thumb|right|300px|1867 edition of ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch'', a ground-breaking British magazine of popular humour, including a great deal of satire of the contemporary social and political scene.]] Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon.

A common feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is militant"—but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to attack.

Satire is nowadays found in many artistic forms of expression, including literature, plays, commentary, and media such as lyrics.

Term

The word satire comes from the Latin word ''satur'' and the subsequent phrase ''lanx satura.'' ''Satur'' meant "full," but the juxtaposition with ''lanx'' shifted the meaning to "miscellany or medley": the expression ''lanx satura'' literally means "a full dish of various kinds of fruits."

The word ''satura'' as used by Quintilian however, indicated a narrower genre than what would be later intended as ''satire;'' it denoted only works in strictly hexameter form, which were a distinctly Roman genre. Quintilian famously said that ''satura,'' that is a satire in hexameter verses, was a literary genre of wholly Roman origin (''satura tota nostra est''). He was aware of and commented on Greek satire, but at the time did not label it as such, although today the origin of satire is considered to be Aristophanes' Old Comedy. The first critic to use satire in the modern broader sense was Apuleio.

The derivation of ''satire'' from ''satura'' properly has nothing to do with the Greek mythological figure ''satyr''. To Quintilian, the satire was a strict literary form, but the term soon escaped from the original narrow definition. Robert Elliott writes: :"As soon as a noun enters the domain of metaphor, as one modern scholar has pointed out, it clamours for extension; and satura (which had had no verbal, adverbial, or adjectival forms) was immediately broadened by appropriation from the Greek word for “satyr” (satyros) and its derivatives. The odd result is that the English “satire” comes from the Latin satura; but “satirize,” “satiric,” etc., are of Greek origin. By about the 4th century AD the writer of satires came to be known as satyricus; St. Jerome, for example, was called by one of his enemies 'a satirist in prose' ('satyricus scriptor in prosa'). Subsequent orthographic modifications obscured the Latin origin of the word satire: satura becomes satyra, and in England, by the 16th century, it was written 'satyre.'"

Satire and humour

Satirical works often contain "straight" humour, usually to give relief from what might otherwise be relentless preaching. Although this has always been so, it is probably more marked in modern satire. Yet some satire is not "funny", nor is meant to be. Obviously, not all humour - even on such topics as politics, religion or art, or using the great satirical tools of irony, parody, and burlesque - is necessarily "satirical"; the most light-hearted satire always has a serious "after-taste". The Ig Nobel Prize satire on trivial scientific research describes this as "first make people laugh, and then make them think" - a fair definition of satire itself.

The Italian satirical playwright Dario Fo points out the difference between satire and good-humoured teasing, or ''sfottò'', which is an ancient form of buffoonery. According to Fo, satire has a subversive character; it is directed against oppression, and has a moral dimension. On the other hand ''sfottò'' (simple poking fun, benign spoof, light parodying and mockery) is a form of comedy without satire's subversive edge. Historically, people in positions of power have tried to censor and repress satire, but have often welcomed good-humoured buffoonery. From this, Fo draws criteria to tell real satire from ''sfottò'', saying that one can tell real satire from the reaction it arouses in the powerful. ''Sfottò'' on a powerful individual, by focusing on superficial matters such as personal appearance, may actually draw sympathy towards its target; Hermann Göring propagated jests and jokes against himself, with the aim of humanizing his image.

Types of Satire

Satirical literature can commonly be categorized as either Horatian or Juvenalian, although the two are not entirely mutually exclusive.

Horatian

Named for the Roman satirist, Horace, this playfully criticizes some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humour. It directs wit, exaggeration, and self-deprecating humour toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil. Horatian satire's sympathetic tone is common in modern society.

Examples of Horatian satire include:

Daniel Defoe's ''The True-Born Englishman''

Alexander Pope's ''The Rape of the Lock''

C.S. Lewis' ''The Screwtape Letters''

Matt Groening's ''The Simpsons''

Rick Mercer's ''The Rick Mercer Report''

The Ig Nobel Prizes.

Juvenalian

Named after the Roman satirist Juvenal, this type of satire is more contemptuous and abrasive than the Horatian. Juvenalian satire addresses social evil through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. This form is often pessimistic, characterized by irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humour. Strongly polarized political satire is often Juvenalian.

Examples of Juvenalian satire:

Joseph Hall's ''Virgidemiarum''

Jonathan Swift's ''A Modest Proposal'' and ''The Predictions for the Ensuing Year'' (written as Isaac Bickerstaff).

Samuel Johnson's ''London''

George Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' and ''Animal Farm''

Bret Easton Ellis's ''American Psycho''

Ray Bradbury’s ''Fahrenheit 451''

William Golding's ''Lord of the Flies''

Aldous Huxley's ''Brave New World''

Anthony Burgess' ''A Clockwork Orange''

Joseph Heller's ''Catch-22''

William Burroughs' ''Naked Lunch''

Jon Stewart's ''The Daily Show with John Stewart''

Stephen Colbert's performance at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner

Trey Parker & Matt Stone's ''South Park''

Types of satire can also be classified according to the object it addresses into political satire, satire of everyday life, and philosophical satire. Satire of everyday life criticizes mode of life of common people; political satire aims at behavior, manners of politicians, and vices of political systems; philosophical satire has as its object global vices inherent to the mankind. The state of political satire in a given country reflects the state of civil liberties and human rights. Under totalitarian regimes any criticism of a political system including satire is suppressed. A typical example is the Soviet Union where the dissidents, such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov were under strong pressure from the government. While satire of everyday life in the USSR was allowed, the most prominent satirist being Arkady Raikin, political satire existed in the form anecdotes that made fun of Soviet political leaders, especially Brezhnev famous for his narrow-mindness and love for awards and decorations.

Development

Ancient Egypt

One of the earliest examples of what we might call satire, The Satire of the Trades, is in Egyptian writing from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The text's apparent readers are students, tired of studying. It argues that their lot as scribes is useful, and their lot far superior to that of the ordinary man. Scholars such as Helck think that the context was meant to be serious.

The Papyrus Anastasi I (late 2nd millennium BC) contains a satirical letter which first praises the virtues of its recipient, but then mocks the reader's meagre knowledge and achievements.

Greco-Roman world

The Greeks had no word for what later would be called "satire", although the terms cynicism and parody were used. Modern critics call the Greek playwright Aristophanes one of the best known early satirists: his plays are known for their critical political and societal commentary, particularly for the political satire by which he criticized the powerful Cleon (as in ''The Knights''). He is also notable for the persecution he underwent. Aristophanes's bawdy style was adopted by Greek dramatist-comedian Menander. His early play ''Drunkenness'' contains an attack on the politician Callimedon.

The oldest form of satire still in use is the Menippean satire by Menippus of Gadara. His own writings are lost. Examples from his admirers and imitators mix seriousness and mockery in dialogues and present parodies before a background of diatribe. The reader is meant to question approved truths in order to form a didactic set of knowledge.

The first Roman to discuss satire critically was Quintilian, who invented the term to describe the writings of Lucilius. The two most prominent and influential ancient Roman satirists are Horace and Juvenal, who wrote during the early days of the Roman Empire. Other important satirists in ancient Latin are Lucilius and Persius. ''Satire'' in their work is much wider than in the modern sense of the word, including fantastic and highly coloured humorous writing with little or no real mocking intent. When Horace criticized Augustus, he used veiled ironic terms. In contrast, Pliny reports that the 6th century BC poet Hipponax wrote ''satirae'' that were so cruel that the offended hanged themselves.

Medieval Islamic world

:''Main articles: Arabic satire and Persian satire''

Medieval Arabic poetry included the satiric genre ''hija''. Satire was introduced into Arabic prose literature by the Afro-Arab author Al-Jahiz in the 9th century. While dealing with serious topics in what are now known as anthropology, sociology and psychology, he introduced a satirical approach, "based on the premise that, however serious the subject under review, it could be made more interesting and thus achieve greater effect, if only one leavened the lump of solemnity by the insertion of a few amusing anecdotes or by the throwing out of some witty or paradoxical observations. He was well aware that, in treating of new themes in his prose works, he would have to employ a vocabulary of a nature more familiar in ''hija'', satirical poetry." For example, in one of his zoological works, he satirized the preference for longer human penis size, writing: "If the length of the penis were a sign of honor, then the mule would belong to the (honorable tribe of) Quraysh". Another satirical story based on this preference was an ''Arabian Nights'' tale called "Ali with the Large Member".

In the 10th century, the writer Tha'alibi recorded satirical poetry written by the Arabic poets As-Salami and Abu Dulaf, with As-Salami praising Abu Dulaf's wide breadth of knowledge and then mocking his ability in all these subjects, and with Abu Dulaf responding back and satirizing As-Salami in return. An example of Arabic political satire included another 10th century poet Jarir satirizing Farazdaq as "a transgressor of the Sharia" and later Arabic poets in turn using the term "Farazdaq-like" as a form of political satire.

The terms "comedy" and "satire" became synonymous after Aristotle's ''Poetics'' was translated into Arabic in the medieval Islamic world, where it was elaborated upon by Islamic philosophers and writers, such as Abu Bischr, his pupil Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes. Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as ''hija'' (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or troubled beginnings and happy endings, associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" thus gained a new semantic meaning in Medieval literature.

Ubayd Zakani introduced satire in Persian literature during the 14th century. His work is noted for its satire and obscene verses, often political or bawdy, and often cited in debates involving homosexual practices. He wrote the ''Resaleh-ye Delgosha'', as well as ''Akhlaq al-Ashraf'' ("Ethics of the Aristocracy") and the famous humorous fable ''Masnavi Mush-O-Gorbeh'' (Mouse and Cat), which was a political satire. His non-satirical serious classical verses have also been regarded as very well written, in league with the other great works of Persian literature. Between 1905 and 1911, Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi and other Iranian writers wrote notable satires.

Medieval Europe

In the Early Middle Ages, examples of satire were the songs by Goliards or vagants now best known as an anthology called Carmina Burana and made famous as texts of a composition by the 20th century composer Carl Orff. Satirical poetry is believed to have been popular, although little has survived. With the advent of the High Middle Ages and the birth of modern vernacular literature in the 12th century, it began to be used again, most notably by Chaucer. The disrespectful manner was considered "Unchristian" and ignored but for the moral satire, which mocked misbehaviour in Christian terms. Examples are ''Livre des Manières'' (~1170), and some of Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. The epos was mocked, and even the feudal society, but there was hardly a general interest in the genre.

Two major satirists of Europe in the Renaissance were Giovanni Boccaccio and François Rabelais. Other examples of Renaissance satire include ''Till Eulenspiegel'', ''Reynard the Fox'', Sebastian Brant's ''Narrenschiff'' (1494), Erasmus' ''Moriae Encomium'' (1509) and Thomas More's ''Utopia'' (1516).'''

Early modern western satire

Direct social commentary via satire returned with a vengeance in the 16th century, when farcical texts such as the works of François Rabelais tackled more serious issues (and incurred the wrath of the crown as a result).

The Elizabethan (i.e. 16th century English) writers thought of satire as related to the notoriously rude, coarse and sharp satyr play. Elizabethan "satire" (typically in pamphlet form) therefore contains more straightforward abuse than subtle irony. The French Huguenot Isaac Casaubon pointed out in 1605 that satire in the Roman fashion was something altogether more civilised. Casaubon discovered and published Quintilian's writing and presented the original meaning of the term (satira, not satyr), and the sense of wittiness (reflecting the "dishfull of fruits") became more important again. 17th century English satire once again aimed at the "amendment of vices" (Dryden).

In the 1590s a new wave of verse satire broke with the publication of Hall's ''Virgidemiarum'', six books of verse satires targeting everything from literary fads to corrupt noblemen. Although Donne had already circulated satires in manuscript, Hall's was the first real attempt in English at verse satire on the Juvenalian model. The success of his work combined with a national mood of disillusion in the last years of Elizabeth's reign triggered an avalanche of satire - much of it less conscious of classical models than Hall's - until the fashion was brought to an abrupt stop by censorship.

The Age of Enlightenment, an intellectual movement in the 17th and 18th century advocating rationality, produced a great revival of satire in Britain. This was fuelled by the rise of partisan politics, with the formalisation of the Tory and Whig parties - and also, in 1714, by the formation of the Scriblerus Club, which included Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Robert Harley, Thomas Parnell, and Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke. This club included several of the notable satirists of early 18th century Britain. They focused their attention on Martinus Scriblerus, "an invented learned fool...whose work they attributed all that was tedious, narrow-minded, and pedantic in contemporary scholarship". In their hands astute and biting satire of institutions and individuals became a popular weapon.

Jonathan Swift was one of the greatest of Anglo-Irish satirists, and one of the first to practise modern journalistic satire. For instance, In his ''A Modest Proposal'' Swift suggests that Irish peasants be encouraged to sell their own children as food for the rich, as a solution to the "problem" of poverty. His purpose is of course to attack indifference to the plight of the desperately poor. In his book ''Gulliver's Travels'' he writes about the flaws in human society in general and English society in particular. John Dryden wrote an influential essay entitled "A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire" that helped fix the definition of satire in the literary world. His satirical ''Mac Flecknoe'' was written in response to a rivalry with Thomas Shadwell and eventually inspired Alexander Pope to write his satirical ''The Rape of the Lock''. Other satirical works by Pope include the ''Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot''.

Daniel Defoe pursued a more journalistic type of satire, being famous for his ''The True-Born Englishman'' which mocks xenophobic patriotism, and ''The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters'' - advocating religious toleration by means of an ironical exaggeration of the highly intolerant attitudes of his time.

Anglo-American satire

Ebenezer Cooke, author of "The Sot-Weed Factor," was among the first American colonialists to write literary satire. Benjamin Franklin and others followed, using satire to shape an emerging nation's culture through its sense of the ridiculous.

Mark Twain was a great American satirist: his novel ''Huckleberry Finn'' is set in the antebellum South, where the moral values Twain wishes to promote are completely turned on their heads. His hero, Huck, is a rather simple but goodhearted lad who is ashamed of the "sinful temptation" that leads him to help a runaway slave. In fact his conscience, warped by the distorted moral world he has grown up in, often bothers him most when he is at his best. Ironically, he is prepared to do good, believing it to be wrong.

Twain's younger contemporary Ambrose Bierce gained notoriety as a cynic, pessimist and black humorist with his dark, bitterly ironic stories, many set during the American Civil War, which satirized the limitations of human perception and reason. Bierce's most famous work of satire is probably ''The Devil's Dictionary'', in which the definitions mock cant, hypocrisy and received wisdom.

Satire in Victorian England

Novelists such as Charles Dickens often used passages of satiric writing in their treatment of social issues. Several satiric papers competed for the public's attention in the Victorian era and Edwardian period, such as ''Punch'' and ''Fun''.

Perhaps the most enduring examples of Victorian satire, however, are to be found in the Savoy Operas of W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. In fact, in ''The Yeomen of the Guard'', a jester is given lines that paint a very neat picture of the method and purpose of the satirist, and might almost be taken as a statement of Gilbert's own intent: :''"I can set a braggart quailing with a quip, :''The upstart I can wither with a whim; :''He may wear a merry laugh upon his lip, :''But his laughter has an echo that is grim!"

20th century satire

In the 20th century, satire was used by authors such as Aldous Huxley and George Orwell to make serious and even frightening commentaries on the dangers of the sweeping social changes taking place throughout Europe and United States. The film ''The Great Dictator'' (1940) by Charlie Chaplin is a satire on Adolf Hitler. Many social critics of the time, such as Karl Kraus, Dorothy Parker and H. L. Mencken, used satire as their main weapon, and Mencken in particular is noted for having said that "one horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms" in the persuasion of the public to accept a criticism. Joseph Heller's most famous work, ''Catch-22'', satirizes bureaucracy and the military, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. Novelist Sinclair Lewis was known for his satirical stories such as ''Babbitt'', ''Main Street'', and ''It Can't Happen Here''. His books often explored and satirized contemporary American values.

The film ''Dr. Strangelove'' from 1964 was a popular satire on the Cold War. A more humorous brand of satire enjoyed a renaissance in the UK in the early 1960s with the ''Satire Boom'', led by such luminaries as Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, whose stage show ''Beyond the Fringe'' was a hit not only in Britain, but also in the United States. Other significant influences in 1960s British satire include David Frost, Eleanor Bron and the television program ''That Was The Week That Was''. Paul Krassner's magazine The Realist was immensely popular during the 1960s and early 1970s among people in the counterculture and had articles and cartoons that were savage, biting satires of politicians such as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the War on Drugs.

Contemporary satire

Contemporary popular usage of the term "satire" is often very imprecise. While satire often uses caricature and parody, by no means are all uses of these or other humorous devices, satiric. Refer to the careful definition of satire that heads this article. Stephen Colbert’s television program, ''The Colbert Report'', is instructive in the methods of contemporary American satire. Colbert's character is an opinionated and self-righteous commentator who, in his TV interviews, interrupts people, points and wags his finger at them, and "unwittingly" uses a number of logical fallacies. In doing so, he demonstrates the principle of modern American political satire: the ridicule of the actions of politicians and other public figures by taking all their statements and purported beliefs to their furthest (supposedly) logical conclusion, thus revealing their perceived hypocrisy. Other political satire includes various political causes in the past, including the relatively successful Polish Beer-Lovers' Party and the joke political candidates Molly the Dog and Brian Miner.

The television program ''South Park'' relies almost exclusively on satire to address issues in American culture, with episodes addressing anti-Semitism, militant atheism, homophobia, environmentalism, corporate culture, political correctness and Catholic sex scandals, among many other issues.

In the United Kingdom, a popular modern satirist is Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the internationally best-selling ''Discworld'' book series. One of the most well-known and controversial British satirists is Chris Morris, co-writer and director of ''Four Lions''.

Satire is used on many UK television programmes, particularly popular panel shows and quiz shows such as ''Mock the Week'', ''Have I Got News for You'', and ''The Now Show''. Similarly it is found on radio quiz shows such as ''The News Quiz''.

In Canada, satire has become an important part of the comedy scene. Stephen Leacock was one of the best known early Canadian satirists, and in the early 20th century, he achieved fame by targeting the attitudes of small town life. In more recent years, Canada has had several prominent satirical television series. Some, including ''CODCO'', ''The Royal Canadian Air Farce'', and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' deal directly with current news stories and political figures, while others, like ''History Bites'' present contemporary social satire in the context of events and figures in history. The Canadian website ''The Daily Week'' combines social and political satire with absurdity. Canadian songwriter Nancy White uses music as the vehicle for her satire, and her comic folk songs are regularly played on CBC Radio.

Cartoonists often use satire as well as straight humour. Al Capp's satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' was censored in September 1947. The controversy, as reported in ''Time'', centred around Capp's portrayal of the US Senate. Said Edward Leech of Scripps-Howard, "We don't think it is good editing or sound citizenship to picture the Senate as an assemblage of freaks and crooks... boobs and undesirables." Walt Kelly's ''Pogo'' was likewise censored in 1952 over his overt satire of Senator Joe McCarthy, caricatured in his comic strip as "Simple J. Malarky". Garry Trudeau, whose comic strip ''Doonesbury'' has charted and recorded many American follies for the last generation, deals with story lines such as the Vietnam War (and now, the Iraq War), dumbed-down education, and over-eating at "McFriendly's". Trudeau exemplifies humour mixed with criticism. Recently, one of his gay characters lamented that because he was not legally married to his partner, he was deprived of the "exquisite agony" of experiencing a nasty and painful divorce like heterosexuals. This, of course, satirized the claim that gay unions would denigrate the sanctity of heterosexual marriage. Doonesbury also presents an example of how satire can cause social change. The comic strip satirized a Florida county that had a law requiring minorities to have a passcard in the area; the law was soon repealed with an act nicknamed the Doonesbury Act. Like some literary predecessors, many recent television satires contain strong elements of parody and caricature; for instance, the popular animated series ''The Simpsons'' and ''South Park'' both parody modern family and social life by taking their assumptions to the extreme; both have led to the creation of similar series. As well as the purely humorous effect of this sort of thing, they often strongly criticise various phenomena in politics, economic life, religion and many other aspects of society, and thus qualify as satirical. Due to their animated nature, these shows can easily use images of public figures and generally have greater freedom to do so than conventional shows using live actors.

''Fake News'' is also a very popular form of contemporary satire, appearing in as wide an array of formats as the news media itself: print (e.g. The Onion, Private Eye), radio (e.g. On the Hour), television (e.g. The Day Today, The Daily Show, Brass Eye) and the web (e.g. Mindry.in, Scunt News, Faking News, The Giant Napkin, Unconfirmed Sources and The ''Onion'''s website). Other satires are on the list of satirists and satires. Another internet-driven form of satire is to lampoon bad internet performers. An example of this is the Internet meme character Miranda Sings.

In an interview with ''Wikinews'', Sean Mills, President of ''The Onion'', said angry letters about their news parody always carried the same message. "It’s whatever affects that person," said Mills. "So it’s like, 'I love it when you make a joke about murder or rape, but if you talk about cancer, well my brother has cancer and that’s not funny to me.' Or someone else can say, 'Cancer’s ''hilarious'', but don’t talk about rape because my cousin got raped.' Those are rather extreme examples, but if it affects somebody personally, they tend to be more sensitive about it."

''Zhou Libo'', a comedian from Shanghai, is the most popular satirist in China. His humour has interested the middle-class people and had sold out shows ever since his rise to fame. Primarily a theater performer, Zhou said his work is never scripted, allowing him to improvise jokes about recent events. He often mocks political figures he supports.

Perception of satire

Because satire often combines anger and humour it can be profoundly disturbing - because it is essentially ironic or sarcastic, it is often misunderstood.

Common uncomprehending responses to satire include revulsion (accusations of poor taste, or that "it's just not funny" for instance), to the idea that the satirist actually does support the ideas, policies, or people he is attacking. For instance, at the time of its publication, many people misunderstood Swift’s purpose in ''A Modest Proposal'', assuming it to be a serious recommendation of economically motivated cannibalism. Again, some critics of Mark Twain see ''Huckleberry Finn'' as racist and offensive, missing the point that its author clearly intended it to be satire (racism being in fact only one of a number of Mark Twain's known concerns attacked in ''Huckleberry Finn''). This same misconception was suffered by the main character of the 1960s British television comedy satire ''Till Death Us Do Part''. The character of Alf Garnett (played by Warren Mitchell) was created to poke fun at the kind of narrow-minded, racist, little-Englander that Garnett represented. Instead, his character became a sort of anti-hero to people who actually agreed with his views. The same thing happened with conservative Americans in regard to the main character in the American TV Show ''All in the Family'', ''Archie Bunker''.

The Australian satirical television comedy show ''The Chaser's War on Everything'' has suffered repeated attacks based on various perceived interpretations of the "target" of its attacks. The "Make a Realistic Wish Foundation" sketch (June 2009), which attacked in classical satiric fashion the heartlessness of people who are reluctant to donate to charities, was widely interpreted as an attack on the Make a Wish Foundation, or even the terminally ill children helped by that organisation. Prime Minister of the time Kevin Rudd stated that The Chaser team "should hang their heads in shame". He went on to say that "I didn't see that but it's been described to me....But having a go at kids with a terminal illness is really beyond the pale, absolutely beyond the pale." Television station management suspended the show for two weeks and reduced the third season to eight episodes.

Satire under fire

Because satire criticises in an ironic, essentially indirect way, it frequently escapes censorship in a way more direct criticism might not. Periodically, however, it runs into serious opposition, and people in power who perceive themselves as attacked attempt to censor it or prosecute its practitioners. In a very early instance of this, Aristophanes was persecuted by the demagogue Cleon.

In 1599, the Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift and the Bishop of London George Abbot, whose offices had the function of licensing books for publication in England, issued a decree banning verse satire. The decree ordered the burning of certain volumes of satire by John Marston, Thomas Middleton, Joseph Hall, and others; it also required histories and plays to be specially approved by a member of the Queen's Privy Council, and it prohibited the future printing of satire in verse. The motives for the ban are obscure, particularly since some of the books banned had been licensed by the same authorities less than a year earlier. Various scholars have argued that the target was obscenity, libel, or sedition. It seems likely that lingering anxiety about the Martin Marprelate controversy, in which the bishops themselves had employed satirists, played a role; both Thomas Nashe and Gabriel Harvey, two of the key figures in that controversy, suffered a complete ban on all their works. In the event, though, the ban was little enforced, even by the licensing authority itself.

In 2005, the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy caused global protests by offended Muslims and violent attacks with many fatalities in the Near East. It was not the first case of Muslim protests against criticism in the form of satire, but the Western world was surprised by the hostility of the reaction: Any country's flag in which a newspaper chose to publish the parodies was being burnt in a Near East country, then embassies were attacked, killing 139 people in mainly four countries (see article); politicians throughout Europe agreed that satire was an aspect of the freedom of speech, and therefore to be a protected means of dialogue. Iran threatened to start an International Holocaust Cartoon Competition, which was immediately responded to by Jews with an Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoons Contest.

In 2006 British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen released ''Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'', a "mockumentary" that satirized everyone, from high society to frat boys. Criticism of the film was heavy, from claims of antisemitism (despite the fact Cohen is Jewish) to the massive boycott of the film by the Kazakh government; the film itself had been a reaction to a longer quarrel between the government and the comedian.

In 2008, popular South African cartoonist and satirist Jonathan Shapiro (who is published under the pen name Zapiro) came under fire for depicting then-president of the ANC Jacob Zuma in the act of undressing in preparation for the implied rape of 'Lady Justice' which is held down by Zuma loyalists. The cartoon was drawn in response to Zuma's efforts to duck corruption charges, and the controversy was heightened by the fact that Zuma was himself acquitted of rape in May 2006. In February 2009, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, viewed by some opposition parties as the mouthpiece of the governing ANC, shelved a satirical TV show created by Shapiro, and in May 2009 the broadcaster pulled a documentary about political satire (featuring Shapiro among others) for the second time, hours before scheduled broadcast. Apartheid South Africa also had a long history of censorship.

On December 29, 2009, Samsung sued Mike Breen, and the ''Korea Times'' for $1 million, claiming criminal defamation over a satirical column published on Christmas Day, 2009.

Satirical prophecy

Satire is occasionally prophetic: the jokes precede actual events. Among the eminent examples are:

The 1784 presaging of modern daylight saving time, later actually proposed in 1907. While an American envoy to France, Benjamin Franklin anonymously published a letter in 1784 suggesting that Parisians economize on candles by arising earlier to use morning sunlight. In the 1920s an English cartoonist imagined a very laughable thing for that time: a hotel for cars. He drew a multi-story car park.

The second episode of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which debuted in 1969, featured a ''skit'' entitled "The Mouse Problem" (meant to satirize contemporary media exposés on homosexuality), which depicted a cultural phenomenon eerily similar to modern furry fandom (which did not become widespread until the 1980s, over a decade after the skit was first aired)

The comedy film "Americathon", released in 1979 and set in the United States of 1998, predicted a number of trends and events that would eventually unfold in the near future, including an American debt crisis, Chinese capitalism, the fall of the Soviet Union, terrorism aimed at the civilian population, a presidential sex scandal, corporate takeover of the government, and the popularity of reality shows.

In January 2001, a satirical news article in ''The Onion'', entitled "Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity Is Finally Over" had newly elected President George Bush vowing to "develop new and expensive weapons technologies" and to "engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years." Furthermore he would "bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession." However, the article predicted the "deregulation of ... industries, and the defunding of ... social-service programs," which turned out to be erroneous, as the Administration dramatically increased such spending, including under a trillion dollar prescription drug program.

In 1975, the first episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' included an ad for a triple blade razor called the Triple-Trac; in 1998, Gillette introduced the Mach3. In 2004, ''The Onion'' satirized Shick and Gillette's marketing of ever-increasingly multi-blade razors with a mock article proclaiming Gillette will now introduce a five-blade razor. In 2006, Gillette released the Gillette Fusion, a five-blade razor.

See also

Onomastì komodèin

Parody religion

List of satirists and satires

Political satire

News satire

References

Bibliography

Lee, Jae Num. "Scatology in Continental Satirical Writings from Aristophanes to Rabelais" and "English Scatological Writings from Skelton to Pope." Swift and Scatological Satire. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1971. 7-22; 23-53.

Jacob Bronowski & Bruce Mazlish, ''The Western Intellectual Tradition From Leonardo to Hegel'', p. 252 (1960; as repub. in 1993 Barnes & Noble ed.).

''Theorizing Satire: A Bibliography'' , by Brian A. Connery, Oakland University

Bloom, Edward A. . "Sacramentum Militiae: The Dynamics of Religious Satire." Studies in the Literary Imagination 5 (1972): 119-42.

The Modern Satiric Grotesque. Lexington: U of Kentucky P, 1991.

Theories/Critical approaches to satire as a genre:

Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism. (See in particular the discussion of the 4 "myths").

Udo Kindermann, Satyra. Die Theorie der Satire im Mittellateinischen. Vorstudie zu einer Gattungsgeschichte. Nürnberg 1978.

Emil Draitser. Techniques of Satire: The Case of Saltykov-Shchedrin. (Berlin-New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1994) ISBN 3110126249.

Hammer, Stephanie. Satirizing the Satirist.

Highet, Gilbert. Satire.

Kernan, Alvin. The Cankered Muse

The Plot of Satire.

Seidel, Michael. Satiric Inheritance.

Entopia: Revolution of the Ants (2008), by Rad Zdero.

Category:Humor Category:Rhetoric Category:Humanities Category:Literature Category:Theatre Category:Genres Category:Film genres Category:Television genres

ar:هجاء bs:Satira br:Flemmskrid bg:Сатира ca:Sàtira cs:Satira cy:Dychan da:Satire de:Satire et:Satiir el:Σάτιρα es:Sátira eo:Satiro fa:طنز fr:Satire gl:Sátira hi:कटूपहास hr:Satira io:Satiro id:Satire it:Satira he:סאטירה ka:სატირა kk:Сатира la:Satura lb:Satir lt:Satyra li:Satire hu:Szatíra nl:Satire ja:風刺 no:Satire nn:Satire oc:Satira pl:Satyra pt:Sátira ro:Satiră ru:Сатира scn:Sàtira simple:Satire sk:Satira sl:Satira (način pisanja) sr:Сатира sh:Satira fi:Satiiri sv:Satir ta:அங்கதம் th:เสียดสี tr:Hiciv uk:Сатира zh:讽刺

Coordinates	52°48′27″N15°11′36″N
name	Steve Carell
birth date	August 16, 1962
birth name	Steven John Carell
birth place	Emerson Hospital, Concord, Massachusetts
nationality	American
notable works	''The Daily Show'' ''The Office''
yearsactive	1991–present
spouse	Nancy Carell (m. 1995)
children	Annie Carell (b. 2001) John Carell (b. 2004)
occupation	Actor, comedian, voice artist, producer, writer, director }}

Steven John "Steve" Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'', he found greater fame in Hollywood for playing Michael Scott on ''The Office''. He has also starred in lead roles in the films ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', ''Little Miss Sunshine'', ''Evan Almighty'', ''Dan in Real Life'', ''Get Smart'', ''Date Night'', ''Dinner for Schmucks'', and ''Crazy, Stupid, Love.''; and voiced characters in the animated films ''Over the Hedge'', ''Horton Hears a Who!'', and ''Despicable Me''. Carell was nominated as "America's funniest man" in ''Life'' magazine, and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series for playing the lead role of Michael Scott for ''The Office'' in 2006.

Early life

Carell, the youngest of four brothers, was born at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts, and was raised in nearby Acton by his parents, Harriet T. (née Koch), a psychiatric nurse, and Edwin A. Carell, an electrical engineer. His maternal uncle, Stanley Koch, worked with Allen B. DuMont to create cathode ray tubes. Carell's paternal grandfather was Italian; his father was born with the surname "Caroselli", later shortening it to "Carell". Carell was raised Roman Catholic, and was educated at The Fenn School and Middlesex School. Carell also played ice hockey as a teenager for his high school. He played the fife, performing with other members of his family, and later joined a reenacting group portraying the 10th (North Lincoln) Regiment of Foot. Carell attributed his interest in history to this, in which he earned his degree from Denison University in Granville, Ohio in 1984. While at Denison, Carell was a member of Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company, a student-run improvisational comedy troupe. He originally aspired to become a radio broadcaster, deejaying at WDUB in Granville.

Early career

Before opting for a career as a performer, Carell claims that he worked as a mail carrier in Littleton, Massachusetts, where he met his future wife, Nancy Walls. He later recounted that he quit after a few months because his boss told him he was not very good as a mail carrier; he needed to be more efficient. He planned on attending law school, but was unable to write an explanation on his application form as to why he wanted to be a lawyer. Early in his performing career, Carell acted on the stage in a touring children's theater company and later in the comedy musical, Knat Scatt Private Eye. He also acted in a television commercial for Brown's Chicken in 1989. After that, Carell performed with Chicago troupe The Second City in 1991, where Stephen Colbert was his understudy for a time. That same year, he obtained his first film work in a minor role as Tesio in ''Curly Sue''.

During the spring of 1996, he was a cast member of ''The Dana Carvey Show'', a primetime sketch comedy program on ABC. Along with fellow cast member Stephen Colbert, Carell provided the voice of Gary, half of ''The Ambiguously Gay Duo'', the Robert Smigel-produced animated short which continued on ''Saturday Night Live'' later that year. While the program lasted only seven episodes, ''The Dana Carvey Show'' has since been credited with forging Carell's career. During this time, he also played a supporting character for several series including ''Come to Papa'' and the short-lived 1997 Tim Curry situation comedy ''Over the Top''. He has made numerous guest appearances, including on an episode of ''Just Shoot Me!'' titled "Funny Girl." Carell's other early screen credits includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus's short-lived situation comedy ''Watching Ellie'' (2002–2003) and Woody Allen's ''Melinda and Melinda''. He has also made fun of himself for auditioning for ''Saturday Night Live'' but losing the job to Will Ferrell. Carell was a correspondent for ''The Daily Show'' from 1999 until 2005, with a number of regular segments including "Even Stevphen" with Stephen Colbert and "Produce Pete."

''The Office''

During 2005, Carell signed a deal with NBC to star in an American version of the BBC British TV show ''The Office'', a "mockumentary" about life at a mid-sized paper supply company. He plays Michael Scott, the idiosyncratic regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Inc, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Although the first season of the adaptation suffered mediocre ratings, NBC renewed it for another season due to the anticipated success of Carell's movie ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', and the series subsequently became a ratings success. Carell won a Golden Globe and Television Critics Association award during 2006 for his ''Office'' role. He has also received five Emmy nominations for his work in the series (2006–2010). His last episode for the show, "Goodbye, Michael" aired on April 28, 2011.

Carell earned approximately US$175,000 per episode of the third season of ''The Office'', twice his salary for the previous two seasons. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' interview, he commented on his salary, saying "You don't want people to think you're a pampered jerk. Salaries can be ridiculous. On the other hand, a lot of people are making a lot of money off of these shows." Carell was allowed "flex time" during filming to work on theatrical films. Carell worked on ''Evan Almighty'' during a production hiatus during the second season of ''The Office''. Production ended during the middle of the fourth season of ''The Office'' because of Carell's and others' refusal to cross the picket line of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike. Carell, a WGA member, has written two episodes of ''The Office'': "Casino Night" and "Survivor Man". Both episodes were praised, and Carell won a Writer's Guild of America award for "Casino Night".

On April 29, 2010, Carell stated he would be leaving the show when his contract expires at the conclusion of the 2010–2011 season.

His last episode, "Goodbye, Michael," aired April 28, 2011. Michael Scott is last seen walking to his Colorado-bound plane to live with his fiancée, Holly Flax.

Film career

Carell's first starring role was in the 2005 film ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', which he developed and co-wrote. The film made $109 million in domestic box office and established Carell as a leading man. It also earned Carell an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance and a WGA Award nomination, along with co-writer Judd Apatow, for Best Original Screenplay.

Carell acted as "Uncle Arthur", imitating the camp mannerisms of Paul Lynde's original character for the 2005 remake of ''Bewitched'' with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. He also voiced a starring role for the 2006 computer-animated film ''Over the Hedge'' as Hammy the Squirrel. He also voiced for the 2008 animated film ''Horton Hears a Who!'' as the mayor of Whoville, Ned McDodd. He starred in ''Little Miss Sunshine'' during 2006, as Uncle Frank. His work in the films ''Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,'' ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', and ''Bewitched'' established Carell as a member of Hollywood's so-called "Frat Pack" group. (This set of actors includes Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson).

Carell acted as the title character of ''Evan Almighty'', a sequel to ''Bruce Almighty'', reprising his role as Evan Baxter, now a U.S. Congressman. Although, ostensibly, God tasks Baxter with building an ark, Baxter also learns that life can generate positive returns with people offering Acts of Random Kindness. During October 2006, Carell began acting for the film ''Dan in Real Life'', co-starring Dane Cook and Juliette Binoche. Filming ended December 22, 2006, and the film was released on October 26, 2007.

Carell played Maxwell Smart for a movie remake of ''Get Smart'', which began filming February 3, 2007 and was filmed in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Moscow, Russia. The movie was successful, grossing over $200 million worldwide. During 2007, Carell was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Carell filmed a movie during late 2008 opposite Tina Fey, titled ''Date Night''. It was released on April 9, 2010 in the U.S. He voiced Gru who is the main character in the Universal CGI movie ''Despicable Me'' along with Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, and Julie Andrews, which was very successful (he will likely be reprising the role for the upcoming sequel). He has several other projects in the works, including a remake of the 1967 Peter Sellers film ''The Bobo''. He is currently doing voiceover work in commercials for Wrigley's Extra gum.

Carell has launched a television division of his Carousel Prods., which has contracted a three-year overall deal with Universal Media Studios, the studio behind his NBC comedy series. Thom Hinkle and Campbell Smith of North South Prods., former producers on Carell's alma mater, Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show'', have been hired to manage Carousel's TV operations.

Personal life

Carell is married to ''Saturday Night Live'' alumna Nancy Carell, whom he met when she was a student in an improvisation class he was teaching at Second City. They have two children, Elisabeth Anne "Annie" (born May 25, 2001) and John "Johnny" (born June 2004). In addition to working with him as a fellow correspondent on ''The Daily Show'', Nancy also acted with him on ''The Office'' as his realtor and short-lived girlfriend Carol Stills, and also cameoed as a sex therapist in ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin''.

The Carells have homes in Toluca Lake, California, Marshfield, Massachusetts and in Florida. They recently helped to preserve some of the town's history by purchasing the 155-year-old Marshfield Hills General Store, an antique country store well-known for its candy counter.

Filmography

Film

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1991 | ''Curly Sue'' | Tesio | as Steve Carell |- | 2003 | ''Bruce Almighty'' | Evan Baxter | |- |rowspan="3"| 2004 | ''Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' | Brick Tamland | Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team shared with Will Ferrell, David Koechner and Paul RuddNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance shared with Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and Fred Armisen |- | ''Sleepover'' | Officer Sherman | |- | ''Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie'' | Brick Tamland | |- |rowspan="3"| 2005 | ''Melinda and Melinda'' | Walt Wagner | |- | ''Bewitched'' | Uncle Arthur | |- | ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' | Andy Stitzer | Also Writer/Executive ProducerMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best PerformanceNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team shared with Romany Malco, Seth Rogen and Paul RuddNominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay shared with Judd Apatow |- |rowspan="2"| 2006 | ''Over the Hedge'' | Hammy | Voice |- | ''Little Miss Sunshine'' | Frank Ginsburg | Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastChlotrudis Award for Best CastPhoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best CastScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best EnsembleNominated — Gotham Award for Best Ensemble CastNominated — Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor |- |rowspan="4"| 2007 | ''Evan Almighty'' | Evan Baxter | Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: ScreamNominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: ComedyNominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Hissy Fit |- | ''Stories USA'' | Mark | |- | ''Knocked Up'' | Himself | |- | ''Dan in Real Life'' | Dan Burns | |- |rowspan="2"| 2008 | ''Horton Hears a Who!'' | Ned McDodd: Mayor of WhoVille | Voice |- | ''Get Smart'' | Maxwell Smart | Also Executive ProducerNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance |- |rowspan="3"| 2010 | ''Date Night'' | Phil Foster | |- | ''Despicable Me'' | Gru | Voice |- | ''Dinner for Schmucks'' | Barry Speck | |- |rowspan="1"| 2011 | ''Crazy, Stupid, Love.'' | Cal Weaver | Also Producer |- |rowspan="1"| 2012 | ''Seeking a Friend for the End of the World'' | Dodge | |- |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |1996 | ''The Dana Carvey Show '' | Various characters | Sketch comedy |- | 1997 | ''Over the Top'' | Yorgo Galfanikos | 12 episodes; only 3 aired. |- | 1998 | ''Just Shoot Me!'' | Insurance Agent |- |1999–2004 | ''The Daily Show'' | Correspondent |- | 2005–2011 | ''The Office'' | Michael Scott | Writer, episodes "Casino Night" and "Survivor Man"; director, episodes "Broke", "Secretary's Day and "Garage Sale""Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2006)Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2007, 2008)Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2007, 2008)TV Land Future Classic AwardTelevision Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2006)Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series shared with ensemble writers (2007)Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Comedy for episode "Casino Night"People's Choice Awards for Favorite TV Comedy Actor (2009)Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Comedy Series (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)Nominated — Prism Award for Best Performance in a Comedy Series (2007)Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2006, 2007)Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2009, 2011)Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2006) (2011)Nominated — Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2009)Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series shared with ensemble writers (2008, 2009) |- | rowspan="2"|2010 | 2010 Kids' Choice Awards | rowspan="2"| Himself | Covered by slime |- | ''Todos Contra Juan'' | Argentinian TV sitcom – Season 2/Series finale |}

Other awards

Carell won the Spike TV 2008 "Guys Choice", Funniest M.F. Award.

References

External links

in 2007

Dateline NBC's interview with Carell

Carell's antique country store in Marshfield, MA

USA Today article on real-life CEO lessons

Category:1962 births Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Denison University alumni Category:Living people Category:The Office (U.S. TV series) Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Concord, Massachusetts Category:Second City alumni Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners

ar:ستيف كارل bg:Стийв Карел ca:Steve Carell cs:Steve Carell da:Steve Carell de:Steve Carell es:Steve Carell fa:استیو کارل fr:Steve Carell gl:Steve Carell ko:스티브 카렐 id:Steve Carell it:Steve Carell he:סטיב קארל la:Stephanus Carell nl:Steve Carell ja:スティーヴ・カレル no:Steve Carell pl:Steve Carell pt:Steve Carell ro:Steve Carell ru:Кэрелл, Стив simple:Steve Carell fi:Steve Carell sv:Steve Carell tl:Steve Carell th:สตีฟ คาเรล tr:Steve Carell uk:Стів Керелл zh:史提夫·卡爾

Coordinates	52°48′27″N15°11′36″N
Width	235px
Position	Small Forward
Height ft	6
Height in	8
Weight lb	250
Team	Miami Heat
Number	6
Nationality	American
Birth date	December 30, 1984
Birth place	Akron, Ohio, United States
Draft round	1
Draft pick	1
Draft year	2003
Draft team	Cleveland Cavaliers
Career start	2003
High school	St. Vincent – St. Mary High School
Profile	lebron_james
Team1	Cleveland Cavaliers |years1–
Team2	Miami Heat |years2–present
Highlights	2× NBA Most Valuable Player (–) NBA Rookie of the Year () 7× NBA All-Star (2005–2011) NBA Scoring Champion () 5× All-NBA First Team (, –) 2× All-NBA Second Team (, ) 3× All-Defensive First Team (–) NBA All-Rookie First Team () 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2003)
Medaltemplates	}}

LeBron Raymone James (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. He was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and signed a shoe contract with Nike before his professional debut. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2008–09 and 2009–10, and has been both an All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James signing with the Miami Heat. He became the third reigning NBA MVP to change teams and the first since Moses Malone in 1982.

The focal point of the Cleveland offense, James led the team to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1992 and to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, ultimately losing to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2011, James and the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games, 4–2. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.

High school career

James attended St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in Akron, where he became a starter during his freshman year for the Fighting Irish. He averaged 21 points and 6.2 rebounds, and led the team to a 23–1 record, en route to the Division III state title. Coach Keith Dambrot started working with James doing $1 clinics at a local recreation center. In his sophomore year, James averaged 25.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.8 steals. He led the team to a 26–1 record and a Division III state title for the second straight season. He was the first sophomore to be named Ohio's "Mr. Basketball" and became the first sophomore ever selected to the ''USA Today'' All-USA First Team.

In James' junior year his stats improved again. He averaged 29.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.3 steals and was again named Mr. Basketball of Ohio. He earned a spot on the All-USA First Team, and was named the 2001–02 boys' basketball Gatorade National Player of the Year. It was at this time that his nickname "King James" became a household staple in Ohio.

James appeared in ''SLAM Magazine'', which began his nationwide exposure. The St. Vincent–St. Mary basketball team did not defend its state title when increased enrollment forced the team to move up to the more challenging Division II (Ohio high school basketball has four divisions based on annual enrollment figures) and lost to Roger Bacon High School. James considered declaring for the 2002 draft after the season ended by petitioning for an adjustment to the NBA's draft eligibility rules, which at the time required prospective players to have at least completed high school. The petition was unsuccessful, but it ensured him an unprecedented level of nation-wide attention as he entered his senior year. By then, James had already appeared on the covers of ''Sports Illustrated'' and ''ESPN The Magazine''. His popularity forced his team to move their practices from the school gym to the nearby James A. Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron. NBA stars such as Shaquille O'Neal attended the games, and a few of James' high school games were even televised nationally on ESPN2 and regionally on pay-per-view.

In 2003, James' mother, Gloria James, got approval for a loan to buy a Hummer H2 for her son's 18th birthday. The bank took her son's future earning power into consideration, prompting an investigation by the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). Under the OHSAA guidelines, no amateur may accept any gift valued over $100 as a reward for athletic performance. When James later accepted two throwback jerseys of Wes Unseld and Gale Sayers worth $845 from NEXT, an urban clothing store in Shaker Square, in exchange for his posing for pictures to be displayed on the store's walls, OHSAA stripped him of his eligibility. James appealed and a judge blocked the ruling, reducing the penalty to a two-game suspension and allowing him to play the remainder of the season. James' team was forced to forfeit one of their wins as a result. That forfeit was the team's only official loss that season.

Despite the distractions, the Irish won a third state title, with James averaging 31.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.4 steals on the season. James was named to the All-USA First Team for an unprecedented third time, and was selected as Mr. Basketball of Ohio for the third year in a row. He earned MVP honors at the McDonald's All-American Game, the EA Sports Roundball Classic, and the Jordan Capital Classic. Although it was a foregone conclusion, by participating in more than two high school all-star events, James officially lost his NCAA eligibility. James finished his high school career with 2,657 points, 892 rebounds and 523 assists.

James also played football during his high school years at St.Vincent-St. Mary's. In his sophomore year he was named first-team all-state as a wide receiver, and in his junior year he led his team to the state semifinals. Sports analysts have speculated on whether he could have played in the NFL.

NBA career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2003–2010)

Rookie season

James was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Facing the Sacramento Kings in his first NBA game, James recorded 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals and shot 60% from the floor. After recording a season-high 41 points against the New Jersey Nets, James became the youngest player in league history to score at least 40 points in a game. He was scheduled to compete in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star weekend, although due to an ankle injury he suffered in January 2004, he was unable to participate in the contest. James averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game for the season, and was named 2003–04 NBA Rookie of the Year; becoming the first Cavalier and youngest NBA player to ever receive the award. He joined Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in their rookie season (Tyreke Evans has since joined this group). The Cavaliers improved by 18 wins and concluded the regular season with a 35–47 record, but failed to make the playoffs.

2004–05 season

In the 2004–05 season, James was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game and recorded 13 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds, as the Eastern All-Stars defeated the Western All-Stars 125–115. During the season, James became the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double and make the All-NBA Team. He averaged 27.2 points, 7.2 assists, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game. The Cavaliers failed to reach the playoffs again and finished with a 42–40 regular season record.

2005–06 season

In the 2005–06 season, James was elected to his second straight All-Star Game appearance and led the Eastern All-Stars to a 122–120 victory, with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. He became the youngest All-Star MVP at 21 years, 51 days. He was named ''NBA Player of the Week'' for an unprecedented three consecutive weeks and concluded the season with five honors. He scored 35 or more points in nine consecutive games, joining Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the only players since 1970 to accomplish the feat. For the season, James averaged 31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, and became the youngest player in NBA history to average at least 30 points. He became the fourth player in NBA history to average more than 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a single season. The Cavaliers made the playoffs for the first time since 1998, and improved from a record of 17–65 in 2002–03 to 50–32 in 2005–06.

Following the regular season, James was named as one of the candidates for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Although he finished second to Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns in MVP voting, he was awarded co-MVP honors with Nash by ''The Sporting News''; an award given by the publication that is based on the voting of thirty NBA general managers.

James made his playoff debut against the Washington Wizards in 2006. He recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, as the Cavaliers defeated the Wizards 97–86. He joined Johnny McCarthy and Magic Johnson as the only players in NBA history to register a triple-double in their playoff debut. For the series, James averaged 35.7 points, as the Cavaliers defeated the Wizards in six games. In the process, James set a new record for turnovers in a 6-game series, with 34. In the second round of the playoffs, James and the Cavaliers lost in seven games to the defending Eastern Conference champion and divisional rival Detroit Pistons. James averaged 30.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in the playoffs.

At the end of the season, James negotiated a three-year contract extension, with a player option for a fourth year. The contract was worth $60 million and began at the start of the 2007–08 season. Although it was for fewer years and less money than the maximum he could sign, it allowed him the option of seeking a new contract worth more money as an unrestricted free agent following the 2010 season. He had discussed this with fellow members of his 2003 draft class, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who also re-signed with their respective teams while allowing them to be unrestricted agents in 2010.

2006–07 season

James was elected to his third consecutive All-Star game appearance during the 2006–07 season. He played a game high 32 minutes and finished with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. In the regular season, the Cavaliers tied the previous season's record with 50 wins and clinched the second seed of the Eastern Conference on the last day of the season. For the season, James averaged 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He joined Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average 27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists per game for three consecutive years.

In the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, James led the Cavaliers to their first sweep in franchise history over the Washington Wizards in four games. It was the first time the franchise had won consecutive road playoff games. For the series, James averaged 27.8 points, 7.5 assists, and 8.5 rebounds. In the second round of the playoffs, James led the Cavaliers to a 4–2 series victory over the New Jersey Nets. He averaged 25.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 8.6 assists in the series, as the Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 15 years.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, James led the Cavaliers from an 0–2 deficit against the Detroit Pistons to win the series in six games. His performance in Game 5 was especially memorable. James recorded a franchise-record 48 points on 54.5% field goal shooting, to go with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. In addition, James scored 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points, including the team's final 25 points in a double-overtime victory. He concluded the night with a game-winning lay-up with 2 seconds left. NBA analyst Marv Albert referred to James' performance as "one of the greatest moments in postseason history," while color commentator Steve Kerr called it "Jordan-esque."

In the 2007 NBA Finals, James averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists, as the Cavaliers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs, losing 4 consecutive games. For the postseason, James averaged 25.1 points, 8.0 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game. He set a franchise record for double-doubles in a playoff season with eight and became the first Cavalier and the first non-guard in NBA history to have at least seven assists in eight consecutive playoff games.

2007–08 season

In the 2007–08 season, James continued his dominant play, earning his fourth consecutive All-Star Game appearance and once again positioning himself as one of the front runners for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He won the 2008 All-Star Game MVP with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals as the Eastern Conference All-Stars defeated their Western counterparts, 134–128.

On February 19, 2008, James recorded his fifth triple-double of the 2007–08 season by putting up 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists against the Houston Rockets. It was the fifteenth triple-double of his career. He is the third youngest player to post 15 triple-doubles, behind Robertson and Johnson. He scored his sixth triple-double of the season and sixteenth of his career against the Indiana Pacers the very next game. It was the second time during the season that he had a triple-double in back-to-back games. The last player to accomplish that feat was Johnson in 1988. James finished the season with seven triple-doubles, breaking his personal and team records for triple-doubles in a season and 17 career triple-doubles broke his team record as well.

On February 27, 2008, against the Boston Celtics, James became the youngest person to score 10,000 points in his career at 23 years and 59 days, achieving the feat in style with a slam-dunk over 11-time All-Star Kevin Garnett, eclipsing the old mark by more than a year. James did so in 368 games, the ninth fastest in league history. On March 5, 2008, James scored 50 points with 8 rebounds and 10 assists on the New York Knicks, becoming only the third player since the ABA-NBA merger to record a 50-point 10-assist game. On March 21, 2008, James scored 29 points against the Toronto Raptors, taking him past Brad Daugherty's all-time Cavaliers scoring record of 10,389 points. Daugherty achieved this record over the course of 548 games, while James took only 380 games to score 10,414 points.

All told, James propelled Cleveland to a 45–37 record, good for second place in the Central Division and the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Prior to Cleveland's first-round series versus the Washington Wizards, Wizards guard Deshawn Stevenson said James was "overrated," prompting James to say that he would not return the insult, as that would be "almost like Jay-Z [responding to a negative comment] made by Soulja Boy." In response, Soulja Boy himself made an appearance at Game 3 of the series (played in Washington) in support of the Wizards, and his music was played over the PA system. James would later say that he meant no disrespect to Soulja Boy with his comment, and that his young son is a big fan of the rapper. Jay-Z responded by producing a freestyle version of the Too Short single "Blow the Whistle", named "Playoff", in which he "disses" Stevenson and Soulja Boy on James' behalf. The Cavaliers won the series against the Wizards in 6 games (4–2). The Cavaliers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the next round (4–3). During the decisive seventh game, which was played in Boston, James scored 45 points, but opponent Paul Pierce's 41 led the Celtics to a narrow victory.

2008–09 season

In the 2008–09 season James continued to improve facets of his game while setting new career highs. He had 23 chase-down blocks (93 blocks in total, a career-high) and improved his free-throw shooting (78.0%, a career-high, with league-leading 594 free-throws made). He was the NBA Player of the Month four times, making him the second player in NBA history to do that after Kevin Garnett did so in his 2003–04 MVP season. In addition, he became the fourth player in NBA history to lead his team in all five major statistical categories (total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) in one season. After a win on March 25 against the New Jersey Nets the Cleveland Cavaliers improved their record to 58–13 exceeding their previous franchise best of 57–25 set in the 1988–89 and 1991–92 NBA seasons. They ended the regular season with a league best of 66–16 after losing their final home game to the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime. The Cavaliers had a chance to tie the 1985–86 Boston Celtics for the all-time best NBA home record but ended at 39–2 after home losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and 76ers. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs. James averaged 32.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists in the series and became just the third player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in a postseason series. At the end of the last game, in which he tallied 36 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists on 16–17 free throw shooting, there were MVP chants for him in The Palace of Auburn Hills. On May 4, he was announced as the NBA Most Valuable Player. He became the first Cavaliers player in history to win the award.

He was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team for the first time in his career.

In the next series in the playoffs, James once again led his team to a sweep against the Atlanta Hawks.

On May 22, during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Orlando Magic's Hedo Türkoğlu shot a 12-foot jumper to give the Magic a 2-point lead with 1 second left. Following a Cleveland timeout, Williams inbounded the ball to James, but heavy defense by Türkoğlu denied James a chance at a tying layup. James then attempted and made a three-point shot over Türkoğlu, giving the Cavs a 96–95 victory to tie the series 1–1. Following a Game 3 loss, James attempted another game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer in Game 4, but this time from farther away; it missed, thus dropping the Cavaliers down 3–1 in the series. After a Game 5 home win, he scored a playoff low 25 points in Game 6 and Cleveland lost the series to Orlando. James' postgame behavior incited some controversy when he left the game floor without shaking hands with his opponents. James later told reporters: }}

2009–10 season

Before the 2009–10 season, Cleveland traded for four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal to address an inside presence that was missing against Orlando. O'Neal's goal was to "Win a Ring for the King." James was selected to his sixth consecutive All-Star game appearance. He became the first player to earn at least 2.5 million votes three times. James recorded 25 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals as the Eastern Conference All-Stars defeated the Western Conference All-Stars 141–139. In a 118–116 loss to the Denver Nuggets, James tallied 43 points, 13 rebounds, 15 assists, two steals and four blocks in a game. He was the first player to have at least 40 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in a game since Robertson did so on February 13, 1962. All-Star Antawn Jamison was acquired by the Cavs on February 17, 2010. On March 13, 2010, James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 15,000 regular season points during a 92–85 win over the Chicago Bulls.

At the end of the regular season, Cleveland finished with the best regular season record for the second consecutive year. James won the Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career, becoming the tenth NBA player in history to do so. James received 116 of a possible 122 first-place votes to win.

In the playoffs, the Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls in the first round, but fell to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. James was criticized for not playing well, especially in Game 5 of the series, in which he shot only 3 for 14 and scored 15 points. He walked off the court in that game, his final home game as a Cavalier, "to a smattering of boos and rows of empty seats" and Cleveland lost 88–120 in their worst home playoff loss in team history. Cleveland was eliminated in Game 6, James' last playing for Cleveland, as he recorded 27 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, but also 9 turnovers.

2010 free agency

James became a free-agent at 12:01 am ET on July 1, 2010. He filed papers to formally change his jersey number 23 to 6 for the season. James was courted by several teams, including the Knicks, Nets, Heat, Bulls, Mavericks, Clippers, and his hometown Cavaliers.

On July 8, 2010, James announced on a live ESPN special, ''The Decision'', that he would be playing for the Miami Heat for the 2010–11 season and teaming with Miami's other All-Star free agent signees Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. ''The Decision'' was broadcast from the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut.

|LeBron James}}

Wade had informed Heat President Pat Riley that James wanted to become less of a scorer and more of a distributor, and James looked forward to no longer carrying the offense night after night as he did playing with Cleveland. Riley sold to James that "LeBron would be Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade would be Kobe Bryant, Chris would be Kevin Garnett." Relieved of the burden of scoring, James thought he could be the first player to average a triple-double in a season since Oscar Robertson.

The Cavaliers were informed of James' decision minutes before the show began. The television program drew high ratings as well as criticism for the prolonged wait until James' actual decision and the spectacle of the show itself.

In Cleveland, fans considered James' departure a betrayal that ranks second to Art Modell's efforts to relocate the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert almost immediately published an open letter to fans, denouncing James' decision as a "selfish", "heartless", "callous", and "cowardly betrayal", while guaranteeing that the Cavs would win an NBA title before the "self-declared former King." Gilbert's sports-memorabilia company Fathead also lowered the price of wall graphics depicting James from $99.99 to $17.41, the birth year of Benedict Arnold. William Rhoden of ''The New York Times'' defended James by stating that Gilbert's "venomous, face-saving personal attack", along with the ensuing "wrath of jersey-burning fans", only validated James’ decision to leave Cleveland. Reverend Jesse Jackson, American civil rights activist, said Gilbert's feelings "personify a slave master mentality", and he was treating James as "a runaway slave". J. A. Adande of ESPN said, however, that James chose to promote the drama of his decision in an hour-long television special instead of showing "common courtesy" to notify Cleveland and other teams of his plans. On July 12, 2010, NBA Commissioner David Stern fined Gilbert $100,000 for the letter's contents, while also criticizing the way James handled free agency. On July 14, James told J. R. Moehringer for a ''GQ'' article that there was "nothing at all" he would change about his handling of free agency.

Former NBA players criticized his decision to not stay with Cleveland and continuing to try to win a championship as "the guy". Michael Jordan stated that he would not have contacted his rivals from other teams like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to play on one team together, as "I wanted to defeat those guys." Jordan added that "...things are different [now]. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today." Johnson echoed Jordan's sentiments on teaming with rivals.

On September 29, 2010, asked by Soledad O'Brien of CNN if race was a factor in the fallout from ''The Decision'', James said, "I think so, at times. There's always – you know, a race factor." James had previously stayed clear of racial issues. When the earlier controversy over his cover on ''Vogue'' became a national debate, James had no comment. Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com, said James suddenly bringing up race in this instance was "laughable." Jason Whitlock of Foxsports.com said James' usage of the race card was "an excuse to avoid dealing with his own bad (The) Decision." Adande, however, said James "didn't claim to be a victim of racial persecution" and "caused us to examine the bias that's always lurking".

Before a game against the Nets on October 31, his first game against one of his suitors, James reflected on his free agency: “If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different,” James said. “But I’m happy with my decision.” He declined to be more specific.

Miami Heat (2010–present)

On July 9, James officially completed a sign-and-trade deal with the Miami Heat. On the same day, the Heat threw a welcome party and introduced James, Wade and Bosh to the 13,000 Heat fans at American Airlines Arena. The rock concert atmosphere featured the trio arriving to plumes of smoke with Bosh and Wade pointing to the crowd and James strutting around. Howard Beck of ''The New York Times'' described the national fan reaction to the party: "Everyone saw something: greatness, arrogance, self-indulgence, boldness, cowardice, pride, friendship, collusion, joy, cynicism, heroes, mercenaries."

On November 2, James had a game-high 12 assists in a 129–97 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. James was the primary ball handler for nearly the entire 33 minutes he played against the Wolves. He has been playing throughout the season the point guard role that Riley sold to him during free agency. "I don't want to be called a point guard, but I can't stop it," said James. Heat public relations announced that James's 12 assists was the highest in franchise history by a forward. On November 9 in a 116–114 loss to the Utah Jazz, James finished with 20 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, his first triple-double with the Heat. It was his 29th career triple-double, the seventh that came in a loss. On December 2, the Heat played in Cleveland in James' first game back since departing as a free agent. The crowd directed derisive chants and signs at James, who was booed every time he touched the ball. With tight security, the crowd was rowdy but not violent and there was only one arrest and four ejections. James scored a then-season-high 38 points and Miami won in a 118–90 blowout as the hostile crowd was quieted before halftime. In a well publicized arrival after spurning the franchise, LeBron James had his second triple double of the season with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in a blowout victory. In the Heat's 104–100 victory over the Orlando Magic on February 3, 2011, James scored 23 points in the first quarter, breaking Alonzo Mourning's single-game franchise record of 21 first-quarter points (March 29, 1996). James finished the game with 51 points, a season high, along with 11 rebounds and eight assists.

On March 29, in James' second game at Cleveland as a member of the Heat, he skipped his pregame player introduction, saying that he was using the bathroom, and entered the arena during the Cleveland Cavaliers player introductions. The Heat lost to the Cavaliers 102–90 despite James' 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

James finished second in the league in scoring with 26.7 points per game and Dwyane Wade finished fourth (25.5 points per game). They combined to score 4,052 points this season, most by a duo in franchise history.

In the 2011 NBA Finals James finished with averages of 17.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 7.1 rebounds, although the Miami Heat were beaten in 6 games by the Dallas Mavericks, 4–2. Throughout the postseason James averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 assists, and 8.3 rebounds. James's 17.8 points per game (down 8.9 points from 26.7) in the Finals was the largest drop off in points from a regular season to an NBA Finals in NBA history.

International career

After his rookie season, James played on the 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team in Athens, where the US men's team won the bronze medal. It was the first time a U.S. Olympic team with NBA players failed to win the gold medal. Limited to 14.6 minutes per game, James averaged just 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.

Along with Kobe Bryant, he was one of the first two players to be publicly named to the 2006–2008 U.S. preliminary roster in 2006 by Jerry Colangelo. James competed in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan and averaged 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. The team finished with an 8–1 record, and was again awarded the bronze medal. James was named as one of three captains for the 2006 USA Men's World Championship team, alongside Carmelo Anthony and Wade.

After failing to win the 2006 World Championships, the team competed at the 2007 Tournament of Americas Olympic qualifiers to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. During the gold medal game against Argentina, James recorded 31 points, the most by an American in an Olympic qualifier, as the United States captured gold medal honors. He averaged 18.1 points (on tournament-high field-goal percentage (76%) and three-point percentage (62.2%), 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 22.2 minutes per game.

James, along with the rest of Team USA reclaimed the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, defeating Spain 118 to 107. He finished the gold medal game with 14 points along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists as the U.S. went unbeaten, winning their first gold medal since the 2000 Olympics. It was later reported that James' "immaturity and downright disrespectfulness" were a risk to his being included on the Beijing Olympic team as Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski and managing director Jerry Colangelo believed that Bryant joining the national team would allow the team to win the gold medal with or without James.

Player profile

As of the 2010–11 season, James has averaged 27.7 points, 7.0 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game for his career in the regular season, and has recorded 34 triple-doubles in his career, with 28 in the regular season and six in the postseason. In the 2005–06 season, he led the league in completed traditional three point plays. He regularly ranks among the league leaders in rebounds for the small forward position. James' skills have led to many comparisons to NBA legends Robertson, Johnson, and Jordan. James was not named to the NBA All-Defensive Team until the 2008–09 season, when he finished second in voting for Defensive Player of the Year.

In March 2011, the New York Times wrote that James "has not mastered a reliable midrange jumper ... has not developed a go-to move in the post" and his options in a half-court set at the end of games "often are a long jump shot or a mad dash to the rim."

James started a petition saying that no one should be allowed to wear the No. 23 in the NBA to honor Jordan. On March 1, 2010, James filed an application to the NBA to wear the No. 6 starting the 2010–11 season.

Off the court

Personal life

James was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio, to a 16-year-old mother, Gloria. His biological father, Anthony McClelland, was an ex-convict who left Gloria. Gloria then had to raise LeBron by herself.

James has two children with his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson. The first, LeBron James Jr., was born on October 6, 2004, and the second, Bryce Maximus James, on June 14, 2007. They currently reside in Coconut Grove, a Miami suburb, where James bought a three-story mansion overlooking Biscayne Bay for $9 million on November 12, 2010.

Endorsements

James has endorsement contracts with Nike, Sprite, Glacéau, Bubblicious, Upper Deck, McDonald's and State Farm. With Nike, James has released six signature shoe styles, and four additional shoes (20–5–5, Soldier, Soldier 2, Ambassador). He has acted in a 2007 series of commercials called "The LeBrons", as well as had his likeness voiced by Kenan Thompson in a 2009 commercial series titled "MVPuppets". In December 2007, James was ranked at No.1 in the ''Forbes'' Top 20 Earners Under 25 with annual earnings of $27 million.

James and Ice Cube have paired up to pitch a one-hour special to ABC based on James' life. James will act as executive producer if the show is greenlighted. James appeared on the cover of the February 2009 edition of ''GQ'' magazine. He stars in the Lions Gate film, ''More Than a Game'' (2009).

Following an agreement with Fenway Sports Group to become the sole marketer of his rights globally, in return as part of the deal James and his manager Maverick Carter became minority stakeholders in English Premier League giants Liverpool F.C.

On April 10, 2011 James became the new global brand ambassador for luxury Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet. He will in addition collaborate to produce his own limited-edition watch, for which he will donate the proceeds from any future auctions of these timepieces to his charity, the LeBron James Family Foundation.

Public image

During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, James drew criticism when he declined to sign a petition started by his teammate, Ira Newble, regarding the Chinese government's alleged involvement in the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, stating that he did not know enough about the issue. A year later, James did talk publicly about the issue, saying, "At the end of the day we're talking about human rights. And people should understand that human rights and people's lives are in jeopardy. We're not talking about contracts here. We're not talking about money. We're talking about people's lives being lost and that means a lot more to me than some money or a contract."

James received criticism from Cleveland fans and critics for attending Cleveland Indians games against the New York Yankees dressed in a Yankees hat. James said, "As individuals I want every Indian to succeed. I love all these fans for coming out and supporting us. But team-wise I want the Yankees to win." Despite residing in Ohio for all of his childhood, James added that he grew up as a Yankees fan, a Dallas Cowboys fan and a Chicago Bulls fan. In January 2008, Nike released the Air Zoom V LeBron shoe, which featured a Yankees-type motif and was made available only in New York City.

In March 2008, James became the first black man to appear on the cover of ''Vogue'', posing with Gisele Bündchen. He was the third man to appear on the cover of ''Vogue'', after Richard Gere and George Clooney. Some sports bloggers and columnist considered the cover offensive, describing the demeanor of James and his holding Bündchen as a reference to classic imagery of the movie monster King Kong, a dark savage capturing his light-skinned love interest.

In June 2008, James donated $20,000 to a committee to elect Barack Obama. On October 29, 2008, James gathered almost 20,000 people at the Quicken Loans Arena for a viewing of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's 30-minute ''American Stories, American Solutions'' television advertisement. It was shown on a large screen above the stage, where Jay-Z later held a free concert.

On July 6, 2009, James courted controversy when he ordered organizers to confiscate CBS video tape of him being dunked on by Xavier University guard Jordan Crawford at the Nike LeBron James Skills Academy.

On July 23 in an interview for his upcoming book "Shooting Stars", James admitted to smoking marijuana at one point during his high school career to help cope with all the stress resulting from constant media attention he was receiving at the time.

James, with comedian Jimmy Kimmel, co-hosted the 2007 ESPY Awards. James himself was nominated for three ESPYs: Best Male Athlete, Best NBA Player (winner), and Best Record Breaking Performance. The performance for which he was nominated was when he scored 48 points in Game 5 of the 2007 NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, including 29 of the last 30 points and all of the team's 25 points in overtime. In other comedic pursuits, James hosted the 33rd season premiere of ''Saturday Night Live''. The show's creator Lorne Michaels praised him for his versatility.

In April 2010, Forbes ranked James as the second most influential athlete behind Lance Armstrong.

In September 2010, ''The Q Score Company'' ranked James as the sixth most disliked sports personality behind Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco and Kobe Bryant.

Salaries

{|class="wikitable sortable" |- !Season!!Team!!Salary |- |2003–04||Cleveland||$4,018,920 |- |2004–05||Cleveland||$4,320,360 |- |2005–06||Cleveland||$4,621,800 |- |2006–07||Cleveland||$5,828,090 |- |2007–08||Cleveland||$13,041,250 |- |2008–09||Cleveland||$14,410,581 |- |2009–10||Cleveland||$15,779,912 |- |2010–11||Miami||$14,500,000 |}

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |79||79||39.5||.417||.290||.754||5.5||5.9||1.6||.7||20.9 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |80||80||42.4||.472||.351||.750||7.4||7.2||2.2||.6||27.2 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |79||79||42.5||.480||.335||.738||7.0||6.6||1.6||.8||31.4 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |78||78||40.9||.476||.319||.698||6.7||6.0||1.6||.7||27.3 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |75||74||40.4||.484||.315||.712||7.9||7.2||1.8||1.1||30.0 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |81||81||37.7||.489||.344||.780||7.6||7.2||1.7||1.1||28.4 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |76||76||39.0||.503||.333||.767||7.3||8.6||1.6||1.0||29.7 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Miami |79||79||38.8||.510||.330||.759||7.5||7.0||1.6||.6||26.7 |-class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:left;"|Career |style="text-align:left;"| |627||626||40.1||.479||.329||.759||7.1||7.0||1.7||.8||27.7 |-class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:left;"|All-Star |style="text-align:left;"| |7||7||30.9||.511||.326||.760||7.1||6.0||1.6||.3||24.4 |}

Playoffs

|- |style="text-align:left;"|2006 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |13||13||46.5||.476||.333||.737||8.1||5.8||1.4||.7||30.8 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2007 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |20||20||44.7||.416||.280||.755||8.1||8.0||1.7||.5||25.1 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2008 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |13||13||42.5||.411||.257||.731||7.8||7.6||1.8||1.3||28.2 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2009 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |14||14||41.4||.510||.333||.749||9.1||7.3||1.6||.9||35.3 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2010 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |11||11||41.8||.502||.400||.733||9.3||7.6||1.7||1.8||29.1 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2011 |style="text-align:left;"|Miami |21||21||43.9||.466||.353||.763||8.4||5.9||1.7||1.2||23.7 |-class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:left;"|Career |style="text-align:left;"| |92||92||43.6||.460||.323||.746||8.4||7.0||1.6||1.0||28.0 |}

Awards and honors

2× NBA Most Valuable Player: 2009, 2010

NBA Rookie of the Year: 2004

NBA Scoring Champion: 2008

2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2006, 2008

7× NBA All-Star: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

7× All-NBA:

*First Team: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

*Second Team: 2005, 2007

3× NBA All-Defensive:

*First Team: 2009, 2010, 2011

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2004

'''Bronze medal with Team USA, 2004 Summer Olympic Games

'''Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship

'''Gold medal with Team USA, 2007 FIBA Americas Championship

'''Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games

See also

List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders

References

Further reading

External links

Official website

U.S. National Team Bio

LeBron James: NBA.com Draft Profile

"LeBron James", on ''TIME''s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"

LeBron James: Monster Dunks – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

LeBron James on ESPN Video Archive

LeBron James on FoxSports Video Archive

Category:1984 births Category:American basketball players Category:African American basketball players Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from Ohio Category:Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players Category:Miami Heat players Category:Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year Category:Living people Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:National Basketball Association high school draftees Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Akron, Ohio Category:Sportspeople from Cleveland, Ohio Category:Small forwards Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Liverpool F.C. chairmen and investors Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

ar:ليبرون جيمز bs:LeBron James bg:Леброн Джеймс ca:LeBron James cs:LeBron James da:LeBron James de:LeBron James et:LeBron James el:ΛεΜπρόν Τζέιμς es:LeBron James eu:LeBron James fa:لبران جیمز fr:LeBron James gl:LeBron James hr:LeBron James id:LeBron James is:LeBron James it:LeBron James he:לברון ג'יימס la:LeBron James lv:Lebrons Džeimss lt:LeBron James hu:LeBron James nl:LeBron James ja:レブロン・ジェームズ no:LeBron James pl:LeBron James pt:LeBron James ro:LeBron James ru:Джеймс, Леброн simple:LeBron James sl:LeBron James sr:Lebron Džejms fi:LeBron James sv:LeBron James ta:லெப்ரான் ஜேம்ஸ் te:లెబ్రాన్ జేమ్స్ th:เลอบรอน เจมส์ tr:LeBron James uk:Леброн Джеймс zh:勒布朗·詹姆斯

Coordinates	52°48′27″N15°11′36″N
Name	Barack Obama
Alt	A portrait shot of Barack Obama, looking straight ahead. He has short black hair, and is wearing a dark navy blazer with a blue striped tie over a light blue collared shirt. In the background are two flags hanging from separate flagpoles: the American flag, and the flag of the Executive Office of the President.
Order	44th
Office	President of the United States
Vicepresident	Joe Biden
Term start	January 20, 2009
Predecessor	George W. Bush
Jr/sr2	United States Senate
State2	Illinois
Term start2	January 3, 2005
Term end2	November 16, 2008
Predecessor2	Peter Fitzgerald
Successor2	Roland Burris
Office3	Member of the Illinois Senate from the 13th District
Term start3	January 8, 1997
Term end3	November 4, 2004
Predecessor3	Alice Palmer
Successor3	Kwame Raoul
Birth name	Barack Hussein Obama II
Birth date	August 04, 1961
Birth place	Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Michelle Robinson (1992–present)
Children	Malia (born 1998) Sasha (born 2001)
Residence	White House (Official)Chicago, Illinois (Private)
Alma mater	Occidental CollegeColumbia University (B.A.)Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Profession	Community organizerLawyerConstitutional law professorAuthor
Religion	Christianity
Signature	Barack Obama signature.svg
Signature alt	Barack Obama
Website	barackobama.com
Footnotes	}}

Barack Hussein Obama II (; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the ''Harvard Law Review''. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

As president, Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Other domestic policy initiatives include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 and the Budget Control Act of 2011. In foreign policy, he ended the war in Iraq, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered US involvement in the 2011 Libya military intervention, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

Early life and career

Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at Kapiolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital (now Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children) in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is the first President to have been born in Hawaii. His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas, and was of mostly English ancestry, along with Scottish, Irish, German, and Swiss. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya. Obama's parents met in 1960 in a Russian class at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where his father was a foreign student on scholarship. The couple married on February 2, 1961, separated when Obama Sr. went to Harvard University on scholarship, and divorced in 1964. Obama Sr. remarried and returned to Kenya, visiting Barack in Hawaii only once, in 1971. He died in an automobile accident in 1982.

After her divorce, Dunham married Indonesian Lolo Soetoro, who was attending college in Hawaii. When Suharto, a military leader in Soetoro's home country, came to power in 1967, all Indonesian students studying abroad were recalled, and the family moved to the Menteng neighborhood of Jakarta. From ages six to ten, Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, including Besuki Public School and St. Francis of Assisi School.

In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Armour Dunham, and with the aid of a scholarship attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from fifth grade until his graduation from high school in 1979. Obama's mother returned to Hawaii in 1972, remaining there until 1977 when she went back to Indonesia to work as an anthropological field worker. She finally returned to Hawaii in 1994 and lived there for one year before dying of ovarian cancer.

Of his early childhood, Obama recalled, "That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind." Reflecting later on his years in Honolulu, Obama wrote: "The opportunity that Hawaii offered—to experience a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect—became an integral part of my world view, and a basis for the values that I hold most dear." Obama has also written and talked about using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine during his teenage years to "push questions of who I was out of my mind." At the 2008 Civil Forum on the Presidency, Obama identified his high-school drug use as a great moral failure.

Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to attend Occidental College. In February 1981, he made his first public speech, calling for Occidental's disinvestment from South Africa due to its policy of apartheid. In mid-1981, Obama traveled to Indonesia to visit his mother and sister Maya, and visited the families of college friends in Pakistan and India for three weeks. Later in 1981, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialty in international relations and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1983. He worked for a year at the Business International Corporation, then at the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Chicago community organizer and Harvard Law School

Two years after graduating, Obama was hired in Chicago as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Roseland, West Pullman and Riverdale on Chicago's South Side. He worked there as a community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988. He helped set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens. Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute. In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met many of his paternal relatives for the first time. He returned in August 2006 for a visit to his father's birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya.

In late 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. He was selected as an editor of the ''Harvard Law Review'' at the end of his first year, and president of the journal in his second year. During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as an associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990. After graduating with a J.D. ''magna cum laude'' from Harvard in 1991, he returned to Chicago. Obama's election as the first black president of the ''Harvard Law Review'' gained national media attention and led to a publishing contract and advance for a book about race relations, which evolved into a personal memoir. The manuscript was published in mid-1995 as ''Dreams from My Father''.

University of Chicago Law School and civil rights attorney

In 1991, Obama accepted a two-year position as Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School to work on his first book. He then taught at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years—as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and as a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004—teaching constitutional law.

From April to October 1992, Obama directed Illinois's Project Vote, a voter registration campaign with ten staffers and seven hundred volunteer registrars; it achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, and led to ''Crain's Chicago Business'' naming Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be. In 1993 he joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 13-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004, with his law license becoming inactive in 2002.

From 1994 to 2002, Obama served on the boards of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project; and of the Joyce Foundation. Once elected, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation reforming ethics and health care laws. He sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare. In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor Ryan's payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.

Obama was reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse Yehudah in the general election, and was reelected again in 2002. In 2000, he lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.

In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats, after a decade in the minority, regained a majority. He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations. During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms. Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Senate campaign

In May 2002, Obama commissioned a poll to assess his prospects in a 2004 U.S. Senate race; he created a campaign committee, began raising funds and lined up political media consultant David Axelrod by August 2002, and formally announced his candidacy in January 2003.

Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq. On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War, Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally, and spoke out against the war. He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd that "it's not too late" to stop the war.

Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun to not participate in the election resulted in wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving fifteen candidates. In the March 2004 primary election, Obama won in an unexpected landslide—which overnight made him a rising star within the national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, ''Dreams from My Father''. In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, seen by 9.1 million viewers. His speech was well received and elevated his status within the Democratic Party.

Obama's expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race in June 2004. Six weeks later, Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan. In the November 2004 general election, Obama won with 70 percent of the vote.

U.S. Senator: 2005–2008

Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2005, becoming the only Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus. ''CQ Weekly'' characterized him as a "loyal Democrat" based on analysis of all Senate votes in 2005–2007. Obama announced on November 13, 2008, that he would resign his Senate seat on November 16, 2008, before the start of the lame-duck session, to focus on his transition period for the presidency.

Legislation

Obama cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. He introduced two initiatives bearing his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons; and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending. On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama—along with Senators Tom Carper, Tom Coburn, and John McCain—introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.

Obama sponsored legislation that would have required nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks, but the bill failed to pass in the full Senate after being heavily modified in committee. Regarding tort reform, Obama voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which grants immunity from civil liability to telecommunications companies complicit with NSA warrantless wiretapping operations.

In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor. In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007. Obama also introduced Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections, and the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007, neither of which has been signed into law.

Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act adding safeguards for personality-disorder military discharges. This amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008. He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry, which has not passed committee; and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism. Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program, providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.

Committees

Obama held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works and Veterans' Affairs through December 2006. In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He also became Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President of the Palestinian National Authority, and gave a speech at the University of Nairobi condemning corruption within the Kenyan government.

Presidential campaigns

2008 presidential campaign

On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois. The choice of the announcement site was viewed as symbolic because it was also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic "House Divided" speech in 1858. Obama emphasized the issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care, in a campaign that projected themes of "hope" and "change".

A large number of candidates entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries. The field narrowed to a duel between Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton after early contests, with the race remaining close throughout the primary process but with Obama gaining a steady lead in pledged delegates due to better long-range planning, superior fundraising, dominant organizing in caucus states, and better exploitation of delegate allocation rules. On June 7, 2008, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama.

On August 23, Obama announced his selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate. Biden was selected from a field speculated to include former Indiana Governor and Senator Evan Bayh and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her supporters to endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in his support. Obama delivered his acceptance speech, not at the center where the Democratic National Convention was held, but at Invesco Field at Mile High to a crowd of over 75,000; the speech was viewed by over 38 million people worldwide.

During both the primary process and the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations. On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976.

McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate and the two engaged in three presidential debates in September and October 2008. On November 4, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain. Obama won 52.9 percent of the popular vote to McCain's 45.7 percent. He became the first African American to be elected president. Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park.

2012 presidential campaign

On April 4, 2011, Obama announced his re-election campaign for 2012 in a video titled "It Begins with Us" that he posted on his website and filed election papers with the Federal Election Commission.

Presidency

First days

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President, and Joe Biden as Vice President, took place on January 20, 2009. In his first few days in office Obama issued executive orders and presidential memoranda directing the U.S. military to develop plans to withdraw troops from Iraq. He ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp "as soon as practicable and no later than" January 2010, but during his first two years in office he has been unable to persuade Congress to appropriate funds required to accomplish the shutdown. Obama reduced the secrecy given to presidential records and changed procedures to promote disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. He also reversed George W. Bush's ban on federal funding to foreign establishments that allow abortions.

Domestic policy

The first bill signed into law by Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, relaxing the statute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits. Five days later, he signed the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover an additional 4 million uninsured children. In March 2009, Obama reversed a Bush-era policy which had limited funding of embryonic stem cell research. Obama stated that he believed "sound science and moral values ... are not inconsistent" and pledged to develop "strict guidelines" on the research.

Obama appointed two women to serve on the Supreme Court in the first two years of his Presidency. Sonia Sotomayor, nominated by Obama on May 26, 2009, to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter, was confirmed on August 6, 2009, becoming the first Hispanic to be a Supreme Court Justice. Elena Kagan, nominated by Obama on May 10, 2010, to replace retiring Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, was confirmed on August 5, 2010, bringing the number of women sitting simultaneously on the Court to three, for the first time in American history.

On September 30, 2009, the Obama administration proposed new regulations on power plants, factories and oil refineries in an attempt to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to curb global warming.

On October 8, 2009, Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a measure that expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

On March 30, 2010, Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, a reconciliation bill which ends the process of the federal government giving subsidies to private banks to give out federally insured loans, increases the Pell Grant scholarship award, and makes changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In a major space policy speech in April 2010, Obama announced a planned change in direction at NASA, the U.S. space agency. He ended plans for a return of human spaceflight to the moon and ended development of the Ares I rocket, Ares V rocket and Constellation program. He is focusing funding (which is expected to rise modestly) on Earth science projects and a new rocket type, as well as research and development for an eventual manned mission to Mars. Missions to the International Space Station are expected to continue until 2020.

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

On January 25, 2011, in his 2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama focused strongly on the themes of education and innovation, stressing the importance of innovation economics in working to make the United States more competitive globally. Among other plans and goals, Obama spoke of enacting a five-year freeze in domestic spending, eliminating tax breaks for oil companies and tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans, banning congressional earmarks, and reducing healthcare costs. Looking to the future, Obama promised that by 2015, the United States would have one million electric vehicles on the road and by 2035, clean-energy sources would be providing 80 percent of U.S. electricity.

Economic policy

On February 17, 2009, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening worldwide recession. The act includes increased federal spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives, and direct assistance to individuals, which is being distributed over the course of several years.

In March, Obama's Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, took further steps to manage the financial crisis, including introducing the Public-Private Investment Program for Legacy Assets, which contains provisions for buying up to $2 trillion in depreciated real estate assets. Obama intervened in the troubled automotive industry in March 2009, renewing loans for General Motors and Chrysler to continue operations while reorganizing. Over the following months the White House set terms for both firms' bankruptcies, including the sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat and a reorganization of GM giving the U.S. government a temporary 60 percent equity stake in the company, with the Canadian government shouldering a 12 percent stake. In June 2009, dissatisfied with the pace of economic stimulus, Obama called on his cabinet to accelerate the investment. He signed into law the Car Allowance Rebate System, known colloquially as "Cash for Clunkers", that temporarily boosted the economy.

Although spending and loan guarantees from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department authorized by the Bush and Obama administrations totaled about $11.5 trillion, only $3 trillion had been spent by the end of November 2009. However, Obama and the Congressional Budget Office predicted that the 2010 budget deficit will be $1.5 trillion or 10.6 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the 2009 deficit of $1.4 trillion or 9.9 percent of GDP. For 2011, the administration predicted the deficit will slightly shrink to $1.34 trillion, while the 10-year deficit will increase to $8.53 trillion or 90 percent of GDP. The most recent increase in the U.S. debt ceiling to $16.4 trillion was signed into law on January 26, 2012. On August 2, 2011, after a lengthy congressional debate over whether to raise the nation's debt limit, Obama signed the bipartisan Budget Control Act of 2011. The legislation enforces limits on discretionary spending until 2021, establishes a procedure to increase the debt limit, creates a Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to propose further deficit reduction with a stated goal of achieving at least $1.5 trillion in budgetary savings over 10 years, and establishes automatic procedures for reducing spending by as much as $1.2 trillion if legislation originating with the new joint select committee does not achieve such savings. By passing the legislation, Congress was able to prevent an unprecedented U.S. government default on its obligations.

The unemployment rate rose in 2009, reaching a peak in October at 10.1 percent and averaging 10.0 percent in the fourth quarter. Following a decrease to 9.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate fell to 9.6 percent in the second quarter, where it remained for the rest of the year. Between February and December 2010, employment rose by 0.8 percent, which was less than the average of 1.9 percent experienced during comparable periods in the past four employment recoveries. GDP growth returned in the third quarter of 2009, expanding at a rate of 1.6 percent, followed by a 5.0 percent increase in the fourth quarter. Growth continued in 2010, posting an increase of 3.7 percent in the first quarter, with lesser gains throughout the rest of the year. In July 2010, the Federal Reserve expressed that although economic activity continued to increase, its pace had slowed, and Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that the economic outlook was "unusually uncertain." Overall, the economy expanded at a rate of 2.9 percent in 2010.

The Congressional Budget Office and a broad range of economists credit Obama's stimulus plan for economic growth. The CBO released a report stating that the stimulus bill increased employment by 1–2.1 million, while conceding that "It is impossible to determine how many of the reported jobs would have existed in the absence of the stimulus package." Although an April 2010 survey of members of the National Association for Business Economics showed an increase in job creation (over a similar January survey) for the first time in two years, 73 percent of 68 respondents believed that the stimulus bill has had no impact on employment.

Within a month of the 2010 midterm elections, Obama announced a compromise deal with the Congressional Republican leadership that included a temporary, two-year extension of the 2001 and 2003 income tax rates, a one-year payroll tax reduction, continuation of unemployment benefits, and a new rate and exemption amount for estate taxes. The compromise overcame opposition from some in both parties, and the resulting $858 billion Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress before Obama signed it on December 17, 2010.

Health care reform

Obama called for Congress to pass legislation reforming health care in the United States, a key campaign promise and a top legislative goal. He proposed an expansion of health insurance coverage to cover the uninsured, to cap premium increases, and to allow people to retain their coverage when they leave or change jobs. His proposal was to spend $900 billion over 10 years and include a government insurance plan, also known as the public option, to compete with the corporate insurance sector as a main component to lowering costs and improving quality of health care. It would also make it illegal for insurers to drop sick people or deny them coverage for pre-existing conditions, and require every American carry health coverage. The plan also includes medical spending cuts and taxes on insurance companies that offer expensive plans.

On July 14, 2009, House Democratic leaders introduced a 1,017-page plan for overhauling the U.S. health care system, which Obama wanted Congress to approve by the end of 2009. After much public debate during the Congressional summer recess of 2009, Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 9 where he addressed concerns over the proposals. In March 2009, Obama lifted a ban on stem cell research.

On November 7, 2009, a health care bill featuring the public option was passed in the House. On December 24, 2009, the Senate passed its own bill—without a public option—on a party-line vote of 60–39. On March 21, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by the Senate in December was passed in the House by a vote of 219 to 212. Obama signed the bill into law on March 23, 2010.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes health-related provisions to take effect over four years, including expanding Medicaid eligibility for people making up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) starting in 2014, subsidizing insurance premiums for people making up to 400 percent of the FPL ($88,000 for family of four in 2010) so their maximum "out-of-pocket" payment for annual premiums will be from 2 to 9.5 percent of income, providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, prohibiting denial of coverage and denial of claims based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, prohibiting annual coverage caps, and support for medical research. According to White House and Congressional Budget Office figures, the maximum share of income that enrollees would have to pay would vary depending on their income relative to the federal poverty level.

The costs of these provisions are offset by taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as new Medicare taxes for those in high-income brackets, taxes on indoor tanning, cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of traditional Medicare, and fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies; there is also a tax penalty for those who do not obtain health insurance, unless they are exempt due to low income or other reasons. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the net effect of both laws will be a reduction in the federal deficit by $143 billion over the first decade.

Gulf of Mexico oil spill

On April 20, 2010, an explosion destroyed an offshore drilling rig at the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a major sustained oil leak. The well's operator, BP, initiated a containment and cleanup plan, and began drilling two relief wells intended to stop the flow. Obama visited the Gulf on May 2 among visits by members of his cabinet, and again on May 28 and June 4. On May 22 he announced a federal investigation and formed a bipartisan commission to recommend new safety standards, after a review by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and concurrent Congressional hearings. On May 27, he announced a 6-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits and leases, pending regulatory review. As multiple efforts by BP failed, some in the media and public expressed confusion and criticism over various aspects of the incident, and stated a desire for more involvement by Obama and the federal government.

Foreign policy

In February and March, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made separate overseas trips to announce a "new era" in U.S. foreign relations with Russia and Europe, using the terms "break" and "reset" to signal major changes from the policies of the preceding administration. Obama attempted to reach out to Arab leaders by granting his first interview to an Arab cable TV network, Al Arabiya.

On March 19, Obama continued his outreach to the Muslim world, releasing a New Year's video message to the people and government of Iran. This attempt at outreach was rebuffed by the Iranian leadership. In April, Obama gave a speech in Ankara, Turkey, which was well received by many Arab governments. On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt calling for "a new beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States and promoting Middle East peace.

On June 26, 2009, in response to the Iranian government's actions towards protesters following Iran's 2009 presidential election, Obama said: "The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous. We see it and we condemn it." On July 7, while in Moscow, he responded to a Vice President Biden comment on a possible Israeli military strike on Iran by saying: "We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East."

On September 24, 2009, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to preside over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

In March 2010, Obama took a public stance against plans by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue building Jewish housing projects in predominantly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. During the same month, an agreement was reached with the administration of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with a new pact reducing the number of long-range nuclear weapons in the arsenals of both countries by about one-third. The New START treaty was signed by Obama and Medvedev in April 2010, and was ratified by the U.S. Senate in December 2010.

Iraq War

On February 27, 2009, Obama declared that combat operations in Iraq would end within 18 months. His remarks were made to a group of Marines preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Obama said, "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end." The Obama administration scheduled the withdrawal of combat troops to be completed by August 2010, decreasing troops levels from 142,000 while leaving a transitional force of 35,000 to 50,000 in Iraq until the end of 2011. On August 19, 2010, the last United States combat brigade exited Iraq. The plan is to transition the mission of the remaining troops from combat operations to counter-terrorism and the training, equipping, and advising of Iraqi security forces. On August 31, 2010, Obama announced that the United States combat mission in Iraq was over. On October 21, 2011 President Obama announced that all U.S. troops would leave Iraq in time to be, "home for the holidays".

War in Afghanistan

Early in his presidency, Obama moved to bolster U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan. He announced an increase to U.S. troop levels of 17,000 in February 2009 to "stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan", an area he said had not received the "strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires". He replaced the military commander in Afghanistan, General David D. McKiernan, with former Special Forces commander Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in May 2009, indicating that McChrystal's Special Forces experience would facilitate the use of counterinsurgency tactics in the war. On December 1, 2009, Obama announced the deployment of an additional 30,000 military personnel to Afghanistan. He also proposed to begin troop withdrawals 18 months from that date. McChrystal was replaced by David Petraeus in June 2010, after McChrystal's staff criticized White House personnel in a magazine article.

Israel

During the initial years of the Obama administration, the U.S. increased military cooperation with Israel, including a record number of U.S. troops participating in military exercises in the country, increased military aid, and the re-establishment of the U.S.-Israeli Joint Political Military Group and the Defense Policy Advisory Group. It was reported high-ranking defense officials from both countries had been making an unusual number of trips between the two countries, including Ehud Barak. Part of the military aid increase in 2010 was to fund Israel's missile defense shield. Before his retirement in September 2011, Adm. Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made four trips to Israel during his four-year tenure, two of them in 2010. Prior to 2007 no Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had done so for over ten years.

In 2011, the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, with the United States being the only nation to do so. Obama supports the two-state solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict based on the 1967 borders with land swaps.

War in Libya

In March 2011, as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi advanced on rebels across Libya, calls for a no-fly zone came from around the world, including Europe, the Arab League, and a resolution passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. In response to the unanimous passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 on March 17, Gaddafi who had previously vowed to "show no mercy" to the citizens of Benghazi—announced an immediate cessation of military activities, yet reports came in that his forces continued shelling Misrata. The next day, on Obama's orders, the U.S. military took a lead role in air strikes to destroy the Libyan government's air defense capabilities in order to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly-zone, including the use of Tomahawk missiles, B-2 Spirits, and fighter jets. Six days later, on March 25, by unanimous vote of all of its 28 members, NATO took over leadership of the effort, dubbed Operation Unified Protector. Some Representatives questioned whether Obama had the constitutional authority to order military action in addition to questioning its cost, structure and aftermath.

Osama bin Laden

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

2010 midterm election

Obama called the November 02, 2010 election, where the Democratic Party lost 63 seats in, and control of, the House of Representatives, "humbling" and a "shellacking". He said that the results came because not enough Americans had felt the effects of the economic recovery.

Cultural and political image

Obama's family history, upbringing, and Ivy League education differ markedly from those of African American politicians who launched their careers in the 1960s through participation in the civil rights movement. Obama is also not a descendant of American slaves. Expressing puzzlement over questions about whether he is "black enough", Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that "we're still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks then there must be something wrong". Obama acknowledged his youthful image in an October 2007 campaign speech, saying: "I wouldn't be here if, time and again, the torch had not been passed to a new generation."

Obama is frequently referred to as an exceptional orator. During his pre-inauguration transition period and continuing into his presidency, Obama has delivered a series of weekly Internet video addresses.

According to the Gallup Organization, Obama began his presidency with a 68 percent approval rating before gradually declining for the rest of the year, and eventually bottoming out at 41 percent in August 2010, a trend similar to Ronald Reagan's and Bill Clinton's first years in office. He experienced a small poll bounce shortly after the death of Osama bin Laden, which lasted until around June 2011, when his approval numbers dropped back to where they were prior to the operation. Polls show strong support for Obama in other countries, and before being elected President he has met with prominent foreign figures including then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Italy's Democratic Party leader and then Mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In a February 2009 poll conducted by Harris Interactive for France 24 and the ''International Herald Tribune'', Obama was rated as the most respected world leader, as well as the most powerful. In a similar poll conducted by Harris in May 2009, Obama was rated as the most popular world leader, as well as the one figure most people would pin their hopes on for pulling the world out of the economic downturn.

Obama won Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Awards for abridged audiobook versions of ''Dreams from My Father'' in February 2006 and for ''The Audacity of Hope'' in February 2008. His concession speech after the New Hampshire primary was set to music by independent artists as the music video "Yes We Can", which was viewed 10 million times on YouTube in its first month and received a Daytime Emmy Award. In December 2008, ''Time'' magazine named Obama as its Person of the Year for his historic candidacy and election, which it described as "the steady march of seemingly impossible accomplishments".

On October 9, 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". Obama accepted this award in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 2009, with "deep gratitude and great humility." The award drew a mixture of praise and criticism from world leaders and media figures. Obama is the fourth U.S. president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the third to become a Nobel laureate while in office.

Family and personal life

In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family: "It's like a little mini-United Nations", he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher." Obama has a half-sister with whom he was raised, Maya Soetoro-Ng, the daughter of his mother and her Indonesian second husband and seven half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family – six of them living. Obama's mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham, until her death on November 2, 2008, two days before his election to the Presidency. Obama also has roots in Ireland; he met with his Irish cousins in Moneygall in May 2011. In ''Dreams from My Father'', Obama ties his mother's family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

Obama was known as "Barry" in his youth, but asked to be addressed with his given name during his college years. Besides his native English, Obama speaks Indonesian at the conversational level, which he learned during his four childhood years in Jakarta. He plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team.

Obama is a well known supporter of the Chicago White Sox, and threw out the first pitch at the 2005 ALCS when he was still a senator. In 2009, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the all star game while wearing a White Sox jacket. He is also primarily a Chicago Bears fan in the NFL, but in his childhood and adolescence was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and recently rooted for them ahead of their victory in Super Bowl XLIII 12 days after Obama took office as President.

In June 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin. Assigned for three months as Obama's adviser at the firm, Robinson joined him at group social functions, but declined his initial requests to date. They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married on October 3, 1992. The couple's first daughter, Malia Ann, was born on July 4, 1998, followed by a second daughter, Natasha ("Sasha"), on June 10, 2001. The Obama daughters attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. When they moved to Washington, D.C., in January 2009, the girls started at the private Sidwell Friends School. The Obamas have a Portuguese Water Dog named Bo, a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy.

Applying the proceeds of a book deal, the family moved in 2005 from a Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a $1.6 million house in neighboring Kenwood, Chicago. The purchase of an adjacent lot—and sale of part of it to Obama by the wife of developer, campaign donor and friend Tony Rezko—attracted media attention because of Rezko's subsequent indictment and conviction on political corruption charges that were unrelated to Obama.

In December 2007, ''Money'' magazine estimated the Obama family's net worth at $1.3 million. Their 2009 tax return showed a household income of $5.5 million—up from about $4.2 million in 2007 and $1.6 million in 2005—mostly from sales of his books. On his 2010 income of $1.7 million, he gave 14 percent to non-profit organizations, including $131,000 to Fisher House Foundation, a charity assisting wounded veterans' families, allowing them to reside near where the veteran is receiving medical treatments.

Obama tried to quit smoking several times, sometimes using nicotine replacement therapy, and, in early 2010, Michelle Obama said that he had successfully quit smoking.

Religious views

Obama is a Christian whose religious views developed in his adult life. He wrote in ''The Audacity of Hope'' that he "was not raised in a religious household". He described his mother, raised by non-religious parents (whom Obama has specified elsewhere as "non-practicing Methodists and Baptists"), to be detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I have ever known". He described his father as "raised a Muslim", but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful". Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand "the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change".

In an interview with the evangelical periodical ''Christianity Today'', Obama stated: "I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life."

On September 27, 2010, Obama released a statement commenting on his religious views saying "I'm a Christian by choice. My family didn't—frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church. So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead—being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me."

Obama was baptized at the Trinity United Church of Christ, a black liberation church, in 1988, and was an active member there for two decades. Obama resigned from Trinity during the Presidential campaign after controversial statements made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright became public. After a prolonged effort to find a church to attend regularly in Washington, Obama announced in June 2009 that his primary place of worship would be the Evergreen Chapel at Camp David.

Notes

}}

References

Further reading

Graff, Garrett. "The Legend of Barack Obama", ''Washingtonian'', November 1, 2006. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

Koltun, Dave (2005) ''"The 2004 Illinois Senate Race: Obama Wins Open Seat and Becomes National Political "Star""'' in ''"The Road to Congress 2004"'' Editors: Sunil Ahuja (Youngstown State University) and Robert Dewhirst (Truman State University), Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York, 2005, ISBN 1-59454-360-7

Lizza, Ryan. "Above the Fray", ''GQ'', September 2007. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.

MacFarquhar, Larissa. "The Conciliator: Where is Barack Obama Coming From?", ''New Yorker'', May 7, 2007. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

McClelland, Edward, ''Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President'', Bloomsbury Press, 2010.

Zutter, Hank De. "What Makes Obama Run?", ''Chicago Reader'', December 8, 1995. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

External links

;Official

President Barack Obama ''White House official website''

BarackObama.com (official re-election campaign website)

;Other

Collected news and commentary at the ''Chicago Tribune''

Category:1961 births Category:African American academics Category:African American lawyers Category:African American memoirists Category:African American United States presidential candidates Category:African American United States Senators Category:African-American Christians Category:American civil rights lawyers Category:American legal scholars Category:American Nobel laureates Category:American political writers Category:Audio book narrators Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Community organizers Category:Current national leaders Category:Democratic Party Presidents of the United States Category:Democratic Party United States Senators Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Illinois Democrats Category:Illinois lawyers Category:Illinois State Senators Category:Living people Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates Barack Category:Occidental College alumni Category:People from Honolulu, Hawaii Category:Politicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:Presidents of the United Nations Security Council Category:Punahou School alumni Category:United Church of Christ members Category:United States presidential candidates, 2008 Category:United States presidential candidates, 2012 Category:United States Senators from Illinois Category:University of Chicago Law School faculty Category:Writers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Article Feedback 5 Additional Articles

af:Barack Obama als:Barack Obama am:ባራክ ኦባማ ang:Barack Obama ab:Барақ Обама ar:باراك أوباما an:Barack Obama arc:ܒܪܐܩ ܐܘܒܐܡܐ ast:Barack Obama gn:Barack Obama ay:Barack Obama az:Barak Obama bm:Barack Obama bn:বারাক ওবামা bjn:Barack Obama zh-min-nan:Barack Obama ba:Барак Обама be:Барак Абама be-x-old:Барак Абама bh:बराक ओबामा bcl:Barack Obama bi:Barak Obama bg:Барак Обама bar:Barack Obama bo:བ་རག་ཨོ་པྰ་མ། bs:Barack Obama br:Barack Obama ca:Barack Hussein Obama cv:Барак Обама ceb:Barack Obama cs:Barack Obama cbk-zam:Barack Obama co:Barack Obama cy:Barack Obama da:Barack Obama pdc:Barack Obama de:Barack Obama dv:ބަރަކް އޮބާމާ nv:Hastiin alą́ąjįʼ dahsidáhígíí Barack Obama dsb:Barack Obama et:Barack Obama el:Μπαράκ Ομπάμα eml:Barack Obama myv:Обамань Барак es:Barack Obama eo:Barack Obama ext:Barack Obama eu:Barack Obama fa:باراک اوباما fo:Barack Obama fr:Barack Obama fy:Barack Obama fur:Barack Obama ga:Barack Obama gv:Barack Obama gd:Barack Obama gl:Barack Obama gan:奧巴馬 hak:Barack Obama ko:버락 오바마 ha:Barack Obama haw:Barack Obama hy:Բարաք Օբամա hi:बराक ओबामा hsb:Barack Obama hr:Barack Obama io:Barack Obama ilo:Barack Obama id:Barack Obama ia:Barack Obama ie:Barack Obama iu:ᐸᕌᒃ ᐅᐹᒪ os:Обама, Барак zu:Barack Obama is:Barack Obama it:Barack Obama he:ברק אובמה jv:Barack Obama kl:Barack Obama kn:ಬರಾಕ್ ಒಬಾಮ pam:Barack Obama ka:ბარაკ ობამა kk:Барак Обама kw:Barack Obama rw:Barack Obama sw:Barack Obama ht:Barack Obama ku:Barack Obama ky:Барак Хусеин Обама lad:Barack Obama lo:ບາຣັກ ໂອບາມາ ltg:Baraks Obama la:Baracus Obama lv:Baraks Obama lb:Barack Obama lt:Barack Obama li:Barack Obama ln:Barack Obama jbo:byRAK.obamas lmo:Barack Obama hu:Barack Obama mk:Барак Обама mg:Barack Obama ml:ബറാക്ക് ഒബാമ mt:Barack Obama mi:Barack Obama mr:बराक ओबामा xmf:ბარაქ ობამა arz:باراك اوباما mzn:باراک اوباما ms:Barack Obama mn:Барак Обама my:ဘာရတ်အိုဘားမား nah:Barack Obama na:Barack Obama nl:Barack Obama nds-nl:Barack Obama ne:बाराक ओबामा ja:バラク・オバマ nap:Barack Obama frr:Barack Obama no:Barack Obama nn:Barack Obama nrm:Barack Obama nov:Barack Obama oc:Barack Obama mhr:Обама, Барак uz:Barack Obama pa:ਬਰਾਕ ਓਬਾਮਾ pag:Barack Obama pnb:بارک اوبامہ pap:Barack Obama ps:باراک حسين اوباما km:បារ៉ាក់ អូបាម៉ា pms:Barack Obama tpi:Barack Obama nds:Barack Obama pl:Barack Obama pt:Barack Obama crh:Barak Obama ksh:Barack Obama ro:Barack Obama rm:Barack Obama qu:Barack Obama ru:Обама, Барак sah:Барак Обама se:Barack Obama sc:Barack Obama sco:Barack Obama nso:Barack Obama sq:Barack Obama scn:Barack Obama si:බරාක් ඔබාමා simple:Barack Obama sk:Barack Obama sl:Barack Obama szl:Barack Obama so:Barack Obama ckb:باراک ئۆباما srn:Barack Obama sr:Барак Обама sh:Barack Obama su:Barack Obama fi:Barack Obama sv:Barack Obama tl:Barack Obama ta:பராக் ஒபாமா roa-tara:Barack Obama tt:Baraq Husseyın Obama II te:బరాక్ ఒబామా tet:Barack Obama th:บารัก โอบามา tg:Барак Ҳусейн Обама chr:ᏆᎳᎩ ᎣᏆᎹ tr:Barack Obama tk:Barak Obama uk:Барак Обама ur:بارک اوبامہ ug:باراك ئوباما vec:Barack Obama vi:Barack Obama wa:Barack Obama vls:Barack Obama war:Barack Obama wo:Barack Obama wuu:巴拉克·奥巴马 yi:באראק אבאמא yo:Barack Obama zh-yue:奧巴馬 diq:Barack Obama zea:Barack Obama bat-smg:Baraks Obama zh:贝拉克·奥巴马

Coordinates	52°48′27″N15°11′36″N
Name	David Blaine
Birth name	David Blaine White
Birth date	April 04, 1973
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Illusionist & Endurance arntist
Years active	1997–present
Website	David Blaine }}

David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. He has set and broken several world records. Theatre owner James Nederlander as well as ''The New York Times'' have referred to Blaine as a modern day Houdini.

Early life

Blaine was born David Blaine White in Brooklyn, New York and is of Puerto Rican descent on his father's side, and Russian Jewish on his mother's. His mother, Patrice Maureen White (1946–1995), was a school teacher living in New York, and his father William Perez was a Vietnam veteran. When he was four years old, he saw a magician performing magic on the subway. This sparked an interest in Blaine. He was raised by his single mother and attended many schools in Brooklyn. When he was ten years old, his mother married John Bukalo and they moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School. He has a half-brother named Michael James Bukalo. When he was 17 years old, Blaine moved to Manhattan, New York.

Personal life

Blaine and his fiancee Alizee Guinochet have one daughter born on January 27, 2011. At the time that Guinochet went into labor, there was a massive blizzard where they lived in New York. Due to the intense weather, no cars or taxis were on the road, so Blaine had to hail a snowplow, which transported the couple to the hospital.

Stunts and specials

''Street Magic'' and ''Magic Man''

On May 19, 1997, Blaine's first television special, ''David Blaine: Street Magic'' aired on the ABC network. According to the New York ''Daily News'', “Blaine can lay claim to his own brand of wizardry. The magic he offers in tonight’s show operates on an uncommonly personal level.” When asked about his performance style, David explained, “I'd like to bring magic back to the place it used to be 100 years ago.”' ''Time'' magazine commented, "his deceptively low-key, ultracool manner leaves spectators more amazed than if he'd razzle-dazzled." The concept of focusing on spectator reactions (for example, in his rendition of the Balducci levitation) changed the way that magic has been shown on TV. ''The New York Times'' wrote, “He's taken a craft that's been around for hundreds of years and done something unique and fresh with it." Penn Jillette, of ''Penn & Teller'', stated, "the biggest break through done in our lifetime was David Blaine's 'Street Magic,' where his idea was to do really simple tricks but to concentrate... to turn the camera around on the people watching instead of the people doing. So to make the audience watch the audience, which that first special 'Street Magic,' is the best TV magic special ever done and really, really does break new ground."

In ''Magic Man'', Blaine is shown traveling across the country, entertaining unsuspecting pedestrians in New York City, Atlantic City, Dallas, San Francisco, Compton, and the Mojave Desert recorded by a small crew with handheld cameras. Jon Racherbaumer commented, "Make no mistake about it, the focus of this show, boys and girls, is not Blaine. It is really about theatrical proxemics; about the show-within-a-show and the spontaneous, visceral reactions of people being astonished." ''USA Today'' calls David “The hottest name in magic right now”.

''Buried Alive''

On April 5, 1999, Blaine was entombed in an underground plastic box underneath a 3-ton water-filled tank for seven days across from Trump Place on 68th St. and Riverside Drive. According to CNN, "Blaine's only communication to the outside world was by a hand buzzer, which could have alerted an around-the-clock emergency crew standing by." BBC News reported that the cramped plastic coffin offered six inches (152 mm) of headroom and two inches on each side. During the endurance stunt Blaine ate nothing and drank only two to three tablespoons of water a day. An estimated 75,000 people visited the site, including Marie Blood, Harry Houdini's niece, who said, "My uncle did some amazing things, but he could not have done this." On the final day of the stunt, April 12, hundreds of news teams were stationed at the site for the coffin-opening. A team of construction workers removed a portion of the of gravel surrounding the six-foot-deep coffin before a crane lifted the water tank. Blaine emerged and told the crowd "I saw something very prophetic ... a vision of every race, every religion, every age group banding together, and that made all this worthwhile." BBC News stated, "The 26-year-old magician has outdone his hero, Harry Houdini, who had planned a similar feat but died in 1926 before he could perform it." During the preparation of the stunt, Jonathan Demme told ''Time Out New York,'' “He’s the most exciting thing in America ... And I’m not just talking entertainment.”

''Frozen in Time''

On November 27, 2000, Blaine began a stunt called "Frozen in Time", which was covered on a TV special. Blaine stood encased in a massive block of ice located in Times Square, New York City. He was lightly dressed and seen to be shivering even before the blocks of ice were sealed around him. A tube supplied him with air and water while his urine was removed with another tube. He was encased in the box of ice for 63 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds before being removed with chain saws. The ice was transparent and resting on an elevated platform to show that he was actually inside the ice the entire time. CNN confirmed that "thousands of people braved the pouring rain Wednesday night to catch a glimpse of Blaine as workers cut away at the ice." He was removed from the ice in an obviously dazed and disoriented state, wrapped in blankets and taken to the hospital immediately because doctors feared he might be going into shock. ''The New York Times'' reported, "The magician who emerged from the increasingly unstable ice box seemed a shadow of the confident, robust, shirtless fellow who entered two days before." Blaine said in the documentary follow-up to this feat that it took a month before he was able to walk again and that he had no plans to ever again attempt a stunt of this difficulty.

''Vertigo''

On May 22, 2002, a crane lifted Blaine onto a 100-foot (30 m) high and 22-inch (0.56 m) wide pillar in Bryant Park, New York City. Although he was not harnessed to the pillar, there were two retractable handles on either side of him to grasp in the event of harsh weather. The ''Evening Standard'''s James Langton wrote, "He was battered by high winds and unusually cold May weather during his first night and would have been killed or seriously injured if he had fallen." He remained on the pillar for exactly 35 hours. ''The New Yorker''’s Adam Gopnik wrote, “David Blaine, standing up there, is actually as good a magical metaphor for the moment as Houdini, fighting his way out of the straitjacket of immigrant identity toward prosperity, was for his." With his legs weak from standing atop the pillar for so long, he ended the feat by jumping down onto a landing platform made out of a 12-foot (3.7 m) high pile of cardboard boxes and suffered a mild concussion.

''Mysterious Stranger''

On October 29, 2002, Random House published David Blaine's ''Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic''. Part autobiography, part history of magic, and part armchair treasure hunt, the book also includes instructions on how to perform card tricks and illusions. Editing director, Bruce Tracy, explains “David Blaine is the most exciting and creative magician since Houdini, and now, readers have the opportunity to enjoy Blaine's unique book about magic, and they can participate by testing their own ability to discover and interpret clues.”

The treasure hunt, Blaine's $100,000 Challenge, was devised by game designer Cliff Johnson, creator of ''The Fool's Errand'', and solved by Sherri Skanes on March 20, 2004, 16 months after the book's publication.

''Above the Below''

On September 5, 2003, Blaine began his 44-day endurance stunt sealed inside a transparent Plexiglas case suspended 9 metres (30 ft) in the air next to Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames, the area between City Hall and Tower Bridge in London. The case, measuring by by , had a webcam installed so that viewers could observe his progress. During the 44-day period, Blaine went without any food or nutrients and survived on just 4.5 litres of water per day.

The endurance stunt became the subject of much media attention. ''The Guardian'' wrote, "Blaine has created one of the most eloquent and telling visual images of our time." ''The Times'' reported that "1,614 articles in the British press have made reference to the exploit." Then U.S. President George W. Bush referred to Blaine’s stunt in a speech at the Whitehall Palace in London, saying “The last noted American to visit London stayed in a glass box dangling over the Thames. A few might have been happy to provide similar arrangements for me.”

A number of spectators were mischievous or hostile towards the endurance artist. ''The Times'' reported that eggs, lemons, sausages, bacon, water bottles, beer cans, paint-filled balloons and golf balls had all been thrown at the box. The ''Evening Standard'' reported that one man was arrested for attempting to spike the water supply to Blaine's box with monkey urine. According to BBC News, a hamburger was flown up to the box by a remote-controlled helicopter as a taunt.

On September 25, BBC News reported that Blaine announced via webcam that he was feeling the taste of pear drops on his tongue. Dr. Adam Carey, who performed a medical examination of Blaine before he entered the box, said that the taste was produced by ketones produced by the body burning fatty acids, which are themselves produced from fat reserves.

Blaine emerged on schedule on October 19, murmuring "I love you all!" and was quickly hospitalized. The New England Journal of Medicine published a paper that documented his 44 day fast and stated that his re-feeding was perhaps the most dangerous part of the stunt. The study reported, “He lost 24.5 kg (25 percent of his original body weight), and his body mass index dropped from 29.0 to 21.6. His appearance and body-mass index after his fast would not by themselves have alerted us to the risks of refeeding. Despite cautious management, he had hypophosphatemia and fluid retention, important elements of the refeeding syndrome.” The event was filmed by director, and close friend of Blaine, Harmony Korine.

''Drowned Alive''

On May 17, 2006, Blaine was submerged in an diameter, water-filled sphere (isotonic saline, 0.9% salt) in front of the Lincoln Center in New York City for a planned seven days and seven nights, using tubes for air and nutrition. During the stunt, doctors witnessed skin breakdown at the hands and feet, and liver failure. The New York Times' Kenneth Silverman wrote "his feat of endurance brought a diverse crowd of thousands of New Yorkers together, renewing for a while the city's waning spirit of democratic community."

He concluded this event by attempting to hold his breath underwater to break the then-current world record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds held by Tom Sietas for static apnea—holding one's breath without the aid of breathing 100% oxygen beforehand, although Blaine's attempt would not have qualified as static apnea under AIDA International rules. Due to his producers' request to make the show more exciting, Blaine attempted to free himself from handcuffs and chains put on him upon coming out after the week in the sphere. He seemed to have trouble escaping from the last of the handcuffs. Around the 7 minute mark, he showed some signs of distress. He was pulled up and out of the water by his support divers after 7 minutes and 12 seconds underwater—one minute and fifty seconds short of his goal. Although he did not take home the record for breath holding, he was called “an everyday hero for an everyday age,” by ''The Boston Globe'', and ''The Washington Post'' stated, “Blaine represented an opportunity to see something unbelievable.”

Blaine did claim to succeed in setting a record for being fully submerged in water for 17 minutes and 4 seconds, and has since broken the record for holding one's breath using oxygen beforehand (as permitted by the Guinness book of records).

Blaine underwent multiple short hospital visits after the stunt ended and has entered an agreement with doctors from Yale University to monitor him in order to study the human physiological reaction to prolonged submersion. In an interview on ''The Howard Stern Show'' on Sirius satellite radio, Blaine spoke of the week-long fasting he did before the "drowning alive" stunt, to avoid having to be concerned with defecation.

''Revolution''

On November 19, 2006, Blaine announced his next stunt: he would be shackled to a rotating gyroscope. His goal was to escape from his shackles after the gyroscope had been spinning for 16 hours. The gyroscope was constantly spinning at a rate of eight revolutions per minute while hanging above an empty lot in Manhattan near Times Square.

The stunt began on November 21, 2006, with Blaine declaring, "This one's exciting for me. This one's a fun one." 52 hours later, without food or water, a dehydrated and weakened Blaine landed on a wooden platform below after jumping from the hanging gyroscope.

As a result of his success, Blaine led 100 children selected by The Salvation Army on a shopping spree at Target, after each child received a $500 gift certificate from the retailer. Blaine said the stunt was particularly important since The Salvation Army had provided him with clothing while he was growing up. "This challenge is close to my heart," Blaine said.

''Guinness World Records''

After failing to surpass the then-current record of ''unassisted'' static apnea in his previous attempt ''Drowned Alive'', Blaine appeared on the April 30, 2008 episode of ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', announcing that he would attempt to break the Guinness World Record for ''oxygen assisted'' static apnea set by Peter Colat of Switzerland on February 10, 2008.

Before entering his eighteen-hundred gallon water tank, Blaine spent 23 minutes inhaling pure oxygen; up to 30 minutes of "oxygen hyperventilation" is allowed under guidelines. His heart rate remained above one hundred beats per minute during much of the attempt, rising to one hundred and twenty-four bpm in the fifteenth minute. This faster heart rate increases oxygen consumption leading to painful carbon dioxide buildup. In the final minute, his heart rate became erratic and Blaine became worried he might blackout. In order to assist the medics in case he would lose consciousness, he unhooked his feet from the sphere's bottom and floated closer to the surface ; however, he kept his head submerged for a half minute longer than the previous record. Ultimately, Blaine held his breath for 17 minutes 4½ seconds, surpassing Colat's previous mark of 16 minutes 32 seconds. This was Blaine's first Guinness record and it stood for almost four and a half months, until surpassed by Tom Sietas on September 19, 2008.

During the following interview, Blaine stated: "I really thought I was not going to make it," claiming that he did so by staying in a meditative state which was helped by the studio lights reflecting off the sphere. According to Blaine, besides the pressure of performing on television, the heart-rate monitor happened to be close enough to his ear so that he heard its beeping, and he had to keep his feet locked in holds at the bottom of the sphere — instead of just floating freely, as he did in the pool on Grand Cayman months earlier. Back then he said he was so relaxed he "wasn’t even there" during most of the breath-hold. But when he emerged from the sphere today, he told Oprah, "I was pretty much here the whole time."

''Dive of Death''

thumb|150px|Donald Trump with David Blaine announcing Blaine's next event in the atrium of the Trump Tower. On September 18, 2008, Donald Trump and Blaine held a press conference at the Trump Tower in New York City to announce his latest feat, “The Upside Down Man.” Blaine was to hang upside down without a safety net for 60 hours above Central Park’s Wollman Rink, with a predicted end for 10:45 p.m. on September 24. Reportedly, Blaine risked blindness and other maladies in the stunt including having to repeatedly defecate in his own pants. Trump has helped finance this and other Blaine events. Blaine hung over the Wollman Rink and interacted with fans by lowering himself upside down. At the press conference, Blaine stated he had already gone without food for over a week and would continue to do so throughout the act. In order to drink fluid and restore circulation, he would pull himself up, all the while contending with muscle spasms and lack of sleep. Blaine began the stunt on Monday September 22, but was widely criticized when, only hours into the endurance challenge, he was seen by fans to be standing on a waiting crane platform, and not upside down, as expected. He reportedly would come down once an hour to receive a medical check, stretch and relieve himself.

When the "Dive of Death" took place, Blaine came down from the platform on a cable, and lightly touched the stage. He was then pulled back up into the air, and, in the words of the ''Daily News'' (New York), "hung in the air like a sack of potatoes with a goofy grin on his face, occasionally kicking his legs as though he were running." The plan had been for Blaine to be pulled up into the air by helium balloons and disappear into the atmosphere. Blaine attributed the problem to changes in weather conditions that occurred after the stunt was delayed due to an address by President Bush.

May 2012 show

On the 17th June 2011, David announced on a live video chat that he would be doing a show in May 2012. During this video chat he also demonstrated a few of his new tricks, showed a video of him swimming with sharks and announced his new card deck called the white lions. He stated that the show will be 100% street magic and full of completely new material.

Charity and private appearances

''Charity''

Every year, David Blaine has traveled all across the country and the world to perform magic for children’s hospital wards, burn units and juvenile wards, including Spofford, Bridges, Horizon, and Crossroads. Blaine has spent time performing magic for Paul Newman and the children diagnosed with serious illnesses at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

''Magic for Haiti''

On Friday January 15, 2010 at 9 A.M. David Blaine started performing "Magic For Haiti" in Times Square until Monday January 18, 2010 at 9 A.M, performing for the course of 72 hours and raising nearly one hundred thousand dollars.

''Private Appearances''

David Blaine has traveled internationally performing magic privately for President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President George W. Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Henry Kissinger, Bill Gates and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He has also performed magic for the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Ukraine Victor Yanukovych, and the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Additionally, David Blaine has performed for Lakshmi Mittal.

Blaine has performed for many other public and private entities, including Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Woody Allen, Jack Nicholson, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Muhammad Ali. Blaine has also performed magic alongside Michael Jackson and has performed during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

See also

List of famous Puerto Ricans

Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico

Notes

References

''Mysterious Stranger'', Blaine's autobiography published by Vilard Books and Channel 4 books. ISBN 0-7522-1989-8.

BBC News on the Above the Below stunt:

Korbonits M., Blaine D., Elia M., Powell-Tuck J., "Refeeding David Blaine: studies after a 44-day fast", ''New England Journal of Medicine'' 2005 Nov 24; 353(21):2306–7. .

External links

David Blaine's official website

David Blaine Gyroscope Image Gallery

Below The Above official website

David Blaine: How I held my breath for 17 min talk given at TED

Category:1973 births Category:American autobiographers Category:American buskers Category:American Jews Category:American magicians Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent Category:American people of Russian descent Category:American performance artists Category:Living people Category:Magician of the year Award winner Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Passaic County, New Jersey Category:Professional magicians Category:Television magic shows

ar:ديفيد بلين de:David Blaine es:David Blaine fa:دیوید بلین fr:David Blaine it:David Blaine he:דייוויד בליין lt:David Blaine nl:David Blaine ja:デビッド・ブレイン pl:David Blaine pt:David Blaine ro:David Blaine ru:Блэйн, Дэвид fi:David Blaine sv:David Blaine uk:Девід Блейн