1977)

1903 – Anaïs Nin, French diarist (d. 1977)

1903 – Raymond Queneau, French poet and novelist (d. 1976)

1907 – W. H. Auden, English poet (d. 1973)

1909 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter

1910 – Douglas Bader, British pilot (d. 1982)

1910 – Carmine Galante, American gangster (d. 1979)

1910 – Eddie Waring, British sports commentator (d. 1986)

1913 – Roger Laurent, Belgian racing driver (d. 1997)

1914 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish fighter pilot (d. 1999)

1915 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (d. 1967)

1917 – Lucille Bremer, American actress (d. 1996)

1921 – John Rawls, American philosopher (d. 2002)

1924 – Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe 1980-1987; President of Zimbabwe 1987-present

1925 – Sam Peckinpah, American director (d. 1984)

1927 – Erma Bombeck, American humorist (d. 1996)

1927 – Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion designer

1927 – Pierre Mercure, French-Canadian musician and composer (d. 1966)

1929 – Roberto "Chespirito" Gómez Bolaños, Mexican actor

1929 – James Beck, English actor (d. 1973)

1933 – Nina Simone, American singer (d. 2003)

1934 – Rue McClanahan, American actress (d. 2010)

1935 – Mark McManus, Scottish actor (d. 1994)

1935 – Jean Pelletier, French Canadian political operative

1936 – Barbara Jordan, American politician (d. 1996)

1937 – King Harald V of Norway

1937 – Gary Lockwood, American actor

1940 – Peter Gethin, British racing driver

1940 – John Lewis, American politician and civil rights activist

1940 – Wong Jim, Hong Kong composer (d. 2004)

1942 – Margarethe von Trotta, German actress and film director

1943 – David Geffen, American record producer

1945 – Paul Newton, British musician

1945 – D'Anna Fortunato, American mezzo-soprano

1945 – Walter Momper, German politician

1946 – Tyne Daly, American actress

1946 – Anthony Daniels, British actor

1946 – Alan Rickman, English actor

1946 – Bob Ryan, Boston sports columnist

1946 – Vito Rizzuto, Sicilian-born alleged Mafia boss

1947 – Johnny Echols, American musician

1947 – Olympia Snowe, American politician

1947 – Victor Sokolov, Russian journalist (d. 2006)

1949 – Jerry Harrison, American musician

1949 – Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer

1951 – Wolfgang Frank, German footballer

1951 – Vince Welnick, American musician (The Grateful Dead) (d. 2006)

1952 – Jean Jacques Burnel, British musician

1952 – Jeffrey Shaara, American novelist

1953 – Christine Ebersole, American actress

1953 – William Petersen, American actor

1954 – Mike Pickering, English disc jockey and musician

1954 – Ivo Van Damme, Belgian athlete (d. 1976)

1955 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor

1958 – Jake Burns, Irish singer

1958 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer

1958 – Jack Coleman, American actor

1958 – Alan Trammell, baseball player and manager

1959 – José María Cano, Spanish musician

1959 – Emmett McAuliffe, American radio show host and lawyer

1960 – Laurent Petitguillaume, French radio and television host

1960 – Steve Wynn, American singer

1961 – Christopher Atkins, American actor

1961 – Martha Hackett, American actress

1961 – Bertha Faye, American wrestler (d. 2001)

1962 – Vanessa Feltz, British television presenter

1962 – Chuck Palahniuk, American writer

1962 – David Foster Wallace, American writer (d. 2008)

1963 – William Baldwin, American actor

1964 – Mark and Scott Kelly, American astronauts and identical twin brothers

1964 – Jane Tomlinson, British cancer campaigner (d. 2007)

1964 – Huw Higginson, British actor

1967 – Leroy Burrell, American runner

1969 – James Dean Bradfield, Welsh musician

1969 – Corey Harris, American musician

1969 – Aunjanue Ellis, American actress

1969 – Tony Meola, American footballer

1969 – Eric Wilson, American musician

1970 – Michael Slater, Australian cricketer

1970 – Fat Pat, American rapper (Screwed Up Click) (d. 1998)

1971 – Randy Blythe, American musician

1972 – Seo Taiji, Korean musician

1973 – Heri Joensen, Faroese musician

1973 – Justin Sane, American punk musician

1973 – Bowie Tsang, Taiwanese singer and TV host

1973 – Jacob M. Appel, American bioethicist

1974 – Iván Campo, Spanish footballer

1974 – Roberto Heras, Spanish cyclist

1975 – Wish Bone, American rapper (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)

1976 – Ryan Smyth, Canadian hockey player

1976 – Michael McIntyre English Comedian

1977 – Steve Francis, American basketball player

1977 – Chad Hutchinson, baseball and football player

1977 – Owen King, American writer and journalist

1977 – Kevin Rose, American television host and Internet entrepreneur

1978 – Park Eun-hye, South Korean actress

1978 – Kim Ha Neul, South Korean actress

1978 – Nicole Parker, American actress

1979 – Pascal Chimbonda, French footballer

1979 – Carly "Carlito" Colón, Puerto Rican professional wrestler

1979 – Lonnie Ford, American football player

1979 – Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress

1980 – Brad Fast, Canadian ice hockey player

1980 – Jim Vandermeer, Canadian ice hockey player

1980 – Parthiva Sureshwaren, Indian racing driver

1980 – Tiziano Ferro, Italian singer

1980 – Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 5th king of Bhutan

1981 – Jun Kaname, Japanese actor

1982 – Bernhard Auinger, Austrian racing driver

1982 – Andre Barrett, American basketball player

1982 – Chantal Claret, American musician

1983 – Braylon Edwards, American football player

1983 – Franklin Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player

1983 – Mélanie Laurent, French actress and director

1984 – Andrew Ellis, New Zealand All Black rugby union player

1984 – David Odonkor, German footballer

1984 – Marco Paoloni, Italian footballer

1984 – Karina, Japanese model and actress

1985 – Jarrod Atkinson, Australian rules footballer

1985 – Bob Burton, American speedcuber

1985 – Georgios Samaras, Greek footballer

1985 – Jamaal Westerman, Canadian football player

1985 – Simon Cusden, English cricketer

1986 – Charlotte Church, Welsh singer

1986 – Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este

1987 – Ellen Page, Canadian actress

1987 – Enrique David Mateo, Brazilian footballer

1987 – Ashley Greene, American model and actress

1988 – Matthias de Zordo, German javelin thrower

1989 – Corbin Bleu, American actor and singer

1989 – Kristin Herrera, American actress

1989 – Scout Taylor-Compton, American actress

1989 – Josh Walker, English footballer

2001 – Isabella Acres, American actress

Deaths

1437 – King James I of Scotland (b. 1394)

1471 – John of Rokycan, Czech Catholic archbishop

1513 – Pope Julius II (b. 1443)

1543 – Ahmed Gragn, Sultan of Adal

1554 – Hieronymus Bock, German botanist (b. 1498)

1595 – Robert Southwell, English Jesuit priest and poet

1668 – John Thurloe, English Puritan spy (b. 1616)

1677 – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (b. 1632)

1715 – Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Governor of the Province of Maryland (b. 1637)

1730 – Pope Benedict XIII (b. 1649)

1788 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (b. 1723)

1821 – Georg Friedrich von Martens, German diplomat (b. 1756)

1824 – Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Napoleon's wife, Josephine (b. 1781)

1846 – Emperor Ninko of Japan (b. 1800)

1862 – Justinus Kerner, German poet (b. 1786)

1900 – Marthinus Nikolaas Ras, South African Gunmaker (b. 1853)

1901 – George Francis Fitzgerald, Irish mathematician (b. 1851)

1919 – Kurt Eisner, German socialist (assassinated), leader of socialist revolution of 1918 in Bavaria (b. 1867)

1920 – Jacinta Marto, witness of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima (b. 1910)

1926 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)

1934 – Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino, Nicaraguan revolutionary (b. 1895)

1938 – George Ellery Hale, American astronomer (b. 1868)

1941 – Frederick Banting, Canadian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1891)

1944 – Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-born race car driver (b. 1873)

1945 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (b. 1902)

1946 – José Streel, Belgian World War II collaborator (b. 1911)

1949 – Tan Malaka, Indonesian nationalist activist and communist leader (b. 1894)

1958 – Duncan Edwards, English footballer (b. 1936)

1960 – Jacques Becker, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1906)

1965 – Malcolm X, Black American civil rights leader (b. 1925)

1966 – Paul Comtois, French Canadian politician (b. 1895)

1967 – Charles Beaumont, American writer (b. 1929)

1968 – Howard Walter Florey, Australian-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1898)

1972 – Bronislava Nijinska, Polish-Russian ballet dancer (b. 1891)

1972 – Eugène Tisserant, French Catholic Cardinal (b. 1884)

1972 – Zhang Guohua, Chinese general and politician (b. 1914)

1974 – Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (b. 1930)

1977 – Nolan Strong, a Detroit doo-wop singer with The Diablos (b. 1934)

1978 – Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish historian and priest (b. 1901)

1980 – Alfred Andersch, German writer (b. 1914)

1981 – Erika Köth, German coloratura soprano (b. 1927)

1982 – Murray the K, American impresario and disc jockey (b. 1922)

1982 – Gershom Scholem, German-born Israeli Jewish philosopher and historian (b. 1897)

1984 – Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)

1985 – Louis Hayward, British actor (b. 1909)

1986 – Helen Hooven Santmyer, American writer (b. 1895)

1987 – Noel Odell, English mountaineer, last person to see Mallory and Irvine alive (b. 1890)

1989 – Alex Thépot, French footballer (b. 1906)

1991 – Dorothy Auchterlonie, Australian academic, literary critic and poet (b. 1915)

1991 – Nutan Behl, Indian actress (b. 1936)

1991 – Dame Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (b. 1919)

1994 – Johannes Steinhoff, German fighter pilot & NATO commander (b. 1913)

1995 – Jorge José Emiliano dos Santos, Brazilian Football Referee (b. 1954)

1996 – Morton Gould, American composer (b. 1913)

1999 – Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1918)

1999 – Wilmer David Mizell, baseball player (b. 1930)

1999 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish fighter pilot (b. 1914)

2000 – Antonio Díaz-Miguel, Spanish basketball coach (b. 1933)

2002 – Harold Furth, Austrian-born physicist (b. 1939)

2002 – John Thaw, English actor (b. 1942)

2003 – Eddie Thomson, Scottish football player and coach (b. 1947)

2004 – John Charles, Welsh footballer (b. 1931)

2004 – Guido Molinari, Canadian artist (b. 1933)

2005 – Ara Berberian, American opera singer (b. 1930)

2005 – Gérard Bessette, French-Canadian novelist and poet (b. 1920)

2005 – Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban novelist (b. 1929)

2005 – Eugene Scott, American religious broadcaster (b. 1929)

2008 – Sunny Lowry, first British woman to swim the English Channel (b. 1911)

2008 – Ben Chapman, American actor (b. 1928)

2011 – Bernard Nathanson, American abortionist turned pro-life activist (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

Christian Feast Day:

*Pepin of Landen

*Peter Damian

*Randoald

*February 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

International Mother Language Day (UNESCO)

Language Movement Day, celebrated by Bengali speaking people for gaining right of mother tongue. (Bangladesh)

The first day of Musikahan Festival, celebrated until February 27. (Tagum City)

External links

BBC: On This Day

On This Day in Canada

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Category:Days of the year Category:February

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Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
order	44th
office	President of the United States
term start	January 20, 2009
vicepresident	Joe Biden
predecessor	George W. Bush
birth date	August 04, 1961
birth place	Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
birthname	Barack Hussein Obama II
nationality	American
party	Democratic
spouse	Michelle Obama (m. 1992)
children	Malia (b.1998) Sasha (b.2001)
residence	The White House
alma mater	Occidental CollegeColumbia University (B.A.)Harvard Law School (J.D.)
profession	Community organizerAttorneyAuthorConstitutional law professorUnited States SenatorPresident of the United States
religion	Christian, former member of United Church of Christ
signature	Barack Obama signature.svg
website	WhiteHouse.gov
footnotes	}}

The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009, when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. Barack Obama is the first African-American president of the United States, as well as the first born in Hawaii.

His policy decisions have addressed a global financial crisis and have included changes in tax policies, legislation to reform the United States health care industry, foreign policy initiatives and the phasing out of detention of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. He attended the G-20 London summit and later visited U.S. troops in Iraq. On the tour of various European countries following the G-20 summit, he announced in Prague that he intended to negotiate substantial reduction in the world's nuclear arsenals, en route to their eventual extinction. In October 2009, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

Transition period

The presidential transition period began following Obama's election to the presidency on November 4, 2008. The Obama-Biden Transition Project was co-chaired by John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse. During the transition period, Obama announced his nominations for his Cabinet and administration. Shortly after the election on November 4, Obama chose Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois as White House Chief of Staff.

Cabinet nominations included former Democratic primary opponents Hillary Rodham Clinton for Secretary of State and Bill Richardson for Secretary of Commerce (although the latter withdrew on January 4, 2009). Obama appointed Eric Holder as his Attorney General, the first African-American appointed to that position. He also nominated Timothy F. Geithner to serve as Secretary of the Treasury. On December 1, Obama announced that he had asked Robert Gates to remain as Secretary of Defense, making Gates the first Defense head to carry over from a president of a different party. He nominated former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan Rice to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, which he restored to a Cabinet-level position.

During his transition, he maintained a website Change.gov, on which he wrote blogs to readers and uploaded video addresses by many of the members of his new cabinet. He announced strict rules for federal lobbyists, restricting them from financially contributing to his administration and forcing them to stop lobbying while working for him. The website also allowed individuals to share stories and visions with each other and the transition team in what was called the Citizen's Briefing Book, which was given to Obama shortly after his inauguration. Most of the information from Change.gov was transferred to the official White House website whitehouse.gov just after Obama's inauguration.

Inauguration

Barack Obama was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. He officially assumed the presidency at 12:00 noon, EST, and completed the oath of office at 12:05 PM, EST. He delivered his inaugural address immediately following his oath. After his speech, he went to the President's Room in the House Wing of the Capitol and signed three documents: a commemorative proclamation, a list of Cabinet appointments, and a list of sub-Cabinet appointments, before attending a luncheon with congressional and administration leaders and invited guests. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of former President Abraham Lincoln, the same Bible that was used for Lincoln's inauguration was used in Obama's inauguration.

In administering the oath, Chief Justice John G. Roberts misplaced the word "faithfully" and erroneously replaced the phrase "President of the United States" with "President to the United States" before restating the phrase correctly; since Obama initially repeated the incorrect form, some scholars argued the President should take the oath again. On January 21, Roberts readministered the oath to Obama in a private ceremony in the White House Map Room, making him the seventh U.S. president to retake the oath; White House Counsel Greg Craig said Obama took the oath from Roberts a second time out of an "abundance of caution".

First 100 days

Expectations

Obama's 100th day in office was April 29, 2009. In his first post-election interview with ''60 Minutes'', Obama said that he has been studying Franklin Roosevelt's first 100 days, while adding, "The first hundred days is going to be important, but it's probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference."

Obama's first 100 days were highly anticipated ever since he became the presumptive nominee. Several news outlets created web pages dedicated to covering the subject. Commentators weighed in on challenges and priorities within domestic, foreign, economic, and environmental policy. CNN lists a number of economic issues that "Obama and his team will have to tackle in their first 100 days", foremost among which is passing and implementing a recovery package to deal with the financial crisis. Clive Stafford Smith, a British human rights lawyer, expressed hopes that the new president will close Guantanamo Bay detention camp in his first 100 days in office. After aides of the president announced his intention to give a major foreign policy speech in the capital of an Islamic country, there were speculations in Jakarta that he might return to his former home city within the first 100 days.

''The New York Times'' devoted a five-part series, which was spread out over two weeks, to anticipatory analysis of Obama's first hundred days. Each day, the analysis of a political expert was followed by freely edited blog postings from readers. The writers compared Obama's prospects with the situations of Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 16, Jean Edward Smith), John F. Kennedy (January 19, Richard Reeves), Lyndon B. Johnson (January 23, Robert Dallek), Ronald Reagan (January 27, Lou Cannon), and Richard Nixon.

Legislation and executive orders

Within minutes of taking the Oath of Office on January 20, Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, issued an order suspending last-minute federal regulations pushed through by outgoing President George W. Bush, planning to review everything still pending. Due to the economic crisis, the President enacted a pay freeze for Senior White House Staff making more than $100,000 per year, as well as announcing stricter guidelines regarding lobbyists in an effort to raise the ethical standards of the White House. He asked for a waiver to his own new rules, however, for the appointments of William Lynn to the position of Deputy Defense Secretary, Jocelyn Frye to the position of director of policy and projects in the Office of the First Lady, and Cecilia Muñoz to the position of director of intergovernmental affairs in the executive office of the president, leading to some criticism of hypocrisy and violation of his pledge for governmental openness.

In his first week in office, Obama signed Executive Order 13492 suspending all the ongoing proceedings of Guantanamo military commission and ordering the detention facility to be shut down within the year. He also signed Executive Order 13491 - Ensuring Lawful Interrogations requiring the Army Field Manual to be used as a guide for terror interrogations, banning torture and other coercive techniques, such as waterboarding. Obama also issued an executive order entitled "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel", setting stricter limitations on incoming executive branch employees and placing tighter restrictions on lobbying in the White House. Obama signed two Presidential Memoranda concerning energy independence, ordering the Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel efficiency standards before 2011 models are released and allowing states to raise their emissions standards above the national standard. He also ended the Mexico City Policy, which banned federal grants to international groups that provide abortion services or counseling.

In his first week he also established a policy of producing a weekly Saturday morning video address available on whitehouse.gov and YouTube, much like those released during his transition period. The first address had been viewed by 600,000 YouTube viewers by the next afternoon.

The first piece of legislation Obama signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 on January 29, which revised the statute of limitations for filing pay discrimination lawsuits. Lilly Ledbetter joined Obama and his wife, Michelle, as he signed the bill, fulfilling his campaign pledge to nullify ''Ledbetter v. Goodyear''. On February 3, he signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIP), expanding health care from 7 million children under the plan to 11 million.

| format = Ogg | type = speech }} After much debate, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed by both the House and Senate on February 13, 2009. Originally intended to be a bipartisan bill, the passage of the bill was largely along party lines. No Republicans voted for it in the House, and three moderate Republicans voted for it in the Senate (Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania). The bill combined tax breaks with spending on infrastructure projects, extension of welfare benefits, and education. The final cost of the bill was $787 billion, and almost $1.2 trillion with debt service included. Obama signed the Act into law on February 17, 2009, in Denver, Colorado.

On March 9, 2009, Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, and in doing so, called into question some of George W. Bush's signing statements. Obama stated that he too would employ signing statements if he deems upon review that a portion of a bill is unconstitutional, and he has issued several signing statements.

Early in his presidency, Obama signed a law raising the tobacco tax 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes. The tax is to be "used to finance a major expansion of health insurance for children", and "help some [smokers] to quit and persuade young people not to start".

In October 2011, Obama instituted the We Can't Wait program, which involved using executive orders, administrative rulemaking, and recess appointments to institute policies without the support of Congress. The initiative was developed in response to Congress's unwillingness to pass economic legislation proposed by Obama, and conflicts in Congress during the 2011 debt ceiling crisis.

Approval ratings and opinion

2009

After his transition period, Obama entered office with an approval rating of 82%. At the end of his first week, 68% of respondents in a Gallup poll approved of how Obama was handling his job, the second highest approval rating for a President shortly after being elected since World War II. Throughout early February polls showed scattered approval ratings: 62% (CBS News), 64% (USA Today/Gallup), 66% (Gallup), and 76% in an outlier poll (CNN/Opinion Research). Gallup reported the congressional address in late February boosted his approval from a term-low of 59% to 67%.

Throughout autumn 2009, Rasmussen estimated Obama's approval as fluctuating between 45% and 52% and his disapproval between 48% and 54%; as of November 11, Pew Research estimated Obama's approval between 51% and 55% and his disapproval between 33% and 37% since July.

Handling of the economy

Rasmussen reported in mid-February 2009, that 55% of voters gave Obama good or excellent marks on his handling of the economy. In early March, a ''The Wall Street Journal'' survey of 49 economists gave Obama an average grade of 59 out of 100, with 42% of the respondents surveyed giving the administration's economic policies a grade below 60 percent. In comparison, only 30% of those same economists considered the response of governments around the world to the global recession to have been adequate. In April, a Gallup poll showed trust in Obama's economic policy with 71% saying they had "a fair amount" or "a great deal" of confidence in Obama's handling of the economy, higher than for Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner, or leaders of Congress. Another Gallup poll in June showed 55% of Americans approved Obama's overall handling of the economy, but 48% and 51% disapproved of his handling of the federal budget deficit and controlling federal spending, respectively. A CBS News poll taken August 27–31 showed 53% of those polled approved of his handling of the economy. A Rasmussen poll taken on November 12 found 45% of Americans rating Obama's handling of the economy as poor and 39% rating him as doing a good or excellent job. They found 72% of Democrats rated his handling of the economy as good or excellent, while only 10% of Republicans and 27% of voters not affiliated with either party agreed.

2010

On March 25, 2010, following his signing of landmark health care reform legislation into law, Obama's polling was revealed by Bloomberg to be 50%, with higher marks for relations with other countries (58%) and his running of the war in Afghanistan (54%). "Obama's approval rating is roughly equal to what Bill Clinton had at this point in his presidency, according to data maintained by Gallup (and) higher than the 45 percent Ronald Reagan recorded in April 1982" and more favorable than Democrats or Republicans office in 2010. They found Obama's approval rating was at 85% among Democrats, compared with 46% among independents and 11% among Republicans.

Fox News released the results of two polls on April 8–9, 2010. The first showed a drop in Obama's approval rating to 43%, with 48% disapproving. In that poll, Democrats approved of Obama's performance 80–12%, while independents disapproved 49–38%. The other poll, which concentrated on the economy, showed disapproval of Obama's handling of the economy by a 53–42% margin, with 62% saying they were dissatisfied with the handling of the federal deficit. According to a Gallup Poll released April 10, 2010, President Obama had a 45% approval rating, with 48% disapproving. In a poll from Rasmussen Reports, released April 10, 2010, 47% approved of the President's performance, while 53% disapproved.

2011

Obama's approval rating jumped to a high following the death of Osama Bin Laden on May 2, 2011. A GfK poll conducted May 5, 2011 found his approval rating to be 60%. During the debt ceiling debate in August 2011, Obama's approval rating dropped to the low-40s.

Major legislation

2009

January 29: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

February 4: Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act

February 11: DTV Delay Act

February 17: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

March 30: Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009

April 21: Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act

May 20: Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act

May 20: Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009

May 22: Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009

June 22: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

August 6: Cash For Clunkers Extension Act

October 22: Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act

October 28: Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act

October 28: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010

October 30: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act

November 6: Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009

2010

January 27: Emergency Aid to American Survivors of Haiti Earthquake Act

March 4: Travel Promotion Act

March 18: Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act)

March 23: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

March 30: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

May 5: Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010

May 17: Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act

July 1: Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act

July 21: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

July 22: Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010

July 22: Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010

August 10: SPEECH Act of 2010

September 27: Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010

December 9: Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010

December 13: Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010

December 17: Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010

December 22: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010

2011

January 2: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 () January 4: Food Safety and Modernization Act, ,

January 7: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011

August 2: Budget Control Act of 2011

October 21: United States-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implemention Act

October 21: United States-Panama Free Trade Agreement Implemention Act

October 21: United States-South Korea Free Trade Agreement Implemention Act

December 31: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012

Personnel

Cabinet appointees

Twenty-two members of the Obama administration are either in the United States Cabinet (15) or are in positions considered to be Cabinet-level (7). The members of the Cabinet are the heads of the fifteen major departments (State, Defense, Justice, etc.), and the seven cabinet-level positions are the Vice President, White House Chief of Staff, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador to the United Nations, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. Since Robert Gates was a member of the previous administration, his letter of resignation (a formality at the end of a President's term) was simply not accepted, and he did not need confirmation. On January 19, 2009, Senate Democratic leaders requested fifteen of the twenty positions to be ratified by unanimous consent, and seven gained unanimous confirmation by voice vote the next day: Ken Salazar, Steven Chu, Arne Duncan, Peter Orszag, Eric Shinseki, Tom Vilsack, and Janet Napolitano. On January 21, Obama presided over the swearing in of the seven unanimous nominees. Later that day, the Senate confirmed Hillary Clinton by a 94–2 vote. On January 22, several more confirmations were approved unanimously: Susan E. Rice, Ray LaHood, Lisa P. Jackson, and Shaun Donovan. On January 26, the Senate confirmed Geithner by a 60–34 margin.

At the conclusion of Obama's first week as President, Hilda Solis, Tom Daschle, Ron Kirk, and Eric Holder had yet to be confirmed, and there had been no second appointment for Secretary of Commerce. Holder was confirmed by a vote of 75–21 on February 2, and on February 3, Obama announced Senator Judd Gregg as his second nomination for Secretary of Commerce. Daschle withdrew later that day amid controversy over his failure to pay income taxes and potential conflicts of interest related to the speaking fees he accepted from health care interests. Solis was later confirmed by a vote of 80-17 on February 24, and Ron Kirk was confirmed on March 18 by a 92-5 vote in the Senate.

Gregg, who was the leading Republican negotiator and author of the TARP program in the Senate, after publication that he had a multi-million dollar investment in the Bank of America, on February 12, withdrew his nomination as Secretary of Commerce, citing "irresolvable conflicts" with President Obama and his staff over how to conduct the 2010 census and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Former Washington governor Gary Locke was nominated on February 26 as Obama's third choice for Commerce Secretary and confirmed on March 24 by voice vote.

On March 2, Obama introduced Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as his second choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services. He also introduced Nancy-Ann DeParle as head of the new White House Office of Health Reform, which he suggested would work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services. At the end of March, Sebelius was the only remaining Cabinet member yet to be confirmed.

Six high-ranking cabinet nominees in the Obama administration had their confirmations delayed or rejected among reports that they did not pay all of their taxes, including Tom Daschle, Obama's original nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Though Geithner was confirmed, and Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, thought Daschle would have been confirmed, Daschle withdrew his nomination on February 3. Obama had nominated Nancy Killefer for the position of Chief Performance Officer, but Killefer also withdrew on February 3, citing unspecified problems with District of Columbia unemployment tax. A senior administration official said that Killefer's tax issues dealt with household help. Hilda Solis, Obama's nominee for Secretary of Labor, faced delayed confirmation hearings due to tax lien concerns pertaining to her husband's auto repair business, but she was later confirmed on February 24. While pundits puzzled over U.S. Trade Representative-designate Ron Kirk's failure to be confirmed by March 2009, it was reported on March 2 that Kirk owed over $10,000 in back taxes. Kirk agreed to pay them in exchange for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus's aid in speeding up the confirmation process; he was later confirmed on March 18. On March 31, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, revealed in a letter to the Senate Finance Committee that her Certified Public Accountant found errors in her tax returns for years 2005-2007. She, along with her husband, paid more than $7,000 in back taxes, along with $878 in interest.

Notable non-Cabinet positions

Appointees serve at the pleasure of the President and were nominated by Barack Obama except as noted.

Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

*Sheila Bair¹ (2009–2011)

Special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan

*Richard Holbrooke (2009–2010)

*Marc Grossman (2011–present)

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

* Retired General James L. Jones (2009–2011)

* Thomas E. Donilon (2011–present)

Special envoy to the Middle East

* George J. Mitchell (2009–2011)

* David Hale (2011–present)

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

* Robert Mueller² (2009–present)

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

* Leon Panetta (2009–2011)

* Michael Morell (Acting-2011)

* David Petraeus (2011–present)

Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers

* Christina Romer (2009–2010)

* Austan Goolsbee (2010–2011)

* Alan Krueger (2011–present)

Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission

* Mary Schapiro (2009–present)

Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of National Economic Council

* Lawrence Summers (2009–2010)

* Gene Sperling (2011–present)

Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board

* Paul Volcker (2009–2011)

* ''Replaced by Council on Jobs and Competitiveness in 2011''

Chairperson of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

* Jeffrey R. Immelt (2011–present)

¹Appointed by George W. Bush in 2006 to a five-year term ²Appointed by George W. Bush in 2001 to a ten-year term

Judicial nominees

United States Supreme Court

Obama appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: Sonia Sotomayor 2009 Elena Kagan 2010

Other courts

Outside of the Supreme Court, by October 2009, Obama had nominated fewer than two dozen judges to fill judicial vacancies, of which there were close to 100. This has prompted some Democrats to criticize the pace of Obama's judicial appointments as too slow. In December 2009, Senator Patrick Leahy criticized Republicans for stalling those judicial nominations that had been made, noting that the Senate confirmed more district and circuit court nominees during the first year of the George W. Bush administration than it had approved by that point during the Barack Obama presidency.

As of July 2010, Obama's nominees to the district and circuit courts had been confirmed at a rate of only 43.5 percent, compared to 87.2 percent during Bill Clinton's administration and 91.3 percent for George W. Bush. The Center for American Progress, which compiled the data, commented:

Judicial confirmations slowed to a trickle on the day President Barack Obama took office. Filibusters, anonymous holds, and other obstructionary tactics have become the rule. Uncontroversial nominees wait months for a floor vote, and even district court nominees—low-ranking judges whose confirmations have never been controversial in the past—are routinely filibustered into oblivion. Nominations grind to a halt in many cases even after the Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously endorsed a nominee.

Policies

Economy

Upon entering office, Obama planned to center his attention on handling the global financial crisis. Even before his inauguration he lobbied Congress to pass an economic stimulus bill, which became the top priority during his first month in office. As President, Obama made a high profile trip to Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. to dialog with Congressional Republicans and advocate for the bill. On February 17, 2009, Obama signed into law a $787 billion plan that included spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives, and direct assistance to individuals. The tax provisions of the law reduced taxes for 98 percent of taxpayers, bringing tax rates to their lowest levels in 60 years.

As part of the 2010 budget proposal, the Obama administration has proposed additional measures to attempt to stabilize the economy, including a $2–3 trillion measure aimed at stabilizing the financial system and freeing up credit. The program includes up to $1 trillion to buy toxic bank assets, an additional $1 trillion to expand a federal consumer loan program, and the $350 billion left in the Troubled Assets Relief Program. The plan also includes $50 billion intended to slow the wave of mortgage foreclosures. The 2011 budget includes a three-year freeze on discretionary spending, proposes several program cancellations, and raises taxes on high income earners to bring down deficits during the economic recovery.

In a July 2009 interview with ABC News, Biden was asked about the sustained increase of the U.S. unemployment rate from May 2007 to October 2009 despite the administration's multi-year economic stimulus package passed five months earlier. He responded "The truth is, we and everyone else, misread the economy. The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there ... the truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited." The White House indicates that 2 million jobs were created or saved due to the stimulus package in 2009 and self reporting by recipients of the grants, loans, and contracts portion of the package report that the package saved or created 608,317 jobs in the final three months of 2009.

The unemployment rate rose in 2009, reaching a peak in October at 10.1% and averaging 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Following a decrease to 9.7% in the first quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate fell to 9.6% in the second quarter, where it remained for the rest of the year. Between February and December 2010, employment rose by 0.8%, which was less than the average of 1.9% experienced during comparable periods in the past four employment recoveries. GDP growth returned in the third quarter of 2009, expanding at a 1.6% pace, followed by a 5.0% increase in the fourth quarter. Growth continued in 2010, posting an increase of 3.7% in the first quarter, with lesser gains throughout the rest of the year. Overall, the economy expanded at a rate of 2.9% in 2010.

During November–December 2010, Obama and a lame duck session of the 111th Congress focused on a dispute about the temporary Bush tax cuts, which were due to expire at the end of the year. Obama wanted to extend the tax cuts for taxpayers making less than $250,000 a year. Congressional Republicans agreed but also wanted to extend the tax cuts for those making over that amount, and refused to support any bill that did not do so. All the Republicans in the Senate also joined in saying that, until the tax dispute was resolved, they would filibuster to prevent consideration of any other legislation, except for bills to fund the U.S. government. On 7 December, Obama strongly defended a compromise agreement he had reached with the Republican congressional leadership that included a two-year extension of all the tax cuts, a 13-month extension of unemployment insurance, a one-year reduction in the FICA payroll tax, and other measures. On December 10, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) led a filibuster against the compromise tax proposal, which lasted over eight hours. Obama persuaded many wary Democrats to support the bill, but not all; of the 148 votes against the bill in the House, 112 were cast by Democrats and only 36 by Republicans. The $858 billion Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which ''The Washington Post'' called "the most significant tax bill in nearly a decade", passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress and was signed into law by Obama on December 17, 2010.

Ethics

Lobbying reform

Early in his presidential campaign, Obama stated that "they [lobbyists] won't find a job in my White House", but softened his stance later in the campaign. On January 21, 2009, Obama issued an executive order for all future appointees to his administration, which stated, no appointee who was a registered lobbyist within the two years before his appointment could participate on matters in which he lobbied for a period of two years after the date of appointment. Three formal waivers were initially issued in early 2009, out of 800 executive appointments: to William J. Lynn III, a lobbyist for Raytheon, to hold the position of Deputy Secretary of Defense; to Jocelyn Frye, former general counsel at the National Partnership for Women and Families, to serve as Director of Policy and Projects in the Office of the First Lady; and to Cecilia Muñoz, former senior vice president for the National Council of La Raza, to serve as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Executive Office of the President. As of March 21, 2009, at least thirty officials appointed by Obama had been lobbyists in the past five years. Ten additional waivers were announced in September 2009.

Not all recent former lobbyists require waivers; those without waivers write letters of recusal stating issues from which they must refrain because of their previous jobs. ''USA Today'' reported that 21 members of the Obama administration have at some time been registered as federal lobbyists, although most have not within the previous two years. Lobbyists in the administration include William Corr, an anti-tobacco lobbyist, as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and Tom Vilsack, who lobbied in 2007, for a national teachers union, as Secretary of Agriculture. Also, the Secretary of Labor nominee, Hilda Solis, formerly served as a board member of American Rights at Work, which lobbied Congress on two bills Solis co-sponsored, and Mark Patterson, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's chief of staff, is a former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington have criticized the administration, claiming that Obama is retreating from his own ethics rules barring lobbyists from working on the issues about which they lobbied during the previous two years by issuing waivers. According to Melanie Sloan, the group's executive director, "It makes it appear that they are saying one thing and doing another."

Transparency

The Obama administration has said that all executive orders, non-emergency legislation, and proclamations will be posted to the official White House website, whitehouse.gov, allowing the public to review and comment for five days before the President signs the legislation. The pledge was twice broken during Obama's first month in office when he signed SCHIP legislation and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act with less than the full five days of "sunlight before signing". The administration has said that they are still "working through implementation procedures and some initial issues with the congressional calendar".

During his first week in office, Obama announced plans to post a video address each week on the site, and on YouTube, informing the public of government actions each week. During his speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Obama stated, "I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy."

On January 21, 2009, by executive order, Obama revoked Executive Order 13233, which had limited access to the records of former United States Presidents. Obama issued instructions to all agencies and departments in his administration to "adopt a presumption in favor" of Freedom of Information Act requests. In April 2009, the United States Department of Justice released four legal memos from the Bush administration to comply voluntarily with a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The memos were written by John Yoo and signed by Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury, then Principal Assistant Attorneys General to the Department of Justice, and addressed to John A. Rizzo, general counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency. The memos describe in detail controversial interrogation methods the CIA used on prisoners suspected of terrorism. Obama became personally involved in the decision to release the memos, which was opposed by former CIA directors Michael Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet and John Deutch. Former Vice President Dick Cheney criticized Obama for not releasing more memos; Cheney claimed that unreleased memos detail successes of CIA interrogations.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act requires all recipients of the funds provided by the act to publish a plan for using the funds, along with purpose, cost, rationale, net job creation, and contact information about the plan to a website Recovery.gov so that the public can review and comment. Inspectors General from each department or executive agency will then review, as appropriate, any concerns raised by the public. Any findings of an Inspector General must be relayed immediately to the head of each department and published on Recovery.gov.

On June 16, 2009, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration in order to get information about the visits of coal company executives. Anne Weismann, the chief counsel for CREW, stated "The Obama administration has now taken exactly the same position as the Bush administration... I don't see how you can keep people from knowing who visits the White House and adhere to a policy of openness and transparency." On June 16, MSNBC reported that its more comprehensive request for visitor logs since Obama's January 20 inauguration had been denied. The administration announced that White House visitor logs will be made available to the public on an ongoing basis, with certain limitations, for visits occurring after September 15, 2009. Beginning on January 29, 2010, the White House did begin to release the names of its visitor records. Since that time, names of visitors (which includes not only tourists, but also names of union leaders, Wall Street executives, lobbyists, party chairs, philanthropists and celebrities), have been released. The names are released in huge batches up to 75,000 names at a time. Names are released 90–120 days after having visited the White House. The complete list of names is available online by accessing the official White House website.

Obama stated during the 2008 Presidential campaign that he would have negotiations for health care reform televised on C-SPAN, citing transparency as being the leverage needed to ensure that people stay involved in the process taking place in Washington. This did not fully happen and Politifact gives President Obama a "Promise Broken" rating on this issue. After White House press secretary Robert Gibbs initially avoided addressing the issue, President Obama himself acknowledged that he met with Democratic leaders behind closed doors to discuss how best to garner enough votes in order to merge the two (House and Senate) passed versions of the health care bill. Doing this violated the letter of the pledge, although Obama maintains that negotiations in several congressional committees were open, televised hearings. Obama also cited an independent ethics watchdog group describe his administration as the most transparent in recent history.

The Obama administration has been characterized as much more aggressive than the Bush and other previous administrations in their response to whistleblowing and leaks to the press. Three people have been prosecuted under the rarely used Espionage Act of 1917. They include Thomas Andrews Drake, a former National Security Agency (NSA) employee who was critical of the NSA's Trailblazer Project, Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a State Department contractor who allegedly had a conversation about North Korea with James Rosen of Fox News, and Jeffrey Sterling, who allegedly was a source for James Risen's book State of War. Risen has also been subpoenaed to reveal his sources, another rare action by the government.

Foreign policy

In his inaugural address, Obama suggested that he plans to begin the process of withdrawing from Iraq and continuing to focus on the war in Afghanistan. He also mentioned lessening the nuclear threat through "working tirelessly with old friends and former foes". He spoke about America's determination to combat terrorism, proclaiming America's spirit is "stronger and cannot be broken — you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you." To the Muslim world, Obama extended an invite to "a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect". He also said the USA would "extend a hand" to those "who cling to power through corruption and deceit" if they "are willing to unclench" their fists. Shortly after his inauguration President Obama first called President Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Calls were also made to President Mubarak of Egypt, Prime Minister Olmert of Israel and King Abdullah of Jordan. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named George Mitchell as Special Envoy for Middle East peace and Richard Holbrooke as special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan on January 23, 2009. At the same time, Obama called on Israel to open the borders of Gaza, detailing early plans on his administration's peace plans for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. On February 18, 2009, Obama announced that the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan would be bolstered by 17,000 new troops by summer. The announcement followed the recommendation of several experts including Defense Secretary Robert Gates that additional troops be deployed to the war-torn nation.

Obama declared his plan for ending the Iraq War on February 27, 2009, in a speech at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, before an audience of Marines stationed there. According to the president, combat troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by August 2010, leaving a contingent of up to 50,000 servicemen and servicewomen to continue training, advisory, and counterterrorism operations until as late as the end of 2011.

Other characteristics of the Obama administration on foreign policy include a tough stance on tax havens, continuing military operation in Pakistan, and avowed focus on diplomacy to prevent nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea.

On April 1, 2009, Obama and China's President, Hu Jintao, announced the establishment of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue and agreed to work together to build a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive U.S.-China relationship for the 21st century.

In that same month, Obama requested that Congress approve $83.4 billion of supplemental military funding, mostly for the war in Iraq and to increase troop levels in Afghanistan. The request also includes $2.2 billion to increase the size of the US military, $350 million to upgrade security along the US-Mexico border, and $400 million in counterinsurgency aid for Pakistan.

In May 2009, it was reported that Obama plans to expand the military by 20,000 employees.

On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt. The wide ranging speech called for a "new beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States. The speech received both praise and criticism from leaders in the region. In March 2010, Secretary of State Clinton criticized the Israeli government for approving expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem.

On April 8, 2010, Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the latest Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a "major" nuclear arms control agreement that reduces the nuclear weapons stockpiles of both countries.

In March 2011, international reaction to Muammar Gaddafi's military crackdown on rebel forces and civilians in Libya culminated in a United Nations resolution to enforce a no fly zone in Libya. Obama authorized U.S. forces to participate in international air attacks on Libyan air defenses using Tomahawk cruise missiles to establish the protective zone.

Guantánamo Bay detention camp

On his first day in office, Obama requested a 120-day suspension of all trials for alleged terrorists held at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, so the new administration could "review the military commissions process, generally, and the cases pending before military commissions , specifically". Another order established a task force to lead a review of detention policies, procedures and individual cases. Obama addressed the State Department that "the United States will not torture" and drafted an executive order to close Guantánamo within a year. On January 22, 2009, Obama signed an executive order ensuring safe, lawful, and humane treatment of individuals detained in armed conflicts. This order restricts interrogators to methods listed and authorized by an Army Field Manual. A detainee released since Obama took office claimed in an interview with Agence France-Presse that conditions at Guantánamo had worsened, stating guards wanted to "take their last revenge" before the facility is closed. On March 13, 2009, the administration announced that it would no longer refer to prisoners at Guantánamo Bay as enemy combatants, but it also asserted that the president has the authority to detain terrorism suspects there without criminal charges.

The case review of detainee files by administration officials and prosecutors was made more difficult than expected as the Bush administration had failed to establish a coherent repository of the evidence and intelligence on each prisoner. By September 2009, prosecutors recommended to the Justice Department which detainees are eligible for trial, and the Justice Department and the Pentagon worked together to determine which of several now-scheduled trials will go forward in military tribunals and which in civilian courts. While 216 international terrorists are already held in maximum security prisons in the U.S., Congress was denying the administration funds to shut down the camp and adapt existing facilities elsewhere, arguing that the decision was "too dangerous to rush". In November, Obama stated that the U.S. would miss the January 2010 date for closing the Guantánamo Bay prison as he had ordered, acknowledging that he "knew this was going to be hard". Obama did not set a specific new deadline for closing the camp, citing that the delay was due to politics and lack of congressional cooperation. The state of Illinois has offered to sell to the federal government the Thomson Correctional Center, a new but largely unused prison, for the purpose of housing detainees. Federal officials testified at a December 23 hearing that if the state commission approves the sale for that purpose, it could take more than six months to ready the facility.

Killing of Osama bin Laden

Starting with information received in July 2010, intelligence developed by the CIA over the next several months determined what they believed to be the location of Osama bin Laden in a large compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a suburban area 35 miles from Islamabad. CIA head Leon Panetta reported this intelligence to Obama in March 2011. Meeting with his national security advisers over the course of the next six weeks, Obama rejected a plan to bomb the compound, and authorized a "surgical raid" to be conducted by United States Navy SEALs. The operation took place on May 1, 2011, resulting in the death of bin Laden and the seizure of papers and computer drives and disks from the compound. Bin Laden's body was identified through DNA testing, and buried at sea several hours later. Within minutes of Obama's announcement from Washington, DC, late in the evening on May 1, there were spontaneous celebrations around the country as crowds gathered outside the White House, and at New York City's Ground Zero and Times Square. Reaction to the announcement was positive across party lines, including from predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and from many countries around the world.

Overseas Contingency Operation

Obama discontinued use of the term "War on Terror" and instead uses the term "Overseas Contingency Operation". However, Obama has stated that the U.S. is at war with Al-Qaeda, saying "Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred."

In April 2010, the Obama administration took the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them.

Gun control

During the presidential campaign, Obama announced that he favors measures that respect Second Amendment rights, while at the same time keeping guns away from children and criminals. On February 25, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama administration would seek a new assault weapons ban across the United States, saying that it would have a positive impact on the drug-related violence in Mexico. After the statement drew criticism from the NRA and some House Democrats, the Administration reportedly ordered the Justice Department to end public discussion of the issue. Obama has signed into law two bills containing amendments reducing restrictions on gun owners, one which permits guns to be transported in checked baggage on Amtrak trains and another which allows carrying loaded firearms in national parks located in states allowing concealed carry.

Science and technology

Cybersecurity

Obama initiated a 60-day review of cybersecurity by Melissa Hathaway, a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, appointed Acting Senior Director for Cyberspace.

''The New York Times'' reported in 2009, that the NSA is intercepting communications of American citizens including a Congressman, although the Justice Department believed that the NSA had corrected its errors. United States Attorney General Eric Holder resumed the wiretapping according to his understanding of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 that Congress passed in July 2008, but without explaining what had occurred.

Environment

On January 27, 2009, Obama issued two presidential memoranda concerning energy policy. One directed the Department of Transportation to raise fuel efficiency standards incrementally to by 2020, and the other directed the Environmental Protection Agency to allow individual states to set stricter tailpipe emissions regulations than the federal standard.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides $54 billion in funds to double domestic renewable energy production, renovate federal buildings making them more energy-efficient, improve the nation's electricity grid, repair public housing, and weatherize modest-income homes.

On February 10, 2009, Obama overturned a Bush administration policy that had opened up a five-year period of offshore drilling for oil and gas near both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has been quoted as saying, "To establish an orderly process that allows us to make wise decisions based on sound information, we need to set aside" the plan "and create our own timeline".

On May 19, 2009, Obama announced a plan to increase the CAFE national standards for gasoline mileage, by creating a single new national standard that will create a car and light truck fleet in the United States that is almost 40 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016, than it is today, with an average of 35.5 miles per gallon. Environmental advocates and industry officials welcomed the new program, but for different reasons. Environmentalists called it a long-overdue tightening of emissions and fuel economy standards after decades of government delay and industry opposition. Auto industry officials said it would provide the single national efficiency standard they have long desired, a reasonable timetable to meet it and the certainty they need to proceed with product development plans.

On March 30, 2010, Obama partially reinstated Bush administration proposals to open certain offshore areas along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling. The proposals had earlier been set aside by President Obama after they were challenged in court on environmental grounds.

On May 27, 2010, Obama extended a moratorium on offshore drilling permits after the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill which is considered to be the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Although BP took responsibility for the disaster and its ongoing after effects, Obama began a federal investigation along with forming a bipartisan commission to review the incident and methods to avoid it in the future. Obama visited the Gulf Coast on May 2 and May 28 and expressed his frustration on the June 8 ''NBC Today Show'', by saying "I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick." Obama's response to the disaster has drawn confusion and criticism within segments of the media and public.

NASA

Obama set up the Augustine panel to review the Constellation program in 2009, and announced in February 2010, that he was cutting the program from the 2011 United States federal budget, describing it as "over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation." After the decision drew criticism in the United States, a new "Flexible path to Mars" plan was unveiled at a space conference in April 2010. It included new technology programs, increased R&D; spending, a focus on the International Space Station and contracting out flying crew to space to commercial providers. The new plan also increased NASA's 2011 budget to $19 billion from $18.3 billion in 2010.

In July 2009, Obama appointed Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, to be administrator of NASA.

Stem cell research

On March 9, 2009, Obama repealed a Bush-era policy that prevented federal tax dollars from being used to fund research on new lines of embryonic stem cells. Such research has been a matter of debate between those who emphasize the therapeutic potential of such research and those who suggest that elements of this research breach ethical limitations. Obama stated that "In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values...In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research — and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly."

Social policy

On January 23, 2009, Obama rescinded the Mexico City Policy, a measure from the Reagan and Bush eras that required any non-governmental organization receiving U.S. Government funding to refrain from performing or promoting abortion services in other countries.

On June 17, 2009, Obama authorized the extension of some benefits (but not health insurance or pension benefits) to same-sex partners of federal employees. Obama has chosen to leave larger changes, such as the repeal of Don't ask, don't tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, to Congress.

On October 19, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a directive to federal prosecutors in states with medical marijuana laws not to investigate or prosecute cases of marijuana use or production done in compliance with those laws.

On December 16, 2009, President Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, which repealed a 21-year-old ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs.

On December 22, 2010, Obama signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, a bill that provides for repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy of 1993, that has prevented gay and lesbian people from serving openly in the United States Armed Forces. Repealing "Don't ask, don't tell" had been a key campaign promise that Obama had made during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Health care reform

Once the stimulus bill was enacted, health care reform became Obama's top domestic priority. On July 14, 2009, House Democratic leaders introduced a 1,000 page plan for overhauling the US health care system, which Obama wanted Congress to approve by the end of the year.

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the ten-year cost to the federal government of the major insurance-related provisions of the bill at approximately $1.0 trillion. In mid-July 2009, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the CBO, testified that the proposals under consideration would significantly increase federal spending and did not include the "fundamental changes" needed to control the rapid growth in health care spending. However after reviewing the final version of the bill introduced after 14 months of debate the CBO estimated that it would reduce federal budget deficits by $143 billion over 10 years and by more than a trillion in the next decade.

After much public debate during the Congressional summer recess of 2009, Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 9 where he addressed concerns over his administration's proposals. In March 2010, Obama gave several speeches across the country to argue for the passage of health care reform. On March 21, 2010, after Obama announced an executive order reinforcing the current law against spending federal funds for elective abortion services, the House, by a vote of 219 to 212, passed the version of the bill previously passed on December 24, 2009, by a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. The bill, which includes over 200 Republican amendments, was passed without a single Republican vote. On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the bill into law. Immediately following the bill's passage, the House voted in favor of a reconciliation measure to make significant changes and corrections to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was passed by both houses with two minor alterations on March 25, 2010, and signed into law on March 30, 2010.

Education reform

On March 30, 2010, Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which ended the role of private banks in lending out federally-insured student loans. By directly lending to students, the government is projected to save taxpayers $68 billion dollars over the next several years. Federally-insured student loans will instead be distributed by the Department of Education. The law also increased the amount of Pell Grant awards given each year, doubling its current funding. Starting in 2014, the law permits borrowers to cap the amount they spend on student loans each year to ten percent of their discretionary income and have their balance forgiven if they have faithfully paid the balance of their loan over 20 years. Additionally, the law seeks to make it easier for parents to qualify for Grad PLUS loans, and spends billions on poor and minority schools and $2 billion for community colleges.

Gates arrest controversy

On July 16, 2009, prominent African American Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home by a local white police officer, Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, for disorderly conduct. Gates, who was locked out of his house, had attempted to break into his own property, thus causing the initial alarm from a neighbor who called 9-1-1. The incident sparked national controversy over whether Gates's civil rights had been violated by Crowley. On July 21, the Cambridge Police Department dropped charges against Gates. On July 22, President Barack Obama, commented on the incident over national and international television, criticized the arrest, and stated the police acted "stupidly" in handling the incident. National law enforcement organizations and members objected to Obama's comments and criticized his handling of the issue. In the aftermath, Obama stated that he regretted his comments exacerbating the situation, and hoped that the situation could become a "teachable moment". To reduce tensions, on July 24, Obama invited both parties to the White House to discuss the issue over beers, and on July 30, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden joined Crowley and Gates in a private, cordial meeting in a courtyard near the White House Rose Garden; this became known colloquially as the "Beer Summit".

Wall Street reform

On July 21, 2010, Obama signed Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, considered to be the largest financial system overhaul since the New Deal. The law recognizes complex financial derivatives and makes rules to protect consumers from unfair practices in loans and credit cards by establishing a new consumer protection agency. At the signing ceremony in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington D.C. Obama proclaimed, "There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period." Obama also mentioned that "These reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history." At the ceremony were Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the two committee chairmen who sponsored the bill.

2010 midterm elections

Due in large part to voter frustration over high unemployment and a stalled economy, Republicans won control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections. On reflection after the election, Obama blamed himself, in part, for the many Democrats who went down to defeat knowing that they had risked their careers to support his agenda of economic stimulus legislation and a landmark health care bill. Democrats narrowly retained the Senate majority and will continue to control it through the 112th Congress.

Obama called the elections "humbling" and a "shellacking". He said that the results came because not enough Americans had felt the effects of the economic recovery.

2012 re-election campaign

On April 4, 2011, President Obama announced that he would seek re-election in the 2012 presidential election. The campaign will be based in Chicago and is being run by many former members of the White House staff and members of the successful 2008 campaign.

References

External links

"Obama's People" (photography: Nadav Kander)

The Official White House YouTube page

"President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address". The White House.

"Wrapping Up Open for Questions". The White House.

"President Obama's State of the Union Address" C-SPAN.

Obama, Barack

cs:Vláda Baracka Obamy es:Administración Obama fr:Présidence de Barack Obama ko:버락 오바마 행정부 sw:Urais wa Barack Obama no:Barack Obamas regjering ru:Президентство Барака Обамы sv:Obamas kabinett th:การดำรงตำแหน่งประธานาธิบดีของบารัก โอบามา

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Mick Jagger
background	solo_singer
birth name	Michael Philip Jagger
born	July 26, 1943Dartford, Kent, England
genre	Rock, rock and roll, blues rock, rhythm and blues, funk, psychedelic rock, soul
instrument	Vocals, harmonica, percussion, guitar, bass, keyboards
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, record and film producer, actor
years active	1961–present
label	Virgin, Rolling Stones, ABKCO, Universal
associated acts	The Rolling Stones, Super Heavy
website	MickJagger.com }}

Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, actor and producer, best known as the lead vocalist of rock band The Rolling Stones. Jagger has also acted in and produced several films.

The Rolling Stones started in the early 1960s as a rhythm and blues cover band with Jagger as frontman. Beginning in 1964, Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards developed a songwriting partnership, and by the mid-1960s the group had evolved into a major rock band. Frequent conflict with the authorities (including alleged drug use and his romantic involvements) ensured that during this time Jagger was never far from the headlines, and he was often portrayed as a counterculture figure. In the late 1960s Jagger began acting in films (starting with ''Performance'' and ''Ned Kelly''), to mixed reception. In the 1970s, Jagger, with the rest of the Stones, became tax exiles, consolidated their global position and gained more control over their business affairs with the formation of the Rolling Stones Records label. During this time, Jagger was also known for his high-profile marriages to Bianca Jagger and later to Jerry Hall. In 1985, Jagger released his first solo album, ''She's the Boss''. He was knighted in 2003.

Jagger's career has spanned over 50 years. His performance style has been said to have "opened up definitions of gendered masculinity and so laid the foundations for self-invention and sexual plasticity which are now an integral part of contemporary youth culture". In 2006, he was ranked by ''Hit Parader'' as the fifteenth greatest heavy metal singer of all time, despite not being associated with the genre. Allmusic has described Jagger as "one of the most popular and influential frontmen in the history of rock & roll". His distinctive voice and performance, along with Keith Richards' guitar style, have been the trademark of The Rolling Stones throughout their career.

Life and career

Early life

Jagger was born into a middle class family at the Livingstone Hospital, in Dartford, Kent, England. His father, Basil Fanshawe ("Joe") Jagger (13 April 1913 – 11 November 2006), and his paternal grandfather, David Ernest Jagger, were both teachers. His mother, Eva Ensley Mary (née Scutts; 6 April 1913 – 18 May 2000), born in New South Wales, Australia, was a hairdresser and an active member of the Conservative Party. Jagger is the elder of two sons (his brother Chris Jagger was born on 19 December 1947) and was raised to follow in his father's career path.

In the book ''According to the Rolling Stones'', Jagger states "I was always a singer. I always sang as a child. I was one of those kids who just ''liked'' to sing. Some kids sing in choirs; others like to show off in front of the mirror. I was in the church choir and I also loved listening to singers on the radio – the BBC or Radio Luxembourg – or watching them on TV and in the movies."

From September 1950, Keith Richards and Jagger (known as "Mike" to his friends) were classmates at Wentworth Primary School in Dartford, Kent. In 1954, Jagger passed the eleven-plus, and went to Dartford Grammar School, where there is now The Mick Jagger Centre, as part of the school. Having lost contact with each other when they went to different schools, Richards and Jagger resumed their friendship in July 1960 after a chance encounter and discovered that they had both developed a love for rhythm and blues music, which began for Jagger with Little Richard.

Jagger left school in 1961. He obtained seven O-levels and three A-levels. Jagger and Richards moved into a flat in Edith Grove in Chelsea with a guitarist they had encountered named Brian Jones. While Richards and Jones were making plans to start their own rhythm and blues group, Jagger continued his business courses at the London School of Economics, and had seriously considered becoming either a journalist or a politician. Jagger had compared the latter to a pop star.

Career

Early years: 1960s

In their earliest days, the members played for no money in the interval of Alexis Korner's gigs at a basement club opposite Ealing Broadway tube station (subsequently called "Ferry's" club). At the time, the group had very little equipment and needed to borrow Alexis' gear to play. This was before Andrew Loog Oldham became their manager.

The group’s first appearance under the name The Rollin' Stones (after one of their favourite Muddy Waters tunes) was at the Marquee Club, a jazz club, on 12 July 1962. They would later change their name to “The Rolling Stones” as it seemed more formal. Victor Bockris states that the band members included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart on piano, Dick Taylor on bass and Tony Chapman on drums. However, Richards states in ''Life'', "The drummer that night was Mick Avory—not Tony Chapman, as history has mysteriously handed it down..." Some time later, the band went on their first tour in the United Kingdom; this was known as the “training ground” tour because it was a new experience for all of them. The line-up did not at that time include drummer Charlie Watts and bassist Bill Wyman. By 1963, they were finding their stride as well as popularity. By 1964, two unscientific opinion polls rated them as England's most popular group, outranking even the Beatles.

By the autumn of 1963, Jagger had left the London School of Economics in favour of his promising musical career with the Rolling Stones. The group continued to mine the works of American rhythm and blues artists such as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, but with the strong encouragement of Andrew Loog Oldham, Jagger and Richards soon began to write their own songs. This core songwriting partnership would flourish in time; one of their early compositions, "As Tears Go By", was a song written for Marianne Faithfull, a young singer being promoted by Loog Oldham at the time. For the Rolling Stones, the duo would write "The Last Time", the group's third number-one single in the UK (their first two UK number-one hits had been cover versions). Another of the fruits of this collaboration was their first international hit, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". It also established The Rolling Stones’ image as defiant troublemakers in contrast to The Beatles' "lovable moptop" image.

Jagger told Stephen Schiff in a 1992 ''Vanity Fair'' profile: "I wasn't trying to be rebellious in those days; I was just being me. I wasn't trying to push the edge of anything. I'm being me and ordinary, the guy from suburbia who sings in this band, but someone older might have thought it was just the most awful racket, the most terrible thing, and where are we going if this is music?... But all those songs we sang were pretty tame, really. People didn't think they were, but I thought they were tame."

The group released several successful albums including ''December's Children (And Everybody's)'', ''Aftermath'', and ''Between the Buttons'', but their reputations were catching up to them. In 1967, Jagger and Richards were arrested on drug charges and were given unusually harsh sentences: Jagger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for possession of four over-the-counter pep pills he had purchased in Italy. On appeal, Richards' sentence was overturned and Jagger's was amended to a conditional discharge (he ended up spending one night inside Brixton Prison) after an article appeared in ''The Times'', written by its traditionally conservative editor William (now Lord) Rees-Mogg, but the Rolling Stones continued to face legal battles for the next decade. Around the same time, internal struggles about the direction of the group had begun to surface.

1970s

After Jones' death and their move in 1971 to the south of France as tax exiles, Jagger and the rest of the band changed their look and style as the 1970s progressed. For the Rolling Stones' highly publicised 1972 American tour, Jagger wore glam-rock clothing and glittery makeup on stage. Later in the decade, they ventured into genres like disco and punk with the album ''Some Girls'' (1978). Their interest in the blues, however, had been made manifest in the 1972 album ''Exile on Main St''. His emotional singing on the gospel-influenced ''Let It Loose'', one of the album's tracks, has been described by music critic Russell Hall as having been Jagger's finest ever vocal achievement.

After the band's acrimonious split with their second manager, Allen Klein, in 1971, Jagger took control of their business affairs and has managed them ever since in collaboration with his friend and colleague, Rupert Löwenstein. Mick Taylor, Brian Jones's replacement, left the band in December 1974 and was replaced by Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood in 1975, who also operated as a mediator within the group, and between Jagger and Richards in particular.

1980s

While continuing to tour and release albums with the Rolling Stones, Jagger began a solo career. In 1985, he released his first solo album ''She's the Boss'' produced by Nile Rodgers and Bill Laswell, featuring Herbie Hancock, Jeff Beck, Jan Hammer, Pete Townshend, and the Compass Point All Stars. It sold fairly well, and the single "Just Another Night" was a Top Ten hit. During this period, he collaborated with The Jacksons on the song "State of Shock", sharing lead vocals with Michael Jackson. For his own personal contributions in the 1985 Live Aid multi-venue charity concert, he performed at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium; he did a duet with Tina Turner of "It's Only Rock and Roll", and the performance was highlighted by Jagger tearing away a part of Turner's dress. He also did a cover of "Dancing in the Street" with David Bowie, who himself appeared at Wembley Stadium. The video was shown simultaneously on the screens of both Wembley and JFK Stadiums. The song reached number one in the UK the same year.

In 1987, he released his second solo album, ''Primitive Cool''. While it failed to match the commercial success of his debut, it was critically well received.

In 1988, he produced the songs "Glamour Boys" and "Which Way to America" on Living Colour's album ''Vivid''. He also collaborated with The Jacksons on the song "State of Shock". 15–28 March, he has a solo concert tour in Japan(Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka). Show at 22 March is "Tokyo Dome" first performance of Japan's overseas artist.

1990s

''Wandering Spirit'' was the third solo album by Jagger and was released in 1993. It would be his only solo album release of the 1990s. Jagger aimed to re-introduce himself as a solo artist in a musical climate vastly changed from what had witnessed the release of his first two projects, ''She's the Boss'' and ''Primitive Cool''.

Following the successful comeback of the Rolling Stones' ''Steel Wheels'' (1989), which saw the end of Jagger and Richards' well-publicised feud, Jagger began routining new material for what would become ''Wandering Spirit''. In January 1992, after acquiring Rick Rubin as co-producer, Jagger recorded the album in Los Angeles over seven months until September 1992, recording simultaneously as Richards was making ''Main Offender''.

Jagger would keep the celebrity guests to a minimum on ''Wandering Spirit'', only having Lenny Kravitz as a vocalist on his cover of Bill Withers' "Use Me" and bassist Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers on three tracks.

Following the end of the Rolling Stones' Sony Music contract and their signing to Virgin Records, Jagger elected to sign with Atlantic Records (which had signed the Stones in the 1970s) to distribute what would be his only album with the label.

Released in February 1993, ''Wandering Spirit'' was commercially successful, reaching #12 in the UK and #11 in the US, going gold there. The track "Sweet Thing" was the lead single, although it was the third single, "Don't Tear Me Up", which found moderate success, topping Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart for one week. Critical reaction was very strong, noting Jagger's abandonment of slick synthesisers in favour of an incisive and lean guitar sound.

Contemporary reviewers tend to consider ''Wandering Spirits'' a high point of Jagger's latter-day career achievements.

2000s

In 2001, Jagger released ''Goddess in the Doorway'' spawning the hit single "Visions of Paradise".

He celebrated The Rolling Stones' 40th anniversary by touring with them on the year-long ''Licks'' tour in support of their career retrospective ''Forty Licks'' double album.

On 26 September 2007, The Rolling Stones made US$437 million on their A Bigger Bang Tour, which got them into the current edition of ''Guinness World Records'' for the most lucrative music tour. Jagger has refused to say when the band will finally retire, stating in 2007: "I'm sure the Rolling Stones will do more things and more records and more tours. We've got no plans to stop any of that really."

2010s

On 20 May 2011, Jagger announced the formation of a new supergroup, the first band he had formed since the Rolling Stones. The band, SuperHeavy includes Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley, and A.R. Rahman.

Relationship with Keith Richards

Jagger's relationship with band mate Richards is frequently described as "love/hate" by the media.

Richards himself said in a 1998 interview: "I think of our differences as a family squabble. If I shout and scream at him, it's because no one else has the guts to do it or else they're paid not to do it. At the same time I'd hope Mick realises that I'm a friend who is just trying to bring him into line and do what needs to be done." Richards, along with Johnny Depp, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Jagger to appear in ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', alongside Depp and Richards.

Richards' autobiography, ''Life'', was released 26 October 2010. On 15 October 2010, the Associated Press published an article stating that Richards refers to Mick Jagger as "unbearable" in the book and notes that their relationship has been strained "for decades."

Acting and film production

Jagger has also had an intermittent acting career, most notably in Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg's ''Performance'' (1968) and as Australian bushranger ''Ned Kelly'' (1970). He composed an improvised soundtrack for Kenneth Anger's film ''Invocation Of My Demon Brother'' on the Moog synthesiser in 1969. He auditioned for the role of Dr. Frank N. Furter in the 1975 film adaptation of The Rocky Horror Show, a now iconic role that was eventually played by the original performer from its run on London's West End, Tim Curry. Appeared as himself in The Rutles film ''All You Need Is Cash'' in 1978. In the late 1970s, Jagger was cast as Wilbur, a main character in Werner Herzog's ''Fitzcarraldo.'' However, a delay and the illness of main actor Jason Robards (later replaced by Klaus Kinski) in the film's notoriously difficult production resulted in his being unable to continue due to schedule conflicts with a band tour; some of the footage of his work is shown in the documentary ''Burden of Dreams''. He developed a reputation for playing the heavy later in his acting career in films including ''Freejack'' (1992), ''Bent'' (1997), and ''The Man From Elysian Fields'' (2002).

In 1995, Jagger founded Jagged Films with Victoria Pearman "[to] start my own projects instead of just going in other people's and being involved peripherally or doing music." Its first release was the World War II drama ''Enigma'' in 2001. That same year, it produced a documentary on Jagger entitled ''Being Mick.'' The program, which first aired on television 22 November, coincided with the release of his fourth solo album, ''Goddess in the Doorway.''

In 2008, the company began work on ''The Women'', an adaptation of the George Cukor film of the same name. It was directed by Diane English. Reviving the 1939 film met with countless delays, but Jagger's company was credited with obtaining $24 million of much-needed financing to finally begin casting. English told ''Entertainment Weekly'': "This was much easier in 1939, when all the ladies were under contract, and they had to take the roles they were told to."

The Rolling Stones have been the subjects of numerous documentaries, including ''Gimme Shelter'', which was made as the band was gaining fame in the United States. Martin Scorsese worked with Jagger on ''Shine a Light,'' a documentary film featuring the Rolling Stones with footage from the A Bigger Bang Tour during two nights of performances at New York's Beacon Theatre. It screened in Berlin in February 2008. ''Variety'''s Todd McCarthy said the film "takes full advantage of heavy camera coverage and top-notch sound to create an invigorating musical trip down memory lane, as well as to provoke gentle musings on the wages of ageing and the passage of time." He predicted the film would fare better once released to video than in its limited theatrical runs.

Jagger was a producer of, and guest-starred in the first episode of the short-lived comedy ''The Knights of Prosperity'', which aired in 2007 on ABC.''

Personal life

Jagger is known for his many high-profile relationships. He has been married twice and has had numerous romantic connections.

In 1970, Mick Jagger purchased Stargroves at East Woodhay in Hampshire as his country estate. It was often used as a recording venue. In the same year, he began a relationship with Nicaraguan-born Bianca De Macias, whom he married on 12 May 1971, in a Catholic ceremony in Saint-Tropez, France. The couple separated in 1977 and in May 1978, she filed for divorce on the grounds of his adultery. Bianca later said "My marriage ended on my wedding day." In late 1977, he began seeing model Jerry Hall, while still married to Bianca. After a lengthy cohabitation and several children together, the couple married on 21 November 1990, in a Hindu beach ceremony in Indonesia and moved together to Downe House in Richmond, Surrey. Jagger later contested the validity of the ceremony, and the marriage was annulled in August 1999. Jagger has also been romantically linked to other women: Chrissie Shrimpton, Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg, Marsha Hunt, Pamela Des Barres, Uschi Obermaier, Bebe Buell, Carly Simon, Margaret Trudeau, Mackenzie Phillips, Janice Dickinson, Carla Bruni, Sophie Dahl and Angelina Jolie, among others.

Jagger has seven children by four women: :*By Marsha Hunt, he has daughter Karis Hunt Jagger (born 4 November 1970). :*By Bianca Jagger, he has daughter Jade Sheena Jezebel Jagger (born 21 October 1971). :*By Jerry Hall he has daughter Elizabeth Scarlett Jagger (born 2 March 1984), son James Leroy Augustin Jagger (born 28 August 1985), daughter Georgia May Ayeesha Jagger (born 12 January 1992) and son Gabriel Luke Beauregard Jagger (born 9 December 1997) :*By Luciana Gimenez, he has son Lucas Maurice Morad Jagger (born 18 May 1999).

He also has four grandchildren.

His father, Joe, died on 11 November 2006, at the age of 93.

In 2008, it was revealed that members of the Hells Angels had plotted to murder Jagger in 1975. They were angered by Jagger's public blaming of the Hells Angels, who had been hired to provide "security" at the Altamont Free Concert in December 1969, for much of the crowd violence at the event. The conspirators reportedly used a boat to approach a residence where Jagger was staying on Long Island, New York; the plot failed when the boat was nearly sunk by a storm.

Jagger is an avid cricket fan. He founded Jagged Internetworks so he could get coverage of English Cricket.

His personal fortune was estimated in 2010, at £190 million (~$298 million US).

He said in September 2010 that he has a daily meditation and Buddhist practice.

Knighthood

On 12 December 2003, Jagger was knighted for Services to Music, as Sir Michael Jagger by The Prince of Wales. Mick Jagger's knighthood received mixed reactions. Some fans were disappointed when he accepted the honour as it seemed to contradict his anti-establishment stance.

As United Press International noted, the honour is odd, for unlike other knighted rock musicians, he has no "known record of charitable work or public services," although he is a patron of the British Museum. Jagger was absent from the Queen's Golden Jubilee pop concert at Buckingham Palace that marked her 50 years on the throne.

Charlie Watts was quoted in the book ''According to the Rolling Stones'' as saying, "Anybody else would be lynched: 18 wives and 20 children and he's knighted, fantastic!" The ceremony took place in December 2003. Jagger’s father and daughters Karis and Elizabeth were in attendance.

Jagger's knighthood also caused some friction between him and bandmate Keith Richards, who was irritated when Jagger accepted the "paltry honour". Richards said that he did not want to take the stage with someone wearing a "coronet and sporting the old ermine. It's not what the Stones is about, is it?" Jagger retorted: "I think he would probably like to get the same honour himself. It's like being given an ice cream—one gets one and they all want one."

Mick Jagger in popular culture

From the time that the Rolling Stones developed their anti-establishment image in the mid-1960s, Mick Jagger, along with guitarist Keith Richards, has been an enduring icon of the counterculture. This was no doubt enhanced by his controversial drug-related arrests, sexually charged onstage antics, provocative song lyrics, and his role of the bisexual Turner in the 1970 film ''Performance''. One of his biographers, Christopher Andersen, describes him as being "one of the dominant cultural figures of our time", adding that Jagger was "the story of a generation".

Jagger, who at the time described himself as an anarchist and espoused the leftist slogans of the era, took part in a demonstration against the Vietnam War outside the US Embassy in London in 1968. This event inspired him to write "Street Fighting Man" that same year and served to reinforce his rebellious, anti-authority stance in the eyes of his fans.

A variety of celebrities attended a lavish party at New York's St. Regis Hotel to celebrate Jagger's 29th birthday and the end of the band's 1972 American tour. The party made the front pages of the leading New York newspapers.

Pop artist Andy Warhol painted a series of silkscreen portraits of Jagger in 1975, one of which was owned by Farah Diba, wife of the Shah of Iran. It hung on a wall inside the royal palace in Teheran. In 1967, Cecil Beaton photographed Jagger's naked buttocks, a photo that sold at Sotheby's auction house in 1986 for $4,000.

On 26 September 2005 the British band Infadels released a single entitled "Jagger '67" which later appeared on their album We Are Not The Infadels. Jagger is directly referred to in pop singer Kesha's 2009 debut single ''Tik Tok''. Jagger was allegedly a contender for the anonymous subject of Carly Simon's 1973 hit song ''You're So Vain'', in which he sings backing vocals. Although Don McLean does not use Jagger's name in his famous song "American Pie", he alludes to Jagger onstage at Altamont, calling him Satan. (Jagger had assumed the guise of Satan in "Sympathy For The Devil", a track from the album ''Beggar's Banquet''.)

In 2010 a retrospective exhibitions of portraits of Mick Jagger was presented at the festival Rencontres d'Arles, in France. The authors of the 70 pictures are Bryan Adams, Brian Aris, Enrique Badulescu, Cecil Beaton, Simone Cecchetti, William Christie, Anton Corbijn, Kevin Cummins, Sante D’Orazio, Deborah Feingold, Tony Frank, Claude Gassian, Harry Goodwin, Anwar Hussein, Karl Lagerfeld, Annie Leibovitz, Peter Lindbergh, Gered Mankowitz, Jim Marshall, David Montgomery, Terry O’Neill, Guy Peellaert, Jean-Marie Périer, Michael Putland, Ken Regan, Herb Ritts, Ethan Russell, Francesco Scavullo, Norman Seeff, Mark Seliger, Dominique Tarl, Pierre Terrasson, Andy Warhol, Albert Watson, Robert Whitaker, Baron Wolman. The catalogue of the exihibition is the first photo album of Mick Jagger and shows the evolution of the artist in 50 years of career.

A single entitled "Moves Like Jagger" was released in June 2011 on the television program ''The Voice'' by judges Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera. The song is about Mick's onstage and ladykiller-esque swagger.

Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century'', makes several references to ''Performance'' in its second issue, "Paint it Black", prominently featuring Mick Jagger's Turner character and features a fictionalized version of Brian Jones' tribute concert.

Discography

Albums

!Year	!Album details	UK Albums Chart>UK	Billboard 200>US	British Phonographic Industry>BPI / Recording Industry Association of America
1985	''[[She's the Boss''	* Released: 21 February 1985	* Label: CBS Records		(11 wks)		(29 wks)	UK: Silver	US: Platinum
1987	''Primitive Cool''	* Released: 14 September 1987	* Label: CBS Records		(5 wks)		(20 wks)
1993		* Released: 9 February 1993	* Label: Atlantic Records		(4 wks)		(16 wks)	US: Gold
2001	''Goddess in the Doorway''	* Released: 19 November 2001	* Label: Virgin Records		(4 wks)		(8 wks)	UK: Silver
2007	''The Very Best of Mick Jagger''	* Released: 1 October 2007	Rhino Entertainment>Rhino Records		(1 wk)		(2 wks)

Soundtrack

!Year	!Album details	Billboard 200>US
2004		* Release date: 18 October 2004	* Label: Virgin Records		(2 wks)

Singles

Release date	!A-side	!width="50"
	''Burden of Dreams''
1987	''Running Out of Luck''
1991	''At the Max''
1992	''Freejack''
1997
1999
	''Enigma (2001 film)
''[[The Man from Elysian Fields''
''Being Mick''
2003	''Mayor of the Sunset Strip''
2008

References

External links

in 2002

Sir Michael Philip ('Mick') Jagger (1943–), Singer and composer: Sitter associated with 33 portraits (National Portrait Gallery)

The Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger Joins a New ABC Sitcom

1983 Audio interview with Mick Jagger-discusses "Undercover" album Classic Rock Central

National Museum of Australia A collection of film memorabilia, including fascimiles of Ned Kelly's armour used in the film ''Ned Kelly'', is held at the National Museum of Australia.

}}

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:2012 Summer Olympics cultural ambassadors Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics Category:English Buddhists Category:English blues singers Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English film actors Category:English-language singers Category:English male singers Category:English rock musicians Category:English rock singers Category:English songwriters Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Knights Bachelor Category:People from Dartford Category:People from Hampshire Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Rolling Stones members Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians Category:People educated at Dartford Grammar School

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Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
Name	Jeremy Lin
Position	Point guard
Team	Golden State Warriors
Number	7
Career start	2010
Height ft	6
Height in	3
Weight lb	200
Birth date	August 23, 1988
Birth place
Nationality	American
High school	Palo Alto
College	Harvard (2006-2010)
Draft year	2010
Years1	–present |team1Golden State Warriors
Years2	2010–2011 |team2→Reno Bighorns (D-League)
Highlights	2× All-Ivy League First Team (2009–2010) All-Ivy League Second Team (2008) CIF Division II champion (2006) 2× SCVAL MVP (2005–2006) }}

)}} Jeremy Shu-How Lin () (born August 23, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After receiving no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and being undrafted out of college, the Harvard University graduate reached a partially-guaranteed contract deal with his hometown Warriors. Lin is the first American player in the NBA to be of Chinese or of Taiwanese descent.

High school career

In his senior year in 2005–2006, Lin captained Palo Alto High School to a 32–1 record and upset nationally ranked Mater Dei, 51–47, for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II state title. According to Dana O'Neil of ESPN, "... Lin was the runaway choice for player of the year by virtually every California publication." He was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year ending his senior year averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals.

College career

Recruiting process

Lin sent his resume and a DVD of highlights to all the Ivy League schools, Cal, Stanford, and his dream school, UCLA. The Pac-10 schools wanted him to walk-on. Harvard and Brown were the only teams that guaranteed him a spot on their basketball teams, but Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships. Lin chose to attend Harvard.

Joe Lacob, incoming Warriors' owner and Stanford booster, said Stanford's failure to recruit Lin "was really stupid. The kid was right across the street. You can’t recognize that, [then] you've got a problem."

Kerry Keating, the UCLA assistant who offered Lin the opportunity to walk-on, would say in hindsight that Lin would probably have ended up starting at point guard for UCLA.

Rex Walters, University of San Francisco men's basketball coach and a retired NBA player, said NCAA limits on coaches’ recruiting visits impacted Lin. “Most colleges start recruiting a guy in the first five minutes they see him because he runs really fast, jumps really high, does the quick, easy thing to evaluate," Walters said. Lin added, “I just think in order for someone to understand my game, they have to watch me more than once, because I’m not going to do anything that’s extra flashy or freakishly athletic."

Bill Holden, Harvard assistant coach, had initially told Lin's high school coach, Peter Diepenbrock, that Harvard was not interested in Lin. "Three weeks later, he calls me and says, 'I may have spoken a little too soon,'" Diepenbrock said.

Harvard

In his sophomore season (2007–08), Lin averaged 12.6 points and was named All-Ivy League Second Team.

By his junior year during the 2008–09 season, he was the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player who ranked in the top ten in his conference for scoring (17.8), rebounding (5.5), assists (4.3), steals (2.4), blocked shots (0.6), field goal percentage (0.502), free throw percentage (0.744), and 3 point shot percentage (0.400), and was a consensus selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He had 27 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds in an 82–70 win over 17th-ranked Boston College, three days after the Eagles had knocked off No. 1 North Carolina.

In his senior year (2009–10), Lin averaged 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.1 blocks, and was again a unanimous selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He was one of 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award and one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award. He was also invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. Fran Fraschilla of ESPN picked Lin among the 12 most versatile players in college basketball. He gained national attention for his performance against the 12th ranked Connecticut Huskies, against whom he scored a career-high tying 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds on the road. After the game, Hall of Fame Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said of Lin:

"I've seen a lot of teams come through here, and he could play for any of them. He's got great, great composure on the court. He knows how to play."

For the season, Harvard set numerous program records including wins (21), non-conference wins (11), home wins (11) and road/neutral wins (10).

Lin finished his career as the first player in the history of the Ivy League to record at least 1,450 points (1,483), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (406) and 200 steals (225).

He graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics and a 3.1 grade-point average.

NBA career

Undrafted

If drafted, Lin would have been the first Ivy Leaguer selected by the NBA since Jerome Allen of Pennsylvania in the second round in 1995. The last Ivy Leaguer to play in the NBA was Yale's Chris Dudley in , while the last Harvard player in the league was Ed Smith in . After graduating from Harvard University, Lin went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft. Eight teams had invited Lin to predraft workouts. Diepenbrock said that NBA tryouts do not play five on five. Lin acknowledged that the workouts were "one on one or two on two or three on three, and that’s not where I excel. I’ve never played basketball like that."

He later joined the Dallas Mavericks for mini-camp as well as their NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas. Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks was the only General Manager that offered him an invitation to play in the Summer League. "Donnie took care of me," said Lin. "He has a different type of vision than most people do."

In five Summer League games, while playing both guard positions, Lin averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals in 18.6 minutes per game and shot a team leading 54.5% from the floor. Lin turned heads in his matchup against first overall pick John Wall when Lin scored 13 points to Wall's 21, but did so on 6-for-12 shooting in 28 minutes. Wall was 4-for-19 in 33 minutes.

While Wall received the biggest cheer for any player during introductions, the crowd had turned on Wall and was cheering for Lin by the end of the game.

Lin received offers to sign from the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and an unnamed Eastern Conference team. The Golden State Warriors would also offer Lin a contract in addition to the original three teams.

Golden State Warriors

On July 21, 2010, Lin signed a two-year deal with his hometown Warriors, his favorite team growing up. Lin's deal was partially guaranteed for 2010-11, and the Warriors hold a team option for the second season. The reports noted that the deal would include a first-year salary of close to $500,000 with more than half of it guaranteed. Lacob had made the decision to sign Lin. Lin said the counteroffers from the three other teams were higher, but he wanted to come home and play for the Warriors.

Lin also signed a three-year guaranteed contract with Nike. His jersey was already on sale before his first NBA game.

On October 8 in the Warriors' exhibition opener at their home in Oracle Arena, the loudest ovation of the night from the crowd of 10,004 was for Lin when he entered the game with 10:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. The crowd started chanting for Lin in the third quarter. They cheered whenever he touched the ball. "That really touched me. It's something I'll remember forever," Lin said. He ended up with seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 11 minutes. Warriors' head coach Keith Smart said Lin drew the crowd's attention on the road as well. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com attributes the attention Lin had received out of town to the unique angle of "an Asian-American rising to rare basketball prominence".

Lin notices the expectations that follow him. "I've got news for them," Lin said with a smile, "I won't be an All-Star this year."

The attention Lin has received is tricky for him. While he would prefer to be able to just concentrate on his play without all the attention, he is appreciative of the unbelievable support he has received, especially from the Asian-American community. Lin wants to be a role model to young Asian-Americans. He has found the attention awkward as he says he has not "proven anything to anybody."

Frank Hughes of ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote that Lin talks with the occasional "seeds of self-doubt" which is not common to hear in the NBA. Hughes also found it rare when Lin compared himself to the Phoenix Suns' backup point guard Goran Dragić. “Neither of us is a freak athlete, but we’re both effective and know how to play the game,” Lin said.

Lin and Stephen Curry, 2009–10 runner-up Rookie of the Year and a gold medal winner in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, get more interview requests than any other Warrior. Team officials regularly deny requests for Lin to help him keep his focus. He has been approached to be the subject of documentaries.

Smart planned to take pressure off Lin since Lin has a tendency to be hard on himself and get frustrated. Smart admitted that he succumbed to the home crowd's wishes and put Lin into a game in the wrong situation. He vowed not to repeat that mistake.

Lin made the Warriors' opening day roster for the 2010–11 regular season, but he was placed on the inactive list. While he was disappointed, Lin noted that "part of being on this team is putting your ego aside." Lin made his official NBA debut in the next game against the Los Angeles Clippers. It was Asian Heritage Night for the Warriors' home game, and Lin received a standing ovation from the crowd of 17,408 when he entered the game with 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. He did not score in the 109–91 win but recorded one steal after tying up the ball and winning the subsequent jump ball.

In the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin scored his first NBA basket, had three assists, and recorded four steals. He was applauded by the road crowd at Staples Center when he entered the game in the third quarter. He played 11 of his 16 minutes in the third quarter and committed five fouls but played a role in a 12-1 run by the Warriors. "[Lin] came in and did a good job, gave us a good tempo," Smart said after the 107–83 loss to the defending NBA champions. Lakers' guard Derek Fisher praised him for his energy and aggressiveness.

Similar to the exhibition home opener, Oracle Arena fans continued to root for Lin to play in the end of games and cheered every time he touched the ball. "When I'm on the road, I don't feel like the spotlight is on me," Lin admitted. Smart noted that Lin looked more relaxed on the road. "There's a lot of pressure on him at home, with all of the applause for just checking into the game, so I'm sure that cranks his nerves up a little bit," said Curry. "You can tell on the road he plays a lot better, because he can just go out there, play and have fun."

At Toronto on November 8, the Raptors held Asian Heritage Night to coincide with Lin's visit with the Warriors. Over 20 members of Toronto's Chinese media covered the game. Lin played 15 minutes, most coming in the first half, and finished with three points, three assists, two steals and two blocks in the 109–102 Warriors' win. In the following game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, Lin again entered the game in the first half. According to ESPN.com NBA editor Matt Wong, "Lin checked into the game to loud applause, presumably from the many Asian-Americans in attendance." He had scored seven total points in his first six games played during the year. In a 89-117 road loss to the Lakers, Lin scored a career-high 13 points in 18 minutes and again earned big cheers from fans in Los Angeles.

An April 5, 2011, article posted by Slam Online stated that during intrasquad scrimmages between Warriors players, head coach Keith Smart implemented a rule. The rule was that no foul committed against Lin would ever be called. The idea behind this is that since Lin was rookie and a not a well-known established player, he would not get many calls from the referees. Thus Jeremy would learn how to play through it and coach Smart acknowledged that Jeremy has. In the same article, Lin credits Reno Bighorns coach Eric Musselman with "helping him regain [his] swagger."

Three times during the season, Lin was assigned to the Warriors' D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns. Each time, he was later recalled by the Warriors. He competed in the NBA D-League Showcase and was named to the All-NBA D-League Showcase First Team on January 14, 2011. He helped lead the Bighorns to a 2-0 record at the Showcase with averages of 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals. Lin posted a season-high 27 points with the Bighorns on March 18. Lin had some misgivings when sent to the D-League because he felt he was being demoted and was not good enough to play in the NBA. After playing in the D-League, he realized he was still learning and putting in work and getting playing time in the D-League, which he wouldn't have received at the time with the Warriors. Lacob said the Warriors received more than one trade offer for Lin while he was in the D-League, but he was happy with Lin's progress as an undrafted free agent. "He’s a minimum, inexpensive asset. You need to look at him as a developing asset. Is he going to be a superstar? No."

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 29 || 0 || 9.8 || .389 || .200 || .760 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 1.1 || .3 || 2.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 29 || 0 || 9.8 || .389 || .200 || .760 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 1.1 || .3 || 2.6

International competition

Lin has been invited by Chinese Taipei, which is the designated name used by the Republic of China (Taiwan) in international events, to play for their men's national basketball team in FIBA competitions. On July 28, 2010 while in Taipei to play in Yao Ming's charity game, Lin said he had not made a decision yet on whether he would represent Chinese Taipei. In June 2011, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) included Lin in its preliminary squad of 24 players for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. The next month, however, the CTBA announced that Lin would not be included on their roster due to a knee injury. Lin was also approached by People's Republic of China to play in the same tournament, but he declined their offer.

On August 4, 2011, Lin stated that he would consider playing overseas during the 2011 NBA lockout. He wants to be fully recovered from his injury before making a decision.

Asian American stereotypes

Sean Gregory of ''Time'' wrote of Lin's zero Division I scholarship offers: "[Lin] was scrawny, but don't doubt that a little racial profiling, intentional or otherwise, contributed to his underrecruitment." Lin said: "I'm not saying top-5 state automatically gets you offers, but I do think (my ethnicity) did affect the way coaches recruited me. I think if I were a different race, I would've been treated differently."

Lin's high school coach, Peter Diepenbrock, said that people without meaning any harm assume since Lin is Asian that he is not a basketball player. The first time Lin went to a Pro-Am game in Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco, his coach said, someone there informed him: "Sorry, sir, there's no volleyball here tonight. It's basketball." During Lin's college career, fewer than 0.5% of men's Division 1 basketball players were Asian-American.

Lin has regularly heard bigoted jeers at games such as "Wonton soup", "Sweet and sour pork", "Open your eyes!", "Go back to China", "Orchestra is on the other side of campus", or Chinese gibberish. Lin says this occurred even at most if not all Ivy League gyms. He does not react to it. "I expect it, I'm used to it, it is what it is," says Lin. The heckling came mostly from fans and not as much from players. According to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, a fellow Ivy League player did once call Lin a "chink".

In January 2010, Harvard played against Santa Clara University at the Leavey Center, just 15 miles from his hometown of Palo Alto, California. Playing to a capacity crowd that included droves of Asian Americans wanting to see his homecoming, his teammates told him, "It was like Hong Kong."

Lin considers himself a basketball player more than an Asian American. He understands that there are not many Asians in the NBA. "Maybe I can help break the stereotype," said Lin. Asian Americans who have played in the NBA prior to the 2010–11 NBA season include Wataru Misaka, Raymond Townsend, Corey Gaines, Rex Walters, and Robert Swift. "[Lin's] carrying the hopes of an entire continent. I only had to carry the hopes of Little Rock, Arkansas. He's accomplished a lot more than I have already," said Derek Fisher, who had won five NBA championships with the Lakers, after his first game against Lin. Lin is setting an example for prospective Asian athletes in America who rarely see Asian-Americans playing on their favorite teams. "I don't look Japanese," Walters said, referring to his mother's ethnicity. "When they see [Lin], it's an Asian-American.

Larry Riley, the Warriors' general manager, denied that Lin’s signing was done to cater to the Bay Area’s large Asian population. He understood that some people would look at it that way. “We evaluated him throughout summer league," Riley said. “All that had to happen was for him to confirm what we already believed." While the team was creating a campaign around him, Riley said it would not have been advisable if Lin was not a basketball player first.

Personal

Lin grew up in Palo Alto, California. His parents, Gie-Ming and Shirley, emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the mid-1970s. They are both 5 feet 6 inches tall. His paternal family comes from Beidou, Changhua in Taiwan. with ancestry in Zhangpu, Fujian; while his maternal grandmother is from Pinghu, Zhejiang in today's China. He has an older brother, Josh, and a younger brother, Joseph, who is set to play basketball for Dickinson College in the fall of 2010. Gie-Ming taught his sons to play basketball at the local YMCA. Lin grew up in a devout Christian family and would one day like to be a pastor who can head up non-profit organizations, either home or abroad. He has also talked of working in inner-city communities to help with underprivileged children.

In a video interview conducted by Elie Seckbach, he asked Jeremy how it felt to be representing so many people. Jeremy responded by stating, "It's humbling, a privilege, and a honor. I'm really proud of being Chinese, I'm really proud of my parents being from Taiwan. I just thank God for the opportunity." He was then asked if he was fluent in Chinese. Jeremy stated that he could understand it, but could use some help speaking it. In an interview conducted with NBADraft.net, Jeremy stated that he could only speak Mandarin, not Cantonese but can only read and write a little but had also taken classes while attending Harvard to try to improve. In a later interview attended by basketball players (under the age of 19) from Taiwan, he stated he would like to visit Taiwan again but also work on speaking Chinese. Later this summer Jeremy will being making a trip to Asia, which is sponsored by Nike where he hopes to converse with fans in Mandarin.

Public image

In July 2011, ''Vivid Magazine'', a glossy magazine dedicated to overseas Chinese around the world, named Lin one of its top eight influential Chinese-Americans.

References

Further reading

The Faith and Fate of Jeremy Lin at Patheos – part 1

Jeremy Lin – Faith and Ethnicity at Patheos – part 2

Harvard Basketball Takes Off on InterVarsity.org (from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship)

Jeremy Lin: Taking Harvard basketball to new levels – Student Soul interview with Jeremy

Jeremy Lin at Ivy League Basketball News – Jeremy Lin videos & news clips at Ivybbn.com

External links

NBA profile

NBA biography

NBA D-League profile

NBA.com 2010 Draft profile

Category:American sportspeople of Taiwanese descent Category:American sportspeople of Chinese descent Category:American Christians Category:Basketball players from California Category:Harvard Crimson men's basketball players Category:Palo Alto High School alumni Category:Living people Category:1988 births Category:Golden State Warriors players Category:Undrafted National Basketball Association players Category:Reno Bighorns players

es:Jeremy Lin fr:Jeremy Lin it:Jeremy Lin zh:林書豪