Coordinates	39°27′9″N173°51′17″N
ground name	The Kia Oval
othernames	The Oval
logo image
country	England
location	Kennington, London, England
establishment	1845
seating capacity	23,500
owner	Duchy of Cornwall
tenants	Surrey County Cricket Club
end1	Pavilion End
end2	Vauxhall End
international	true
firsttestdate	6 September
firsttestyear	1880
firsttesthome	England
firsttestaway	Australia
lasttestdate	18 August
lasttestyear	2010
lasttesthome	England
lasttestaway	Pakistan
firstodidate	7 September
firstodiyear	1973
firstodihome	England
firstodiaway	West Indies
lastodidate	28 June
lastodiyear	2011
lastodihome	England
lastodiaway	Sri Lanka
year1	1846 – present
club1	Surrey
date	June
year	2011
source	http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/594.html CricketArchive }}

The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval. In past years it was officially named as the 'Fosters Oval', 'AMP Oval', 'Brit Insurance Oval', and, presently, as the 'Kia Oval' due to commercial sponsorship deals.

The Oval is the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, and also traditionally hosts the final Test match of each English summer season in late August or early September. The Oval was the first ground in the United Kingdom and second in the world (after the Melbourne Cricket Ground) to host Test cricket.

The nearest Tube station is Oval, but Vauxhall is only half a mile away.

History

In 1844, Kennington Oval was a market garden. The Oval was then (and still is) owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Surrey County Cricket Club was set up in 1845. The Duchy was willing to grant a lease of the land for the purpose of a cricket ground, and, on 10 March 1845, the club signed a lease with the Otter Trustees, who held the land from the Duchy of Cornwall, 'to convert it into a subscription cricket ground', for 31 years at a rent of £120 per annum plus taxes (£20 more). The original contract for turfing the Oval cost £300; 10,000 grass turfs came from Tooting Common.

In 1868, 20,000 spectators gathered at the Oval for the first game of the 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England, the first tour of England by any foreign side.

Thanks to C. W. Alcock, the Secretary of Surrey from 1872 to 1907, the first ever Test match in England was played at the Oval in 1880 between England and Australia. The Oval thereby became the second ground to stage a Test, after the MCG. In 1882, Australia won the Ashes Test by seven runs within two days. ''The Sporting Times'' printed a mocking obituary notice for English cricket, which led to the creation of the Ashes trophy, which is still contested whenever England plays Australia. The first Test double century was scored at the Oval in 1884 by Australia's Billy Murdoch.

The current pavilion was completed in time for the 1898 season.

In 1907, South Africa became the 2nd visiting Test team to play a Test match at this venue. In 1928, West Indies played its first Test match at this venue followed by New Zealand in 1931. In 1936, India became the 5th foreign visiting Test side to play at the Oval, followed by Pakistan in 1954 and Sri Lanka in 1998. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are yet to play a Test match at the venue.

During the Second World War, the Oval was intended for use as a prisoner of war camp, although it was never employed as such. The Oval is referenced by the poet Philip Larkin in his poem about the First World War, MCMXIV.

The first One Day International match at this venue was played on September 7, 1973 between England and West Indies. It had the privilege of hosting matches of the 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999 World Cups. It also hosted five of the fifteen matches in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, including the final. No floodlit day/night international match has been played here to date, although Surrey have played several floodlit one-day matches. In fact, Surrey's ground is noted as having the first floodlights at a sport arena in the form of gas-lamps dating back to 1889.

The ground also had a Zeppelin and later a hot air balloon employed for aerial views during tests but this was never commercially viable and was gone by the turn of the millennium. Several other British grounds had this feature also such as Edgbaston. The Oval once held the record for the largest playing area of any Test venue in the world, but that record has since been surpassed by Gaddafi Stadium in Pakistan (though it is still the largest in Britain).

The billionaire Paul Getty, who had a great affinity for cricket and was at one time Surrey CCC President built a replica of the Oval on his Wormsley Park estate. The famous gasholders at the Oval are actually newer than the ground by several years, having been built circa 1853. There has been much speculation of late as to whether they should be demolished; however, many believe they are part of the Oval's landscape and therefore their future looks secure.

End names

The names of the ends are the Pavilion End and the Vauxhall End.

21st century redevelopment

At the end of the 2002 cricket season, Surrey started redeveloping the Vauxhall End. The development included knocking down the outdated Surridge, Fender, Jardine and Peter May north stands and creating in their place a single four tier grandstand known as the OCS Stand. This work was completed in May 2005, increasing ground capacity to around 23,000.

In January 2007 Surrey announced plans to increase capacity by a further 2,000 seats, this time by redeveloping the Pavilion End. The Lock, Laker and Peter May south stands will be replaced with a new stand, which will have a hotel backing on to it. The Surrey Tavern at the entrance to the ground will be demolished and a new pedestrian plaza will be created in its place, improving access to the ground and opening up views of the historic pavilion. These plans were delayed by objections raised by the Health & Safety Executive as the ground is close to a gasometer. Planning permission was eventually granted, but not before the credit crunch struck. As of November 2010, Surrey still plans to proceed with the development when its hotel partner can obtain funding.

In 2009, permanent floodlights were installed for use in day/night matches. The floodlights are telescopic and can be retracted when not in use.

Football

The Oval was also an important site in the historical development of football, before the game had its own separate national stadium. Football had been played in this part of London for many years prior to the inauguration of the Oval: "The Gymnastic Society" - arguably the world's first Football club - met regularly at Kennington Common during the second half of the eighteenth century to play football

First international football match

The Oval was home to the first ever international football match on the March 5, 1870, England against Scotland, organised by the Football Association The game resulted in a 1–1 draw. Similar international matches between England and Scotland took place at the Oval in 1871, in February 1872 and 1873. On March 8, 1873, the England national team beat Scotland 4–2. England would continue to play occasionally at the Oval until 1889.

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first. ''

! Date !! Result !! Competition !! Winner
5 March 1870	1–1		Draw
19 November 1870	1–0
25 February 1871	1–1		Draw
17 November 1871	2–1
24 February 1872	1–0
8 March 1873	4–2
6 March 1875	2–2		Draw
3 March 1877	1–3
5 April 1879	5–4
12 March 1881	1–6
21 March 1885	1–1		Draw
13 April 1889	2–3

First FA Cup final

On March 16, 1872, The Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 to win the first ever FA Cup. This final was notable for the Engineers' modern footballing style of teamwork rather than individual play. C. W. Alcock, Secretary of the Football Association, was the prime mover of the competition. He had just become Secretary of Surrey, so that The Oval was the natural choice of venue for the final. Alcock also captained the successful Wanderers side. The Oval hosted all subsequent FA Cup finals (1873 excluded) up until 1892.

The Oval is one of two grounds (Bramall Lane in Sheffield being the other) to have staged both England Football and Cricket internationals, and also FA Cup Finals. The Oval also hosted the second ever Rugby Union international between England and Scotland in 1872 (the first was hosted at Raeburn Place a year earlier).

In recent years, the Oval has held an exhibition match for Australian rules football in October each year, between better performing Australian teams or to show the rivalry between certain clubs. In 2005, a record crowd for Australian rules football in England (18,884) saw the Fremantle Dockers Football Club defeat the West Coast Eagles.

Results of FA Cup finals at the Oval

! Year	! Attendance	! Winner	!	! Runner-up	!	! Notes
	2,000		1		0
	2,000		2		0
	3,000		1		1
Replay	3,000		2		0
	3,500		1		1
Replay	1,500		3		0
	3,000		2		1
	4,500		3		1
	5,000		1		0
	6,000		1		0
	4,500		3		0
	6,500		1		0
	8,000		2		1
	12,000		2		1
	12,500		2		0
	15,000		0		0
	15,500		2		0
	19,000		2		1
	22,000		3		0
	20,000		6		1
	23,000		3		1
	32,810		3		0

Rugby

Between 1872 and 1879, the Oval held 7 full cap international rugby union matches, as follows:

{|class="wikitable" ! Date ! Competition !colspan=2| Home team !colspan=2| Away team |- |5 February 1872 | | |1G | |2G |- |23 February 1874 | | |1G | |0G |- |15 February 1875 | | |2G | |0G |- |6 March 1876 | | |1G | |0G |- |5 February 1877 |1877 Home Nations Championship | |2G | |0G |- |4 March 1878 |1878 Home Nations Championship | |0G | |0G |- |24 Mar 1879 |1879 Home Nations Championship | |3G | |0G |}

On Wednesday 3 March 1875, the Oval held the final of the United Hospitals Challenge Cup, the oldest rugby union cup competition in the world.

Other events

The ground has hosted many other events, including hockey fixtures, as well as concerts.

Floor directory

Bedser Stand

4th floor	Executive Boxes 33-41 CEO and Finance Department Boardroom
3rd floor	Executive Boxes 21-32 Communications Centre
2nd floor	The Montpelier Club Surrey Cricket, England and Visiting Player Facilities
1st floor	Staff Administration Offices Upper Bedser Stand Seating
Ground floor	Ken Barrington Cricket Centre Reception The Brit Oval Retail Store Prince's Trust Team Room TriNorth Offices Staff and Player Entrance
Basement floor	Ken Barrington Cricket Centre

OCS Stand

4th floor	Roof Terrace
3rd floor	Executive Boxes 43-57 Broadcast Centre Legends Lounge
2nd floor	England Suite John Major Room India Room
1st floor	Australia Suite Press Box Debenture Lounge Ashes Suite Suite 3 Pakistan Room
Ground floor	Reception

Pavilion

5th floor	Library CW Alcock Room Guildford Room Mickey Stewart Surrey Club's Room
4th floor	Pavilion Café Bar Counties Room Pavilion Top Seating
3rd floor	Pavilion Restaurant Captain's Room Pavilion Shelf Seating
2nd floor	Committee Room Prince of Wales Room Pavilion Balcony Seating
1st floor	Long Room and Ali Brown 268 Bar Sandham Laker and Presidents Rooms Members Museum Pavilion Terrace Seating
Ground floor	Members Entrance

Transport connections

333 || 0.1 mile walkLondon Buses route 155link=w:Northern line|alt=Northern line ||link=w:Victoria line|alt=Victoria line |

Service
rowspan="3"	London Buses	Oval Station	London Buses route 36>36, London Buses route 185
Camberwell New Road
Oval Station	155, 333 || 0.1 mile walk
rowspan="2">London Underground
rowspan="2"	Vauxhall	0.5 mile walk
National Rail	South West Trains

See also

List of cricket grounds in England and Wales

List of Test cricket grounds

History of Test cricket (to 1883)

History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)

History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)

List of international cricket centuries at the Oval

Gasworks Gallery, next to the ground

Archbishop Tenison's School - an historic school located next to the ground, often used as a vantage point for TV cameras and crews

Notes

External links

Surrey Cricket web site

Cricinfo page on The Oval

Aerial view of The Oval at Google Maps

Annotated aerial photograph

Images of The Oval

Category:Defunct football venues in England Category:FA Cup final venues Category:Sport in Lambeth Category:Cricket grounds in London Category:Cricket in London Category:Test cricket grounds in England Category:Surrey CCC grounds

da:The Oval de:The Oval es:The Oval fr:The Oval ko:디 오벌 hi:द ओवल it:The Oval mr:ओव्हल मैदान, लंडन no:The Oval simple:The Oval

Coordinates	39°27′9″N173°51′17″N
playername	Michael Holding
country	West Indies
fullname	Michael Anthony Holding
nickname	Whispering Death
living	true
dayofbirth	16
monthofbirth	2
yearofbirth	1954
placeofbirth	Kingston
countryofbirth	Jamaica
heightft	6
heightinch	3.5
batting	Right-hand batsman
bowling	Right-arm fast
role	Bowler
international	true
testdebutdate	28 November
testdebutyear	1975
testdebutagainst	Australia
testcap	153
lasttestdate	24 February
lasttestyear	1987
lasttestagainst	New Zealand
odidebutdate	26 August
odidebutyear	1976
odidebutagainst	England
odicap	18
lastodidate	30 January
lastodiyear	1987
lastodiagainst	England
columns	4
column1	Test
matches1	60
runs1	910
bat avg1	13.78
100s/50s1	0/6
top score1	73
deliveries1	12,680
wickets1	249
bowl avg1	23.68
fivefor1	13
tenfor1	2
best bowling1	8/92
catches/stumpings1	22/–
column2	ODI
matches2	102
runs2	282
bat avg2	9.09
100s/50s2	0/2
top score2	64
deliveries2	5,473
wickets2	142
bowl avg2	21.36
fivefor2	1
tenfor2	0
best bowling2	5/26
catches/stumpings2	30/–
club1	Jamaica
year1	1973-1989
club2	Lancashire
year2	1981
club3	Tasmania
year3	1982-83
club4	Derbyshire
year4	1983-1989
club5	Canterbury
year5	1987-88
date	24 May
year	2009
source	http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/52063.html cricinfo.com }}

Michael Anthony Holding (born 16 February 1954 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease. Holding was an outstanding athlete as a teenager and used skills acquired from running the 400 metres on the cricket pitch, with one of the longest and most rhythmic run-ups in world cricket. His bowling was smooth and very fast, and he used his height () to generate large amounts of bounce and zip off the pitch. He was part of the fearsome West Indian pace battery, together with Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Sylvester Clarke, Colin Croft, Wayne Daniel and the late Malcolm Marshall that devastated batting line-ups in the world throughout the seventies and early eighties.

In June 1988 Holding was celebrated on the $2 Jamaican stamp alongside the Barbados Cricket Buckle.

Career

He was a natural athlete as a young man. He is now a broadcaster and is a member of the Sky Sports cricket commentary team. During his First class cricket career, Holding played for Jamaica, Canterbury, Derbyshire, Lancashire and Tasmania.

Holding was the bowler in what is often described as "the greatest over in Test history", which he bowled in 1981 in Bridgetown to English batsman Geoff Boycott. The first five balls increased in pace, causing Boycott to have to react very rapidly to avoid being hit. The final ball saw Boycott clean bowled, to the great delight of the crowd.

According to an urban myth, during a Test match between the West Indies and England when Holding was to bowl to English player Peter Willey, the commentator at the time, Brian Johnston, described the action as "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey" (a double entendre, as 'willy' is English slang for a penis). However Wisden states that there is no record of Johnston or anyone else actually saying this (although a colleague of Johnston's, Henry Blofeld, recalls the incident occurring during a test match at The Oval in 1976.)

In a limited-overs international between England and West Indies on 26 August 1976 at Scarborough, Michael Holding's return from long-leg deflected off the nearer wicket and scuttled along the pitch to break the far one with Graham Barlow and Alan Knott, on his only appearance as England's captain, stranded in mid-pitch. The dumbfounded umpires, David Constant and Arthur Jepson, rejected the run out appeal for reasons which remain obscure.

A less amusing incident for which Holding is also remembered was kicking over the stumps in anger at an umpiring decision in New Zealand in 1979/80. The tour had gone poorly almost from the beginning: West Indies had just finished a long tour of Australia, and were perhaps resentful about having a tour to unglamorous New Zealand immediately afterwards (their leading batsman of the time, Viv Richards, refused to tour). West Indies felt that the umpiring had been incompetent and against them throughout. After an appeal for caught behind was turned down, Holding turned and kicked the stumps in frustration.

Despite modest batting talent, he holds the record for the most sixes in a Test career for any player with fewer than 1000 career runs. He hit 36 sixes in his Test career, placing him at 32 in the all-time list. Remarkably almost a quarter of his Test runs came by way of sixes. Currently, Holding is one of the more respected cricket commentators in the world. His distinctive Jamaican accent and observations have proved popular wherever he is heard.

On 5 July 2008, Holding resigned from his post on the ICC cricket committee because he was unhappy with the ICC's decision to change the result of the 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan from a forfeited win for England to a draw.

Holding felt that Pakistan's refusal to play should not go unpunished even though they were not guilty of ball-tampering.

"I have just written my letter of resignation to the ICC cricket committee because I cannot agree with what they've done," Holding said while commentating for Sky Sports during a domestic match in England. "That game should never, ever be a draw. When you take certain actions, you must be quite happy to suffer the consequences.

"A lot of things are happening today that I don't want to be involved with, so I've moved on."

Notes

External links

Michael Holding's Official Site

Greatest over in Test History at Cricinfo

Picture taken after THAT over

Video and Holding's analysis of THAT over

Michael Holding's Profile at Cricinfo

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Cricket commentators Category:Canterbury cricketers Category:Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup Category:Derbyshire cricketers Category:Lancashire cricketers Category:Tasmania cricketers Category:West Indian cricketers Category:West Indian cricketers of 1970-71 to 1999-2000 Category:West Indies One Day International cricketers Category:West Indies Test cricketers Category:West Indian cricket captains Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:World Series Cricket players Category:International Cricket Council Hall of Fame inductees

mr:मायकेल होल्डिंग te:మైకెల్ హోల్డింగ్

Coordinates	39°27′9″N173°51′17″N
Playername	Kevin Pietersen
Country	England
Fullname	Kevin Peter Pietersen
Nickname	KP, Kapes, Kapers
Living	true
Dayofbirth	27
Monthofbirth	6
Yearofbirth	1980
Placeofbirth	Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province
Countryofbirth	South Africa
Heightft	6
Heightinch	4
Batting	Right-hand
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Batsman
International	true
Testdebutdate	21 July
Testdebutyear	2005
Testdebutagainst	Australia
Testcap	626
Lasttestdate	22 August
Lasttestyear	2011
Lasttestagainst	India
odidebutdate	28 November
odidebutyear	2004
odidebutagainst	Zimbabwe
odicap	185
lastodidate	9 July
lastodiyear	2011
lastodiagainst	Sri Lanka
odishirt	24
club1	Natal B
year1	1997–1998
club2	KwaZulu Natal B
year2	1998–1999
club3	KwaZulu Natal
year3	1999–2000
club4	Nottinghamshire
year4	2001–2004
club5	MCC
year5	2004
club6	Hampshire
year6	2005–2010
club7	Royal Challengers Bangalore
year7	2008–2010
club8	Surrey
year8	2010–present
club9	Deccan Chargers
year9	2011–present
columns	4
column1	Test
matches1	78
runs1	6,361
bat avg1	50.48
100s/50s1	19/25
top score1	227
deliveries1	1,071
wickets1	5
bowl avg1	144.40
fivefor1	–
tenfor1	–
best bowling1	1/0
catches/stumpings1	49/–
column2	ODI
matches2	119
runs2	3,733
bat avg2	40.13
100s/50s2	7/22
top score2	116
deliveries2	382
wickets2	7
bowl avg2	50.42
fivefor2	0
tenfor2	n/a
best bowling2	2/22
catches/stumpings2	35/–
column3	FC
matches3	173
runs3	13,084
bat avg3	49.93
100s/50s3	41/56
top score3	254*
deliveries3	5,959
wickets3	63
bowl avg3	54.92
fivefor3	0
tenfor3	0
best bowling3	4/31
catches/stumpings3	134/–
column4	List A
matches4	232
runs4	7,332
bat avg4	40.73
100s/50s4	13/43
top score4	147
deliveries4	2,372
wickets4	41
bowl avg4	51.34
fivefor4	0
tenfor4	n/a
best bowling4	3/14
catches/stumpings4	79/–
date	22 August
year	2011
source	http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/19296.html Cricinfo }}

Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE (born 27 June 1980) is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey. He had also played for Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore for its second and third seasons, captaining the side in his first, prior to being bought by the Deccan Chargers for the fourth season of the competition. He was captain of the England Test and One Day International teams from 4 August 2008 to 7 January 2009 but resigned after just three tests and nine One Day Internationals, following a dispute with England coach Peter Moores, who was sacked the same day.

Pietersen was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province, South Africa. He made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 before moving to England after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa. His English mother gave Pietersen eligibility to play for England, and after serving a qualifying period of four years playing at county level, he was called up almost immediately into the national side. He made his international debut in the One Day International match against Zimbabwe in 2004, and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia the following year. The England team's subsequent reliance on Pietersen since his debut resulted in only a single first-class appearance for Hampshire between 2005 and 2010 . On 17 June 2010 Pietersen announced his wish to leave Hampshire . He subsequently joined Surrey on loan for the remainder of the 2010 English county cricket season after being dropped by England due to a poor run of form, before joining the club permanently from the 2011 season onwards.

Pietersen became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket, and the quickest in terms of time to 5,000 Test runs. He has the highest average of any England player to have played more than 20 innings of one-day cricket. He has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only the Australian Donald Bradman, and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000 Test runs. He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007. In July 2008, after a century against South Africa, ''The Times'' called him "the most complete batsman in cricket". Shane Warne, a close friend, in a September serial for the same newspaper, wrote, "I don't think he has an obvious flaw in his technique."

Early and personal life

Pietersen was born to an English mother, Penny, and an Afrikaner father, Jannie. Pietersen had a strict and well-disciplined childhood, along with his three brothers Tony, Greg and Bryan; he learned valuable lessons from this "fantastic" approach to parenting, and said: "Discipline is good. It taught me that I didn't always have to have what I wanted; that what I needed was different from what I wanted." Bryan plays club and second XI cricket in England.

Pietersen attended Maritzburg College, Pietermaritzburg, and made his first-class cricket debut for Natal's B team in 1997, aged 17, where he was regarded predominantly as an off spin bowler and a hard-hitting lower-order batsman. After two seasons, he moved to England for a five-month spell as the overseas player for club side Cannock CC, helping them win the Birmingham and District Premier League in 2000. This first spell away from home did not leave him with fond memories for England, in particular "those horrible Black Country accents" referring to the dialect of the Midlands, living in a single room above a squash court, and working in the club bar. However, he returned to newly renamed KwaZulu Natal side a better cricketer; a lack of opportunities to bowl had improved his batting.

Having seen Pietersen play at a school cricket festival, Clive Rice invited him to sign for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Pietersen accepted without hesitation, keen to make the most of top-class cricket under a coach for whom he had the utmost admiration. He did not at this stage contemplate forsaking his nation; nor had it yet occurred to him that the decision would eventually have to be taken.

Pietersen is widely portrayed in the media as having a self-assured personality, described by Geoffrey Boycott as being "cocky and confident". Former England test captain Michael Vaughan counters this, saying, "KP is not a confident person. He obviously has great belief in his ability but that's not quite the same thing... And I know KP wants to be loved. I try to text him and talk to him as often as I can because I know he is insecure." He has been noted for unusual haircuts, with his peroxide blond dyed streak of hair along the middle of his head during the 2005 Ashes series being described as a "dead skunk" look. During the 2006–07 Ashes tour, the Australian team, noted for their efforts to dominate opponents psychologically, dubbed him "The Ego", or "FIGJAM" (Fuck I'm Good, Just Ask Me). Other nicknames include ''KP'', ''Kelves'' and ''Kapes''.

Kevin Pietersen published his autobiography: ''Kevin Pietersen: Crossing the Boundary'' in early 2007. A second biography: ''Kevin Pietersen: Portrait of a Rebel'' written by journalist Marcus Stead, was published in the autumn of 2009. This book includes a detailed account of the controversies of Pietersen's reign as England captain.

Pietersen is married to Liberty X singer Jessica Taylor. The couple married on 29 December 2007 at St Andrew's Church in Castle Combe, Wiltshire, with former England team-mate Darren Gough acting as best man.

Jessica gave birth to the couples first child, a baby son Dylan , on 11 May 2010. A dash with the bat, Pietersen made a dash back across the Atlantic, from where he was on tour with the England side, in Barbados, West Indies, in a bid to be present at the birth. He nailed the metaphorical well timed cover drive, arriving at the hospital just in time for the birth. On the arrival of his son, Kevin said "This really is the most amazing experience of my life."

Domestic career

He impressed members of Nasser Hussain's England side when playing for KwaZulu Natal in 1999; he took four top-order wickets and, despite batting at number nine, scored 61 not out from 57 balls, hitting four sixes. Hussain then recommended that Pietersen secure a contract with an English county side.

Despite the praise from the England side, Pietersen claimed he was dropped from the Natal first team. Pietersen felt that this was due to the country's racial quota system, in which provincial sides were required to have at least four non-white players. Pietersen's view was that players should be judged on merit, and described it as "heartbreaking" when he was left out of the side, although he later reflected "it turned out it was the best thing that could have happened". Pietersen has since firmly criticised the quota system, which he feels forced him out of the country of his birth. He has also criticised Graeme Smith, who became captain of the South African side in 2003, calling him "an absolute muppet, childish and strange" and that his behaviour "leaves a lot to be desired". Smith opposed this, saying, "I'm patriotic about my country, and that's why I don't like Kevin Pietersen. The only reason that Kevin and I have never had a relationship is because he slated South Africa". Pietersen's outspoken views published in his autobiography, ''Crossing the Boundary'', in September 2006, and in an interview for South African magazine ''GQ'', led to unsuccessful calls for an ICC investigation regarding bringing the game into disrepute.

In 2000, Nottinghamshire coach Clive Rice, who had seen Pietersen play in 1997 in South Africa at a schools week, heard that Pietersen was playing club cricket for the Cannock Cricket Club and offered him a three-year contract to play for the county. His maiden first-class century came on his Nottinghamshire debut against Loughborough UCCE. In his first season he made 1,275 runs with an impressive batting average of 57.95, including 218 not out in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 352 with John Morris at Derby in July, after having been out lbw for a duck in the first innings. These performances led to praise in the ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'': "If he can maintain his first season's form, the name of Pietersen should be pencilled in for future Test squads." This form did indeed continue into the following year: he made another unbeaten double-century, against Middlesex, taking part in a partnership of 316 for the fourth wicket with Darren Bicknell. This period proved to be a purple patch for the batsman, scoring four consecutive centuries (254 not out, 122, 147 and 116) in one week in August.

In 2003, Pietersen scored 1,546 first-class runs, and 764 runs in limited overs cricket. He was selected for the 2003/04 ECB National Academy tour of India, and had a successful tour scoring 523 runs including three centuries in his six first-class innings to record an average of 104.60, and making 131 in a one-day match against India A in Bangalore.

After Nottinghamshire were relegated in 2003, Pietersen requested a release from his contract, saying "I haven't been happy for a while....The pitch at Trent Bridge has been one of my problems... I could have done so much better if the wicket had been good." This led to a public row with club captain Jason Gallian, where Gallian allegedly threw Pietersen's kit off the Trent Bridge balcony and broke his bat:

During the game I told the captain that I was not happy and that I wanted to leave. After the game we spoke in the dressing room and then I went to have dinner. I got a call saying the captain had trashed my equipment. I was told the captain had said, 'if he does not want to play for Notts he can f*** off.' I have not spoken to Gallian since, nor have I received an apology.

Pietersen was made to honour the last year of his contract at Nottinghamshire, but "didn't enjoy it at all". In October 2004, he joined Hampshire under the captaincy of Shane Warne.

After becoming a regular in the national side, Pietersen rarely gets an opportunity to play domestic cricket. Having an England "central contract" meant that Pietersen was only released to play for Hampshire at the discretion of the national coach. After being left out of the national side to face Bangladesh in May 2005, Pietersen had several good innings in the English County Championship, including two centuries. He only played twice for the county in 2006, and appeared just once in 2007, with an unbeaten 66 against Ireland. Pietersen's last first-class match for Hampshire came in the 2008 County Championship against Somerset, where he scored 100 runs in Hampshire's first innings, and following the birth of his son, a desire to stay in London led to him announcing he would leave Hampshire at the end of the 2010 season.

Pietersen then joined Surrey on loan from Hampshire for the remainder of the 2010 English county cricket season. He scored a century in his first Clydesdale Bank 40 appearance against Sussex, with 116 off 105 deliveries. It was his first limited overs century since 2008, and his first century of any kind since March 2009. He subsequently signed permanently for Surrey from the 2011 season onwards. Pietersen had also rejoined his old team in South Africa, the Dolphins, for a short stint in October 2010.

International career

Success in South Africa

The tour of Zimbabwe caused several players to voice their concerns about the Robert Mugabe regime, the security issues in the country and the standard of the Zimbabwean side. Steve Harmison was the first to boycott the tour for "political and sporting reasons", and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was reported to be considering taking a moral stand himself. The England Chairman of Selectors David Graveney denied that the selectors would leave out players unhappy with touring Zimbabwe and would put their absences down to injury. Flintoff was, however, "rested" and Pietersen rushed into the squad "at the earliest opportunity". In the five match ODI series, Pietersen batted in three innings which included a score of 77 not out; he finished the series with an average of 104.00 as England won the series 4–0.

Pietersen was upset not to be initially in the squad to tour South Africa. With Flintoff withdrawing due to injury, Pietersen was recalled to the squad, and cemented his place in the first team with 97 off 84 balls in the warm-up match against South Africa A, in the face of a hostile crowd. Throughout the tour, Pietersen was subjected to a barrage of abuse from the South African crowd, who regarded him somewhat like a traitor. He said:

I knew I was going to cop a lot of stick but it will be like water off a duck's back...I expected stick at the start of the innings, and I'm sure it will carry on through the whole series. But I just sat back and laughed at the opposition, with their swearing and 'traitor' remarks... some of them can hardly speak English. My affiliation is with England. In fact, I'm starting to speak too much like Darren Gough... In fact, I'm going to get one of Gough's tattoos with three lions and my number underneath...No one can say I'm not English.

Pietersen scored a 96-ball 108 not out in the tied second ODI at Bloemfontein, after which the crowd turned their backs on him as he returned to the pavilion. This score set his ODI average at an incredible record 234.00. He made 75 at Cape Town, then at East London Pietersen made an unbeaten 100 from only 69 balls, the fastest century by an England player in a one-day match, although England still lost by eight runs. In the final game at Centurion Park, Pietersen came to the wicket at 32/3 and scored 116, but again could not prevent a defeat. Pietersen ended the series, which England lost 4–1, with 454 runs in five innings, and the Player of the Series award. By the end of the series, the South African crowds had generally replaced hostility with respect for Pietersen, his final century being awarded a standing ovation.

Despite press speculation, Pietersen was not picked for the Tests against Bangladesh—his early season form being dogged by a foot injury—but with his county form improving, he was selected for the Twenty20 match against Australia at Southampton, making 34 from 18 balls and taking three catches as England won by 100 runs being awarded man of the match in the process.

In the triangular ODI series against Australia and Bangladesh, Pietersen did not get to bat in the first match at The Oval as England won by 10 wickets, but scored 91 off 65 balls in the match in Bristol against Australia. In the remainder of the triangular series, Pietersen scored quickly, although without other half-centuries. In the final of the NatWest Series, he only made 6 as he finished the seven-match series with a total of 278 runs at an average of 46.33. Pietersen's performances sparked speculation over whether he would be brought into the Test side for The Ashes later in the summer. Later in July, Pietersen played in all three matches of the (ODI) NatWest Challenge against Australia. In the final match he was the top scorer for England with 74 runs; however, he was forced off the field in the third over of Australia's reply with a groin injury.

2005 Ashes triumph

Speculation over when Pietersen would play for the Test team was ended in July with the announcement by the England chairman of selectors, David Graveney, that Pietersen had been selected ahead of Thorpe. He made his debut in the first Ashes Test at Lord's, becoming the 626th player to play for the national side. He came into bat at 18–3 and he made 57 on debut in his first innings. In the second innings, he similarly came in after a batting collapse and finished making a second half-century and finished the innings on 64 not out, becoming only the fourth player to top score in both innings on debut for England, the eighth England player to score a half-century in each innings on his debut, and the third cricketer to do so at Lord's. England were thrashed by 239 runs before moving onto Edgbaston where he came in in a more comfortable position scoring 71 in the first innings. He had a good partnership with Andrew Flintoff where the pair put on 103 very quickly. He made 20 in the second innings coming in at 31–4. He was involved in two controversial decisions. He gloved his first ball from Brett Lee, but the umpire turned down the appeal. Later, Shane Warne bowled a ball which hit his pad then elbow before being caught by Adam Gilchrist, and he was given out. The match ended with England narrowly winning by 2 runs.

In the drawn third Test, Pietersen had his first quiet match when he scored 21 in the first innings, getting caught on the boundary. Then, with England looking to push on he was unfortunately dismissed lbw to Glenn McGrath for a golden duck. In the fourth test win at his former home ground Trent Bridge, he scored 45 in the first innings after facing 108 balls looking to build a big score. In the second innings chasing 129 to win, he was in at 57–4 when he scored 23 in a decent partnership again with Flintoff. He was dismissed when he was caught behind wafting at a ball outside off stump. However, England won and went 2–1 up. Under pressure to post a large score in the final Test at The Oval, Pietersen did not contribute significantly in the first innings with 14 as he was bowled for the first time in his Test career by Shane Warne. In the second innings, Pietersen was dropped on 0 by a combination of Gilchrist and Hayden, on 15 by his Hampshire colleague Shane Warne and after reaching fifty on 60 by Shaun Tait. He reached his maiden test century with a driven four off the bowling of Tait before making 158, eventually being dismissed by Glenn McGrath. This innings helped to secure the return of the ashes to England for the first time since the late 1980s. His innings included seven sixes, breaking Ian Botham's record for the most sixes by an English player in an Ashes innings. Pietersen was named Man of the Match for his efforts, and finished the series as top scorer, with 473 runs over the five Tests, an average of 52.55 which also was the highest in the series. However, he had a less successful series in the field, dropping six catches in the five Tests, a point he made wryly when questioned about the Australians dropping him three times on the final day. Pietersen was given an ECB "central contract" to reflect his place in the national side.

Less rewarding winter tour

Pietersen had a less successful time in the three Test matches against Pakistan, which England lost 2–0. He made little impact in the first and third test. His first Test match innings since his match winning 158 against Australia was brief as he was caught at short leg for 5. In the second innings, he was criticised for his dismissal. Chasing just 198, he was caught behind after a horrible slog on 19 as England went onto lose by 22 runs. In the third test, he made 34 before edging behind in the first innings. With England indifficulty, Pietersen edged Danish Kaneria to short leg when only on one, as England were to be defeated by an innings. He fared better in the second, however, making his second Test century in the first innings. He brought up his hundred with a six before next ball, he top-edged a pull and was out. In the next innings, with England needing to bat out a draw, England were 20–4 but he made 42 to help England get the draw. He was also performing well in the one-day series with two explosive innings of 56 from 39 balls to help England win the first ODI, and 28 from 27 balls in the second. The quick-scoring innings in the second ODI was to be Pietersen's last on the tour. A rib injury sustained in the first ODI proved too painful throughout the second, and Pietersen returned to England to recover fully for the tour of India.

In March 2006, Pietersen played in the three Tests against India, which England drew 1–1. In the first innings on 15, another rash shot brought his downfall. He pulled a ball from Sreesanth onto his stumps. His 87 in the second innings of the first match came during England's acceleration period, helping push the required target over 300. England then declared overnight, and India successfully batted out the final day to secure a draw. This half-century was followed by another in the first innings of the second Test. Again, he gave his wicket away on 64 when he offered Munaf Patel a return catch. The second innings was not so good, facing just 13 balls before being given out caught behind off a Harbhajan Singh delivery. The unhappy Pietersen was later fined 30 percent of his match fee for shaking his head and showing signs of dissent. "Replays demonstrated that the ball that had dismissed him had brushed his forearm, not his glove, before ballooning up into the hands of Rahul Dravid at slip. But umpire Darrell Hair gave him out for 4 as England collapsed on the fourth afternoon." Pietersen posted a score of 39 in the first innings of the third test before he got a beauty from Sreesanth which moved and took the edge of the bat before being caught by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In the second innings, he posted 7 again being caught and bowled, this time by Anil Kumble via a leading edge. Despite a quiet match for him, England won comfortably after a dismal 100 all out in India's second visit to the crease.

In the one-day series, which England lost 5–1, he was top scorer for England in four out of the five matches he played, and had the highest average of any player with 58.20. His 71 in the second ODI took him past 1,000 ODI runs, equalling Viv Richards' record of 21 innings to reach this total.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan in England, 2006

In May 2006, Pietersen matched his highest Test score of 158 in the first match against Sri Lanka. His innings was ended when he was lbw to Chaminda Vaas. In the second test he made 142 at Edgbaston. He made almost half of England's runs. After he made his hundred, his third six, saw the introduction to the Switch hit when he turned out and played a switch hitted sweep of Muttiah Muralitharan. This took him past the milestone of 1,000 Test runs, in his 12th Test match, and he became the first batsman since Graham Gooch in 1990 to score a century in three successive Test innings on English soil. This performance moved Pietersen into the top ten of the ICC cricket ratings. In the third test, he was twice removed by Murali. In the first innings, on 41, he top edged a sweep to short fine leg. In the second innings with England chasing 325, he was caught at short leg for just 6. Despite this, his performances in the first two tests earned him the England (Test Match) Player of the Series. In the first and second tests of the Pakistan series, he got starts with the bat but didn't get past 50. He was lbw offering no shot in the first innings at Lords for 21. In the second innings, when England were pushing on, he played some nice strokes in his 41 before being stumped of the bowling of Shahid Afridi. In the second test, he made 38 hen he hit a half-volley loosely to point. In the third test at Headingley, he hit 135 runs from England's total of 515. In the final controversial test at The Oval, on a horribly wet pitch, he got the second golden duck of his Test career when he edged behind. In the second innings, he made 96 before edgind behind again before the test came to an unexpected early end.

Pietersen bowled his first delivery in Test match cricket on 4 June, against Sri Lanka. His first Test wicket came against Pakistan later in the summer when Kamran Akmal got a thin edge through to Geraint Jones. Later in June, Pietersen scored 17 in the Twenty20 International as England lost by 2 runs to Sri Lanka. The twenty over match against Pakistan was no better, Pietersen being bowled by Mohammad Asif for a golden duck as Pakistan helped themselves to a five-wicket victory.

England in Australia, 2006–07

In the much-anticipated Ashes series in Australia, Pietersen was hyped up as England's best player and this was justified as he scored 490 runs in five matches and averaged over fifty, despite Australia's obvious targeting of him. "I was interested to see how he would get on in Australia in 2006–07 on pitches with more bounce," wrote Warne, "because bowlers had tried to test him with the short ball. He was still England's best batsman."

He started well, in the First Test. Despite a failure of 16 in the first test, he produced a fine spell of batting with a good 92 in the second innings. This wasn't enough to save England from a 277 run defeat. In the second Test, he backed up his good form with a century in the Second Test in Adelaide, sharing a 310-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Paul Collingwood. When he was eventually run out, his first reaction was to "giggle" because it was the third time in his Test career that he had scored exactly 158 runs, which was, at that point, his highest Test score. However, he made 2 in a disastrous second innings collapse which cost England dear. In the third test, he was the only batsman to offer any resistance with 70 in the first innings and 60 not out in the second innings in a defeat which cost England the Ashes. However, he couldn't carry on that form as he failed to make a half-century in the final two test as England lost five–nil. In the tour's sole Twenty20 match, Pietersen was run out on eleven as England lost by 77 runs. Remarkably, for a powerful hitter, Pietersen has not yet posted a large score in the specialised twenty-over format, in which he averages 15.50. In the first One Day International of the 2006–07 Commonwealth Bank Series, on 12 January at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Pietersen was injured when a ball bowled by Glenn McGrath hit him on the ribs. Despite continuing his innings in some discomfort, making 82, X-rays revealed a fracture, and Pietersen was forced to miss the rest of the series.

Career in 2007

2007 World Cup

In the 2007 Cricket World Cup, England started in Group C with a game against New Zealand in which KP made 60 before holing out. He made another 50 against Kenya but disappointedly made just 5 against Canada as England sealed qualification. He made 48 in the unconvincing win against Ireland. Pietersen made 58 against Sri Lanka before being caught and bowled by Murali. England lost that game by 2 runs before losing the next game against Australia by 7 wickets. Pietersen crafted 104 runs off 122 balls against Australia. It was the first World Cup century by an Englishman since 1996, and the first ever against Australia. His efforts in the World Cup helped him achieve the status of International Cricket Council number-one ranked batsman in the world for ODIs. He then failed making 10 against Bangladesh and 3 against South Africa. England lost to South Africa meaning that England did not reach the semi-finals. In England's final match of the World Cup against the West Indies, Pietersen made 100 from 91 balls, and effected the run-out of retiring captain Brian Lara. This century took him past 2,000 ODI runs, in doing so equalling the record 51 matches set by Zaheer Abbas. He finished the tournament with 444 runs, at an average of 55.5, and was described as shining in the England team "like a 100 watt bulb in a room full of candles".

West Indies in England

In the first test of the series he was dismissed for 26 again chasing a wide one when looking set also after 4 centuries were scored by England batsmen in the innings at Lord's,he then scored a hundred in the second innings when England were looking to accelerate. Pietersen posted his highest score of 226 in the second Test at Headingley (it was scored in 262 balls, with 24 fours and 2 sixes), surpassing his previous best of 158 which he had achieved three times. With this score, Pietersen moved ahead of Everton Weekes and Viv Richards to be the batsman with the second-highest run-total out of his first 25 Tests (behind Don Bradman). It is also the highest Test score for England since Graham Gooch scored 333 against India in 1990. This innings subjected the West Indies to an innings and 283 runs defeat, their largest against any team. Pietersen, the Man of the Match, said, "I believe the recipe for success is hard work. I've been criticised for throwing my wicket away, and I tried to make it count here".

In the third Test at Old Trafford, he carried on his bad run at the ground being bounced out twice for 9 and 68. In the second innings, Pietersen lost his wicket in a bizarre dismissal when West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo delivered a bouncer which knocked Pietersen's helmet off his head and onto his stumps. He is only the fourth batsman in Test cricket to be dismissed "hit wicket" as a result of headgear falling onto the stumps. This score took him past the 8,500 first-class runs mark, and 2,500 runs in Test cricket. In the final match of the series, he registered his third duck of his Test career in the first innings and 28 in the second innings as England won the series 3–0.

In contrast, Pietersen's batting was poor in the following single innings matches; he scored a total of 77 runs in five matches (two Twenty20 and three ODI), recording a second-ball duck in the final ODI. He subsequently fell to second in the official One Day International batting rankings, behind Ricky Ponting. Pietersen himself commented that his lack of form was a result of "fatigue", and reiterated his calls for a less "hectic" match schedule.

India tour and Twenty20 Championship

Pietersen played in the first Test against India and in the first innings, he made 37 but not without controversy. He edged the ball behind of Zaheer Khan to Dhoni. He walked, but after seeing replays on the screen, he walked back to the middle and the decision was overturned. Ironically, he was out shortly afterwards caught Dhoni, bowled Khan. In the second innings he was top scorer with a knock of 134 to set up a potential England victory. Pietersen described this as his best century, in very testing conditions. In the second test, he was twice lbw to RP Singh for 13 and 19 in a defeat which subsequently cost them the series. After making 41 in the first innings, Pietersen scored his 10th Test century in the third and final Test at the Oval, helping England to draw the game with 101. In the one-day series that followed, he struggled at the start with a top score of 33 not out in the first five matches of the series. He scored two half-centuries in the final matches including 71 not out in the final match at Lord's, hitting the winning runs to give England the series.

Pietersen was also picked for and played in the Twenty20 Championship in South Africa. In England's first game against Zimbabwe on 13 September, Pietersen hit 79 runs off 37 balls, his highest Twenty20 score, including seven fours and four sixes (one of them being another switch-hit sweep for six) in an English total of 188–9. England won the match by 50 runs; however, this was to be Pietersen's largest contribution in the competition. He scored another 99 runs over four more matches, ending the series with an average of 35.60. He also scored the most England fours (17) and jointly held the record for the most England sixes (6) with Owais Shah. He also held the highest strike rate of any England batsman.

Sri Lanka 2007

Pietersen scored 50 in England's opening game in Sri Lanka against the Sri Lankan Cricket XI, but it took until the fourth ODI for Pietersen to find form, scoring 63 not out as England won their first series in Sri Lanka. This form was still fluctuating in the warm-up matches for the Test series, scoring 4, 1 and 59 against the Sri Lankan Cricket XI. This run continued in the Test matches when in the first test he got two starts with 31 and 18 but didn't go on. He was unfortunate as in the second innings on 18 he was bowled by a ball that kept low from Dilhara Fernando. In the second test he managed 45 not out to secure a draw in the 2nd Test. In the first innings, Pietersen's dismissal was to be the source of much controversy. He edged his fifth ball to Chamara Silva at slip, who flicked the ball up for wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara to complete the catch. The two on-field umpires conferred over the validity of the catch, as it was unclear whether the ball had touched the ground ''prior'' to Silva flicking the ball up. Daryl Harper, standing at the bowler's end gave the decision that the wicket had been taken, but while walking off the field, Pietersen saw a replay on the big screen and questioned the validity of the decision. This led for calls for similar catches to be referred to the third (TV) umpire, but this can only take place if the on-field umpires have not made a decision. Pietersen passed 3,000 Test runs during the series, becoming the fastest player (by time) to do so, He only averaged 25.20, and failed to score a half century in a series for the first time.

Career in 2008

New Zealand tours (home and away)

On England's tour against New Zealand, Pietersen averaged 33.00 in the ODI series, with one score of 50 in the tied fourth match; England lost the series 3–1. He also made a top score of 43 in the first of two comfortable Twenty20 matches. Pietersen had a quiet first two Test matches, making little impression with the bat. He produced 42 and 6 as England collapsed in their second innings. In the next test, he fared little better making 31 and 17. However, in the first innings of the Napier Test he rescued England from a disastrous start of 4–3, guiding them to 259 with 129, his 11th Test century.

New Zealand then came to tour England and Pietersen again struggled in the first two Test matches, scoring 3 in the first match. He improved slightly in the second but only making 26 in the first innings and then running himself out on 42 having looked well set. He seemed to be struggling particularly against Daniel Vettori but he showed no signs of that as he struck a century in the third Test, forming a valuable partnership with Tim Ambrose, making a crucial 115. Pietersen hit a winning 42 not out in the Twenty20 match.

The switch-hit

In the first ODI of the NatWest series, Pietersen hit two sixes by "switch-hitting" en route to 110 not out. While facing the bowling of medium pace Scott Styris, Pietersen turned his body around and switched hands (effectively batting as a left-hander) hitting two sixes over cover and long off. Because Pietersen not only reversed his hand position (as some batsman do while playing the reverse sweep), but changed his stance by rotating his body, these "switch-hit" shots were immediately followed by calls to outlaw them from the game. Although a similar shot was played when Pietersen reverse-swept Muttiah Muralitharan for six in Sri Lanka in 2006, he only switched hands and executed "the switch" after the ball was bowled, and not before, as in this case.

Several commentators claim that because Pietersen changed from being a right-handed to a left-handed batsman as the bowler approached his delivery stride, he was gaining an unfair advantage. Gideon Haigh said that "A bowler must advise a batsman when he's changing direction, why should the batsmen not; given that where the bowler's aiming will depend on the placement of the off stump". Ian Healy seconded this by saying "It just should be outlawed straightaway. If you want to hit to one side of the field, you've got to do it in a cross fashion, and not swap the way you're facing or your grip. Otherwise you are going to start to allow the bowlers to go round the wicket, over the wicket, and keep swapping during their run-ups." This ideal was echoed by former fast-bowler Michael Holding, who rather than calling for the shot to be banned, advocated the latter scenario whereby bowlers do not have to inform the umpire, or batsman, of a change of delivery.

Pietersen countered these claims by saying:

"That's ridiculous, absolutely stupid. The reverse-sweep has been part of the game for however long. I am just fortunate that I am able to hit it a bit further. Everybody wants brand new ideas, new inventions and new shots. That is a new shot played today and people should be saying it's a new way to go. There are new things happening for cricket at the moment and people shouldn't be criticising it all the time."

Another citation for the shot being outlawed was that the possibility of being out LBW ("a player is out LBW if...the ball pitches in line between wicket and wicket or on the off side of the striker's wicket") is removed, as the off side become the leg side and vice versa. The shots were considered by the MCC, governors of the game, who came to the conclusion that the shot was legal, believing that the LBW law (which continues "The off side of the striker's wicket shall be determined by the striker's stance at the moment the ball comes into play for that delivery") adequately covers the scenario. They cited the variations bowlers can make, such as bowling a googly or a slower ball, and also the inherent risk in the shot to the batsman, in the justification of their decision.

There are still calls for further review of the stroke, with Jonathan Agnew giving a scenario in which a right-handed batsman can take his stance as a left-hander, then switch stance as the bowler runs in, thus being able to kick away any balls that land outside his now off stump. He also calls for the wide law to be adjusted in one-day cricket, as bowlers are penalised for most deliveries that pass down the leg side.

England captaincy

Success against South Africa

Pietersen captained England in the fifth ODI against New Zealand after Paul Collingwood was banned for four games for a slow over-rate during the previous match. New Zealand won to finish the series 3–1 and Pieterson scored only 6. England's unofficial vice-captain since Collingwood's appointment in June 2007, Pietersen was named as the stand-in captain for three further matches in August.

thumb|upright|right|Pietersen on his first day as England Test captain at The Oval in August 2008. With Michael Vaughan as captain for the first three tests, Pietersen seemed to thrive in his first Test series against his former countrymen scoring 152 in the opening match of the series. During the third Test against South Africa, Pietersen was criticised for throwing his wicket away attempting a six to complete a century when on 94. Jonathan Agnew and Alec Stewart called the stroke "irresponsible" and Agnew continued, suggesting that Pietersen therefore ruled himself out of the potential reckoning for the England captaincy with Vaughan's place in the starting line-up in doubt after failing to score runs. In the event, having lost the match, Vaughan resigned and Pietersen was made the permanent captain of both the Test and ODI sides (Paul Collingwood relinquished the ODI captaincy at the same time). Following the news that he had been made England Test and ODI captain, Pietersen paid tribute to both outgoing captains but announced that he would look to captain the team in his own style. He scored a century in his debut match as captain in the dead rubber fourth Test, and went on to defeat South Africa 4–0 in the ODI matches. In that series he made 90 not out and got 2–22 with the ball. In the fourth ODI, another dead rubber as England were 3–0 up, he hit a quick 40 to guide England to victory.

Derailment against India

Pietersen continued to lead the team during a 5–0 defeat to India in ODI matches; the series was supposed to consist of seven matches, but was abandoned after the fifth due to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Pietersen however had a decent series with the bat hitting a quick 63 in the first match and 111 not out in the fifth match. Pietersen's men returned to England before resuming the tour amid unprecedented security, to play a two-Test series. Pietersen was highly vocal in regards to the resumption of the tour, citing a need to stand up to terrorism. He had an aggregate of 5 runs in 2 innings in the first test being dismissed by Yuvraj Singh in the second innings which showed Pietersen's struggles against Yuvraj from the ODI series carried on. England were defeated in the first, however the team recovered to draw the second with Pietersen scoring 144.

In January 2009, following England's losses in India, the media reported that Pietersen had asked the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to hold emergency meetings to discuss Moores' coaching role with the team. Days later, Pietersen made remarks to the media about there being an 'unhealthy situation' that needed to be resolved in the England camp. The media speculated that Moores would shortly be replaced if there was a Pietersen–Moores rift. Moores and Pietersen were believed to be in disagreement on several issues, including the team's training regimen, and the possible selection of former England captain Michael Vaughan for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. On 7 January 2009, Moores was removed as England's coach by the ECB, and Pietersen unexpectedly resigned as captain. In the immediate aftermath of Pietersen's resignation, several commentators connected with English cricket indicated that they believed that Pietersen had miscalculated by openly advocating for the removal of Moores, particularly in making their dispute public. In an interview several days after his resignation, Pietersen revealed that he had not intended to resign as captain, but was told by ECB officials that he was resigning. Dennis Amiss, the vice-chairman of the ECB, went on record backing up Pietersen in his statement that the story of the rift with Moores had not been leaked to the media by him, saying, "We don't believe Kevin Pietersen leaked the information, we understand his frustration at it being leaked by other parties." Pietersen was captain for three Test matches, and 10 One Day International matches. It was announced that Andrew Strauss would take over the captaincy.

2009

England in West Indies

In his first match after resigning from the captaincy he scored 97 in the first innings of the first test. West Indies had a lead of 74 and incredibly England were bowled out for 51 with Pietersen making just 1 being bowled by a beautiful out-swinger by Jerome Taylor as England collapsed to an innings defeat. After the second test was abandoned, he scored 51 in the "third test". His good form carried on as he scored 72 not out to give England the draw at Barbados. In the fifth and final test, with England needing to win, Pietersen hit his quickest test century with 102 of 92 balls including the switch-hit and an incredible flick of his legs. He struggled in the one-day series that followed with his top score being 48.

Indian Premier League

In February 2009, Royal Challengers Bangalore of the Indian Premier League bought Pietersen for USD 1,550,000. This made him the highest-paid IPL player along with Andrew Flintoff surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's USD 1,500,000. On 22 March, the owner Vijay Mallya announced that Pietersen would succeed Rahul Dravid as the Bangalore captain. Pietersen won two out of his six matches in charge before leaving to fulfil his international commitments with England; Anil Kumble took over the captaincy and led the Bangalore team to the IPL final.

West Indies and the World Twenty20

Pietersen began 2009 with questions over his form, where many pundits viewed him to be in a slump. He was dismissed first ball in the first Test against the touring West Indies side dismissed by the full, swinging ball (a delivery which he seemed to struggle against), but in the second Test made a quick 49 before falling to an attacking shot. He then suffered what seemed only a minor right Achilles injury and was subsequently ruled out of the ODI series, which England also won. In June 2009, Pietersen played in England's World Twenty20 warm-up match against Scotland, registering an unbeaten 53 in a six-wicket England victory. He also appeared in the news after accidentally hitting a 15-year old school boy with a cricket ball from a straight-drive after the boy had bowled to him. Pietersen left the boy, from Suffolk, with a signed bat as compensation.

Pietersen broke down again ahead of England's first Twenty20 match, against the Netherlands not long after. "It was a huge shock for me," he reported the day after his come-back against Pakistan, "and a huge shock for everybody, because everything had been going according to plan. I'd played pain-free on Tuesday and Wednesday, and, on Thursday, I had a long training session, but I woke up in the morning [on Friday], and I couldn't walk down the steps of my house." He went on:

I'm as frustrated as anybody because I hate missing any games of cricket. I love playing cricket for England; there's nothing better than playing for England and being in such a huge tournament here in the UK: it's huge. I didn't want to miss Friday, and I certainly wasn't going to miss last night. I was going to play even if I was only fifty per cent fit because I want to play for England – I love playing for England – and I didn't want us to get knocked out of the tournament.

In Pietersen's absence, England incurred a historic loss against the Dutch. He returned for the second match against Pakistan and top scored with 58 of 38 balls and hit 3 sixes (one of which was measured at over 100m) in the 48 run victory, he also top scored in the three run win over India later in the competition. Despite missing the first match Pietersen ended the tournament as England's leading runscorer with 154 at an average of 38.50.

2009 Ashes

Pietersen joined the England Ashes squad in June 2009 for the upcoming 2009 Ashes series. Despite failing to surpass single figure scores during a warm-up match against Warwickshire, he helped England to a score over 400 on 8 July during the first day of the first Test at the SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff with 69 before being dismissed by Nathan Hauritz, top-edging a sweep to a ball outside off stump; the dismissal was heavily criticised. He also seemed to flare up his Achilles injury again suddenly which hampered his batting a bit. In the second innings he was bowled for 8 after leaving a straight ball from Ben Hilfenhaus. Many pundits thought the criticism of England's key batsman from the first innings possibly affected him. In the first innings at Lords, after proving his fitness, he came at 222–2 and played some trademark shots before being caught behind off Peter Siddle. In the second innings he came in when England had a lead of almost 300 and he and Ravi Bopara batted for time. Pietersen limped when he ran and many shots ran off the inside edge which raised serious doubts for the rest of the series. He actually did well to reach 44 before being caught behind off Siddle again. After struggling in the field as England won, Pietersen was ruled out of the rest of the series with an Achilles injury. This brought to an end 54 consecutive Test matches. As his recovery slowed, Pietersen was not included in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy and Andy Flower speculated that due to an infection of the wound Pietersen "may miss this winter's tour of South Africa because of slow progress in recovery from surgery."

Career in 2010

Pietersen returned from injury in time to play a part in the 2009–10 winter tour of South Africa. His contributions, nevertheless, have been significantly below his pre-injury range with an average innings of just 27. He has shown several lapses of concentration, leading some to suggest that off-field distractions and lingering issues with his removal from the captaincy are still affecting his form. Former England batsman and commentator Geoffrey Boycott detected a new technical fault of playing across full-length deliveries.

Pietersen went into the two-match tour of Bangladesh on the back of poor performances since his return from injury lead to speculation Pietersen's England place was under pressure. However, an important first innings of 99 in the first Test and a series clinching score of 74 not out in the second, during a stand of 167 not out with Alastair Cook, saw Pietersen return to much more respectable figures. England won the series 2–0 and Pietersen finished with total runs of 250 and an average for the series of 83.33.

Pietersen joined up with his Royal Challengers Bangalore team following the conclusion to England's tour of Bangladesh. Pietersen showed further signs of a return to form in the IPL by scoring 236 runs with a high score of 66*, with an average of 59.00, which was the highest in the IPL.

2010 ICC World Twenty20

Pietersen was selected in England's 15 man squad for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies. Pietersen's tournament got off to a poor start as he made was dismissed for duck by Rory Kleinveldt in a warm up match. In England's first match against the West Indies, Pietersen started confidently scoring 24 from 20 balls before being dismissed on the pull by Darren Sammy. Against Ireland, he struggled to get going, scoring a slow 9 from 18 balls. In England's super eights match against Pakistan he scored 73* from 52 balls, guiding England to a 6 wicket win. In the following super eights match against South Africa, Pietersen scored an aggressive 53 runs from 33 balls, contributing to a 94 run partnership with Craig Kieswetter and a 39 run victory for England. For his performance, he was named man of the match.

Following the conclusion of this match, Pietersen returned home to England to be present at the birth of his son. Pietersen returned in time for England's semi-final against Sri Lanka, where he scored a vital 42* from 26 balls, guiding England home to a 7 wicket victory and a place in their first ICC tournament final since the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy. In the final against old foes Australia, he scored 47 runs from 31 balls, which included 4 fours and 1 six. Pietersen shared in a vital stand of 111 with Kieswetter, before holing out to David Warner off the bowling of Steve Smith. Pietersen's knock was vital in helping England secure a 7 wicket victory and their first ever major ICC tournament victory. After the match Pietersen was named man of the series for his vital contributions with the bat, which ended with Pietersen being the second highest run scorer with 248 runs at an average of 62.00 and a strike rate of 137.77.

Bangladesh, Australia and Pakistan

Pietersen played in the Bangladesh home series, however contributed only 18 in the first innings before assisting England in chasing down a modest total with 10*. He made 64 in the second Test, however. After the Test series, attention was drawn to Pietersen's lack of games for Hampshire – having not played a County Championship at the Rose Bowl since 2005. Having made one Twenty20 appearance for them against Surrey after the Bangladesh Test series, it was announced that he would be leaving Hampshire, stating that "Geographically it just doesn't work. I live in Chelsea." On 22 June, Pietersen played his 100th ODI against Australia at his home ground, the Rose Bowl

Pietersen struggled for form in an ODI series against Australia and then a Test series against Pakistan. England beat Australia 3–2, but Pietersen could only manage a top-score of 33. England beat Pakistan 3–1, and although Pietersen top-scored for England with 80 in the second Test, it was the only time he passed 50 and ended the series with a golden duck. His poor form, and an admission by Pietersen before the final Test that he was low on confidence, led to many in the media, including Geoffrey Boycott, to suggest that Pietersen could do with playing County Cricket to regain his form before the 2010–11 Ashes series.

Pietersen was omitted from both of England's limited-overs squads to face Pakistan. However, the ECB brokered a loan move to Surrey for the remainder of the 2010 English cricket season which enables him to play first-class cricket whilst the England side plays Pakistan in the limited overs leg of the tour. Pietersen announced the omission and loan-move to Surrey early through a Twitter message, which contained a swear-word and was quickly removed, and he apologised the following day. The online outburst drew some criticism of him, with national selector Geoff Miller one of those criticising the message. During the lead up to the 2010/11 Ashes Series Pietersen signed up for two first class games in the South African competition with the KwaZulu Natal Dolphins.

The Ashes down under

Pietersen went into the 2010–11 Ashes series without a century since March 2009, and many felt that England would be unable to retain the Ashes unless he found form. In the first Test at The Gabba, Brisbane, Pietersen hit 43 in the first innings but wasn't required in the second as England posted 517–1 declared before a draw was declared.

In the second Test in Adelaide, where he hit 158 on the previous Ashes tour, Pietersen joined opener Alastair Cook (148) to make a century partnership before going onto to score his 17th Test century. He finished with 227, a Test-best and his second Test double-century, as England declared on 620–5. Given a rare bowl at the end of the fourth day, Pietersen claimed the wicket of Michael Clarke (80) to leave Australia 238–4. England then proceeded to bowl Australia out in the final morning to win by an innings and 71 runs, and Pietersen was named man-of-the-match.

Career in 2011

Pietersen was part of England's 15-man squad for the 2011 World Cup hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka between February and March. In the warm-up matches he was asked to open the batting in anticipation that he would assume the position for the whole tournament. He had opened the batting just six times in one-day games and never for England, although had done so for England A in 2004. Pietersen returned home early due to injury. A hernia required immediate surgery and the recovery time of around six weeks meant he would miss the rest of the tournament and potentially the IPL. Eoin Morgan took Pietersen's place in the squad. Pietersen earned some criticism after being sighted at a nightclub in London while injured, however he dismissed the criticism as unwarranted.

He returned from injury for the home series against Sri Lanka in May 2011. Pietersen was also picked to play against India in July 2011, and scored 202 not out at Lord's in the 1st Test. During the innings, Pietersen passed 6,000 runs in Tests. The feat took exactly six years, which is is the fastest in terms of time taken, and 128 innings. In the fourth Test he scored 175 runs and shared a partnership of 350 runs with Ian Bell. Pietersen was rested for the ODI series against that followed the Tests.

Achievements

Awards

Pietersen gained several awards for his performances in the 2005 season. He was named both the ICC ODI Player of the Year and Emerging Player of the Year in 2005, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year (alongside team mates Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard) for his role in the successful Ashes series against Australia. Along with the rest of the England team, he was decorated in the 2006 New Year Honours list, being awarded the MBE for his role in the successful Ashes series. He also played for the ICC World XI in the ICC Super Series 2005 against Australia.

Test match performance

Records: Second-highest run-total from his first 25 Tests (behind Sir Don Bradman). Fourth Englishman to make the top score in both innings of debut Test. One of only twenty-five players to have a peak ICC batting rating over 900. Became only the fourth player in Test history to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year in three successive years. Achieved 5,000 test runs in the fastest time, reaching this feat in 4 years and 243 days.

;Test centuries:

Num	Date	Opponent	Ground	Score	Result
1	8 September 2005		The Oval, London	158	Draw
2	22 November 2005		Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad	100	Draw
3	11 May 2006			158	Draw
4	25 May 2006			142	Won
5	4 August 2006			135	Won
6	1 December 2006		Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	158	Lost
7	17 May 2007		Lord's, London	109	Draw
8	25 May 2007		Headingley, Leeds	226	Won
9	19 July 2007		Lord's, London	134	Draw
10	9 August 2007		The Oval, London	101	Draw
11	22 March 2008			129	Won
12	5 June 2008		Trent Bridge, Nottingham	115	Won
13	10 July 2008		Lord's, London	152	Draw
14	8 August 2008		The Oval, London	100	Won
15	21 December 2008		Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali	144	Draw
16	10 March 2009		Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad	102	Draw
17	5 December 2010		Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	227	Won
18	22 July 2011			202*	Won
19	19 August 2011		The Oval, London	175	Won

;Career performance:

Statistics correct as of 2011-06-30.Source: Howstat.		Batting	Bowling
style="text-align:left;">Opposition	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100 / 50	Runs	Wickets	Average	Best (Inns)
style="text-align:left;">		17		1,476		52.71		227		3 / 8		141		1		141.00		1/10
		4		342		68.40		99		0 / 3		18		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;"	<			12		1,243		62.15		202*		5 / 4		132		1		132.00		1/41
style="text-align:left;">		6		445		44.50		129		2 / 0		49		1		49.00		1/11
style="text-align:left;"	<			11		688		36.21		135		2 / 2		66		1		66.00		1/11
style="text-align:left;">		8		598		42.71		152		2 / 2		82		1		82.00		1/0
style="text-align:left;"	<			9		648		46.28		158		2 / 2		127		0		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		11		921		57.56		226		3 / 4		107		0		–		–

Man of the match awards:

Date	Opponent	Ground	Record/Scorecards
8–12 September 2005		The Oval, London	Batting: 14 and 158
25–28 May 2006			Batting: 142 and 13
25–28 May 2007		Headingley Stadium, Leeds	Batting: 226
19–23 July 2007			Batting: 37 and 134
7–11 August 2008		The Oval, London	Batting: 100 and 13
3–7 December 2010		Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	Batting: 227
20–25 July 2011			Batting: 202*

One Day International performance

Records: Fastest batsman to reach 1,000 and 2,000 runs. Fastest century by an England player (69 balls) (v SA, 2005).

One Day International centuries:

Num	Date	Opponent	Ground	Score
1	2 February 2005		Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein	108*
2	9 February 2005		Buffalo Park, East London, South Africa	100*
3	13 February 2005		SuperSport Park, Centurion, Gauteng	116
4	8 April 2007		Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua	104
5	21 April 2007		Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	100
6	15 June 2008		Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street	110*
7	26 November 2008		Barabati Stadium, Cuttack	111*

Career performance:

Statistics correct as of 2011-07-22.Source: Cricketarchive.		Batting	Bowling
style="text-align:left;">Opposition	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100 / 50	Runs	Wickets	Average	Best
style="text-align:left;">		23		690		34.50		104		1 / 4		43		1		43.00		1/43
		7		74		14.80		23		0 / 0		45		1		45.00		1/36
style="text-align:left;"	<			1		5		5.00		5		0 / 0		–		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		19		783		48.93		111*		1 / 6		84		3		28.00		1/4
style="text-align:left;"	<			2		107		53.50		59		0 / 1		–		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		1		56		–		56*		0 / 1		–		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;"	<			1		39		39.00		39		0 / 0		19		0		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		11		358		35.80		110*		1 / 2		2		0		–		–
style="text-align:left;"	<			7		198		33.00		56		0 / 1		39		0		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		2		17		17.00		17		0 / 0		6		0		–		–
style="text-align:left;"	<			17		646		64.60		116		3 / 2		52		2		26.00		2/22
style="text-align:left;">		14		344		28.66		73		0 / 3		41		0		–		–
style="text-align:left;"	<			10		312		39.00		100		1 / 1		0		0		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		4		104		104.00		77*		0 / 1		22		0		–		–

Man of the match awards:

Date	Opponent	Ground	Record/Scorecards
1 December 2004		Harare Sports Club, Harare	Batting: 77*
2 February 2005		Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein	Batting: 108*
13 February 2005		Centurion Park, Centurion, Gauteng	Batting: 116
19 June 2005		County Ground, Bristol	Batting: 91*
21 April 2007		Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	Batting: 100
8 September 2007		Lord's Cricket Ground, London	Batting: 71*
15 June 2008		Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street	Batting: 110*
22 August 2008		Headingley Stadium, Leeds	Batting: 90*, Bowling: 2/22

Twenty20 International performance

Twenty20 debut: vs , Rose Bowl, 13 June 2005.

Statistics correct as of 2011-07-22.Source: Cricketarchive.		Batting	Bowling
style="text-align:left;">Opposition	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100 / 50	Runs	Wickets	Average	Best
style="text-align:left;">		6		139		23.16		47		0 / 0		17		0		–		–
		2		85		42.50		46		0 / 0		9		0		–		–
style="text-align:left;"	<			1		9		9.00		9		0 / 0		0		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		4		112		37.33		43		0 / 0		–		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;"	<			5		236		78.66		74		0 / 3		–		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		4		116		29.00		53		0 / 1		27		1		27.00		1/27
style="text-align:left;"	<			3		100		50.00		42*		0 / 0		–		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;">		5		102		20.40		31		0 / 0		–		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;"	<			1		79		79.00		79		0 / 1		–		–		–		–
style="text-align:left;">Overall		31		978		36.22		79		0 / 5		53		1		53.00		1/27

References

Warne, Shane. "Shane Warne on Kevin Pietersen's Century: 'Kevin can be the best.' ''The Times'', 29 September 2008.

Notes

External links

Kevin Pietersen's Official Website

Category:1980 births Category:English cricket captains Category:England One Day International cricketers Category:England Test cricketers Category:England Twenty20 International cricketers Category:Hampshire cricketers Category:ICC World XI One Day International cricketers Category:Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Category:KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Category:Living people Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Old Collegians (Maritzburg College) Category:South African people of Afrikaner descent Category:South African people of Dutch descent Category:South African people of English descent Category:Nottinghamshire cricketers Category:English people of Dutch descent Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:University of South Africa alumni Category:English people of South African descent Category:People from Pietermaritzburg Category:MCC cricketers Category:Bangalore cricketers Category:South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:English cricketers Category:Surrey cricketers

de:Kevin Pietersen fr:Kevin Pietersen ml:കെവിൻ പീറ്റേഴ്സൻ mr:केव्हिन पीटरसन ta:கெவின் பீட்டர்சன்

Coordinates	39°27′9″N173°51′17″N
Name	Ronald Reagan
Office	40th President of the United States
Vicepresident	George H. W. Bush
Term start	January 20, 1981
Term end	January 20, 1989
Predecessor	Jimmy Carter
Successor	George H. W. Bush
Order2	33rd Governor of California
Lieutenant2	Robert FinchEdwin ReineckeJohn Harmer
Term start2	January 2, 1967
Term end2	January 6, 1975
Predecessor2	Pat Brown
Successor2	Jerry Brown
Birth date	February 06, 1911
Birth place	Tampico, Illinois, U.S.
Death date	June 05, 2004
Death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Party	Republican Party (1962–2004)
Otherparty	Democratic Party (Before 1962)
Spouse	Jane Mayfield Wyman (1940-48)Nancy Davis (1952–2004)
Children	MaureenChristineMichaelPattiRon
Alma mater	Eureka College
Profession	Actor
Religion	Presbyterianism Disciples of Christ (Formerly)
Signature	Ronald Reagan Signature2.svg
Signature alt	Cursive signature in ink
Branch	United States ArmyUnited States Army Air Forces
Rank	Captain
Serviceyears	1937–45 }}

Ronald Wilson Reagan (; February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989), the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975) and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor.

Reagan was born in Tampico in Whiteside County, Illinois, reared in Dixon in Lee County, Illinois, and educated at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology. Upon his graduation, Reagan first moved to Iowa to work as a radio broadcaster and then in 1937 to Los Angeles, California. He began a career as an actor, first in films and later television, appearing in over 50 movie productions and earning enough success to become a famous, publicly recognized figure. Some of his most notable roles are in ''Knute Rockne, All American'' and ''Kings Row''. Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and later spokesman for General Electric; his start in politics occurred during his work for GE. Originally a member of the Democratic Party, he began to support Republican Party candidates in the early 1950s and eventually switched to the Republican Party in 1962. After delivering a rousing speech in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, he was persuaded to seek the California governorship, winning two years later and again in 1970. He was defeated in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 as well as 1976, but won both the nomination and election, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter, in 1980.

As president, Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics", advocated reducing tax rates to spur economic growth, controlling the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulation of the economy, and reducing government spending. In his first term he survived an assassination attempt, took a hard line against labor unions, and ordered an invasion of Grenada. He was reelected in a landslide in 1984, proclaiming that it was "Morning in America". His second term was primarily marked by foreign matters, such as the ending of the Cold War, the 1986 bombing of Libya, and the revelation of the Iran-Contra affair. Publicly describing the Soviet Union as an "evil empire", he supported anti-communist movements worldwide and spent his first term forgoing the strategy of détente by ordering a massive military buildup in an arms race with the USSR. Reagan negotiated with General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, culminating in the INF Treaty and the decrease of both countries' nuclear arsenals.

Reagan left office in 1989. In 1994, the former president disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier in the year; he died ten years later at the age of 93. He ranks highly in public opinion polls of U.S. Presidents. He is also credited for generating an ideological renaissance on the American political right.

Early life

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in an apartment on the second floor of a commercial building in Tampico, Illinois on February 6, 1911, to Jack Reagan and Nelle Wilson Reagan. Reagan's father was a salesman and a storyteller, the descendant of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Tipperary while his mother had Scots-English ancestors. Reagan had one older brother, Neil "Moon" Reagan (1908–1996), who became an advertising executive. As a boy, Reagan's father nicknamed his son "Dutch," due to his "fat little Dutchman"-like appearance, and his "Dutchboy" haircut; the nickname stuck with him throughout his youth. Reagan's family briefly lived in several towns and cities in Illinois, including Monmouth, Galesburg and Chicago, until 1919, when they returned to Tampico and lived above the H.C. Pitney Variety Store. After his election as president, residing in the upstairs White House private quarters, Reagan would quip that he was "living above the store again".

According to Paul Kengor, author of ''God and Ronald Reagan'', Reagan had a particularly strong faith in the goodness of people, which stemmed from the optimistic faith of his mother, Nelle, and the Disciples of Christ faith, which he was baptized into in 1922. For the time, Reagan was unusual in his opposition to racial discrimination, and recalled a time in Dixon when the local inn would not allow black people to stay there. Reagan brought them back to his house, where his mother invited them to stay the night and have breakfast the next morning.

Following the closure of the Pitney Store in late 1920, the Reagans moved to Dixon; the midwestern "small universe" had a lasting impression on Reagan. He attended Dixon High School, where he developed interests in acting, sports, and storytelling. His first job was as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park, near Dixon, in 1927. Reagan performed 77 rescues as a lifeguard, noting that he notched a mark on a wooden log for every life he saved. Reagan attended Eureka College, where he became a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and majored in economics and sociology. He developed a reputation as a jack of all trades, excelling in campus politics, sports and theater. He was a member of the football team, captain of the swim team and was elected student body president. As student president, Reagan notably led a student revolt against the college president after he tried to cut back the faculty.

Military service

After completing fourteen home-study Army Extension Courses, Reagan enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve on April 29, 1937, as a private assigned to Troop B, 322nd Cavalry at Des Moines, Iowa. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps of the Cavalry on May 25, 1937.

Reagan was ordered to active duty for the first time on April 18, 1942. Due to his nearsightedness, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas. His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at Fort Mason, California, as a liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office. Upon the approval of the Army Air Force (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the Cavalry to the AAF on May 15, 1942, and was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the First Motion Picture Unit (officially, the "18th AAF Base Unit") in Culver City, California. On January 14, 1943 he was promoted to First Lieutenant and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of ''This Is The Army'' at Burbank, California. He returned to the First Motion Picture Unit after completing this duty and was promoted to Captain on July 22, 1943.

In January 1944, Captain Reagan was ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the opening of the sixth War Loan Drive. He was re-assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit on November 14, 1944, where he remained until the end of World War II. He was recommended for promotion to Major on February 2, 1945, but this recommendation was disapproved on July 17 of that year. He returned to Fort MacArthur, California, where he was separated from active duty on December 9, 1945. By the end of the war, his units had produced some 400 training films for the AAF.

Entertainment career

Radio and film

After graduating from Eureka in 1932, Reagan drove himself to Iowa, where he auditioned for a job at many small-town radio stations. The University of Iowa hired him to broadcast home football games for the Hawkeyes. He was paid $10 per game. Soon after, a staff announcer's job opened at radio station WOC in Davenport, and Reagan was hired, now earning $100 per month. Aided by his persuasive voice, he moved to WHO radio in Des Moines as an announcer for Chicago Cubs baseball games. His specialty was creating play-by-play accounts of games that the station received by wire.

While traveling with the Cubs in California, Reagan took a screen test in 1937 that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers studios. He spent the first few years of his Hollywood career in the "B film" unit, where, Reagan joked, the producers "didn't want them good, they wanted them Thursday". While sometimes overshadowed by other actors, Reagan's screen performances did receive many good reviews.

His first screen credit was the starring role in the 1937 movie ''Love Is on the Air'', and by the end of 1939 he had already appeared in 19 films, including ''Dark Victory''. Before the film ''Santa Fe Trail'' in 1940, he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film ''Knute Rockne, All American''; from it, he acquired the lifelong nickname "the Gipper". Reagan's favorite acting role was as a double amputee in 1942's ''Kings Row'', in which he recites the line, "Where's the rest of me?", later used as the title of his 1965 autobiography. Many film critics considered ''Kings Row'' to be his best movie, though the film was condemned by ''New York Times'' critic Bosley Crowther.

Reagan called ''Kings Row'' the film that "made me a star". However, he was unable to capitalize on his success because he was ordered to active duty with the U.S. Army at San Francisco two months after its release, and never regained "star" status in motion pictures.

Fan mail

While he worked at Warner Bros., Reagan enlisted his mother Nelle Wilson Reagan to answer his fan mail. She would handwrite letters and sign his name as if he had written the letters himself. Mrs. Reagan would sign her actor-son's name on photographs and even on membership cards in the Ronald Reagan Fan Club. The article "Devoted Mother, Devoted Son" in the January/February 1985 issue of The Pen & Quill, journal of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club, compares the handwriting of mother and son, pointing out the differences, and also reveals that Reagan was paying his mother $75.00 a week.

SAG president and television

Reagan was first elected to the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild in 1941, serving as an alternate. Following World War II, he resumed service and became 3rd vice-president in 1946. The adoption of conflict-of-interest bylaws in 1947 led the SAG president and six board members to resign; Reagan was nominated in a special election for the position of president and subsequently elected. He would subsequently be chosen by the membership to seven additional one-year terms, from 1947 to 1952 and in 1959. Reagan led SAG through eventful years that were marked by labor-management disputes, the Taft-Hartley Act, House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era.

Amid the Red Scare in the late 1940s, Reagan provided the FBI with names of actors whom he believed to be communist sympathizers within the motion picture industry. Reagan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on the subject as well. A fervent anti-communist, he reaffirmed his commitment to democratic principles, stating, "I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment."

Though an early critic of television, Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and decided to join the medium. He was hired as the host of ''General Electric Theater'', a series of weekly dramas that became very popular. His contract required him to tour GE plants sixteen weeks out of the year, often demanding of him fourteen speeches per day. He earned approximately $125,000 per year (about $1.07 million in 2010 dollars) in this role. His final work as a professional actor was as host and performer from 1964 to 1965 on the television series ''Death Valley Days''. Reagan and Nancy Davis appeared together several times, including an episode of GE Theater in 1958 called ''A Turkey for the President''.

Marriages and children

In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the film ''Brother Rat'' with actress Jane Wyman (1917–2007). They were engaged at the Chicago Theatre, and married on January 26, 1940, at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather church in Glendale, California. Together they had two children, Maureen (1941–2001) and Christine (June 26, 1947 – June 27, 1947), and adopted a third, Michael (born 1945). Following arguments about Reagan's political ambitions, Wyman filed for divorce in 1948, citing a distraction due to her husband's Screen Actors Guild union duties; the divorce was finalized in 1949. He is the only US president to have been divorced.

Reagan met actress Nancy Davis (born 1921) in 1949 after she contacted him in his capacity as president of the Screen Actors Guild to help her with issues regarding her name appearing on a communist blacklist in Hollywood (she had been mistaken for another Nancy Davis). She described their meeting by saying, "I don't know if it was exactly love at first sight, but it was pretty close." They were engaged at Chasen's restaurant in Los Angeles and were married on March 4, 1952, at the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley. Actor William Holden served as best man at the ceremony. They had two children: Patti (born October 21, 1952) and Ron (born May 20, 1958).

Observers described the Reagans' relationship as close, real, and intimate. During his presidency they were reported as frequently displaying their affection for one another; one press secretary said, "They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting." He often called her "Mommy;" she called him "Ronnie". He once wrote to her, "whatever I treasure and enjoy ... all would be without meaning if I didn’t have you." When he was in the hospital in 1981, she slept with one of his shirts to be comforted by his scent. In a letter to U.S. citizens written in 1994, Reagan wrote "I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.... I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience," and in 1998, while Reagan was stricken by Alzheimer's, Nancy told ''Vanity Fair'', "Our relationship is very special. We were very much in love and still are. When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did. I can't imagine life without him."

Early political career

Reagan began his political career as a liberal Democrat, admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and an active supporter of New Deal policies. In the early 1950s, as his relationship with Republican actress Nancy Davis grew, he shifted to the right and, while remaining a Democrat, endorsed the presidential candidacies of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 as well as Richard Nixon in 1960. The last time Reagan actively supported a Democratic candidate was in 1950 when he helped Helen Gahagan Douglas in her unsuccessful Senate campaign against Richard Nixon. After being hired in 1954 to host the General Electric Theater, a TV drama series, Reagan soon began to embrace the conservative views of the sponsoring company's officials. His many GE speeches—which he wrote himself—were non-partisan but carried a conservative, pro-business message; he was influenced by Lemuel Boulware, a senior GE executive. Boulware, known for his tough stance against unions and his innovative strategies to win over workers, championed the core tenets of modern American conservatism: free markets, anticommunism, lower taxes, and limited government. Eventually, the ratings for Reagan's show fell off and GE dropped Reagan in 1962. In August of that year Reagan formally switched to the Republican Party, stating, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me."

Reagan opposed certain civil rights legislation, saying "If an individual wants to discriminate against Negroes or others in selling or renting his house, it is his right to do so". He later reversed his opposition to voting rights and fair housing laws. He strongly denied having racist motives. When legislation that would become Medicare was introduced in 1961, Reagan created a recording for the American Medical Association warning that such legislation would mean the end of freedom in America. Reagan said that if his listeners did not write letters to prevent it, "we will awake to find that we have so­cialism. And if you don't do this, and if I don't do it, one of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."

Reagan endorsed the campaign of conservative presidential contender Barry Goldwater in 1964. Speaking for Goldwater, Reagan stressed his belief in the importance of smaller government. He revealed his ideological motivation in a famed speech delivered on October 27, 1964: "The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing." This "Time for Choosing" speech raised $1 million for Goldwater's campaign and is considered the event that launched Reagan's political career.

Reagan was a Life Member of the National Rifle Association.

Governor of California, 1967–1975

California Republicans were impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma after his "Time for Choosing" speech, and nominated him for Governor of California in 1966. In Reagan's campaign, he emphasized two main themes: "to send the welfare bums back to work," and in reference to burgeoning anti-war and anti-establishment student protests at the University of California at Berkeley, "to clean up the mess at Berkeley." He was elected, defeating two-term governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, and was sworn in on January 2, 1967. In his first term, he froze government hiring and approved tax hikes to balance the budget.

Shortly after the beginning of his term, Reagan tested the presidential waters in 1968 as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement, hoping to cut into Nixon's Southern support and be a compromise candidate if neither Nixon nor second-place Nelson Rockefeller received enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the Republican convention. However, by the time of the convention Nixon had 692 delegate votes, 25 more than he needed to secure the nomination, followed by Rockefeller with Reagan in third place.

Reagan was involved in high-profile conflicts with the protest movements of the era. On May 15, 1969, during the People's Park protests at UC Berkeley, Reagan sent the California Highway Patrol and other officers to quell the protests, in an incident that became known as "Bloody Thursday." Reagan then called out 2,200 state National Guard troops to occupy the city of Berkeley for two weeks in order to crack down on the protesters. When the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst in Berkeley and demanded the distribution of food to the poor, Reagan joked, "It's just too bad we can't have an epidemic of botulism."

Early in 1967, the national debate on abortion was beginning. Democratic California state senator Anthony Beilenson introduced the "Therapeutic Abortion Act," in an effort to reduce the number of "back-room abortions" performed in California. The State Legislature sent the bill to Reagan's desk where, after many days of indecision, he signed it. About two million abortions would be performed as a result, most because of a provision in the bill allowing abortions for the well-being of the mother. Reagan had been in office for only four months when he signed the bill, and stated that had he been more experienced as governor, it would not have been signed. After he recognized what he called the "consequences" of the bill, he announced that he was pro-life. He maintained that position later in his political career, writing extensively about abortion.

Despite an unsuccessful attempt to recall him in 1968, Reagan was re-elected in 1970, defeating "Big Daddy" Jesse Unruh. He chose not to seek a third term in the following election cycle. One of Reagan's greatest frustrations in office concerned capital punishment, which he strongly supported. His efforts to enforce the state's laws in this area were thwarted when the Supreme Court of California issued its ''People v. Anderson'' decision, which invalidated all death sentences issued in California prior to 1972, though the decision was later overturned by a constitutional amendment. The only execution during Reagan's governorship was on April 12, 1967, when Aaron Mitchell's sentence was carried out by the state in San Quentin's gas chamber.

In 1969, Reagan, as Governor, signed the ''Family Law Act'' which was the first no fault divorce legislation in the United States.

Reagan's terms as governor helped to shape the policies he would pursue in his later political career as president. By campaigning on a platform of sending "the welfare bums back to work," he spoke out against the idea of the welfare state. He also strongly advocated the Republican ideal of less government regulation of the economy, including that of undue federal taxation.

Reagan did not seek re-election to a third term as governor in 1974 and was succeeded by Democratic California Secretary of State Jerry Brown on January 6, 1975.

1976 presidential campaign

In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan soon established himself as the conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union which became key components of his political base, while President Ford was considered a more moderate Republican.

Reagan's campaign relied on a strategy crafted by campaign manager John Sears of winning a few primaries early to damage the inevitability of Ford's likely nomination. Reagan won North Carolina, Texas, and California, but the strategy failed, as he ended up losing New Hampshire, Florida, and his native Illinois. The Texas campaign lent renewed hope to Reagan, when he swept all ninety-six delegates chosen in the May 1 primary, with four more awaiting at the state convention. Much of the credit for that victory came from the work of three co-chairmen, including Ernest Angelo, the mayor of Midland, and Ray Barnhart of Houston, whom President Reagan tapped in 1981 as director of the Federal Highway Administration.

However, as the GOP convention neared, Ford appeared close to victory. Acknowledging his party's moderate wing, Reagan chose moderate Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate if nominated. Nonetheless, Ford prevailed with 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070. Ford would go on to lose the 1976 Presidential election to the Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Reagan's concession speech emphasized the dangers of nuclear war and the threat posed by the Soviet Union. Though he lost the nomination, he received 307 write-in votes in New Hampshire, 388 votes as an Independent on Wyoming's ballot, and a single electoral vote from a faithless elector in the November election from the state of Washington, which Ford had won over Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter.

1980 presidential campaign

The 1980 presidential campaign between Reagan and incumbent President Jimmy Carter was conducted during domestic concerns and the ongoing Iran hostage crisis. His campaign stressed some of his fundamental principles: lower taxes to stimulate the economy, less government interference in people's lives, states' rights, and a strong national defense.

Reagan launched his campaign by declaring "I believe in states' rights," in Philadelphia, Mississippi, known at the time for the murder of three civil rights workers who had been trying to register African-Americans to vote during the civil rights movement. After receiving the Republican nomination, Reagan selected one of his primary opponents, George H.W. Bush, to be his running mate. His showing in the October televised debate boosted his campaign. Reagan won the election, carrying 44 states with 489 electoral votes to 49 electoral votes for Carter (representing six states and Washington, D.C.). Reagan received 50.7% of the popular vote while Carter took 41%, and Independent John B. Anderson (a liberal Republican) received 6.7%. Republicans captured the Senate for the first time since 1952, and gained 34 House seats, but the Democrats retained a majority.

During the presidential campaign, questions were raised by reporters on Reagan's stance on the Briggs Initiative, also known as Proposition 6, a ballot initiative in Reagan's home state of California where he was governor, which would have banned gays, lesbians, and supporters of LGBT rights from working in public schools in California. His opposition to the initiative was instrumental in its landslide defeat by Californian voters. Reagan published an editorial in which he stated "homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles..." and that prevailing scientific opinion was that a child's sexual orientation cannot be influenced by someone else.

Presidency, 1981–1989

During his Presidency, Reagan pursued policies that reflected his personal belief in individual freedom, brought changes domestically, both to the U.S. economy and expanded military, and contributed to the end of the Cold War. Termed the Reagan Revolution, his presidency would reinvigorate American morale and reduce the people's reliance upon government. As president, Reagan kept a series of diaries in which he commented on daily occurrences of his presidency and his views on the issues of the day. The diaries were published in May 2007 in the bestselling book, ''The Reagan Diaries''.

First term, 1981–1985

To date, Reagan is the oldest man elected to the office of the presidency (at 69). In his first inaugural address on January 20, 1981, which Reagan himself wrote, he addressed the country's economic malaise arguing: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem."

The Reagan Presidency began in a dramatic manner; as Reagan was giving his inaugural address, 52 U.S. hostages, held by Iran for 444 days were set free.

Assassination attempt

On March 30, 1981, only 69 days into the new administration, Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy were struck by gunfire from would-be assassin John Hinckley, Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. Although "close to death" during surgery, Reagan recovered and was released from the hospital on April 11, becoming the first serving U.S. President to survive being shot in an assassination attempt. The attempt had great influence on Reagan's popularity; polls indicated his approval rating to be around 73%. Reagan believed that God had spared his life so that he might go on to fulfill a greater purpose.

Establishing full U.S. diplomatic relations with the Vatican

Within months of President Reagan’s inaugural in 1981, one of the first steps taken by Reagan was to obtain the repeal of the 1868 federal law which prohibited the expenditure of funds for an U.S. Embassy to the Vatican. Reagan was successful in obtaining the repeal with out real opposition.

President Reagan announced on January 10, 1984 that full diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vatican had been established. The President did this over the opposition of the office of the Secretary of State.

Air traffic controllers' strike

In summer 1981 PATCO, the union of federal air traffic controllers went on strike, violating a federal law prohibiting government unions from striking. Declaring the situation an emergency as described in the 1947 Taft Hartley Act, Reagan stated that if the air traffic controllers "do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated." They did not return and on August 5, Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored his order, and used supervisors and military controllers to handle the nation's commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained. As a leading reference work on public administration concluded, "The firing of PATCO employees not only demonstrated a clear resolve by the president to take control of the bureaucracy, but it also sent a clear message to the private sector that unions no longer needed to be feared."

"Reaganomics" and the economy

During Jimmy Carter's last year in office (1980), inflation averaged 12.5%, compared to 4.4% during Reagan's last year in office (1988). Over those eight years, the unemployment rate declined from 7.1% to 5.5%, hitting annual rate highs of 9.7% (1982) and 9.6% (1983) and averaging 7.5% during Reagan's administration.

Reagan implemented policies based on supply-side economics and advocated a classical liberal and ''laissez-faire'' philosophy, seeking to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts. Citing the economic theories of Arthur Laffer, Reagan promoted the proposed tax cuts as potentially stimulating the economy enough to expand the tax base, offsetting the revenue loss due to reduced rates of taxation, a theory that entered political discussion as the Laffer curve. Reaganomics was the subject of debate with supporters pointing to improvements in certain key economic indicators as evidence of success, and critics pointing to large increases in federal budget deficits and the national debt. His policy of "peace through strength" (also described as "firm but fair") resulted in a record peacetime defense buildup including a 40% real increase in defense spending between 1981 and 1985.

During Reagan's presidency, federal income tax rates were lowered significantly with the signing of the bipartisan Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 which lowered the top marginal tax bracket from 70% to 50% and the lowest bracket from 14% to 11%, however other tax increases signed by Reagan ensured that tax revenues over his two terms were 18.2% of GDP as compared to 18.1% over the past 40 years. Then, in 1982 the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 was signed into law, initiating one of the nation's first public/private partnerships and a major part of the president's job creation program. Reagan's Assistant Secretary of Labor and Chief of Staff, Al Angrisani, was a primary architect of the bill. The Tax Reform Act of 1986, another bipartisan effort championed by Reagan, reduced the top rate further to 28% while raising the bottom bracket from 11% to 15% and reducing the quantity of brackets to 4. Conversely, Congress passed and Reagan signed into law tax increases of some nature in every year from 1981 to 1987 to continue funding such government programs as TEFRA, Social Security, and the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984. Despite the fact that TEFRA was the "largest peacetime tax increase in American history," Reagan is better known for his tax cuts and lower-taxes philosophy. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth recovered strongly after the early 1980s recession ended in 1982, and grew during his eight years in office at an annual rate of 3.85% per year. Unemployment peaked at 10.8% monthly rate in December 1982—higher than any time since the Great Depression—then dropped during the rest of Reagan's presidency. Sixteen million new jobs were created, while inflation significantly decreased. The net effect of all Reagan-era tax bills was a 1% decrease in government revenues when compared to Treasury Department revenue estimates from the Administration's first post-enactment January budgets. However, federal Income Tax receipts increased from 1980 to 1989, rising from $308.7Bn to $549.0Bn.

During the Reagan Administration, federal receipts grew at an average rate of 8.2% (2.5% attributed to higher Social Security receipts), and federal outlays grew at an annual rate of 7.1%. Reagan also revised the tax code with the bipartisan Tax Reform Act of 1986.

Reagan's policies proposed that economic growth would occur when marginal tax rates were low enough to spur investment, which would then lead to increased economic growth, higher employment and wages. Critics labeled this "trickle-down economics"—the belief that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will create a "trickle-down" effect to the poor. Questions arose whether Reagan's policies benefited the wealthy more than those living in poverty, and many poor and minority citizens viewed Reagan as indifferent to their struggles. These views were exacerbated by the fact that Reagan's economic regimen included freezing the minimum wage at $3.35 an hour, slashing federal assistance to local governments by 60 percent, cutting the budget for public housing and Section 8 rent subsidies in half, and eliminating the antipoverty Community Development Block Grant program.

Further following his less-government intervention views, Reagan cut the budgets of non-military programs including Medicaid, food stamps, federal education programs and the EPA. While he protected entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, his administration attempted to purge many people with disabilities from the Social Security disability rolls.

The administration's stance toward the Savings and Loan industry contributed to the Savings and loan crisis. It is also suggested, by a minority of Reaganomics critics, that the policies partially influenced the stock market crash of 1987, but there is no consensus regarding a single source for the crash. In order to cover newly spawned federal budget deficits, the United States borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, raising the national debt from $997 billion to $2.85 trillion. Reagan described the new debt as the "greatest disappointment" of his presidency.

He reappointed Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and in 1987 he appointed monetarist Alan Greenspan to succeed him. Reagan ended the price controls on domestic oil which had contributed to energy crises in the early 1970s. The price of oil subsequently dropped, and the 1980s did not see the fuel shortages that the 1970s had. Reagan also fulfilled a 1980 campaign promise to repeal the Windfall profit tax in 1988, which had previously increased dependence on foreign oil. Some economists, such as Nobel Prize winners Milton Friedman and Robert A. Mundell, argue that Reagan's tax policies invigorated America's economy and contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s.

During Reagan's presidency a program was initiated within the US intelligence community to ensure America's economic strength. The program, Project Socrates, developed and demonstrated the means required for the US to generate and lead the next evolutionary leap in technology acquisition and utilization for a competitive advantage—automated innovation. To ensure that the US acquired the maximum benefit from automated innovation, President Reagan during his second term had an executive order drafted creating a new Federal agency to implement the Project Socrates results on a nation-wide basis. President Reagan's term came to end before the executive order could be coordinated and signed. President Bush terminated Project Socrates due to pressure from US allies.

Lebanon and Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada), 1983

American peacekeeping forces in Beirut, a part of a multinational force during the Lebanese Civil War who had been earlier deployed by Reagan, were attacked on October 23, 1983. The Beirut barracks bombing resulted in the deaths of 241 American servicemen and the wounding of more than 60 others by a suicide truck bomber. Reagan sent a White House team to the site four days later, led by his Vice President, George H.W. Bush. Reagan called the attack "despicable," pledged to keep a military force in Lebanon, and planned to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, training ground for Hezbollah fighters, but the mission was later aborted. On February 7, 1984, President Reagan ordered the Marines to begin withdrawal from Lebanon. In April 1984, as his keynote address to the 20,000 attendees of the Rev. Jerry Falwell's "Baptist Fundamentalism '84" convention in Washington, D.C., he read a first hand account of the bombing, written by Navy Chaplain (Rabbi) Arnold Resnicoff, who had been asked to write the report by Bush and his team. Osama bin Laden would later cite Reagan's withdrawal of forces as a sign of American weakness.

On October 25, 1983, only two days later, Reagan ordered U.S. forces to invade Grenada, code named Operation Urgent Fury, where a 1979 ''coup d'état'' had established an independent non-aligned Marxist-Leninist government. A formal appeal from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) led to the intervention of U.S. forces; President Reagan also cited an allegedly regional threat posed by a Soviet-Cuban military build-up in the Caribbean and concern for the safety of several hundred American medical students at St. George's University as adequate reasons to invade. ''Operation Urgent Fury'' was the first major military operation conducted by U.S. forces since the Vietnam War, several days of fighting commenced, resulting in a U.S. victory, with 19 American fatalities and 116 wounded American soldiers. In mid-December, after a new government was appointed by the Governor-General, U.S. forces withdrew.

Escalation of the Cold War

Reagan escalated the Cold War, accelerating a reversal from the policy of détente which began in 1979 following the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Reagan ordered a massive buildup of the United States Armed Forces and implemented new policies towards the Soviet Union: reviving the B-1 Lancer program that had been canceled by the Carter administration, and producing the MX missile. In response to Soviet deployment of the SS-20, Reagan oversaw NATO's deployment of the Pershing missile in West Germany.

Together with the United Kingdom's prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Reagan denounced the Soviet Union in ideological terms. In a famous address on June 8, 1982 to the British Parliament in the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster, Reagan said, "the forward march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history." On March 3, 1983, he predicted that communism would collapse, stating, "Communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written." In a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983, Reagan called the Soviet Union "an evil empire".

After Soviet fighters downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007 near Moneron Island on September 1, 1983, carrying 269 people, including Georgia congressman Larry McDonald, Reagan labeled the act a "massacre" and declared that the Soviets had turned "against the world and the moral precepts which guide human relations among people everywhere". The Reagan administration responded to the incident by suspending all Soviet passenger air service to the United States, and dropped several agreements being negotiated with the Soviets, wounding them financially. As result of the shootdown, and the cause of KAL 007's going astray thought to be inadequacies related to its navigational system, Reagan announced on September 16, 1983 that the Global Positioning System would be made available for civilian use, free of charge, once completed in order to avert similar navigational errors in future.

Under a policy that came to be known as the Reagan Doctrine, Reagan and his administration also provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist resistance movements in an effort to "rollback" Soviet-backed communist governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Reagan deployed the CIA's Special Activities Division to Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were instrumental in training, equipping and leading Mujaheddin forces against the Soviet Army. President Reagan's Covert Action program has been given credit for assisting in ending the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, though the US funded armaments introduced then would later pose a threat to US troops in the 2000s war in Afghanistan. However, in a break from the Carter policy of arming Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act. Reagan also agreed with the communist government in China to reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan.

In March 1983, Reagan introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative, a defense project Reagan believed that this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible, but disbelief that the technology could ever work led opponents to dub SDI "Star Wars" and argue that the technological objective was unattainable. For those reasons, David Gergen, former aide to President Reagan, believes that in retrospect, SDI hastened the end of the Cold War.

Critics labeled Reagan's foreign policies as aggressive, imperialistic, and chided them as "warmongering," though they were supported by leading American conservatives who argued that they were necessary to protect U.S. security interests. A reformer, Mikhail Gorbachev, would later rise to power in the Soviet Union in 1985, implementing new policies for openness and reform that were called ''glasnost'' and ''perestroika''.

1984 presidential campaign

Reagan accepted the Republican nomination in Dallas, Texas, on a wave of positive feeling. He proclaimed that it was "morning again in America," regarding the recovering economy and the dominating performance by the U.S. athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics, among other things. He became the first American president to open an Olympic Games held in the United States.

Reagan's opponent in the 1984 presidential election was former Vice President Walter Mondale. With questions about Reagan's age, and a weak performance in the first presidential debate, his ability to perform the duties of president for another term was questioned. His apparent confused and forgetful behavior was evident to his supporters; they had previously known him clever and witty. Rumors began to circulate that he had Alzheimer's disease. Reagan rebounded in the second debate, and confronted questions about his age, quipping, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," which generated applause and laughter, even from Mondale himself.

That November, Reagan was re-elected, winning 49 of 50 states. The president's overwhelming victory saw Mondale carry only his home state of Minnesota (by 3800 votes) and the District of Columbia. Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes, the most of any candidate in United States history, and received 58.8% of the popular vote to Mondale's 40.6%.

Second term, 1985–1989

Reagan was sworn in as president for the second time on January 20, 1985, in a private ceremony at the White House. Because January 20 fell on a Sunday, a public celebration was not held but took place in the Capitol Rotunda the following day. January 21 was one of the coldest days on record in Washington, D.C.; due to poor weather, inaugural celebrations were held inside the Capitol.

In the summer of 1982, several conservative activists, including Howard Phillips of The Conservative Caucus and Clymer Wright of Houston, Texas, had urged Reagan to remove his White House chief of staff James Baker, also of Houston, on grounds that Baker, a political intimate of George H. W. Bush, was undercutting conservative initiatives in the administration. Not only did Reagan reject the Wright-Phillips request, but in 1985, after his reelection, he named Baker as United States Secretary of the Treasury, at Baker's request in a job-swap with then Secretary Donald T. Regan, a former Merrill Lynch officer who became chief of staff. Reagan also rebuked Wright and Phillips for having waged a "campaign of sabotage" against Baker.

In 1985, Reagan visited a German military cemetery in Bitburg to lay a wreath with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It was determined that the cemetery held the graves of forty-nine members of the Waffen-SS. Reagan issued a statement that called the Nazi soldiers buried in that cemetery as themselves "victims," a designation which ignited a stir over whether Reagan had equated the SS men to victims of the Holocaust; Patrick J. Buchanan, Reagan's Director of Communications, argued that the president did not equate the SS members with the actual Holocaust. Now strongly urged to cancel the visit, the president responded that it would be wrong to back down on a promise he had made to Chancellor Kohl. He ultimately attended the ceremony where two military generals laid a wreath.

The disintegration of the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986 proved a pivotal moment in Reagan's presidency. All seven astronauts aboard were killed. On the night of the disaster, Reagan delivered a speech written by Peggy Noonan in which he said (quoting the first and last lines of John Gillespie Magee's 1941 poem ''High Flight''):

}}

War on Drugs

Midway into his second term, Reagan declared more militant policies in the War on Drugs. He said that "drugs were menacing our society" and promised to fight for drug-free schools and workplaces, expanded drug treatment, stronger law enforcement and drug interdiction efforts, and greater public awareness.

In 1986, Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill that budgeted $1.7 billion to fund the War on Drugs and specified a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses. The bill was criticized for promoting significant racial disparities in the prison population and critics also charged that the policies did little to reduce the availability of drugs on the street, while resulting in a great financial burden for America. Defenders of the effort point to success in reducing rates of adolescent drug use. First Lady Nancy Reagan made the War on Drugs her main priority by founding the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign, which aimed to discourage children and teenagers from engaging in recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying "no". Mrs. Reagan traveled to 65 cities in 33 states, raising awareness about the dangers of drugs including alcohol.

Libya bombing

Relations between Libya and the U.S. under President Reagan were continually contentious, beginning with the Gulf of Sidra incident in 1981; by 1982, Gaddafi was considered by the CIA to be, along with USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and was also labeled as "our international public enemy number one" by a CIA official as well. Reagan authorized the use of force against the country. In the late evening of April 15, 1986, the U.S. launched a series of air strikes on ground targets in Libya. The UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher allowed the US air force to use Britain's air bases to launch the attack, on the justification that the UK was supporting America's right to self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The attack was designed to halt Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's ability to export terrorism, offering him "incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior". The president addressed the nation from the Oval Office after the attacks had commenced, stating, "When our citizens are attacked or abused anywhere in the world on the direct orders of hostile regimes, we will respond so long as I'm in this office." As early as 1981, Reagan had referred to Gaddafi as "the mad dog of the Middle East" and considered him to be public enemy number one.

Immigration

Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. The act made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants, required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status, and granted amnesty to approximately 3 million illegal immigrants who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1982, and had lived in the country continuously. Critics argue that the employer sanctions were without teeth and failed to stem illegal immigration. Upon signing the act at a ceremony held beside the newly refurbished Statue of Liberty, Reagan said, "The legalization provisions in this act will go far to improve the lives of a class of individuals who now must hide in the shadows, without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society. Very soon many of these men and women will be able to step into the sunlight and, ultimately, if they choose, they may become Americans."

Iran-Contra affair

In 1986, a scandal shook the administration stemming from the use of proceeds from covert arms sales to Iran to fund the Contras in Nicaragua, which had been specifically outlawed by an act of Congress. The Iran-Contra affair became the largest political scandal in the United States during the 1980s. The International Court of Justice, whose jurisdiction to decide the case was disputed, ruled that the U.S. had violated international law in Nicaragua due to its obligations not to intervene in the affairs of other states.

President Reagan professed ignorance of the plot's existence. He appointed two Republicans and one Democrat (John Tower, Brent Scowcroft and Edmund Muskie, known as the "Tower Commission") to investigate the scandal. The commission could not find direct evidence that Reagan had prior knowledge of the program, but criticized him heavily for his disengagement from managing his staff, making the diversion of funds possible. A separate report by Congress concluded that "If the president did not know what his national security advisers were doing, he should have." Reagan's popularity declined from 67 percent to 46 percent in less than a week, the greatest and quickest decline ever for a president. The scandal resulted in fourteen indictments within Reagan's staff, and eleven convictions.

Many Central Americans criticize Reagan for his support of the Contras, calling him an anti-communist zealot, blinded to human rights abuses, while others say he "saved Central America". Daniel Ortega, Sandinistan and current president of Nicaragua, said that he hoped God would forgive Reagan for his "dirty war against Nicaragua". In 1986 the USA was found guilty by the International Court of Justice (World Court) of war crimes against Nicaragua.

End of the Cold War

By the early 1980s, the USSR had built up a military arsenal and army surpassing that of the United States. Previously, the U.S. had relied on the qualitative superiority of its weapons to essentially frighten the Soviets, but the gap had been narrowed. After President Reagan's military buildup, the Soviet Union did not further dramatically build up its military; the enormous military expenses, in combination with collectivized agriculture and inefficient planned manufacturing, were a heavy burden for the Soviet economy. At the same time, the Reagan Administration persuaded Saudi Arabia to increase oil production, which resulted in a drop of oil prices in 1985 to one-third of the previous level; oil was the main source of Soviet export revenues. These factors gradually brought the Soviet economy to a stagnant state during Gorbachev's tenure.

Reagan recognized the change in the direction of the Soviet leadership with Mikhail Gorbachev, and shifted to diplomacy, with a view to encourage the Soviet leader to pursue substantial arms agreements. Reagan's personal mission was to achieve "a world free of nuclear weapons," which he regarded as "totally irrational, totally inhumane, good for nothing but killing, possibly destructive of life on earth and civilization." He was able to start discussions on nuclear disarmament with General Secretary Gorbachev. Gorbachev and Reagan held four summit conferences between 1985 and 1988: the first in Geneva, Switzerland, the second in Reykjavík, Iceland, the third in Washington, D.C., and the fourth in Moscow. Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of Communism.

Speaking at the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev to go further, saying:

Prior to Gorbachev visiting Washington, D.C., for the third summit in 1987, the Soviet leader announced his intention to pursue significant arms agreements. The timing of the announcement led Western diplomats to contend that Gorbachev was offering major concessions to the U.S. on the levels of conventional forces, nuclear weapons, and policy in Eastern Europe. He and Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at the White House, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. The two leaders laid the framework for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I; Reagan insisted that the name of the treaty be changed from Strategic Arms Limitation Talks to Strategic Arms Reduction Talks.

When Reagan visited Moscow for the fourth summit in 1988, he was viewed as a celebrity by the Soviets. A journalist asked the president if he still considered the Soviet Union the evil empire. "No," he replied, "I was talking about another time, another era." At Gorbachev's request, Reagan gave a speech on free markets at the Moscow State University. In his autobiography, ''An American Life'', Reagan expressed his optimism about the new direction that they charted and his warm feelings for Gorbachev. In November 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down, the Cold War was officially declared over at a Malta Summit on December 3, 1989 and two years later, the Soviet Union collapsed.

Health

Early in his presidency, Reagan started wearing a custom, technologically advanced hearing aid, first in his right ear and later in his left as well. His decision to go public in 1983 regarding his wearing the small, audio-amplifying device boosted their sales.

On July 13, 1985, Reagan underwent surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital to remove cancerous polyps from his colon. He relinquished presidential power to the Vice President for eight hours in a similar procedure as outlined in the 25th Amendment, which he specifically avoided invoking. The surgery lasted just under three hours and was successful. Reagan resumed the powers of the presidency later that day. In August of that year, he underwent an operation to remove skin cancer cells from his nose. In October, additional skin cancer cells were detected on his nose and removed.

In January 1987, Reagan underwent surgery for an enlarged prostate which caused further worries about his health. No cancerous growths were found, however, and he was not sedated during the operation. In July of that year, aged 76, he underwent a third skin cancer operation on his nose.

Judiciary

During his 1980 campaign, Reagan pledged that, if given the opportunity, he would appoint the first female Supreme Court Justice. That opportunity came in his first year in office when he nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Potter Stewart. In his second term, Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to succeed Warren Burger as Chief Justice, and named Antonin Scalia to fill the vacant seat. Reagan nominated conservative jurist Robert Bork to the high court in 1987. Senator Ted Kennedy, a Democrat of Massachusetts, strongly condemned Bork, and great controversy ensued. Bork's nomination was rejected 58–42. Reagan then nominated Douglas Ginsburg, but Ginsburg withdrew his name from consideration after coming under fire for his cannabis use. Anthony Kennedy was eventually confirmed in his place. Along with his three Supreme Court appointments, Reagan appointed 83 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, and 290 judges to the United States district courts. His total of 376 appointments is the most by any president.

Reagan also nominated Vaughn R. Walker, who would later be revealed to be the earliest known gay federal judge, to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. However, the nomination stalled in the Senate, and Walker was not confirmed until he was renominated by Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush.

Post-presidential years, 1989–2004

After leaving office in 1989, the Reagans purchased a home in Bel Air, Los Angeles in addition to the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara. They regularly attended Bel Air Presbyterian Church and occasionally made appearances on behalf of the Republican Party; Reagan delivered a well-received speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention. Previously on November 4, 1991, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was dedicated and opened to the public. At the dedication ceremonies, five presidents were in attendance, as well as six first ladies, marking the first time five presidents were gathered in the same location. Reagan continued publicly to speak in favor of a line-item veto; the Brady Bill; a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget; and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone from serving more than two terms as president. In 1992 Reagan established the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award with the newly formed Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. His final public speech was on February 3, 1994 during a tribute to him in Washington, D.C., and his last major public appearance was at the funeral of Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994.

Alzheimer's disease

Announcement and reaction

In August 1994, at the age of 83, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, writing in part: }}

After his diagnosis, letters of support from well-wishers poured into his California home, but there was also speculation over how long Reagan had demonstrated symptoms of mental degeneration. In her memoirs, former CBS White House correspondent Lesley Stahl recounts her final meeting with the president, in 1986: "Reagan didn't seem to know who I was. ... Oh, my, he's gonzo, I thought. I have to go out on the lawn tonight and tell my countrymen that the president of the United States is a doddering space cadet." But then, at the end, he regained his alertness. As she described it, "I had come ''that'' close to reporting that Reagan was senile." However, Dr. Lawrence K. Altman, a physician employed as a reporter for the ''New York Times'', noted that "the line between mere forgetfulness and the beginning of Alzheimer's can be fuzzy" and all four of Reagan's White House doctors said that they saw no evidence of Alzheimer's while he was president. Dr. John E. Hutton, Reagan's primary physician from 1984 to 1989, said the president "absolutely" did not "show any signs of dementia or Alzheimer's". Reagan did experience occasional memory lapses, though, especially with names. Once, while meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, he repeatedly referred to Vice President Bush as "Prime Minister Bush". Reagan's doctors, however, note that he only began exhibiting overt symptoms of the illness in late 1992 or 1993, several years after he had left office. His former Chief of Staff James Baker considered "ludicrous" the idea of Reagan sleeping during cabinet meetings. Other staff members, former aides, and friends said they saw no indication of Alzheimer's while he was President. In contrast, Reagan's son, Ron Reagan, wrote in his 2011 memoir that he had noticed evidence of dementia as early as Reagan's first Presidential term, and that by 1986 Reagan was unable to recall the names of previously familiar landmarks near Los Angeles.

Complicating the picture, Reagan suffered an episode of head trauma in July 1989, five years prior to his diagnosis. After being thrown from a horse in Mexico, a subdural hematoma was found and surgically treated later in the year. Nancy Reagan asserts that her husband's 1989 fall hastened the onset of Alzheimer's disease, citing what doctors told her, although acute brain injury has not been conclusively proven to accelerate Alzheimer's or dementia. Reagan's one-time physician Dr. Daniel Ruge has said it is possible, but not certain, that the horse accident affected the course of Reagan's memory.

Progression

As the years went on, the disease slowly destroyed Reagan's mental capacity. He was only able to recognize a few people, including his wife, Nancy. He remained active, however; he took walks through parks near his home and on beaches, played golf regularly, and until 1999 he often went to his office in nearby Century City.

Reagan suffered a fall at his Bel Air home on January 13, 2001, resulting in a broken hip. The fracture was repaired the following day and the 89 year old Reagan returned home later that week, although he faced difficult physical therapy at home. On February 6, 2001, Reagan reached the age of 90, becoming the third former president to do so (the other two being John Adams and Herbert Hoover, with Gerald Ford later reaching 90). Reagan's public appearances became much less frequent with the progression of the disease, and as a result, his family decided that he would live in quiet isolation. Nancy Reagan told CNN's Larry King in 2001 that very few visitors were allowed to see her husband because she felt that "Ronnie would want people to remember him as he was." Since her husband's diagnosis and death, Mrs. Reagan has become a stem-cell research advocate, urging Congress and President George W. Bush to support federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, something President Bush opposed. Mrs. Reagan has said that she believes that it could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's.

Death

Reagan died of pneumonia at his home in Bel Air, California on the afternoon of June 5, 2004. A short time after his death, Nancy Reagan released a statement saying: "My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has died after 10 years of Alzheimer's Disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers." President George W. Bush declared June 11 a National Day of Mourning, and international tributes came in from around the world. Reagan's body was taken to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California later in the day, where well-wishers paid tribute by laying flowers and American flags in the grass. On June 7, his body was removed and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where a brief family funeral was held conducted by Pastor Michael Wenning. His body lay in repose in the Library lobby until June 9; over 100,000 people viewed the coffin.

On June 9, Reagan's body was flown to Washington, D.C. where he became the tenth United States president to lie in state; in thirty-four hours, 104,684 people filed past the coffin.

On June 11, a state funeral was conducted in the Washington National Cathedral, and presided over by President George W. Bush. Eulogies were given by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and both Presidents Bush. Also in attendance were Mikhail Gorbachev, and many world leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and interim presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq.

After the funeral, the Reagan entourage was flown back to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, where another service was held, and President Reagan was interred. At the time of his death, Reagan was the longest-lived president in U.S. history, having lived 93 years and 120 days (2 years, 8 months, and 23 days longer than John Adams, whose record he surpassed). He is now the second longest-lived president, just 45 days fewer than Gerald Ford. He was the first United States president to die in the 21st century, and his was the first state funeral in the United States since that of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973.

His burial site is inscribed with the words he delivered at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: "I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life."

Legacy

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was dedicated on November 4, 1991. Supporters have pointed to a more efficient and prosperous economy and a peaceful end to the Cold War. Critics argue that his economic policies caused huge budget deficits, quadrupling the United States national debt, and that the Iran-Contra affair lowered American credibility. As time has passed, he has generally come to be viewed in a more positive light, and ranks highly among presidents in many public opinion polls. In presidential surveys he has consistently been ranked in the first and second quartiles, with more recent surveys generally ranking Reagan in the first quartile of U.S. presidents.

Edwin Feulner, President of The Heritage Foundation, said that Reagan "helped create a safer, freer world" and said of his economic policies: "He took an America suffering from 'malaise'... and made its citizens believe again in their destiny." However, Mark Weisbrot, co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said that Reagan's "economic policies were mostly a failure"; with Reagan's detractors accusing him of creating a range of fiscal calamities such as widening the wealth inequality to the point where the richest 1% of Americans held 39% of the nation's wealth, a rise in the poverty population from 26.1 million in 1979 to 32.7 million in 1988, and an increase in homelessness to 600,000 Americans on any given night.

Despite the continuing debate surrounding his legacy, many conservative and liberal scholars agree that Reagan has been the most influential president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, leaving his imprint on American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics. Since he left office, historians have reached a consensus, as summarized by British historian M. J. Heale, who finds that scholars now concur that Reagan rehabilitated conservatism, turned the nation to the right, practiced a pragmatic conservatism that balanced ideology and the constraints of politics, revived faith in the presidency and in American self respect, and contributed to victory in the Cold War. In response, Howard Kurtz of ''The Washington Post'' has opined that Reagan was "a far more controversial figure in his time than the largely gushing obits on television would suggest."

Cold War

The Cold War was a major political and economic endeavor for over four decades, but the confrontation between the two superpowers had decreased dramatically by the end of Reagan's presidency. The significance of Reagan's role in ending the Cold War has spurred contentious and opinionated debate. That Reagan had some role in contributing to the downfall of the Soviet Union is collectively agreed, but the extent of this role is continuously debated, with many believing that Reagan's defense policies, hard line rhetoric against the Soviet Union and Communism, as well as summits with General Secretary Gorbachev played a significant part in ending the War.

He was notable amongst post–World War II presidents as being convinced that the Soviet Union could be defeated rather than simply negotiated with, a conviction that was vindicated by Gennadi Gerasimov, the Foreign Ministry spokesman under Gorbachev, who said that Star Wars was "very successful blackmail. ... The Soviet economy couldn't endure such competition." Reagan's strong rhetoric toward the nation had mixed effects; Jeffery W. Knopf, PhD observes that being labeled "evil" probably made no difference to the Soviets but gave encouragement to the East-European citizens opposed to communism. That Reagan had little or no effect in ending the Cold War is argued with equal weight; that Communism's internal weakness had become apparent, and the Soviet Union would have collapsed in the end regardless of who was in power. President Harry Truman's policy of containment is also regarded as a force behind the fall of the U.S.S.R., and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan undermined the Soviet system itself. and deemed him "a great President." Gorbachev does not acknowledge a win or loss in the war, but rather a peaceful end; he said he was not intimidated by Reagan's harsh rhetoric. Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said of Reagan, "he warned that the Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for military power... but he also sensed it was being eaten away by systemic failures impossible to reform." She later said, "Ronald Reagan had a higher claim than any other leader to have won the Cold War for liberty and he did it without a shot being fired." Said Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada: "He enters history as a strong and dramatic player [in the Cold War]." Former President Lech Wałęsa of Poland acknowledged, "Reagan was one of the world leaders who made a major contribution to communism's collapse."

Domestic and political legacy

Ronald Reagan reshaped the Republican party, led the modern conservative movement, and altered the political dynamic of the United States. More men voted Republican under Reagan, and Reagan tapped into religious voters. The so-called "Reagan Democrats" were a result of his presidency.

Since leaving office, Reagan has become an iconic influence within the Republican party. His policies and beliefs have been frequently invoked by Republican presidential candidates since 1989. The 2008 Republican presidential candidates were no exception, for they aimed to liken themselves to him during the primary debates, even imitating his campaign strategies. Republican nominee John McCain frequently stated that he came to office as "a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution". Lastly, Reagan's most famous statement that "Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem", has become the unofficial slogan for the rise of conservative commentators like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh; as well as the emergence of the Tea Party Movement.

Cultural and political image

According to columnist Chuck Raasch, "Reagan transformed the American presidency in ways that only a few have been able to." He redefined the political agenda of the times, advocating lower taxes, a conservative economic philosophy, and a stronger military. His role in the Cold War further enhanced his image as a different kind of leader. Reagan's "avuncular style, optimism, and plain-folks demeanor" also helped him turn "government-bashing into an art form."

+ Ronald Reagan's approval ratings	!Date	!Event	!Approval (%)	!Disapproval (%)
March 30, 1981	Shot by Hinckley	73	19
January 22, 1983	High unemployment	42	54
April 26, 1986	Libya bombing	70	26
February 26, 1987	Iran-Contra affair	44	51
January 20, 1989	End of presidency	64
! n/a	! Career Average	! 57	! 39
July 30, 2001	(Retrospective)	64	27

As a sitting president, Reagan did not have the highest approval ratings, but his popularity has increased since 1989. Gallup polls in 2001 and 2007 ranked him number one or number two when correspondents were asked for the greatest president in history, and third of post–World War II presidents in a 2007 Rasmussen Reports poll, fifth in an ABC 2000 poll, ninth in another 2007 Rasmussen poll, and eighth in a late 2008 poll by United Kingdom newspaper ''The Times''. In a Siena College survey of over 200 historians, however, Reagan ranked sixteenth out of 42. While the debate about Reagan's legacy is ongoing, the 2009 Annual ''C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leaders'' ranked Reagan the 10th greatest president. The survey of leading historians rated Reagan number 11 in 2000.

In 2011, the Institute for the Study of the Americas released the first ever U.K. academic survey to rate U.S. presidents. This poll of U.K. specialists in U.S. history and politics placed Reagan as the 8th greatest U.S. president.

Reagan's ability to connect with the American people earned him the laudatory moniker "The Great Communicator". Of it, Reagan said, "I won the nickname the great communicator. But I never thought it was my style that made a difference—it was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things." His age and soft-spoken speech gave him a warm grandfatherly image.

Reagan also earned the nickname "the Teflon President," in that public perceptions of him were not tarnished by the controversies that arose during his administration. According to Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, who coined the phrase, and reporter Howard Kurtz, the epithet referred to Reagan's ability to "do almost anything wrong and not get blamed for it."

Public reaction to Reagan was always mixed; the oldest president was supported by young voters, and began an alliance that shifted many of them to the Republican party. Reagan did not fare well with minority groups, especially African-Americans. This was largely due to his opposition to affirmative action policies. However, his support of Israel throughout his presidency earned him support from many Jews. He emphasized family values in his campaigns and during his presidency, although he was the first president to have been divorced. The combination of Reagan's speaking style, unabashed patriotism, negotiation skills, as well as his savvy use of the media, played an important role in defining the 1980s and his future legacy.

Reagan was known to gibe frequently during his lifetime, displayed humor throughout his presidency, and was famous for his storytelling. His numerous jokes and one-liners have been labeled "classic quips" and "legendary". Among the most notable of his jokes was one regarding the Cold War. As a sound check prior to his weekly radio address in August 1984, Reagan made the following joke as a way to test the microphone: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." Former aide David Gergen commented, "It was that humor... that I think endeared people to Reagan."

Honors

Reagan received a number of awards in his pre- and post-presidential years. Following his election as president, Reagan received a lifetime gold membership in the Screen Actors Guild, as well as the United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award.

In 1989, Reagan was made an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, one of the highest British orders (this entitled him to the use of the post-nominal letters "GCB" but, by not being the citizen of a Commonwealth realm, not to be known as "Sir Ronald Reagan"); only two American presidents have received this honor, Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Reagan was also named an honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford. Japan awarded him the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1989; he was the second American president to receive the order and the first to have it given to him for personal reasons (Dwight D. Eisenhower received it as a commemoration of U.S.-Japanese relations).

On January 18, 1993, Reagan's former Vice-President and sitting President George H. W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that the United States can bestow. Reagan was also awarded the Republican Senatorial Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed by Republican members of the Senate.

On Reagan's 87th birthday, in 1998, Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport by a bill signed into law by President Clinton. That year, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center was dedicated in Washington, D.C. He was among 18 included in Gallup's List of Widely Admired People of the 20th Century, from a poll conducted of the American people in 1999; two years later, USS ''Ronald Reagan'' was christened by Nancy Reagan and the United States Navy. It is one of few Navy ships christened in honor of a living person and the first aircraft carrier to be named in honor of a living former president.

Congress authorized the creation of the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site in Dixon, Illinois in 2002, pending federal purchase of the property. On May 16 of that year, Nancy Reagan accepted the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress, on behalf of the president and herself.

Following Reagan's death, the United States Postal Service issued a President Ronald Reagan commemorative postage stamp in 2005. Later in the year, CNN, along with the editors of ''TIME'' magazine, named him the "most fascinating person" of the network's first 25 years; ''Time'' listed Reagan one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century as well. The Discovery Channel asked its viewers to vote for The Greatest American in an unscientific poll on June 26, 2005; Reagan received the honorary title.

In 2006, Reagan was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts. Every year since 2002, California Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have proclaimed February 6 "Ronald Reagan Day" in the state of California in honor of their most famous predecessor. In 2010, Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 944, authored by Senator George Runner, to make every February 6 Ronald Reagan Day in California.

In 2007, Polish President Lech Kaczyński posthumously conferred on Reagan the highest Polish distinction, the Order of the White Eagle, saying that Reagan had inspired the Polish people to work for change and helped to unseat the repressive communist regime; Kaczyński said it "would not have been possible if it was not for the tough-mindedness, determination, and feeling of mission of President Ronald Reagan". Reagan backed the nation of Poland throughout his presidency, supporting the anti-communist Solidarity movement, along with Pope John Paul II.

On June 3, 2009, Nancy Reagan unveiled a statue of her late husband in the United States Capitol rotunda. The statue represents the state of California in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Following Reagan's death, both major American political parties agreed to erect a statue of Reagan in the place of that of Thomas Starr King. The day before, President Obama signed the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act into law, establishing a commission to plan activities to mark the upcoming centenary of Reagan's birth.

Independence Day 2011 saw the unveiling of another statue to Reagan this time in the British capital of London, outside the American Embassy, Grosvenor Square. The unveiling was supposed to be attended by Reagan's wife Nancy, but she did not attend; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took her place and read a statement on her behalf; further to the former First Lady's absence President Reagan's friend and the British Prime Minister during Reagan's presidency Baroness Thatcher was also unable to attend due to frail health.

See also

List of Presidents of the United States

Political positions of Ronald Reagan

US Presidents on US postage stamps

Citations

References

Further reading

External links

Official sites

Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) at WhiteHouse.gov

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Ronald Reagan's major speeches

Ronald Reagan at Eureka College

Media

Ronald Reagan audio archives at NPR

Gipperisms: In the Words of Reagan—slide show by ''Life'' magazine

Oral History Transcripts on the Reagan administration from the Miller Center of Public Affairs

Speech on role of chaplains in the military, based on 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Text version; Video version

Korean Air Lines Flight 007">Speech on the 1983 Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007

News coverage

Ronald Reagan from ''The Washington Post''

Ronald Reagan at ''TIME'' magazine

Ronald Reagan at CNN

Ronald Reagan—BBC biography

An hour remembrance of Ronald Reagan with Charlie Rose, June 8, 2004

Essays and historiographies

Extensive essay on Ronald Reagan and essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs

Introduction of ''Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s'', a detailed account of Reagan's impact on the United States

Site directories

Category:1911 births Category:2004 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:Actors awarded British knighthoods Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from Illinois Category:American actor-politicians Category:American anti-communists Category:American Disciples of Christ Category:American film actors Category:American labor leaders Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American Presbyterians Category:American radio personalities Category:American shooting survivors Category:American television personalities Category:California Republicans Category:Illinois Republicans Category:Chicago Cubs broadcasters Category:Cold War leaders Category:College football announcers Category:Colorectal cancer survivors Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Eureka College alumni Category:First Motion Picture Unit personnel Category:Governors of California Category:History of the United States (1980–1991) Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Category:Infectious disease deaths in California Category:Iran–Contra affair Category:Major League Baseball announcers Category:New Right (United States) Category:People from Lee County, Illinois Category:People from Whiteside County, Illinois Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:People of the Soviet war in Afghanistan Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Presidents of the Screen Actors Guild Category:Presidents of the United States Category:Reagan family Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Category:Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:Republican Party Presidents of the United States Category:Republican Party state governors of the United States Ronald Reagan Category:Skin cancer survivors Category:United States Army Air Forces officers Category:United States Army officers Category:United States presidential candidates, 1968 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1976 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1980 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1984 Category:U.S. Presidents surviving assassination attempts Category:Writers from California Category:Writers from Illinois

af:Ronald Reagan am:ሮናልድ ሬገን ar:رونالد ريغان an:Ronald Reagan frp:Ronald Reagan az:Ronald Reyqan bn:রনাল্ড রেগান zh-min-nan:Ronald Reagan be:Рональд Уілсан Рэйган be-x-old:Роналд Рэйган bcl:Ronald Reagan bs:Ronald Reagan bg:Роналд Рейгън ca:Ronald Reagan ceb:Ronald Reagan cs:Ronald Reagan co:Ronald Reagan cy:Ronald Reagan da:Ronald Reagan de:Ronald Reagan nv:Hastiin alą́ąjįʼ dahsidáhígíí Ronald Reagan et:Ronald Reagan el:Ρόναλντ Ρήγκαν es:Ronald Reagan eo:Ronald Reagan eu:Ronald Reagan fa:رونالد ریگان fo:Ronald Reagan fr:Ronald Reagan fy:Ronald Reagan ga:Ronald W. Reagan gv:Ronald Reagan gd:Ronald Reagan gl:Ronald Reagan ko:로널드 레이건 hy:Ռոնալդ Ռեյգան hi:रोनाल्ड रीगन hr:Ronald Reagan io:Ronald Reagan id:Ronald Reagan is:Ronald Reagan it:Ronald Reagan he:רונלד רייגן jv:Ronald Reagan pam:Ronald Reagan ka:რონალდ რეიგანი kw:Ronald Reagan rw:Ronald Reagan sw:Ronald Reagan la:Ronaldus Reagan lv:Ronalds Reigans lt:Ronald Reagan hu:Ronald Reagan mr:रोनाल्ड रेगन arz:رونالد ريجان ms:Ronald Reagan my:ရော်နယ် ရေဂင် nah:Ronald Reagan nl:Ronald Reagan nds-nl:Ronald Reagan ja:ロナルド・レーガン no:Ronald Reagan nn:Ronald Reagan oc:Ronald Reagan uz:Ronald Reagan pnb:رونالڈ ریگن tpi:Ronald Reagan pl:Ronald Reagan pt:Ronald Reagan ksh:Ronald W. Reagan ro:Ronald Reagan rm:Ronald Reagan ru:Рейган, Рональд sq:Ronald Reagan scn:Ronald Reagan si:රොනල්ඩ් රේගන් simple:Ronald Reagan sk:Ronald Reagan sl:Ronald Reagan sr:Роналд Реган sh:Ronald Reagan fi:Ronald Reagan sv:Ronald Reagan tl:Ronald Reagan ta:ரானல்ட் ரேகன் tt:Рональд Рейган th:โรนัลด์ เรแกน tr:Ronald Reagan uk:Рональд Рейган ur:رونالڈ ریگن ug:رېگان vi:Ronald Reagan war:Ronald Reagan yi:ראנאלד רייגען yo:Ronald Reagan zh-yue:列根 bat-smg:Ronald Reagan zh:罗纳德·里根

Coordinates	39°27′9″N173°51′17″N
playername	Brett Lee
country	Australia
fullname	Brett Lee
nickname	Bing, Binga, The Speedster
living	true
dayofbirth	8
monthofbirth	11
yearofbirth	1976
placeofbirth	Wollongong, New South Wales
countryofbirth	Australia
heightm	1.86
batting	Right-handed
bowling	Right-arm fast
role	Bowler
international	true
testdebutdate	26 December
testdebutyear	1999
testdebutagainst	India
testcap	383
lasttestdate	26 December
lasttestyear	2008
lasttestagainst	South Africa
odidebutdate	9 January
odidebutyear	2000
odidebutagainst	Pakistan
lastodidate	11 April
lastodiyear	2011
lastodiagainst	Bangladesh
odicap	140
odishirt	58
club1	New South Wales
year1	1995 –
club2	Kings XI Punjab
year2	2008 – 2010
club3	Kolkata Knight Riders
year3	2011-present
club4	Wellington
year4	2011
columns	4
column1	Test
matches1	76
runs1	1,451
bat avg1	20.15
100s/50s1	0/5
top score1	64
deliveries1	16,531
wickets1	310
bowl avg1	30.81
fivefor1	10
tenfor1	0
best bowling1	5/30
catches/stumpings1	23/–
column2	ODI
matches2	201
runs2	943
bat avg2	16.25
100s/50s2	0/2
top score2	57
deliveries2	10,212
wickets2	349
bowl avg2	23.00
fivefor2	9
tenfor2	n/a
best bowling2	5/22
catches/stumpings2	50/–
column3	FC
matches3	116
runs3	2,120
bat avg3	18.59
100s/50s3	0/8
top score3	97
deliveries3	24,193
wickets3	487
bowl avg3	28.22
fivefor3	20
tenfor3	2
best bowling3	7/114
catches/stumpings3	35/–
column4	LA
matches4	241
runs4	1,118
bat avg4	15.74
100s/50s4	0/2
top score4	57
deliveries4	12,462
wickets4	406
bowl avg4	23.81
fivefor4	10
tenfor4	n/a
best bowling4	5/22
catches/stumpings4	58/–
date	7 June
year	2011
source	http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/6278.html Cricinfo }}

Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976 in Wollongong, New South Wales) is an Australian cricketer.

After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket. In each of his first two years, he averaged less than 20 with the ball, but since then has mostly achieved figures in the early 30s.

He is an athletic fielder and useful lower-order batsman, with a batting average exceeding 20 in Test cricket. Together with Mike Hussey, he has held the record for highest 7th wicket partnership for Australia in ODIs since 2005–06 (123).

Style

Lee is a fast bowler, one of the fastest the game has known. Lee's fastest recorded delivery to date is 161.8 km/h (100.5 mph) which he bowled in a test match against West Indian, Courtney Walsh, caught by Justin Langer at short leg. This was the last wicket to fall ending West Indies innings at 82 runs. It is the fastest recorded ball to date but was debunked right after an hour as three radar guns were not properly aligned and the back up radar gun recorded the speed in 150s only.

Lee ranks behind only Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar as the fastest bowler in contemporary cricket during most of this decade. Akhtar's delivery at 161.3km/h (100.2mph) stands as the fastest recorded to date.

Early in his career, Lee was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action, but was cleared. He was also criticised in early 2005 for bowling a series of beamers at batsmen during ODIs, at a rate which lead some to claim he was deliberately bowling illegal head high full tosses at batsmen.

Early career

Lee also played for the Australian Under 17 & 19 teams and was awarded a scholarship to attend the Australian Cricket Academy.

In March 1994, Lee was forced out of the Australian under-19 team to tour India due to stress fractures in his lower back. He recovered and made his first-class debut for New South Wales against Western Australia in a Sheffield Shield match as a 20-year old in the 1997–98 season, playing one match and taking 3/114.

One month later, Lee was chosen to represent the Australian A team on a tour to South Africa. He claimed two wickets but in that very match, stress fractures in his back from the previous injury had re-opened and Lee was in a back brace for over three months.

During the 1997-98 season, he played in five of the ten Sheffield Shield games, taking fourteen wickets at 30. He finished outside the top 20 in both the wicket taking list and the bowling averages.

Test career

Early Test career

By the late 1990s there were calls for Lee to be included in the national squad. He was eventually chosen in the final 14 for the Test series against Pakistan in 1999 but failed to make the starting 11. By the time the Test series against India came around, he was twelfth man. However, he duly made his Test debut for Australia in December 1999 against the touring Indians, becoming Australia's 383rd Test cricketer.

Bowling first change, Lee took a wicket in his first over in Test cricket when he bowled Sadagoppan Ramesh with his fourth delivery. He also captured Rahul Dravid in his first spell before returning to take three wickets in six balls to finish the innings with figures of 5/47 from 17 overs. Lee took thirteen wickets in his opening two Tests at the low average of 14.15.

Lee won the inaugural Donald Bradman Young Player of the Year Award at the Allan Border Medal award ceremony in 2000 soon after his debut.

Lee took 42 wickets in his opening three series, the most by any Australian bowler in the seven matches he played. However, in his seventh Test, where he took seven wickets including a five wicket haul in the second innings against the West Indies, he suffered a stress fracture of the lower back which kept him out of three following Tests. He returned against Zimbabwe but soon suffered another setback a month later when he broke his right elbow and was sidelined until May 2001.

Return from injury

Lee returned to the international team on the 2001 Ashes tour of England after recovering from an elbow injury. His comeback saw less success than his debut, managing only nine wickets in five Tests at 55.11. However, Lee was back as Australia's leading wicket-taker in the first and third Test against New Zealand later that year, in a series which he captured 5 wickets in the second innings and made a contribution of 61 with the bat in the first Test match. The series ended in a 0–0 draw. He finished the series with 14 wickets at 25.14. The two home and away series against South Africa were not as productive, yielding 19 wickets in six Tests at 38.42.

Lee only took five wickets in a match on three occasions between the New Zealand series and the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Lee came under pressure for his position after taking only five wickets at 46.50 in the three-Test series against Pakistan in 2002. Andy Bichel, who was filling for the injured Jason Gillespie, took eight wickets at 13.25. With the other frontline bowlers all taking wickets at less than 13, Lee was dropped when Gillespie returned for the first two Tests during the 2002–03 Ashes series. He returned for the Perth Test, after claiming a five wicket haul in a Pura Cup match against Queensland for New South Wales. He took thirteen wickets at 41.23 in three matches, compared to Bichel's ten at 35.1. After the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Lee took 17 wickets at 28.88 in four Tests against the West Indies. It was the first series in two years where he averaged under 30, and only the second in that period where had averaged under 40.

After a mid year break, he participated in a Two Test series against Bangladesh in northern Australia. He took six wickets at 31.66, and was Australia's most expensive bowler, with the other specialist bowlers averaging 15.55 against the lowest ranked team in Test cricket. He followed this with six wickets at 37 in a comfortable 2–0 Test series against Zimbabwe, in which the other specialist bowlers averaged 23.15.

Against the Indian batting lineup in the 2003–04 home series, which ended in a 1–1 draw for Australia, Lee was out of the first two Tests recovering from a torn abdominal muscle, an injury which he sustained during the Zimbabwe series.

Loss of Test position

Lee took eight wickets in over 100 overs in the final two Tests against India, at an average of 59.50. This Test included a double century to Sachin Tendulkar in the Indians' first innings of 7/705 where Sachin and V.V.S. Laxman freely attacked Lee and other bowlers in the final Test in Sydney. He ended the series with the worst average and economy rate of Australia's front line bowlers.

He was subsequently replaced by fellow fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz in 2004 during the tour of Sri Lanka when Lee's ankle injury worsened, forcing him to return home to have surgery. This injury would force Lee out of the game for 4½ months to ensure his full recovery. Lee's form in the Test arena had been ineffective, and from July 2001 to January 2004, he had a Test bowling average of 38.42, compared to an average of 16.07 in his earlier career.

Lee was unable to reclaim his position for eighteen months, when Kasprowicz took 47 wickets at 23.74 in thirteen Tests, taking his wickets at a much lower cost than Lee had done in the previous three years. This included 17 wickets at 26.82 on the spin friendly pitches of the Indian subcontinent, helping Australia to its first whitewash in Sri Lanka, and its first series win in India for 35 years.

Test return

After 18 months on the sidelines and a plea to the selectors and media regarding his constant position as 12th man in the team, Lee returned to the Test team in the 2005 Ashes series. With Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie both struggling for form, Lee returned to take the new ball with Glenn McGrath. He averaged 40 with the ball for the series, which some commentators have put down to having to bowl longer spells than he was accustomed to at the time , but was retained, in part because of his defiant batting which yielded runs at an average of 26.33. Despite his high bowling average for the series he was considered by many as one of Australia's best players along with leg-spinner Shane Warne and batsman Justin Langer.

Part of Lee's difficulty at Test level is that the benefits of his high speed, which give the batsmen less reaction time, also results in more erratic bowling. In recent times he has tried to concentrate solely on accuracy by reducing speed. During the first Test against the West Indies in late 2005 at the Gabba, after declaring that he would sacrifice pace and focus on 'line and length', Lee reverted to his initial style of bowling, based on the advice of his captain Ricky Ponting after his new method of bowling failed in the first innings. This saw him take 5/30 his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests, his first in four years.

In the 2005-06 Australian cricket season, Lee's Test figures improved from his 2001–04 difficulties, with a season bowling average of 25.74.

During South Africa's 2005–06 tour of Australia, Lee's form saw a steady improvement, with figures of 5/93 in the first Test at Perth. He finished the three Test series with 13 wickets and of the Australian bowlers, was second only to Shane Warne's 14 wickets in the series. Three Australian players including Lee, who was reprimanded in the Third Test in Sydney for showing dissent towards umpire Aleem Dar.

With the unavailability of Glenn McGrath for the tour of South Africa in March–April 2006, Lee became the spearhead of the Australian bowling lineup. In the second Test of that series, at Durban, Lee captured his 200th Test wicket in his 51st match and also captured figures of 5 for 69, on the back of 49 Test wickets in 2005. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. He was unable to maintain his performance when Australia visited Bangladesh for a two Test series, taking two wickets at 93, coming bottom of Australia's bowling averages.

In the first three tests of the 2006–07 Ashes series, he only took eight wickets and was fined for excessive appealing in the Third Test in Adelaide when a LBW decision was not in his favour. However during the week period between the Adelaide and Melbourne tests, he worked with Troy Cooley, Australia's bowling coach, to adjust his run up and came back in the 4th and final tests with more wickets. He finished the series with 20 wickets, with his best bowling figures being 4 for 47 at an average of 33.20. His performance was bettered by the other three major Australian bowlers: Stuart Clark with 26 wickets, Shane Warne with 23 wickets and Glenn McGrath with 21 wickets were ahead of him. Lee was however the fourth highest wicket-taker in the 2006/07 Ashes series ahead of all the English bowlers.

Post McGrath-Warne era

Following the retirements of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, Lee rose to the challenge and was awarded the Man of the Series in the inaugural Warne-Muralidaran Trophy, a two-Test series against Sri Lanka in late-2007. In his first series as bowling spearhead reaped 16 wickets at an average of 17.5. This was achieved by bowling 5 km/h slower to improve accuracy. In the following series Lee took 24 wickets at 22.58 in four Tests against India. In this series he overtook Jason Gillespie to become Australia's 5th highest wicket taker. His consistent efforts saw him rewarded with the Man of the Series Award for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2007–08. He capped off the season by winning the Allan Border Medal, the award given to the player adjudged Australia's best international cricketer of the past year.

Lee seemed underdone in the 2008 Australian tour of the West Indies, taking only 5 wickets in the first Test match, during which he seemed exhausted. He returned to productivity, taking eight wickets in the Second test, including a 5 wicket haul, and 6 in the Third Test.

During the Indian tour, Lee picked up a stomach virus and was unable to find his best form throughout the series. Lee showed glimpses of his best form when the team returned to Australia for a two test series with New Zealand, but generally seemed down on pace. However, he struggled in the two tests he played of the series with South Africa, which Australia lost 2–1, likely due to a niggling ankle injury and then a stress fracture he developed during the series (both in his left foot). The fracture broke completely during the second innings of the Boxing Day Test-match, Lee has since had surgery to repair his ankle and foot and is expected to be out for up to ten weeks.

By the time he returned to the Australian team for the Ashes in 2009, his position as spearhead had been usurped by the left armer Mitchell Johnson. Additionally, the arrival of bowlers like Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger ensured that Lee had to fight for a position in the team. However, he took six wickets in the first innings against the England Lions team in a practice match leading up to the Ashes. Lee was the only bowler to get reverse swing in this match and appeared to be in line for selection for the First Test at Cardiff. However, he picked up a left side strain and a sore rib in this match and he was ruled out of the first three Tests. He was then overlooked for a recall and never played test cricket again, announcing his retirement from test cricket at the beginning of 2010.

One-day International career

Lee made his debut in One Day International for Australia against Pakistan on 9 January 2000 during the Carlton and United Breweries Series at the Gabba, Brisbane. He became the 140th ODI cricketer to represent Australia.

In One-day Internationals, he was ranked by the ICC as the No. 1 ODI bowler in January 2006 and has been ranked among the top ten ODI bowlers since the start of 2003. He has a wide array of deliveries including a dangerous in-swinging yorker. His bowling strike rate of around 30 puts him amongst the most incisive in this form of the game. He also has a One-day International hat-trick to his name, achieved in the 2003 World Cup against Kenya. Lee was the first Australian and fourth bowler to ever achieve this feat in World Cup history.

In the matches Australia played in the 2005-06 triangular one day series, Lee gave a display of his useful batting abilities by making 57 in the second game in a 100 run partnership with Michael Hussey to pull Australia out of a middle order collapse. However, he is yet to consistently contribute with his batting, and his current ICC ranking hovers around the 90–100 region.

Lee finished the series with 15 wickets, the third highest tally behind Nathan Bracken and Muttiah Muralitharan.

While Lee's average and strike rate in ODIs rank him as one of the best strike bowlers in ODI history , he can still be erratic occasionally, as shown by his relatively high economy rate.

Lee also has the ability to take wickets very early in the innings, often removing batsmen in the first over of the innings. The delivery he bowled to Marvan Atapattu in the semi-final of the 2003 Cricket World Cup, reached 160.1 km/h (99.5 mph).

Cricket World Cup 2003

During the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Brett Lee was one of the leading performers for Australia. He concluded the tournament with 22 wickets off 83.1 overs at an average of 17.90 finishing second to Sri Lankan left-arm fastbowler Chaminda Vaas who took 23 wickets during that tournament. Lee also had a third leading strike-rate of 22.68 behind West Indian fast bowler Vasbert Drakes and Australian counterpart Andrew Bichel who topped the strike-rates with 19.43 and 21.37 respectively.

Lee earned six of his 22 wickets during the group stage, 11 wickets during the Super-six stage, 3 from the semi-final and 2 wickets from the final. He took one five wicket haul, 5 for 42, during this World Cup which was against the Australians' Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand during their super-six encounter at Port Elizabeth. He also earned his first international hat-trick with figures of 3 for 14 against Kenya during the last match of the super-six stage.

Brett Lee peaked during this tournament in terms of his bowling speed. It was at this world cup Lee bowled his previous fastest recorded delivery of 160.7km/h against England at Port Elizabeth during their group match.

One day international comeback

After many unsuccessful attempts, Lee finally made a comeback to international cricket in 2011, having not played for Australia for almost two years. He played the two T20s at the MCG and the Adelaide Oval against England. In the subsequent ODI series, his return was more successful. He finished as the leading wicket-taker for the series with 11 scalps at 24.00, his series best figures of 3/27 coming in the third match at the SCG. His pace was consistently around the mid 140s km/h and on occasion he once again managed to break the 150 km/h mark. . His good form and fitness have earned him a place in the Australian squad for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Batting

During the 2005 Ashes series, Lee had numerous defiant innings, including a stand of 43 not out in the Second Test at Edgbaston, this was Australia's highest individual score in that innings. This innings nearly won the match for Australia but the other batsman Michael Kasprowicz was caught behind by Geraint Jones and England won by just two runs. Lee's aggressive style and strong physique often yields many sixes, including one six which flew out of the Gabba (Brisbane) during a Test match against the West Indies in 2005, billed as the biggest six ever hit at that ground.

On 2 April 2006, Lee hit his highest Test score of 64 in 68 balls against South Africa at Johannesburg. His previous highest score in Tests was 62 not out which he made against the West Indies in 2000 at the Gabba. Lee nearly surpassed this score on 3 January 2008 against India when he made 59 off 121 balls. Lee had also once again nearly surpassed his highest test score when he had made 63 not out, but unfortunately Ricky Ponting had declared the innings in the 2nd test against the West Indies. As a result of this, he fell one run short of his highest test score.

Lee's highest score in ODI matches is 57 against South Africa at the Gabba in January 2006.

Retirement from Tests

In February 2010, Lee retired from Test cricket in a bid to prolong his career in the limited-overs department. He had been repeatedly injured and had not played a Test since December 2008. He played 76 Tests taking 310 wickets. Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee paid tribute to him saying "Brett is going to go down as one of the great all-time express bowlers in the world ... 150-plus km/h puts a huge strain on the body and it can only take so much. For him to play 76 Tests and 300-odd wickets doing what he does is a credit to him."

His friend, English cricketer Andrew Flintoff suggested that he should take retirement from Test Cricket in order to extend his ODI and T20 career.

Awards

The Donald Bradman Young Player of the Year 2000

The Wisden Young Cricketer of the Year 1999–00

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2006

Chosen in "Australia's Greatest ODI XI", selected by former and present Australian ODI representatives

Chosen in the ODI Team of the Year 2005 at the ICC Awards

Chosen in the Test Team of the Year 2006 at the ICC Awards

Chosen in the ODI Team of the Year 2006 at the ICC Awards

VB Series Player of the Series 2002–03

VB Series Player of the Series 2004–05

DLF Cup Player of the Tournament 2006

Warne-Muralitharan Trophy Player of the Series 2007

Border-Gavaskar Trophy Player of the Series 2007–08

2007 McGilvray Medallist for ABC's Australian Test Player of the year.

2008 Australian Test Player of the Year 2008 Allan Border Medallist

Chosen in the ODI Team of the Year 2008 at the ICC Awards

Chosen in the Test Team of the Year 2008 at the ICC Awards

2009 Champions League 20/20 Player of the Series

Personal life

Lee is the second of three sons born to Bob, a metallurgist and Helen (née Buxton), a piano teacher. He has two brothers, the elder being former Australian all rounder and New South Wales Blues captain Shane Lee. His younger brother Grant played cricket for New South Wales at the under-19 level, and is now an accountant. Lee attended Balarang Public School and Oak Flats High School, which later named its cricket ground in his honour. His nickname 'Bing' refers to 'Bing Lee', after a chain of electronics stores in New South Wales.

The brothers enjoyed soccer, basketball and skiing and were encouraged to play the piano by their mother (Grant is a qualified pianist). At sixteen years of age, Lee began playing first grade cricket for Campbelltown, where he managed to claim the wickets of a few New South Wales cricketers. He later joined Mosman, where at one point, he shared the new ball with Shoaib Akhtar.

Lee launched his own fashion label 'BL', in 2001.

Lee married Elizabeth Kemp in June 2006. They have a son named Preston Charles, born 16 November 2006. However, after two years of marriage, on 21 August 2008, Lee confirmed his separation from Kemp. They divorced in 2009.

At the time of the split, media speculation cited Kemp was having an affair with a rugby player in Brisbane; however, this was later disputed, with extended periods of loneliness due to Lee's off-season commitments keeping him away from Kemp and his young son Preston given as the reason for the marriage breakdown.

Lee is part of the rock band Six & Out. The band is made up of his brother Shane and former New South Wales cricketers Brad McNamara, Gavin Robertson and Richard Chee Quee. Lee plays the bass guitar or acoustic guitar for the band.

During the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in India, Lee recorded a duet with India's music diva Asha Bhosle called ''You're the One For Me''. The song reached a peak position of number two on the Indian and South African charts. In 2008, he filmed scenes for his first Bollywood movie ''Victory''. He once hosted a short-lived TV program called "Personal Best".

Endorsements

Lee's sponsorship deals include the breakfast cereal Weet-Bix (which at one time were marketed as "Brett-Bix"), Gatorade and Volkswagen, of which Lee has two vehicles.

On the field sponsorship includes uvex Safety Eyewear. He is currently not sponsored by any cricket equipment manufacturer. Travelex has also developed the game Brett Lee's Backyard Cricket in which a caricature of Lee is featured.

Owing to Lee's popularity in India, he has a number of major sponsorship deals there, including for Timex watches, New Balance shoes, Boost energy drink and TVS Motor Company.

Charity work

Lee supports a number of charities including the Salvation Army, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and the Make a Wish Foundation, in which Lee was named an 'Official Friend' in honour of his long-standing association with the foundation. He began supporting ADRA along with his brother Shane when a close friend committed suicide.

Career highlights

Tests

Lee's best Test bowling figures of five for 30 came against the West Indies at The Gabba, Brisbane in 2005

Lee's 100th wicket was Marcus Trescothick in his 27th Test against England at Sydney in 2003

Lee took his 200th wicket, Mark Boucher, in his 51st Test against South Africa at Durban in 2006

His best Test batting score of 64 was made against South Africa, Johannesburg, 2006

He made his 1,000th Test run in his 53rd Test against Bangladesh at Fatullah in 2006

Lee's 250th wicket was Anil Kumble in his 62nd Test against India at Melbourne in 2007

Lee's 300th wicket was Jamie How in his 73rd Test against New Zealand at Brisbane on 22 November 2008

One-day Internationals

ODI Debut: vs Pakistan, Gabba, Brisbane, 1999–00

His best ODI bowling figures of five for 22 came against South Africa, Melbourne

Lee's best ODI batting score of 57 was made against South Africa, Gabba, 2005–06

Lee's 100th ODI wicket was Andrew Caddick, against England at the M.C.G. in 2003

Lee's 200th wicket was Marcus Trescothick, against England at Lord's in 2005

Lee's 300th wicket was Darren Sammy, against West Indies at St George's in 2008

Lee's 350th wicket was Nuwan Kulasekara, against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 2011 thus becoming just the second bowler in Australian History to get 350 Wickets.

Lee is the first (and currently the only) bowler to take 5 wickets twice in One Day Internationals played at Lord's

Other

Lee was the first player in Twenty20 International cricket to take a Hat-trick.

Lee played for the Kings XI Punjab team owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and Businessman Ness Wadia in the Indian Premier League

He will now be playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2011 season.

Soon after Lee was selected for Australia, a racing greyhound was named after him and was regarded as one of the best greyhounds in Australian history after winning 31 of 39 races and breaking six track records before its death in August 2010

References

External links

The official Brett Lee site

Brett Lee Online

Category:Australia One Day International cricketers Category:Australia Test cricketers Category:Australia Twenty20 International cricketers Category:New South Wales cricketers Category:Wellington cricketers Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Category:One Day International hat-trick takers Category:People from Wollongong Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:Punjab (Indian Premier League) cricketers Category:Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut

fr:Brett Lee hi:ब्रेट ली kn:ಬ್ರೆಟ್‌ ಲೀ mr:ब्रेट ली pl:Brett Lee simple:Brett Lee ta:பிறெட் லீ ur:بریٹ لی