Name	Columbus
Settlement type	City
Nickname	The Discovery City, Arch City, Indie Art Capital, Cowtown, The Biggest Small Town In America
Website	www.columbus.gov
Image seal	Columbus city seal n6168.svg
Map caption	Location in the state of Ohio, USA
Pushpin map	USA
Pushpin map caption	Location in the United States
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates region	US-OH
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision type1	State
Subdivision type2	Counties
Subdivision name	United States
Subdivision name1	Ohio
Subdivision name2	Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Michael B. Coleman (D)
Leader title1	City Council
Leader name1
Established date	February 14, 1812
Area magnitude	1 E8
Area total sq mi	212.6
Area land sq mi	210.3
Area water sq mi	2.3
Area total km2	550.5
Area land km2	544.6
Area water km2	5.9
Population as of	2010
Population total	787033 (15th in U.S.)
Population metro	1836536 (32nd)
Population density km2	1373.0
Postal code type	ZIP codes
Postal code	43085, 43201, 43202, 43203, 43204, 43205, 43206, 43207, 43209, 43210, 43211, 43212, 43213, 43214, 43215, 43216, 43217, 43218, 43219, 43220, 43221, 43222, 43223, 43224, 43226, 43227, 43228, 43229, 43230, 43231, 43232, 43234, 43235, 43236
Area code	614
Timezone	EST
Utc offset	-5
Timezone dst	EDT
Utc offset dst	-4
Elevation m	275
Elevation ft	902
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	39-18000
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	1080996
Footnotes	}}

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city in the United States of America. It is the county seat of Franklin County, yet the city has expanded and annexed portions of adjoining Delaware County and Fairfield County. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. The city has a diverse economy based on education, government, insurance, banking, fashion, defense, aviation, food, clothes, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology. Modern Columbus has emerged as a technologically sophisticated city. It is home to the world's largest private research and development foundation, the Battelle Memorial Institute; CAS, or Chemical Abstracts Service, the world's largest clearinghouse of chemical information; NetJets, the world's largest fractional ownership jet aircraft fleet; and The Ohio State University, the nation's largest campus.

In 2009, ''BusinessWeek'' named the city as the best place in the country to raise a family. ''Forbes Magazine'' in 2008 ranked the city as the no. 1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation, and the city was ranked a top ten city by Relocate America in 2010. In 2007, ''fDi Magazine'' ranked the city no. 3 in the U.S. for cities of the future, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was rated no. 1 in 2009 by ''USA Travel Guide''.

In 2008, ''MarketWatch'' named Columbus as the 7th best place to do business in the nation. In 2011, the city had five corporations named to the U.S. Fortune 500 list including Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, American Electric Power, Limited Brands, Momentive Specialty Chemicals, and Big Lots. Major foreign corporations operating or with divisions in the city include Germany-based Siemens and Roxane Laboratories, Finland-based Vaisala, Tomasco Mulciber Inc., and A Y Manufacturing, as well as Switzerland-based ABB Group and Mettler Toledo.

The population of the city was 787,033 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous city in Ohio. Although Columbus was the 15th largest city in the United States, it has only the 32nd largest metropolitan area, with 1,836,536 residents. It is the fourth most populous state capital in the United States. Census estimates from 2008 indicate that roughly 116,000 of the city's residents are foreign-born, accounting for 82% of the new residents between 2000 and 2006. According to the U.S. Census, the Columbus Combined Statistical Area (which also includes Marion and Chillicothe) has a population of 2,031,229.

History

Ohio Country

The region where modern-day Columbus is found was once called the Ohio Country, under the control of the French Empire through the Vice-royauté of New France. European traders flocked to the area, in the interests of the fur trade.

The area was consistently caught between warring factions, including Native American and European interests. In the 1740s Pennsylvania traders had overrun the territory until the French forcibly evicted them. In the early 1750s George Washington was sent to the Ohio Country by the Ohio company to survey, and the fight for control of the territory would spark Europe's Seven Year's War with the French and Indian War.

The Treaty of Paris ceded the country to the British Empire in 1763. During this period the country was routinely engaged in turmoil, with massacres and battles occurring.

Virginia Military District

Following the American Revolution, the Ohio Country became part of the Virginia Military District under the control of the United States. Colonialists from the East Coast moved in, but rather than finding an empty frontier, they encountered people of the Miami, Delaware, Wyandot, Shawnee, and Mingo nations, as well as European traders. The tribes resisted expansion by the fledgling United States, resulting in years of bitter conflict. The decisive battle of Fallen Timbers resulted in the Treaty of Greenville, which finally opened the way for new settlements. By 1797, a young surveyor from Virginia named Lucas Sullivant had founded a permanent settlement on the west bank of the forks of the Scioto River. An admirer of Benjamin Franklin, Sullivant chose to name his frontier village "Franklinton". Although the location was desirable in its proximity to navigable rivers, Sullivant was initially foiled when, in 1798, a large flood wiped out the newly formed settlement. He persevered, and the village was rebuilt.

19th century

After Ohio achieved statehood in 1803, political infighting among Ohio's more prominent leaders resulted in the state capital moving from Chillicothe to Zanesville and back again. The state legislature finally decided that a new capital city, located in the center of the state, was a necessary compromise. Columbus was chosen as the site for the new capital because of its central location within the state and access by way of major transportation routes (primarily rivers) at that time. The legislature chose it as Ohio's capital over a number of other competitors, including Franklinton, Dublin, Worthington, and Delaware. Prior to the state legislature's decision in 1812, Columbus did not exist. The city was designed from the first as the state's capital, preparing itself for its role in Ohio's political, economic, and social life. Named in honor of Christopher Columbus, the capital city was founded on February 14, 1812, on the "High Banks opposite Franklinton at the Forks of the Scioto known as Wolf's Ridge." At the time, this area was a dense forestland, used only as a hunting ground.

The "Burough of Columbus" [''sic''] was officially established on February 10, 1816. Nine people were elected to fill the various positions of Mayor, Treasurer, and others. Although the recent War of 1812 had brought prosperity to the area, the subsequent recession and conflicting claims to the land threatened the success of the new town. Early conditions were abysmal with frequent bouts of fevers and an outbreak of cholera in 1833.

The National Road reached Columbus from Baltimore in 1831, which complemented the city's new link to the Ohio and Erie Canal and facilitated a population boom. A wave of immigrants from Europe resulted in the establishment of two ethnic enclaves on the outskirts of the city. A significant Irish population settled in the north along Naghten Street (presently Nationwide Boulevard), while the Germans took advantage of the cheap land to the south, creating a community that came to be known as ''Das Alte Südende'' (The Old South End). Columbus's German population constructed numerous breweries, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and Capital University. With a population of 3500, Columbus was officially chartered as a city on March 3, 1834. The legislature carried out a special act on that day, which granted legislative authority to the city council and judicial authority to the mayor. Elections were held in April of that year, with voters choosing one John Brooks as the first mayor. Columbus annexed the separate city of Franklinton in 1837.

In 1850 the Columbus and Xenia Railroad became the first railroad to enter the city, followed by the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad in 1851. The two railroads built a joint Union Station on the east side of High Street just north of Naghten (then called North Public Lane). Rail traffic into Columbus increased—by 1875 Columbus was served by eight railroads, and a new, more elaborate station was built.

On January 7, 1857, the Ohio Statehouse finally opened to the public after 18 years of construction. During the Civil War, Columbus was a major base for the volunteer Union Army that housed 26,000 troops and held up to 9,000 Confederate prisoners of war at Camp Chase located at what is now the Hilltop neighborhood of west Columbus. Over 2,000 Confederate soldiers remain buried at the site, making it one of the largest Confederate cemeteries in the North. North of Columbus, along the Delaware Road, the Regular Army established Camp Thomas, where the 18th U.S. Infantry was organized and trained.

By virtue of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College (which became The Ohio State University) was founded in 1870 on the former estate of William and Hannah Neil. By the end of the 19th century, Columbus saw the rise of several major manufacturing businesses. The city became known as the "Buggy Capital of the World", thanks to the presence of some two dozen buggy factories, notably the Columbus Buggy Company, which was founded in 1875 by C.D. Firestone. The Columbus Consolidated Brewing Company also rose to prominence during this time, and it may have had achieved even greater success were it not for the influence of the Anti-Saloon League, based in neighboring Westerville. In the steel industry, a forward-thinking man named Samuel P. Bush presided over the Buckeye Steel Castings Company. Columbus was also a popular location for the organization of labor. In 1886, Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor in Druid's Hall on S. Fourth Street, and in 1890 the United Mine Workers of America was founded at old City Hall. In 1894, James Thurber, who would go on to an illustrious literary career in Paris and New York City, was born in the city. Today the Ohio State's theater department has a performance center named in his honor, and his youthful home near the Discovery District is on the list of National Register of Historic Places.

20th century to the present

"The Columbus Experiment" was an internationally recognized environmental project in 1908, which saw the construction of the first water plant in the world to apply filtration and softening, designed and invented by Hoover brothers, Clarence and Charles. Those working to construct the project included Jeremiah O'Shaughnessy, name-bearer of the Columbus metropolitan area's O'Shaughnessy Dam. This invention helped drastically reduce typhus deaths. These designs are still in use today.

Columbus earned one of its nicknames, "The Arch City", because of the dozens of wooden arches that spanned High Street at the turn of the 20th century. The arches illuminated the thoroughfare and eventually became the means by which electric power was provided to the new streetcars. The arches were torn down and replaced with cluster lights in 1914, but were reconstructed from metal in the Short North district in 2002 for their unique historical interest.

On March 25, 1913, a catastrophic flood devastated the neighborhood of Franklinton, leaving over ninety people dead and thousands of West Side residents homeless. To prevent future flooding, the Army Corps of Engineers recommended widening the Scioto River through downtown, constructing new bridges, and building a retaining wall along its banks. With the strength of the post-WWI economy, a construction boom occurred in the 1920s, resulting in a new Civic Center, the Ohio Theatre, the American Insurance Union Citadel, and, to the north, a massive new Ohio Stadium. Although the American Professional Football Association was founded in Canton in 1920, its head offices moved to Columbus in 1921 and remained in the city until 1941. In 1922, the association's name was changed to the National Football League. The effects of the Great Depression were somewhat less severe in Columbus, as the city's diversified economy helped it fare marginally better than its Rust Belt neighbors. World War II brought a tremendous number of new jobs to the city, and with it another population surge. This time, the majority of new arrivals were migrants from the "extraordinarily depressed rural areas" of Appalachia, who would soon account for more than a third of Columbus' rising population. In 1948, the Town and Country Shopping Center opened in suburban Whitehall, and it is now regarded as one of the first modern shopping centers in the United States. The construction of the interstate highway signaled the arrival of rapid suburb development in central Ohio. In order to protect the city's tax base from this suburbanization, Columbus adopted a policy of linking sewer and water hookups to annexation to the city. By the early 1990s, Columbus had grown to become Ohio's largest city in both land area and in population.

Efforts to revitalize downtown Columbus have had some success in recent decades, though like most major American cities, some architectural heritage was lost in the process. In the 1970s, landmarks such as Union Station and the Neil House Hotel were razed to construct high-rise offices and big retail space. The National City Bank building was constructed in 1977, as well as the Nationwide Plazas and other towers that sprouted during this period. The construction of the Greater Columbus Convention Center has brought major conventions and trade shows to the city. The Scioto Mile is a showcase park that is being developed along the riverfront, an area which has already seen the development of Miranova Corporate Center and The Condominiums at North Bank Park. Corporate interests have developed Capitol Square, including the local NBC affiliate locating at the corner of Broad and High.

The 2010 United States foreclosure crisis has forced the city to purchase numerous foreclosed, vacant properties — either to renovate them or to demolish them — at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. As of February 2011, there are an unprecedented 6,117 vacant properties in Columbus, according to city officials.

Aviation

In 1907, 14-year old Cromwell Dixon built the "SkyCycle," a pedal-powered blimp, which he flew at Driving Park.

In 1910, the world's first commercial cargo flight occurred when one of the Wright Brothers' exhibition pilots, Phillip Parmalee, flew two packages containing 88 kilograms of silk from Dayton to Columbus in a Wright Model B, a distance of .

Less than 20 years later, Port Columbus Airport became the axis of a coordinated rail-to-air transcontinental system that moved passengers from the East Coast to the West, with TAT, which later became TWA, providing the commercial service, following Charles Lindbergh's promotion of Columbus to the nation for such a hub. Following the failure of a bond levy in 1927 to build the airport, Lindbergh personally campaigned in the city in 1928, and the next bond levy passed that year. On July 8, 1929 the airport opened for business with the inaugural TAT west-bound flight from Columbus to Waynoka, Oklahoma. Among the 19 passengers on that flight was Amelia Earhart, with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone attending the opening ceremonies.

In 1964, Ohio native Geraldine Fredritz Mock became the first woman to fly around the world, leaving from Columbus and piloting the ''Spirit of Columbus''. Her flight lasted nearly a month, and set a record for speed for planes under 3858 pounds.

Geography

The confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers occurs just west of downtown Columbus. Several smaller tributaries course through the Columbus metro area, including Alum Creek, Big Walnut Creek, and Darby Creek. Columbus is considered to have relatively flat topography thanks to a large glacier that covered most of Ohio during the Wisconsin Ice Age. However, there are sizable differences in elevation through the area, with the high point of Franklin County being above sea level near New Albany, and the low point being where the Scioto River leaves the county near Lockbourne. Numerous ravine areas near the rivers and creeks also help give some variety to the landscape. Tributaries to Alum Creek and the Olentangy River cut through shale, while tributaries to the Scioto River cut through limestone.

Climate

The region's climate is transitional between humid continental (Köppen climate classification ''Dfa'') and humid subtropical (Köppen ''Cfa''), characterized by hot, muggy summers and cold, dry winters. Winter snowfall is relatively light, since the city is not in the typical path of strong winter lows, such as the Nor'easters that strike cities farther east. It is also too far south and west for lake-effect snow from Lake Erie to have much effect, although the lakes to the North do contribute to long stretches of cloudy spells in winter.

The hottest temperature ever recorded in Columbus was , which occurred twice during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s—once on July 21, 1934, and again on July 14, 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded was , occurring on January 19, 1994. Columbus is subject to severe weather typical to the Midwestern United States. Severe thunderstorms can bring frequent lightning, large hail and Tornadoes, especially during the spring and sometimes through fall, a recent one of which occurred on October 11, 2006 and caused F2 damage. Floods, blizzards, and Ice Storms can also occur from time to time.

Demographics

According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Columbus was as follows:

White: 61.5% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 59.3%)

Black or African American: 28.0%

Native American: 0.3%

Asian: 4.1% (1.3% Indian, 0.8% Chinese, 0.3% Korean, 0.2% Vietnamese, 0.2% Japanese, 0.2% Filipino, 0.2% Cambodian, 0.2% Laotian)

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.1%

Two or more races: 3.3%

Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 5.6% (3.3% Mexican, 0.6% Puerto Rican, 0.2% Salvadoran, 0.2% Dominican)

As of the census of 2000, there were 711,470 people, 301,534 households, and 165,240 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,383.6 people per . There were 327,175 housing units at an average density of 1,556.0 per . The racial makeup of the city was 67.93% White, 24.47% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 3.44% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.17% from other races, and 2.65% from two or more races. 2.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The five most common ancestries reported were German (19.4%), Irish (11.7%), English (7.9%), Pole (7.2%), and Italian (5.0%). There were 301,534 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.1% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.2% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.01.

The age distribution is 24.2% under the age of 18, 14.0% from 18 to 24, 35.1% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,897, and the median income for a family was $47,391. Males had a median income of $35,138 versus $28,705 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,450. About 10.8% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.7% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over. In 1900, whites made up 93.4% of the population. The Columbus metropolitan area has experienced several waves of immigration in the 20th century and into the 21st, including groups from mainland China, Europe, Taiwan, Vietnam, Russia, Japan, Somalia, India, and ongoing immigration from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Many other countries of origin are represented as well, with much of this related to the international draw of The Ohio State University. 2008 estimates indicate that roughly 116,000 of the city's residents are foreign-born, accounting for 82% of the new residents between 2000–2006 at a rate of 105 per week. 40% of the immigrants have come from Asia, 23% from Africa, 22% from Latin America, and 13% from Europe.

Due to its demographics, which include a mix of races and a wide range of incomes, as well as urban, suburban, and nearby rural areas, Columbus is considered to be a "typical" American city, and has been used as a test market for new products by retail and restaurant chains. However, newer studies suggest that Columbus may no longer accurately mirror the U.S. population as a whole.

Columbus is home to a proportional LGBT community, with an estimated 34,952 gay, lesbian, or bisexual residents. It has been rated as one of the best cities in the country for gays and lesbians to live, and also as the most underrated gay city in the country.

Rankings

Columbus was ranked as the 15th most literate city in the country in 2008 by Central Connecticut State University, and the 19th best educated. In 2006, Columbus was ranked by CNN Money as the 8th best big city in the country to live in.

In 2010, the city was ranked as the second most manly city in the country by Sperling's, up from number 7 in 2009. Also, that same year, the Dole Nutrition Institute named Columbus as a top city for salad consumption.

Neighborhoods

Law and government

The city is administered by a mayor and a seven-member unicameral council elected in two classes every two years to four-year terms. The mayor appoints the director of safety and the director of public service. The people elect the auditor, municipal court clerk, municipal court judges and city attorney. A charter commission, elected in 1913, submitted, in May 1914, a new charter offering a modified Federal form, with a number of progressive features, such as nonpartisan ballot, preferential voting, recall of elected officials, the referendum, and a small council elected at large. The charter was adopted, effective January 1, 1916. The current mayor of Columbus is Michael B. Coleman.

Crime

The City of Columbus is policed by a Municipal Police Department, the Columbus Division of Police. According to the CQ Press in 2009, Columbus ranked as the 38th most dangerous city in the United States, though it has never been ranked among the top 25. This ranking is based on crime statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as weighted by the CQ Press. According to FBI statistics for 2005, Columbus had 102 reported murders and 6,111 total reported violent crimes of all types. A crime incident map, updated daily, is available for Columbus, Ohio. including crime location, type and detailed information.

Economy

Columbus has a generally strong and diverse economy based on education, insurance, banking, fashion, defense, aviation, food, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology. Overall, it was ranked as one of the top 10 best big cities in the country in 2010, according to Relocate America, a real estate research firm. MarketWatch ranked Columbus and its metro area as the No. 7 best place in the country to operate a business in 2008. In 2007, the city was ranked No. 3 in the United States by fDi magazine for "Cities of the Future", and No. 4 for most business-friendly in the country. Columbus was ranked as the seventh strongest economy in the United States in 2006, and the best in Ohio, according to Policom Corp. In 2009, the Columbus metropolitan area's GDP was $90 billion, up from $85.5 billion in 2006, $75.43 billion in 2005, and $69.98 billion in 2001. During the recession beginning in late 2007, Columbus' economy was not impacted as much as the rest of the country, due to decades of diversification work by long-time corporate residents, business leaders, and political leaders. The current administration of mayor Michael B. Coleman has continued this work, although the city faced financial turmoil and had to increase taxes, due in part to alleged fiscal mismanagement. As Columbus is the state capital, there is a large government presence in the city. Including city, county, state, and federal employers, government jobs provide the largest single source of employment within Columbus.

In 2011, the city had five corporations named to the U.S. Fortune 500 list including Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, American Electric Power, Limited Brands, Momentive Specialty Chemicals, and Big Lots, with Cardinal Health located in suburban Dublin. Other major employers in the area include numerous schools (for example, The Ohio State University) and hospitals, hi-tech research and development including the Battelle Memorial Institute, information/library companies such as OCLC and Chemical Abstracts, financial institutions such as JP Morgan Chase and Huntington Bancshares, as well as Owens Corning and Wendy's. Major foreign corporations operating or with divisions in the city include Germany-based Siemens and Roxane Laboratories, Finland-based Vaisala, Japan-based Techneglas, Inc. (Techneglas closed operations in Columbus), Tomasco Mulciber Inc., A Y Manufacturing, as well as Switzerland-based ABB Group and Mettler Toledo.

Transportation

Grid and address system

The city's street plan originates downtown and extends into the old-growth neighborhoods, following a grid pattern with the intersection of High Street (running north–south) and Broad Street (running east–west) at its center. North-South streets run 12 degrees west of due North, parallel to High Street; the Avenues (vis. Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Seventh Avenue, and so on.) run east–west. The address system begins its numbering at the intersection of Broad and High, with numbers increasing in magnitude with distance from Broad or High. Numbered Avenues begin with First Avenue, about north of Broad Street, and increase in number as one progresses northward. Numbered Streets begin with Second Street, which is two blocks west of High Street, and Third Street, which is a block east of High Street, then progress eastward from there. Even-numbered addresses are on the north and east sides of streets, putting odd addresses on the south and west sides of streets. A difference of 700 house numbers means a distance of about (along the same street). For example, 351 W 5th Avenue is approximately west of High Street on the south side of Fifth Avenue. Buildings along north–south streets are numbered in a similar manner: the building number indicates the approximate distance from Broad Street, the prefixes ‘N’ and ‘S’ indicate whether that distance is to measured to the north or south of Broad Street and the street number itself indicates how far the street is from the center of the city at the intersection of Broad and High.

This street numbering system does not hold true over a large area. The area served by numbered Avenues runs from about Marble Cliff to South Linden to the Airport, and the area served by numbered Streets covers Downtown and nearby neighborhoods to the east and south, with only a few exceptions. There are quite few intersections between numbered Streets and Avenues. Furthermore, named Streets and Avenues can have any orientation. For example, while all of the numbered avenues run east–west, perpendicular to High Street, many named, non-numbered avenues run north–south, parallel to High. The same is true of many named streets: while the numbered streets in the city run north–south, perpendicular to Broad Street, many named, non-numbered streets run east–west, perpendicular to High Street.

The addressing system, however, covers nearly all of Franklin County, with only a few older suburbs retaining self-centered address systems. The address scale of 700 per mile results in addresses approaching, but not usually reaching, 10,000 at the county's borders.

Other major, local roads in Columbus include Main Street, Morse Road, Dublin-Granville Road (SR-161), Cleveland Avenue/Westerville Road (SR-3), Olentangy River Road, Riverside Drive, Sunbury Road, Fifth Avenue and Livingston Avenue.

Highways

Columbus is bisected by two major Interstate Highways, Interstate 70 running east–west, and Interstate 71 running north to roughly southwest. The two Interstates combine downtown for about in an area locally known as "The Split", which is a major traffic congestion point within Columbus, especially during rush hour. U.S. Highway 40, aka National Road, runs east–west through Columbus, comprising Main Street to the east of downtown and Broad Street to the west. It is also widely recognized as the nation's first highway. U.S. Highway 23 runs roughly north–south, while U.S. Highway 33 runs northwest-to-southeast. The Interstate 270 Outerbelt encircles the vast majority of the city, while the newly redesigned Innerbelt consists of the Interstate 670 spur on the north side (which continues to the east past the Airport and to the west where it merges with I-70), State Route 315 on the west side, the I-70/71 split on the south side, and I-71 on the east. Due to its central location within Ohio and abundance of outbound roadways, nearly all of the state's destinations are within a 2-hour drive of Columbus. thumb|left|250px|Lane Avenue Bridge, University District

Bridges

The Columbus riverfront hosts a few notable bridges which have been built in recent years. The Main Street Bridge opened on July 30, 2010 and is the first bridge of its kind in North America. The bridge is located directly south of COSI on the Scioto river, featuring three lanes of one-way traffic and another separated lane for pedestrians and bikes. The Rich Street Bridge which is scheduled to open in August 2011 will be adjacent to the Main Street Bridge connecting Rich Street on the east side of the river with Town Street on the west. The Lane Avenue Bridge opened on November 14, 2003 in the University District and spans the Olentangy river with three lanes of traffic each way.

Airports

The city's primary airport, Port Columbus International Airport, is located on the east side of the city, with several smaller airports in the region as well. Port Columbus provides service to Toronto, Canada and Cancun, Mexico (on a seasonal basis), as well as to most domestic destinations, including all the major hubs except San Francisco and Seattle. Port Columbus was a hub for discount carrier Skybus Airlines and continues to be a home to NetJets, the world's largest fractional ownership air carrier. According to a 2005 market survey, Port Columbus International Airport attracts about 50% of its passengers from outside of its radius primary service region. Port Columbus is currently the 52nd-busiest airport in the United States by total passenger boardings. Rickenbacker International Airport, in southern Franklin County, is a major cargo facility and is utilized by the Ohio Air National Guard. OSU Don Scott Airport and Bolton Field are significant general-aviation facilities in the Columbus area.

Rail

Currently, Columbus lacks any type of passenger rail service.

Columbus used to have a major train station downtown called Union Station, most notably as a stop along Amtrak's National Limited train service until 1977. The station itself was razed in 1979, and the Greater Columbus Convention Center now stands in its place. The station was also a stop along the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad and the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. Columbus is now the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. without either a local rail or intercity rail connection (Phoenix opened a light-rail system in 2008, but still lacks an Amtrak connection. Other metro areas larger than Columbus also lack local rail systems.); however studies are underway towards reintroducing passenger rail service to Columbus via the Ohio Hub project. Plans are in the works to open a high-speed rail service connecting Columbus with Cincinnati and to the proposed hub in Cleveland which offers rail service to the East Coast, including New York and Washington, DC.

Bus

Columbus maintains a widespread municipal bus service called the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA).

Bicycle

Bicycling as transportation is steadily increasing in Columbus with its relatively flat terrain, intact urban neighborhoods, large student population, and off-road bike paths. The city has recently put forth the 2012 Bicentennial Bikeways Plan as well as a move toward a Complete Streets policy. Grassroots efforts such as Bike To Work Week, Consider Biking, Yay Bikes, Third Hand Bicycle Co-op, Franklinton Cycleworks, and ''Cranksters'', a local radio program focused on urban cycling, have contributed to cycling as transportation.

Columbus also hosts urban cycling "off-shots" with messenger-style "alleycat" races as well as unorganized group rides, a monthly Critical Mass ride, bicycle polo, art showings, movie nights, and a variety of bicycle-friendly businesses and events throughout the year. All this activity occurs despite Columbus's frequently inclement weather.

The new Main Street Bridge features a dedicated bike and pedestrian lane separated from traffic, as will the Rich Street Bridge when it opens in 2011.

Walkability

A 2011 study by Walk Score ranked Columbus 29th most walkable of fifty largest U.S. cities.

Education

Colleges and universities

Columbus is the home of two public colleges: The Ohio State University, one of the largest college campuses in the United States, and Columbus State Community College. In 2009, The Ohio State University was ranked No. 19 in the country by ''U.S. News and World Report'' for best public university, and No. 56 overall, scoring in the first tier of schools nationally. Some of OSU's graduate school programs placed in the top 5, including: No. 5 for best veterinary program and No. 5 for best pharmacy program. The specialty graduate programs of social psychology was ranked No. 2, dispute resolution was ranked No. 5, vocational education No. 2, and elementary education, secondary teacher education, administration/supervision No. 5.

Private institutions located in Columbus include the Columbus College of Art and Design, Fortis College, DeVry University, Ohio Business College, Miami-Jacobs Career College, Ohio Institute of Health Careers, Bradford School and Franklin University, as well as the religious schools Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary, Mount Carmel College of Nursing, Ohio Dominican University, Pontifical College Josephinum, and Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Three major suburban schools also have an influence on Columbus' educational landscape: Bexley's Capital University, Westerville's Otterbein University, and Delaware's Ohio Wesleyan University.

Primary and secondary schools

Columbus City Schools (CCS), formerly Columbus Public Schools, is the largest district in Ohio, with 55,000 pupils. CCS operates 142 elementary, middle, and high schools, including a number of alternative schools. The suburbs operate their own districts as well, typically serving students in one or more townships, with districts sometimes crossing municipal boundaries. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus also operates numerous parochial elementary and high schools. The second largest school district in the area is South-Western City Schools, which encompasses southwestern Franklin County. There are also several private schools in the area.

Some sources claim that the first kindergarten in the United States was established here by Louisa Frankenberg, a former student of Friedrich Fröbel. Frankenberg immigrated to the city in 1838. In addition, Indianola Junior High School became the nation's first junior high in 1909, helping to bridge the difficult transition from elementary to high school at a time when only 48% of students continued their education after the 9th grade.

Libraries

The Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) has been serving residents of central Ohio since 1873. With a collection of 3 million items, the system has 22 locations throughout the area. This library is one of the most-used library systems in the country and is consistently among the top-ranked large city libraries according to "Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings." CML was rated the No. 1 library system in the nation in 1999, 2005, and 2008. It has been in the top four every year since 1999 when the rankings were first published in American Libraries magazine, often challenging up-state neighbor Cuyahoga County Public Library for the top spot. CML was named Library of the Year by the Library Journal in 2010.

Culture

Landmarks

Columbus is home to several notable buildings, including the Greek Revival State Capitol, the art-deco Ohio Judicial Center and the Peter Eisenman-designed Wexner Center and Greater Columbus Convention Center. Other buildings of interest include the Rhodes State Office Tower, LeVeque Tower, and One Nationwide Plaza.

The Ohio Statehouse construction began in 1839 on a 10 acre (40,000-m²) plot of land donated by four prominent Columbus landowners. This plot formed Capitol Square, which was not part of the original layout of the city. Built of Columbus limestone from the Marble Cliff Quarry Co., the Statehouse stands on foundations deep, laid by prison labor gangs rumored to have been composed largely of masons jailed for minor infractions. The Statehouse features a central recessed porch with a colonnade of a forthright and primitive Greek Doric mode. A broad and low central pediment supports the windowed astylar drum under an invisibly low saucer dome that lights the interior rotunda. Unlike many U.S. state capitol buildings, the Ohio State Capitol owes little to the architecture of the national Capitol. During the long course of the Statehouse's 22 years of construction, seven architects were employed. Relations between the legislature and the architects were not always cordial: Nathan B. Kelly, who introduced heating and an ingenious system of natural forced ventilation, was dismissed because the commissioners found his designs too lavish for the original intentions of the committee. The Statehouse was opened to the legislature and the public in 1857 and finally completed in 1861. It is located at the intersection of Broad and High Streets in downtown Columbus.

Founded in 1975, The Jefferson Center for Learning and the Arts is a campus of nonprofit organizations and a center for research, publications, and seminars on nonprofit leadership and governance. Located at the eastern edge of downtown Columbus, The Jefferson Center has restored 11 turn-of-the-century homes, including the childhood residence of James Thurber. These locations are used for nonprofits in human services, education and the arts.

A to-scale replica of the Santa Maria is found on the Scioto Riverfront. It was installed in 1992 to commemorate the 500-year anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus's namesake.

Within the Driving Park heritage district lies the original home of Eddie Rickenbacker, the famous WWI fighter pilot ace. Reconstruction of the home is underway.

Established in 1848, Green Lawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in the Midwestern United States.

Landmark photos

Museums

The Columbus Museum of Art opened in 1931, and has a collection focusing on European and American art up to early modernism. The Wexner Center for the Arts, a contemporary art gallery and research facility, is located on the Campus of The Ohio State University. Also on campus is the Ohio State University Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Jerome Schottenstein Center (home of the OSU basketball and men's ice hockey teams), as well as the Jack Nicklaus museum next door.

Located in Franklin Park, the Franklin Park Conservatory is a botanical garden which opened in 1895, situated on just east of Downtown.

COSI, (Center of Science and Industry), is a large science museum. The present building, the former Central High School, was completed in November 1999, opposite downtown on the west bank of the Scioto River. In 2009, ''Parents'' magazine named COSI one of the ten best Science Centers for families in the country.

The Ohio Historical Society is headquartered in Columbus, with its flagship museum, the Ohio Historical Center, located north of downtown. Along with the museum is Ohio Village, a replica of a village around the time of the American Civil War.

The Kelton House Museum and Garden is a museum devoted to Victorian life. Built in 1852, it was home to three generations of the Kelton Family and was a documented station on the Underground Railroad. In 1989, Columbus hosted the "Son of Heaven: Imperial Arts of China," a cultural exchange display from China featuring the artifacts of the ancient Chinese emperors.

Places of worship

According to Sperling's, 37.6% of Columbus residents are religious. Of this group, 15.7% identify as Protestant, 13.7% as Catholic, 1.5% as Jewish, 0.6% as Muslim, and 0.5% as Mormon. Places of worship include Xenos Christian Fellowship, Vineyard Columbus, Trinity Episcopal Church, the Glenwood United Methodist Church, Broad Street United Methodist Church, Second Presbyterian Church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Shiloh Baptist Church, Roman Catholic Church's St. Joseph's Cathedral, the Greek Orthodox Church's Annunciation Cathedral, Mormon Columbus Ohio Temple, the Muslim Noor Islamic Cultural Center, and the Reform Jewish Temple Israel, the oldest synagogue in Columbus, Life Church at Easton in NE Columbus.

Megachurches include the World Harvest Church located in a southeast suburb.

Religious teaching institutions include the Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and the Pontifical College Josephinum.

Parks and outdoor attractions

The Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District includes Inniswood Metro Gardens, a collection of public gardens; Highbanks Metro Park; Battelle-Darby Creek Metro Park; as well as many others. The Big Darby Creek in the southwestern part of town is considered to be especially significant for its beauty and ecological diversity. Clintonville is home to Whetstone Park, which includes the Park of Roses, a beautiful rose garden. The Chadwick Arboretum is located on the OSU campus, and features a large and varied collection of plants. Downtown, the famous painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is represented in topiary at Columbus's Old Deaf School Park. Also near downtown, a new Metro Park on the Whittier Peninsula is scheduled opened in 2009. The park includes a large Audubon nature center focused on the excellent bird watching that the area is known for.

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is world renowned for its collections that include lowland gorillas, polar bears, manatees, Siberian tigers, cheetahs, and kangaroos. Its director emeritus, Jack Hanna, frequently appears on national television, including on ''The Tonight Show'' and ''The Late Show with David Letterman''. In 2009, it was ranked as the best zoo in the United States. Also in the zoo complex is the Zoombezi Bay water park and amusement park.

Performing arts

Columbus is the home of many renowned performing arts institutions including the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Opera Columbus, BalletMet Columbus, the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, CATCO, Columbus Children's Theatre, Shadowbox Cabaret and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. Throughout the summer Actors Theatre of Columbus offers free performances of Shakespearean plays in an open-air amphitheatre in Schiller Park, located in historic German Village.

The Columbus Youth Ballet Academy was founded in the 1980s by internationally celebrated ballerina and artistic director Shir Lee Wu, a discovery of Martha Graham. Wu is now the artistic director of the Columbus City Ballet School, while her instruction remains in strong demand globally. Her students of the last couple decades have furthered their education at institutions such as The Juilliard School, School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet Academy, and Pacific Northwest Ballet Ballet School, while some have gone on to perform with companies including the New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Martha Graham Contemporary Dance Company, and BalletMet Columbus. Her students have won gold medals at the Youth American Grand Prix competition in New York, while others have been finalists in competitions such as the Concord De Dance de Paris.

There are many large concert venues in Columbus, including arenas such as Nationwide Arena and Jerome Schottenstein Center. The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion (the LC for short) (formerly the PromoWest Pavilion), Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Mershon Auditorium, and the Newport Music Hall round out the city's music performance spaces. In May 2009, the Lincoln Theatre, which was formerly a center for Black culture in Columbus, was reopened to the public after extensive restoration. Not far from the Lincoln Theatre is the King Arts Complex, which hosts various cultural events. The city also has a number of theatres downtown, including the historic Palace Theatre, the Ohio Theatre, and the Southern Theatre. Broadway Across America frequently presents touring Broadway musicals in these larger venues. The Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts houses the Capitol Theatre and three smaller studio theatres, providing a home for resident performing arts companies.

Hollywood

Academy Award-winning movies filmed in Columbus and the central Ohio area include Steven Soderberg's ''Traffic'' in 2000 and Jonathan Demme's ''The Silence of the Lambs'' in 1991. ''The Shawshank Redemption'' was nominated for an Academy Award and was filmed at central Ohio locations in 1994. Other movies filmed in Columbus and the central Ohio area include ''Horrors of War'' (by local filmmakers Peter John Ross, John Whitney, and producer Philip R. Garrett) in 2006, ''Fallen Angels'' in 2006, Steven Soderberg's ''Bubble'' in 2005, ''Criminal Minds'' in 1998, Wolfgang Petersen's ''Air Force One'' in 1997, ''Tango & Cash'' in 1989, ''Speak'' in 2004, and ''Teachers'' in 1984.

Sports

Professional athletics

Columbus has professional sports teams in hockey, soccer, and minor league baseball. The Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League play at Nationwide Arena. The Columbus Bullies were two-time champions of the American Football League (1940–1941); the Columbus Thunderbolts were formed in 1991 for the AFL, and then relocated to Cleveland as the Cleveland Thunderbolts. The Columbus Destroyers were the next team of the Arena Football League, playing from 2004 until the league's demise in 2008. The Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer play at their own stadium, Columbus Crew Stadium, which was the first Soccer-specific stadium built in the United States. The Crew were one of the original members of the MLS, and have recently won their first MLS Cup in 2008. The Columbus Clippers, Triple A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians (formerly a long-time affiliate of the New York Yankees through 2006, and the Washington Nationals through 2008), previously hosting their games at Cooper Stadium but now play in a new ballpark in the Arena District named Huntington Park, which opened in April 2009. Until the arrival of the Columbus Crew in 1996, Columbus was the largest city in the United States without a franchise in a major professional sports league, a distinction now held by the city of Austin, Texas.

The city was home to the Tigers football team from 1901–1926. In the 1990s the Columbus Quest won the only two championships during American Basketball League's existence.

Fitness and martial arts

Columbus hosts the annual Arnold Classic fitness expo and competition in early March. Hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the event has grown to eight Olympic sports and 12,000 athletes competing in 20 events. Schwarzenegger has been visiting Columbus for almost 40 years, and has substantial commercial investments in the metropolitan area. In conjunction with the Arnold Classic, the city hosted three consecutive Ultimate Fighting Championships events between 2007–2009. As well as other mixed martial arts events including, IFC Caged Combat, King of the Cage: Bragging Rights, and WEC 47, with plans for an upcoming Strikeforce event at Nationwide Arena in March 2011.

Auto racing

Automotive racing star Jeff Gordon's company, Jeff Gordon Inc., along with Arshot Investment Corp., have plans to construct the Center for Automotive Research & Technology at Cooper Park, a proposed racing venue and center just west of downtown. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a business venture owned by Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, television personality David Letterman, and entrepreneur Mike Lanigan, is based in the Columbus metropolitan area.

Columbus has a long history in motorsports, hosting the world's first 24 hour car race at the Columbus Driving Park in 1905, organized by the Columbus Auto Club. The Columbus Motor Speedway was built in 1945 and held their first motorcycle race in 1946. In 2010 the Ohio State University student-built Buckeye Bullet 2, a fuel cell vehicle, set a FIA world speed record for electric vehicles in reaching 303.025 mph, eclipsing the previous record of 302.877 mph.

Equestrian

The annual All American Quarter Horse Congress, the largest single breed horse show in the world is held at the Ohio Expo Center each October and attracts approximately 500,000 visitors annually.

Ohio State athletics

Columbus is home to Ohio State University athletics, one of the most competitive collegiate programs in the nation. The institution has placed in the top-10 final standings of the Director's Cup, headquartered in Cleveland, five times since 2000–2001, including #3 for the 2002–2003 season, #4 for the 2003–2004 season, while being ranked #2 toward the close of the 2009–2010 season before ultimately finishing #8. The university fully funds 36 varsity teams, consisting of 17 male, 16 female, and three co-educational teams. In 2007–2008 and 2008–2009, the program generated the second-most revenue for college programs behind the University of Texas.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are a member of the NCAA's Big Ten Conference, and the football team plays home games at Ohio Stadium. The OSU-Michigan football game (known colloquially as "The Game") is the final game of the regular season and is played in November each year, alternating between Columbus and Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2000, ESPN ranked the OSU-Michigan game as the greatest rivalry in North American sports. Moreover, "Buckeye fever" permeates Columbus culture year-round and forms a major part of Columbus's cultural identity. Businessman and former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, an Ohio native who studied at Ohio State at one point and who coached in Columbus, was a big Ohio State football fan and donor to the university, having contributed for the construction of the band facility at the renovated Ohio Stadium, which bears his family's name.

During the winter months, the Buckeyes basketball team and hockey team are also a major sporting attraction.

Fairs and festivals

Annual festivities in Columbus include the Ohio State Fair—one of the largest state fairs in the country— as well as the Columbus Arts Festival and the Jazz and Ribs Festival, both of which occur on the downtown riverfront.

ComFest (short for "Community Festival") is an immense three-day music festival, the largest non-commercial festival in the U.S., in Goodale Park with art vendors and live musicians on multiple stages, hundreds of local social and political organizations, body painting and beer. Often coinciding with the weekend of ComFest (though not directly connected to it) is the large Gay Pride Parade, reflective of the sizeable gay population in Columbus.

The Hot Times festival is held annually in Columbus's historic Olde Towne East neighborhood – a celebration of music, arts, food, and diversity.

Restaurant Week Columbus is the city's largest dining event, held for a week in mid-July and mid-January each year. This popular event featured over 40 restaurants in January 2010. Over 40,000 diners went out during the week culminating with a $5,000 donation made to the Mid-Ohio Food bank on behalf of sponsors and participating restaurants.

The JuneteenthOhio Festival is held each year at Franklin Park on Father's Day weekend. JuneteenthOhio is one of the largest African-American festivals in the United States, started 19 years ago by Mustafaa Shabazz. The festival is three full days of music, food, dance, and entertainment by local and national recording artists. The festival holds a Father's Day celebration, honoring local fathers.

Around the Fourth of July, Columbus hosts Red, White, and Boom on the Scioto riverfront downtown to crowds of over 500,000 people. The popular Doo Dah Parade is held at this time, as well.

During Memorial Day Weekend, the well-attended Asian Festival is held in Franklin Park. Hundreds of restaurants, vendors, and companies open up booths, traditional music and martial arts are performed, and cultural exhibits are set up. In recent years, attendees have numbered over 100,000.

During the first weekend in June, the bars of Columbus's trendy North Market District play host to Park Street Festival. The event attracts thousands of visitors from the surrounding neighborhoods and beyond, creating a massive party both inside the bars and on the street.

The Jazz and Rib Fest is a free downtown event held each July featuring jazz artists like Randy Weston, D. Bohannon Clark, and Wayne Shorter, along with rib vendors from around the country.

The Short North is host to the monthly "Gallery Hop", which attracts hundreds to the neighborhood's art galleries (which all open their doors to the public until late at night) and street musicians. The Hilltop Bean Dinner is an annual event held on Columbus's West Side that celebrates the city's Civil War heritage near the historic Camp Chase Cemetery. At the end of September, German Village throws an annual Oktoberfest celebration that features authentic German food, beer, music, and crafts.

Columbus also hosts many conventions in the Greater Columbus Convention Center, a pastel-colored deconstructivist building on the north edge of downtown that resembles jumbled blocks, or a train yard from overhead. The convention center was designed by famed architect Peter Eisenman, who also designed the aforementioned Wexner Center. Completed in 1993, the convention center now has of space.

Dating scene

Columbus was ranked in 2009 as the 18th best place in the country to find a date for females by ''Marie Claire Magazine'', and was ranked as the No. 2 most sexually satisfied city in the country in 2008, according to ''Men's Health Magazine'', behind Indianapolis, and also ranked as the No. 7 most lustful in the country in 2007, based on contraceptive sales, according to ''Forbes Magazine.''

Media

Columbus's sole remaining daily newspaper is ''The Columbus Dispatch''; its erstwhile main competitor, ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal,'' ceased publication on December 31, 1985. There are also a number of weekly newspapers, including neighborhood/suburb specific papers such as Suburban News Publications which serves 23 suburbs and Columbus; ''The Daily Reporter'', central Ohio's only daily business and legal newspaper; ''UWeekly'' which serves the OSU community; ''ThisWeek''; and "alternative" arts/culture/politics-oriented papers such as ''The Other Paper'', ''Outlook'' (of interest to the LGBT community in Columbus) and ''aLIVE'' (formerly the independent Columbus Alive, and now owned by the ''Columbus Dispatch''). ''C: The mostly monthly Columbus Magazine'', ''CityScene'', and ''Columbus Monthly'' are the city's magazines. The newest addition to the Columbus media scene is ''(614) Magazine'', a free, monthly that focuses on the 25–40 demographic. The city's business community is also served by ''Columbus Business First'', a weekly business publication that is part of the Charlotte-based American City Business Journals, which have business papers in cities across the U.S. Extensive Statehouse coverage is provided by ''Gongwer News Service'', a daily independent political newsletter.

Radio

Columbus is home to the 36th largest radio market. The following box contains all of the radio stations in the area:

Television

Columbus is the base for 12 television stations and is the 34th largest television market.

WCMH-TV 4 (NBC)

WDEM-CD 17 (Ind)

WOSU-TV 34 (PBS)

WSYX 6 (ABC)

W23BZ 23 (Ind)

WCPX-LP 48 (AZA)

WGCT-CA 8 (Ind)

WTTE 28 (Fox)

WSFJ-TV 51 (TBN)

WBNS-TV 10 (CBS)

WCSN-LP 32 (Ind)

WWHO 53 (CW)

QUBE

It was in Columbus where Warner Cable introduced its two-way interactive QUBE system in December 1977, which consisted of specialty channels that would evolve into national networks Nickelodeon, MTV and The Movie Channel. QUBE also displayed one of the earliest uses of Pay-per-view and video on demand.

International relations

Sister cities

Columbus has eight sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International. Columbus established its first Sister City relationship in 1955 with Genoa, Italy. To commemorate this relationship, Columbus received as a gift from the people of Genoa, a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus. The statue, sculpted by artist Edoardo Alfieri, overlooks Broad Street in front of Columbus City Hall.

See also

Battelle Hall

Columbus Quest

References

;Notes

External links

Columbus Official city website

Experience Columbus Columbus Convention and Visitor Bureau

Columbus History through Postcards

Historic buildings and photos from the Columbus Metropolitan Library

Columbus Neighborhoods (History and Photos)

Photohio.org – 20th century photos of Columbus and Ohio from the Citizen-Journal Collection at the Grandview Heights Public Library

Category:Populated places established in 1812 Category:Cities in Ohio Category:County seats in Ohio Category:Populated places in Delaware County, Ohio Category:Populated places in Fairfield County, Ohio Category:Populated places in Franklin County, Ohio Category:Planned cities in the United States Category:National Road Category:Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area Category:University towns in the United States

ar:كولومبوس، أوهايو an:Columbus (Ohio) zh-min-nan:Columbus, Ohio be:Горад Калумбус be-x-old:Каламбус bi:Columbus, Ohio bg:Кълъмбъс ca:Columbus cs:Columbus (Ohio) da:Columbus (Ohio) pdc:Columbus, Ohio de:Columbus (Ohio) et:Columbus es:Columbus (Ohio) eo:Columbus (Ohio) eu:Columbus (Ohio) fa:کلمبوس fo:Columbus fr:Columbus (Ohio) fy:Kolumbus (Ohio) gl:Columbus, Ohio ko:콜럼버스 (오하이오 주) hy:Կոլումբուս (Օհայո) hr:Columbus, Ohio io:Columbus, Ohio id:Columbus, Ohio ia:Columbus, Ohio ie:Columbus (Ohio) os:Колумбус (Огайо) is:Columbus (Ohio) it:Columbus (Ohio) he:קולומבוס (אוהיו) pam:Columbus, Ohio ka:კოლუმბუსი (ოჰაიო) kw:Columbus, Ohio sw:Columbus, Ohio ht:Columbus, Ohio ku:Columbus (Ohio) mrj:Колумбус (Огайо) la:Columbus (Ohium) lv:Kolumbusa lt:Kolumbas (Ohajas) lij:Columbus hu:Columbus (Ohio) mk:Колумбус (Охајо) mg:Columbus, Ohio mr:कोलंबस, ओहायो nl:Columbus (Ohio) ja:コロンバス (オハイオ州) no:Columbus (Ohio) nn:Columbus i Ohio oc:Columbus (Ohio) pnb:کولمبس، اوہائیو pl:Columbus pt:Columbus (Ohio) ro:Columbus, Ohio qu:Columbus (Ohio) ru:Колумбус (Огайо) sco:Columbus, Ohio sq:Columbus (Ohio) simple:Columbus, Ohio sk:Columbus (Ohio) sl:Columbus, Ohio sr:Коламбус fi:Columbus (Ohio) sv:Columbus, Ohio tl:Columbus, Ohio ta:கொலம்பஸ் (ஒகையோ) th:โคลัมบัส (รัฐโอไฮโอ) tr:Columbus, Ohio uk:Колумбус (Огайо) ur:کولمبس، اوہائیو ug:Kolumbu, Oxéo vec:Columbus (Ohio) vi:Columbus, Ohio vo:Columbus (Ohio) war:Columbus, Ohio yi:קאלומבוס, אהייא yo:Columbus, Ohio bat-smg:Kolumbs zh:哥伦布 (俄亥俄州)

Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Ohio is the 34th most extensive, the 7th most populous, and the 10th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus.

The name "Ohio" originated from Iroquois word ''ohi-yo’'', meaning "great river". The state, originally partitioned from the Northwest Territory, was admitted to the Union as the 17th state (and the first under the Northwest Ordinance) on March 1, 1803. Although there are conflicting narratives regarding the origin of the nickname, Ohio is historically known as the "Buckeye State" (relating to the Ohio buckeye tree) and Ohioans are also known as "Buckeyes".

The government of Ohio is composed of the executive branch, led by the Governor; the legislative branch, which comprises the Ohio General Assembly; and the judicial branch, which is led by the Supreme Court. Currently, Ohio occupies 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Ohio is known for its status as both a swing state and a bellwether in national elections.

Geography

Ohio's geographic location has proven to be an asset for economic growth and expansion. Because Ohio links the Northeast to the Midwest, much cargo and business traffic passes through its borders along its well-developed highways. Ohio has the nation's 10th largest highway network, and is within a one-day drive of 50% of North America's population and 70% of North America's manufacturing capacity. To the north, Lake Erie gives Ohio of coastline, which allows for numerous seaports. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River (with the border being at the 1793 low-water mark on the north side of the river), and much of the northern border is defined by Lake Erie. Ohio's neighbors are Pennsylvania to the east, Michigan to the northwest, Ontario Canada, to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia on the southeast. Ohio's borders were defined by metes and bounds in the Enabling Act of 1802 as follows: Note that Ohio is bounded by the Ohio River, but nearly all of the river itself belongs to Kentucky and West Virginia. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, based on the wording of the cessation of territory by Virginia (which, at that time included what is now Kentucky and West Virginia), the boundary between Ohio and Kentucky (and by implication, West Virginia) is the northern low-water mark of the river as it existed in 1792. Ohio has only that portion of the river between the river's 1792 low-water mark and the present high-water mark.

The border with Michigan has also changed, as a result of the Toledo War, to angle slightly northeast to the north shore of the mouth of the Maumee River.

Much of Ohio features glaciated plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp. This glaciated region in the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, and then by another belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and forests.

The rugged southeastern quadrant of Ohio, stretching in an outward bow-like arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socio-economic unit. Geologically similar to parts of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, this area's coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing establishments, and distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the rest of the state. In 1965 the United States Congress passed the Appalachian Regional Development Act, at attempt to "address the persistent poverty and growing economic despair of the Appalachian Region." This act defines 29 Ohio counties as part of Appalachia. While 1/3 of Ohio's land mass is part of the federally defined Appalachian region, only 12.8% of Ohioans live there (1.476 million people.) Significant rivers within the state include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, and Scioto River. The rivers in the northern part of the state drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, and the rivers in the southern part of the state drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio River and then the Mississippi.

The worst weather disaster in Ohio history occurred along the Great Miami River in 1913. Known as the Great Dayton Flood, the entire Miami River watershed flooded, including the downtown business district of Dayton. As a result, the Miami Conservancy District was created as the first major flood plain engineering project in Ohio and the United States.

Grand Lake St. Marys in the west central part of the state was constructed as a supply of water for canals in the canal-building era of 1820–1850. For many years this body of water, over , was the largest artificial lake in the world. It should be noted that Ohio's canal-building projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in other states. Some cities, such as Dayton, owe their industrial emergence to location on canals, and as late as 1910 interior canals carried much of the bulk freight of the state.

Climate

The climate of Ohio is a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification ''Dfa'') throughout most of the state except in the extreme southern counties of Ohio's Bluegrass region section which are located on the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate and Upland South region of the United States. Summers are typically hot and humid throughout the state, while winters generally range from cool to cold. Precipitation in Ohio is moderate year-round. Severe weather is not uncommon in the state, although there are typically fewer tornado reports in Ohio than in states located in what is known as the Tornado Alley. Severe lake effect snowstorms are also not uncommon on the southeast shore of Lake Erie, which is located in an area designated as the Snowbelt.

Although predominantly not in a subtropical climate, some warmer-climate flora and fauna does reach well into Ohio. For instance, a number of trees with more southern ranges, such as the blackjack oak, ''Quercus marilandica'', are found at their northernmost in Ohio just north of the Ohio River. Also evidencing this climatic transition from a subtropical to continental climate, several plants such as the Southern magnolia ''(Magnolia grandiflora)'', Albizia julibrissin (mimosa), Crape Myrtle, and even the occasional Needle Palm are hardy landscape materials regularly used as street, yard, and garden plantings in the Bluegrass region of Ohio; but these same plants will simply not thrive in much of the rest of the State. This interesting change may be observed while traveling through Ohio on Interstate 75 from Cincinnati to Toledo; the observant traveler of this diverse state may even catch a glimpse of Cincinnati's common wall lizard, one of the few examples of permanent "subtropical" fauna in Ohio.

Records

The highest recorded temperature was 113 °F (45 °C), near Gallipolis on July 21, 1934. The lowest recorded temperature was −39 °F (−39 °C), at Milligan on February 10, 1899.

Earthquakes

Although few have registered as noticeable to the average citizen, more than 30 earthquakes occurred in Ohio between 2002 and 2007, and more than 200 quakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or higher have occurred since 1776.

The most substantial known earthquake in Ohio history was the Anna (Shelby County) earthquake, which occurred on March 9, 1937. It was centered in western Ohio, and had a magnitude of 5.4, and was of intensity VIII.

Other significant earthquakes in Ohio include: one of magnitude 4.8 near Lima on September 19, 1884; one of magnitude 4.2 near Portsmouth on May 17, 1901; and one of 5.0 in LeRoy Township in Lake County on January 31, 1986, which continued to trigger 13 aftershocks of magnitude 0.5 to 2.4 for two months.

The most recent earthquake in Ohio of any appreciable magnitude occurred on December 31, 2011, at 3:05pm EST. It had a magnitude of 4.0, and its epicenter was located approximately 4 kilometres northwest of Youngstown (), near the Trumbull/Mahoning county border.

The Ohio Seismic Network (OhioSeis), a group of seismograph stations at several colleges, universities, and other institutions, and coordinated by the Division of Geological Survey of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, maintains an extensive catalog of Ohio earthquakes from 1776 to the present day, as well as earthquakes located in other states whose effects were felt in Ohio.

Major cities

!2010 Metro Population |- | style="text-align:left;"|1 | style="text-align:left;"|Columbus |787,033 |1,836,540 |- | style="text-align:left;"|2 | style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |396,815 |2,077,240 |- | style="text-align:left;"|3 | style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati |296,943 |2,130,151 |- | style="text-align:left;"|4 | style="text-align:left;"|Toledo |287,208 |651,429 |- | style="text-align:left;"|5 | style="text-align:left;"|Akron |199,110 |703,200 |- | style="text-align:left;"|6 | style="text-align:left;"|Dayton |141,527 |841,502 |- | style="text-align:left;"|7 | style="text-align:left;"|Parma |81,601 |¹ |- | style="text-align:left;"|8 | style="text-align:left;"|Canton |73,007 |404,422 |- | style="text-align:left;"|9 | style="text-align:left;"|Youngstown |66,982 |565,773 |- | style="text-align:left;"|10 | style="text-align:left;"|Lorain |64,097 |¹ |- | style="text-align:left;"|11 | style="text-align:left;"|Hamilton |62,477 |² |- | style="text-align:left;"|12 | style="text-align:left;"|Springfield |60,608 |133,333 |- | style="text-align:left;"|13 | style="text-align:left;"|Kettering |56,163 |⁴ |- | style="text-align:left;"|14 | style="text-align:left;"|Elyria |54,533 |¹ |- | style="text-align:left;"|15 | style="text-align:left;"|Lakewood |52,131 |¹ |- | style="text-align:left;"|16 | style="text-align:left;"|Cuyahoga Falls |49,652 |⁵ |- | style="text-align:left;"|17 | style="text-align:left;"|Euclid |48,920 |¹ |- | style="text-align:left;"|18 | style="text-align:left;"|Middletown |48,694 |² |- | style="text-align:left;"|19 | style="text-align:left;"|Mansfield |47,821 |124,475 |- | style="text-align:left;"|20 | style="text-align:left;"|Newark |47,573 |³ |- | colspan = 4|¹''Cleveland Metro'', ²''Cincinnati Metro'', ³''Columbus Metro'', ⁴''Dayton Metro'', ⁵''Akron Metro'' |}

Columbus (home of The Ohio State University, Franklin University, Capital University, and Ohio Dominican University) is the capital of Ohio, near the geographic center of the state.

Other Ohio cities functioning as centers of United States metropolitan areas include: :*Akron (home of University of Akron and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company) :*Canton (home of Pro Football Hall of Fame, Malone University, and The Timken Company) :*Cincinnati (home of University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Macy's Inc., Chiquita Brands International, and Fifth Third Bank) :*Cleveland (home of Cleveland State University, Playhouse Square Center, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Orchestra, Case Western Reserve University, The Cleveland Clinic, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Forest City Enterprises, and University Hospitals) :*Dayton (home of University of Dayton, Dayton Ballet, Wright State University, Premier Health Partners, and National Museum of the United States Air Force) :*Lima (home of University of Northwestern Ohio) :*Mansfield (home of North Central State College and Mansfield Motorsports Park) :*Sandusky (home of Cedar Point, and Kalahari Resort and Convention Center) :*Springfield (home of Wittenberg University) :*Steubenville (home of Franciscan University of Steubenville) :*Toledo (home of The University of Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, Owens Corning, and Owens-Illinois) :*Youngstown (home of Youngstown State University and Butler Institute of American Art).

Note: The Cincinnati metropolitan area extends into Kentucky and Indiana, the Steubenville metropolitan area extends into West Virginia, and the Youngstown metropolitan area extends into Pennsylvania.

Ohio cities that function as centers of United States micropolitan areas include: :*Ashland (home of Ashland University) :*Ashtabula :*Athens (home of Ohio University) :*Bellefontaine :*Bucyrus :*Cambridge :*Celina :*Chillicothe (home of Ohio University-Chillicothe) :*Coshocton :*Defiance (home of Defiance College) :*East Liverpool-Salem :*Findlay (home of The University of Findlay) :*Fremont :*Greenville :*Marion (home of Marion Popcorn Festival) :*Mount Vernon (home of Mount Vernon Nazarene University) :*New Philadelphia-Dover :*Norwalk (home of the NHRA venue Summit Motorsports Park, headquarters of the International Hot Rod Association, and pioneer automobile company Fisher Body) :*Oxford (home of Miami University) :*Portsmouth (home of Shawnee State University) :*Sidney :*Tiffin (home of Heidelberg College and Tiffin University) :*Urbana (home of Urbana University) :*Van Wert :*Wapakoneta (birthplace of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong) :*Washington Court House :*Wilmington (home of Wilmington College) :*Wooster (home of The College of Wooster) :*Zanesville (home of Zane State College).

History

Native Americans

Archeological evidence suggests that the Ohio Valley was inhabited by nomadic people as early as 13,000 BC. These early nomads disappeared from Ohio by 1,000 BC, "but their material culture provided a base for those who followed them". Between 1,000 and 800 BC, the sedentary Adena culture emerged. As Ohio historian George W. Knepper notes, this sophisticated culture was "so named because evidences of their culture were excavated in 1902 on the grounds of Adena, Thomas Worthington's estate located near Chillicothe". The Adena were able to establish "semi-permanent" villages because they domesticated plants, which included squash, sunflowers, and perhaps corn. Cultivation of these in addition to hunting and gathering supported more settled, complex villages. The most spectacular remnant of the Adena culture is the Great Serpent Mound, located in Adams County, Ohio.

Around 100 BC, the Adena were joined in Ohio Country by the Hopewell people, who were named for the farm owned by Captain M. C. Hopewell, where evidence of their unique culture was discovered. Like the Adena, the Hopewell people participated in a mound-building culture. Their complex, large and technologically sophisticated earthworks can be found in modern-day Marietta, Newark, and Circleville. The Hopewell, however, disappeared from the Ohio Valley in about 600 AD. Little is known about the people who replaced them. Researchers have identified two additional, distinct prehistoric cultures: the Fort Ancient people and the Whittlesey Focus people. Both cultures apparently disappeared in the 17th century, perhaps decimated by infectious diseases spread in epidemics from early European contact. The Native Americans had no immunity to common European diseases. Some scholars believe that the Fort Ancient people "were ancestors of the historic Shawnee people, or that, at the very least, the historic Shawnees absorbed remnants of these older peoples."

American Indians in the Ohio Valley were greatly affected by the aggressive tactics of the Iroquois Confederation, based in central and western New York. After the so-called Beaver Wars in the mid-17th century, the Iroquois claimed much of the Ohio country as hunting and, more importantly, beaver-trapping ground. After the devastation of epidemics and war in the mid-17th century, which largely emptied the Ohio country of indigenous people by the mid-to-late 17th century, the land gradually became repopulated by the mostly Algonquian-speaking descendants of its ancient inhabitants, that is, descendants of the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian cultures. Many of these Ohio-country nations were multi-ethnic (sometimes multi-linguistic) societies born out of the earlier devastation brought about by disease, war, and subsequent social instability. They subsisted on agriculture (corn, sunflowers, beans, etc.) supplemented by seasonal hunts. By the 18th century, they were part of a larger global economy brought about by European entry into the fur trade.

The indigenous nations to inhabit Ohio in the historical period included the Miamis (a large confederation); Wyandots (made up of refugees, especially from the fractured Huron confederacy); Delawares (pushed west from their historic homeland in New Jersey); Shawnees (also pushed west, although they may have been descended from the Fort Ancient people of Ohio); Ottawas (more commonly associated with the upper Great Lakes region); Mingos (like the Wyandot, a group recently formed of refugees from Iroquois); and Eries (gradually absorbed into the new, multi-ethnic "republics," namely the Wyandot). Ohio country was also the site of Indian massacres, such as the Yellow Creek Massacre, Gnadenhutten and Pontiac's Rebellion school massacre.

Colonial and Revolutionary eras

During the 18th century, the French set up a system of trading posts to control the fur trade in the region. In 1754, France and Great Britain fought a war that was known in North America as the French and Indian War and in Europe as the Seven Years War. As a result of the Treaty of Paris, the French ceded control of Ohio and the remainder of the Old Northwest to Great Britain.

Pontiac's Rebellion in the 1760s, however, posed a challenge to British military control. This came to an end with the colonists' victory in the American Revolution. In the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Britain ceded all claims to Ohio country to the United States.

Northwest Territory: 1787–1803

The United States created the Northwest Territory under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Slavery was not permitted in the new territory. Settlement began with the founding of Marietta by the Ohio Company of Associates, which had been formed by a group of American Revolutionary War veterans. Following the Ohio Company, the Miami Company (also referred to as the "Symmes Purchase") claimed the southwestern section, and the Connecticut Land Company surveyed and settled the Connecticut Western Reserve in present-day Northeast Ohio.

The old Northwest Territory originally included areas previously known as Ohio Country and Illinois Country. As Ohio prepared for statehood, the Indiana Territory was created, reducing the Northwest Territory to approximately the size of present-day Ohio plus the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula.

Under the Northwest Ordinance, areas of the territory could be defined and admitted as states once their population reached 60,000. Although Ohio's population numbered only 45,000 in December 1801, Congress determined that the population was growing rapidly and Ohio could begin the path to statehood. The assumption was that it would exceed 60,000 residents by the time it was admitted as a state.

Statehood: 1803–present

On February 19, 1803, President Jefferson signed an act of Congress that approved Ohio's boundaries and constitution. However, Congress had never passed a resolution formally admitting Ohio as the 17th state. The current custom of Congress declaring an official date of statehood did not begin until 1812, with Louisiana's admission as the 18th state. Although no formal resolution of admission was required, when the oversight was discovered in 1953, Ohio congressman George H. Bender introduced a bill in Congress to admit Ohio to the Union retroactive to March 1, 1803. At a special session at the old state capital in Chillicothe, the Ohio state legislature approved a new petition for statehood that was delivered to Washington, D.C. on horseback. On August 7, 1953 (the year of Ohio's 150th anniversary), President Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date of Ohio's admittance into the Union.

Although many Native Americans had migrated west to evade American encroachment, others remained settled in the state, sometimes assimilating in part. In 1830 under President Andrew Jackson, the US government forced Indian Removal of most tribes to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

In 1835, Ohio fought with Michigan in the Toledo War, a mostly bloodless boundary war over the Toledo Strip. Congress intervened, making Michigan's admittance as a state conditional on ending the conflict. In exchange for giving up its claim to the Toledo Strip, Michigan was given the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula, in addition to the eastern third that was already considered part of the state.

Ohio's central position and its population gave it an important place during the Civil War. The Ohio River was a vital artery for troop and supply movements, as were Ohio's railroads. Ohio contributed more soldiers per-capita than any other state in the Union. In 1862, the state's morale was badly shaken in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, a costly victory in which Ohio forces suffered 2,000 casualties. Later that year, when Confederate troops under the leadership of Stonewall Jackson threatened Washington, D.C., Ohio governor David Tod still could recruit 5,000 volunteers to provide three months of service. Ohio historian Andrew R. L. Cayton writes that almost 35,000 Ohioans died in the conflict, "and some thirty thousand carried battle scars with them for the rest of their lives." By the end of the Civil War, the Union's top three generals–Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Philip Sheridan–were all from Ohio.

In 1912 a Constitutional Convention was held with Charles B. Galbreath as secretary. The result reflected the concerns of the Progressive Era. It introduced the initiative and the referendum. In addition, it allowed the General Assembly to put questions on the ballot for the people to ratify laws and constitutional amendments originating in the Legislature. Under the Jeffersonian principle that laws should be reviewed once a generation, the constitution provided for a recurring question to appear on Ohio's general election ballots every 20 years. The question asks whether a new convention is required. Although the question has appeared in 1932, 1952, 1972, and 1992, it has never been approved. Instead constitutional amendments have been proposed by petition to the legislature hundreds of times and adopted in a majority of cases.

Eight U.S. presidents hailed from Ohio at the time of their elections, giving rise to its nickname "Mother of Presidents", a sobriquet it shares with Virginia. It is also termed "Modern Mother of Presidents," in contrast to Virginia's status as the origin of presidents earlier in American history. Seven presidents were born in Ohio, making it second to Virginia's eight. Virginia-born William Henry Harrison lived most of his life in Ohio and is also buried there. Harrison conducted his political career while living on the family compound, founded by his father-in-law, John Cleves Symmes, in North Bend, Ohio. The seven presidents born in Ohio were Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison (grandson of William Henry Harrison), William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding.

Demographics

Population

From just over 45,000 residents in 1800, Ohio's population grew at rates of over 10% per decade until the census of 1970, which recorded just over 10.65 million Ohioans. Growth then slowed for the next four decades. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Ohio was 11,544,951 on July 1, 2011, a 0.07% increase since the 2010 United States Census. Ohio's population growth lags that of the entire United States, and Caucasians are found in a greater density than the United States average. , Ohio's center of population is located in Morrow County, in the county seat of Mount Gilead. This is approximately south and west of Ohio's population center in 1990.

, 6.5% of Ohio's population is under 5 years of age, compared to a national rate of 6.9%. Also, 13.4% of Ohio's population is over 65 years of age, compared to a United States rate of 12.6%. Females comprise 51.3% of Ohio's population, compared to a national rate of 50.8%.

As of 2007, 3.6% of Ohio's total population is estimated to be foreign-born, compared to an estimated 12.5% of the United States population.

Ohio's five largest ancestry groups, as of 2007, are: # German (28.9%); # Irish (14.8%); # English (10.1%); # Polish (8.4%); # Italian (6.4%). The American Community Survey for the U.S. Census for 2006 reported:

82.8% White (non-Hispanic);

11.8% Black (non-Hispanic);

2.3% Hispanic, a category that includes people of many races;

1.5% Asian/Pacific Islander

1.3% mixed race

0.2% Native American/Alaskan Native

0.1% other races.

Religion

According to a Pew Forum poll, as of 2008, 76% of Ohioans identified as Christian. Specifically, 26% of Ohio's population identified as Evangelical Protestant, 22% identified as Mainline Protestant, and 21% identified as Roman Catholic. In addition, 17% of the population is unaffiliated with any religious body. There are also small minorities of Jehovah's Witnesses (1%), Jews (1%), Muslims (1%), Hindus (<0.5%), Buddhists (<0.5%), Mormons (<0.5%), and practitioners of other faiths (1-1.5%).

According to the same data, a majority of Ohioans, 55%, feel that religion is "very important," while 30% say that it is "somewhat important," and 15% responded that religion is "not too important/not important at all." Also, 36% of Ohioans indicate that they attend religious services at least once weekly, while 35% attend these services occasionally, and 27% seldom or never participate in these services.

Economy

In 2010, Ohio was ranked No. 2 in the country for best business climate by Site Selection magazine, based on a business-activity database. The state has also won three consecutive Governor's Cup awards from the magazine, based on business growth and developments. , Ohio's gross domestic product (GDP) was $478 billion. This ranks Ohio's economy as the seventh-largest of all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranked the state No. 10 for best business-friendly tax systems in their Business Tax Index 2009, including a top corporate tax and capital gains rate that were both ranked No. 6 at 1.9%. Ohio was ranked No. 11 by the council for best friendly-policy states according to their Small Business Survival Index 2009. The Directorship's Boardroom Guide ranked the state No. 13 overall for best business climate, including No. 7 for best litigation climate. Forbes ranked the state No. 8 for best regulatory environment in 2009. Ohio has 5 of the top 115 colleges in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report's 2010 rankings, and was ranked No. 8 by the same magazine in 2008 for best high schools.

Ohio's unemployment rate stood at 10.7 in May 2010, adding 17,000 new jobs that month. Ohio's per capita income stands at $34,874. Moody's is predicting a 1.3% increase in personal income in 2009 for Ohio, compared to the 2007 rate of 4.7%. , Ohio's median household income is $46,645, and 13.1% of the population is below the poverty line, slightly above the national rate of 13%. Ohio's employment base is expected to grow 5% from 2006 to 2016, a net gain of 290,700 jobs.

The manufacturing and financial activities sectors each compose 18.3% of Ohio's GDP, making them Ohio's largest industries by percentage of GDP. Ohio has the largest bioscience sector in the Midwest, and is a national leader in the "green" economy. Ohio is the largest producer in the country of plastics, rubber, fabricated metals, electrical equipment, and appliances. 5,212,000 Ohioans are currently employed by wage or salary.

By employment, Ohio's largest sector is trade/transportation/utilities, which employs 1,010,000 Ohioans, or 19.4% of Ohio's workforce, while the health care and education sector employs 825,000 Ohioans (15.8%). Government employs 787,000 Ohioans (15.1%), manufacturing employs 669,000 Ohioans (12.9%), and professional and technical services employs 638,000 Ohioans (12.2%). Ohio's manufacturing sector is the third-largest of all fifty United States states in terms of gross domestic product. Fifty-nine of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies (by revenue in 2008) are headquartered in Ohio, including Procter & Gamble, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, AK Steel, Timken, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Wendy's.

Ohio is also one of 41 states with its own lottery, the Ohio Lottery. The Ohio Lottery has contributed over $15.5 billion to public education in its 34-year history.

Transportation

Ground Travel Many major east-west transportation corridors go through Ohio. One of those pioneer routes, known in the early 20th century as "Main Market Route 3", was chosen in 1913 to become part of the historic Lincoln Highway which was the first road across America, connecting New York City to San Francisco. In Ohio, the Lincoln Highway linked many towns and cities together, including Canton, Mansfield, Wooster, Lima, and Van Wert. The arrival of the Lincoln Highway to Ohio was a major influence on the development of the state. Upon the advent of the federal numbered highway system in 1926, the Lincoln Highway through Ohio became U.S. Highway 30.

Ohio also is home to of the Historic National Road, now U.S. Route 40.

Ohio has a highly developed network of roads and interstate highways. Major east-west through routes include the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90) in the north, I-76 through Akron to Pennsylvania, I-70 through Columbus and Dayton, and the Appalachian Highway (Ohio 32) running from West Virginia to Cincinnati. Major north-south routes include I-75 in the west through Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati, I-71 through the middle of the state from Cleveland through Columbus and Cincinnati into Kentucky, and I-77 in the eastern part of the state from Cleveland through Akron, Canton, New Philadelphia and Marietta down into West Virginia. Interstate 75 between Cincinnati and Dayton is one of the heaviest traveled sections of interstate in Ohio.

Air Travel

Ohio has 5 international airports, 4 commercial and 2 military. The 5 international includes Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which is a major hub for Continental Airlines, Port Columbus International Airport, and Dayton International Airport, Ohio's third largest airport. Akron Fulton International Airport handles cargo and for private use. Rickenbacker International Airport is one of military which is also home to the 7th largest fed ex building in America. The other military airport is Wright Patterson Air Force Base which is one of the largest Air Force bases in the United States. Other major airports are located in Toledo and Akron.

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is in Hebron, Kentucky and therefore is not listed above.

Transportation lists

List of Ohio state highways

List of Ohio train stations

List of Ohio railroads

List of Ohio rivers

Historic Ohio Canals

Law and government

The state government of Ohio consists of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches.

Executive branch

The executive branch is headed by the Governor of Ohio. The current governor is John Kasich, a Republican elected in 2010. A lieutenant governor succeeds the governor in the event of any removal from office, and performs any duties assigned by the governor. The current lieutenant governor is Mary Taylor. The other elected constitutional offices in the executive branch are the secretary of state (Jon A. Husted), auditor (Dave Yost), treasurer (Josh Mandel), and attorney general (Mike DeWine).

Judicial branch

There are three levels of the Ohio state judiciary. The lowest level is the court of common pleas: each county maintains its own constitutionally-mandated court of common pleas, which maintain jurisdiction over "all justiciable matters." The intermediate-level court system is the district court system. Twelve courts of appeals exist, each retaining jurisdiction over appeals from common pleas, municipal, and county courts in a set geographical area. A case heard in this system is decided by a three-judge panel, and each judge is elected.

The highest-ranking court, the Ohio Supreme Court, is Ohio's "court of last resort." A seven-justice panel composes the court, which, by its own discretion, hears appeals from the courts of appeals, and retains original jurisdiction over limited matters.

Legislative branch

The Ohio General Assembly is a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of 33 districts, each of which is represented by one senator. Each senator represents approximately 330,000 constituents. The House of Representatives is composed of 99 members.

National politics

+ Presidential elections results
! Year	Republican Party (United States)>Republican	Democratic Party (United States)>Democratic
style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0ff;"
style="text-align:center; background:#fff3f3;"
style="text-align:center; background:#fff3f3;"
style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0ff;"
style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0ff;"
style="text-align:center; background:#fff3f3;"
style="text-align:center; background:#fff3f3;"
style="text-align:center; background:#fff3f3;"
style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0ff;"
style="text-align:center; background:#fff3f3;"
style="text-align:center; background:#fff3f3;"
style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0ff;"
style="text-align:center; background:#fff3f3;"

Ohio, nicknamed the "Mother of Presidents," has sent seven of its native sons (Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding) to the White House. All seven were Republicans. Virginia native William Henry Harrison, a Whig, resided in Ohio. Historian R. Douglas Hurt asserts that not since Virginia 'had a state made such a mark on national political affairs.' ''The Economist'' notes that "This slice of the mid-west contains a bit of everything American — part north-eastern and part southern, part urban and part rural, part hardscrabble poverty and part booming suburb,"

, Ohio's voter demographic leans towards the Democratic Party. An estimated 2,408,178 Ohioans are registered to vote as Democrats, while 1,471,465 Ohioans are registered to vote as Republicans. These are changes from 2004 of 72% and 32%, respectively, and Democrats have registered over 1,000,000 new Ohioans since 2004. Unaffiliated voters have an attrition of 15% since 2004, losing an estimated 718,000 of their kind. The total now rests at 4,057,518 Ohioans. In total, there are 7,937,161 Ohioans registered to vote. In the United States presidential election of 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won 51.50% of Ohio's popular vote, 4.59% more than his nearest rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona. However, Obama won only 22 of Ohio's 88 counties.

Following the 2000 census, Ohio lost one congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, which leaves Ohio with 18 districts, and consequently, 18 representatives. The state is expected to lose two more seats following the 2010 Census. The 2008 elections, Democrats gained three seats in Ohio's delegation to the House of Representatives. This leaves eight Republican-controlled seats in the Ohio delegation. Ohio's U.S. Senators in the 112th Congress are Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown. Marcia Kaptur (D-9) is the dean, or most senior member, of the Ohio delegation to the United States House of Representatives.

Education

Ohio's system of public education is outlined in Article VI of the state constitution, and in Title XXXIII of the Ohio Revised Code. Substantively, Ohio's system is similar to those found in other states. At the State level, the Ohio Department of Education, which is overseen by the Ohio State Board of Education, governs primary and secondary educational institutions. At the municipal level, there are approximately 700 school districts statewide. The Ohio Board of Regents coordinates and assists with Ohio's institutions of higher education which have recently been reorganized into the University System of Ohio under Governor Strickland. The system averages an annual enrollment of over 400,000 students, making it one of the five largest state university systems in the U.S.

Colleges and universities

13 state universities

* The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio

* Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio

* Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio

* University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

* Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio

* Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

* Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

* Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

* The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

* Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio

* University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio

* Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio (Fairborn, Ohio)

* Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio

24 state university branch and regional campuses

46 private colleges and universities ^{a b}

6 free-standing state-assisted medical schools

* University of Toledo College of Medicine (formerly Medical University of Ohio)

* Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine

* The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health

* Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

* University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

* Boonshoft School of Medicine (formerly known as The Wright State University School of Medicine)

15 community colleges

8 technical colleges

24 independent non-profit colleges

:^a Included among these is the University of Dayton, which is the largest private university in Ohio.

:^b Two of these institutions are ranked among the top 40 in the nation by US News & World Report: Case Western Reserve University (private national university), and Oberlin College (private liberal arts college).

Libraries

Ohio is home to some of the nation's highest-ranking public libraries. The 2008 study by Thomas J. Hennen Jr. ranked Ohio as number one in a state-by-state comparison. For 2008, 31 of Ohio's library systems were all ranked in the top ten for American cities of their population category.

500,000 or more

* Columbus Metropolitan Library (First)

* Cuyahoga County Public Library (Second)

* Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (Tenth)

The Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) is an organization that provides Ohio residents with internet access to their 251 public libraries. OPLIN also provides Ohioans with free home access to high-quality, subscription research databases.

Ohio also offers the OhioLINK program, allowing Ohio's libraries (particularly those from colleges and universities) access to materials in other libraries. The program is largely successful in allowing researchers access to books and other media that might not otherwise be available.

Sports

Professional sports

Ohio is home to major professional sports teams in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer. The state's major professional sporting teams include: Cincinnati Reds (Major League Baseball), Cleveland Indians (Major League Baseball), Cincinnati Bengals (National Football League), Cleveland Browns (National Football League), Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association), Columbus Blue Jackets (National Hockey League), and the Columbus Crew (Major League Soccer).

Ohio played a central role in the development of both Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Baseball's first fully professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869, were organized in Ohio. An informal early 20th century American football association, the Ohio League, was the direct predecessor of the NFL, although neither of Ohio's modern NFL franchises trace their roots to an Ohio League club. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton.

On a smaller scale, Ohio hosts minor league baseball, arena football, indoor football, mid-level hockey, and lower division soccer. The minor league baseball teams include: Akron Aeros (affiliated with the Cleveland Indians), Chillicothe Paints (independent), Columbus Clippers (affiliated with the Cleveland Indians), Dayton Dragons (affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds), Lake County Captains (affiliated with the Cleveland Indians), Mahoning Valley Scrappers (affiliated with the Cleveland Indians), and Toledo Mud Hens (affiliated with the Detroit Tigers).

Ohio's minor professional football teams include: Canton Legends (American Indoor Football Association), Cincinnati Marshals (National Indoor Football League), Cincinnati Sizzle (National Women's Football Association), Cleveland Fusion (National Women's Football Association), Cleveland Gladiators (Arena Football League), Columbus Comets (National Women's Football Association), Columbus Destroyers (Arena Football League), Mahoning Valley Thunder (af2), Marion Mayhem (Continental Indoor Football League), and Miami Valley Silverbacks (Continental Indoor Football League).

Ohio's alternative professional hockey teams include: Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL), Lake Erie Monsters (American Hockey League), Dayton Gems (Central Hockey League), Mahoning Valley Phantoms (North American Hockey League), Toledo Walleye (ECHL), and Youngstown Steelhounds (Central Hockey League).

In lower division professional soccer, Ohio accommodates the Cincinnati Kings and Cleveland City Stars, both of the United Soccer League and the Dayton Dutch Lions of the USL Premier Development League.

Ohio is also home to the Akron Racers, a minor professional softball club, of National Pro Fastpitch.

Former major league teams:

Akron Pros (NFL) (1920–1925)

Canton Bulldogs (NFL) (1920–1923 and 1925–1926)

Portsmouth Spartans (NFL) (1930–1933)

Cincinnati Red Stockings (NL) (1876–1880)

Cleveland Blues (NL) (1879–1884)

Cleveland Spiders (AA-NL) (1887–1899)

Cleveland Rams (NFL) (1936–1945)

Cleveland Rebels (BAA) (1946–1947)

Cincinnati Royals (NBA) (1957–1972)

Cleveland Barons (NHL) (1976–1978)

Cleveland Crusaders (WHA)(1972–1976)

Cincinnati Stingers (WHA) (1975–1979).

Dayton Triangles (NFL) (1920–1929)

Cleveland Rockers (WNBA) (1997–2003)

College football

Ohio has eight NCAA Division I-A college football teams, divided among three different conferences. It has also experienced considerable success in the secondary and tertiary tiers of college football divisions.

In Division I-A, representing the Big Ten, the Ohio State Buckeyes football team ranks 5th among all-time winningest programs, with seven national championships and seven Heisman Trophy winners. Their biggest are rivals are the Michigan Wolverines, whom they traditionally play each year as the last game of their regular season schedule.

Ohio has six teams represented in the Mid-American Conference: the University of Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami University, Ohio University and the University of Toledo. The MAC headquarters are based in Cleveland.

The University of Cincinnati Bearcats represent Ohio in the Big East Conference.

Division I-AA Youngstown State is a perennial power in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, having won four FCS National Championships.

Division III Mount Union College boasts a record-setting ten National Championships and also hold the record for 110 consecutive game winning streak from 1994 until 2005. They have won two of the last three D-III National Championship games.

State symbols

Ohio's state symbols: State animal: White-tailed Deer (1987) State beverage: Tomato juice (1965) State bird: Cardinal (1933) State capital: Columbus (1816) State flower: Red carnation (1904) State fossil: ''Isotelus maximus'', a trilobite (1985) State herb capital: Gahanna (1972) State insect: Ladybug (1975) State motto: "With God all things are possible." (1959) State reptile: Black racer snake (1995) State rock song: "Hang On Sloopy" (1985) State song: "Beautiful Ohio" (1969) State stone: Ohio Flint (1965) State tree: Buckeye (1953) State wildflower: Large white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) (1986)

See also

Outline of Ohio

Index of Ohio-related articles

List of National Register of Historic Places in Ohio

List of people from Ohio

Notes

References

Cayton, Andrew R. L. (2002). ''Ohio: The History of a People''. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press. ISBN 0-8142-0899-1

Knepper, George W. (1989). ''Ohio and Its People''. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87338-791-0

Mithun, Marianne (1999). ''Languages of Native North America''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Morris, Roy, Jr. (1992). ''Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan''. New York: Crown Publishing. ISBN 0-517-58070-5.

Holli, Melvin G. (1999). ''The American Mayor''. State College, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01876-3

Roseboom, Eugene H.; Weisenburger, Francis P. (1967). ''A History of Ohio''. Columbus: The Ohio Historical Society.

External links

Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Ohio Earthquake Information

Ohio State Facts

State of Ohio Official Website

Ohio Sunshine Wiki

State of Ohio wiki

U.S. Census Bureau (Ohio Quick Facts)

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Ohio

Category:States of the United States Category:Midwestern United States Category:States and territories established in 1803

af:Ohio ang:Ohio ar:أوهايو an:Ohio arc:ܐܘܗܐܝܘ roa-rup:Ohio frp:Ohio ast:Ohio gn:Ohio az:Ohayo bn:ওহাইও zh-min-nan:Ohio be:Штат Агаё be-x-old:Агаё bcl:Ohio bi:Ohio bg:Охайо bo:ཨོ་ཧེའོ། bs:Ohio br:Ohio ca:Ohio cv:Огайо (штат) cs:Ohio co:Ohio cy:Ohio da:Ohio pdc:Ohio de:Ohio nv:Oohááyoo Hahoodzo et:Ohio el:Οχάιο es:Ohio eo:Ohio eu:Ohio fa:اوهایو hif:Ohio fo:Ohio fr:Ohio fy:Ohio ga:Ohio gv:Ohio gag:Ohio gd:Ohio gl:Ohio hak:Ngò-hài-ngò xal:Өхәй ko:오하이오 주 haw:‘Ohaio hy:Օհայո hr:Ohio io:Ohio ig:Ohaïyo ilo:Ohio bpy:ওহাইও id:Ohio ia:Ohio ie:Ohio iu:ᐅᓵᐃᐅ ik:Ohio os:Огайо is:Ohio it:Ohio he:אוהיו jv:Ohio pam:Ohio ka:ოჰაიო (შტატი) kk:Огайо kw:Ohio sw:Ohio ht:Owayo (eta) ku:Ohio mrj:Огайо (штат) lad:Ohio la:Ohium lv:Ohaio lt:Ohajas lij:Ohio li:Ohio lmo:Ohio hu:Ohio mk:Охајо mg:Ohio ml:ഒഹായോ mi:Ohio mr:ओहायो arz:اوهايو ms:Ohio mn:Охайо my:အိုဟိုင်းယိုးပြည်နယ် nah:Ohio nl:Ohio (staat) ja:オハイオ州 frr:Ohio no:Ohio nn:Ohio oc:Ohio uz:Ogayo pnb:اوہائیو pap:Ohio pms:Ohio nds:Ohio pl:Ohio pt:Ohio ksh:Ohio (Bundesstaat) ro:Ohio rm:Ohio qu:Ohio suyu ru:Огайо sah:Оhайо sco:Ohio stq:Ohio sq:Ohio scn:Ohio simple:Ohio sk:Ohio sl:Ohio szl:Ohio ckb:چیۆ sr:Охајо sh:Ohio fi:Ohio sv:Ohio tl:Ohio ta:ஒகையோ tt:Огайо (штат) th:รัฐโอไฮโอ tg:Оҳаё tr:Ohio uk:Огайо ur:اوہائیو ug:Oxayo Shtati vi:Ohio vo:Ohio war:Ohio yi:אהאיא yo:Ohio zh-yue:俄亥俄州 diq:Ohio bat-smg:Ohajos zh:俄亥俄州

__NOTOC__

Name	James Durbin
Residence	United Kingdom
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Field	statistics, econometrics
Work institutions	London School of Economics
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge
Known for	time series analysis, serial correlation
Prizes	Guy Medal in Gold (2008)
Signature	}}

James Durbin (born 1923) is a British statistician and econometrician, known particularly for his work on time series analysis and serial correlation.

He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge where his contemporaries included David Cox and Denis Sargan. He joined the London School of Economics in 1950 and was appointed professor of statistics in 1961, a post he held until his retirement in 1988.

He served as president of the International Statistical Institute in 1983–5 and of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) in 1986–7. In 2008 he was awarded the highest distinction of the RSS, the Guy Medal in Gold (having previously been awarded both the Silver and Bronze medals). The citation read: }}

See also

Durbin–Watson statistic

Durbin test

Notes

References

External links

James Durbin at Portraits of Statisticians

ISI Honorary Member Interviews: Professor James Durbin

Category:1923 births Category:Living people Category:British statisticians Category:Fellows of the American Statistical Association Category:Winners of the Guy Medal in Gold Category:Winners of the Guy Medal in Silver Category:Winners of the Guy Medal in Bronze Category:Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society Category:Presidents of the International Statistical Institute Category:Econometricians

pt:James Durbin

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

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

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

Transition period

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

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

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

Inauguration

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

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

First 100 days

Expectations

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

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

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

Legislation and executive orders

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Approval ratings and opinion

2009

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

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

Handling of the economy

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

2010

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

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

2011

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

Major legislation

2009

January 29: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

February 4: Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act

February 11: DTV Delay Act

February 17: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

March 30: Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009

April 21: Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act

May 20: Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act

May 20: Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009

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

June 22: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

August 6: Cash For Clunkers Extension Act

October 22: Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act

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

October 28: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010

October 30: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act

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

2010

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

March 4: Travel Promotion Act

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

March 23: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

March 30: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

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

May 17: Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act

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

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

July 22: Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010

July 22: Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010

August 10: SPEECH Act

September 27: Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010

December 9: Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010

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

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

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

2011

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

January 7: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011

August 2: Budget Control Act of 2011

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

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

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

December 31: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012

Personnel

Cabinet appointees

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

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

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

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

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

Notable non-Cabinet positions

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

Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

*Sheila Bair¹ (2009–2011)

Special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan

*Richard Holbrooke (2009–2010)

*Marc Grossman (2011–present)

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

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

* Thomas E. Donilon (2011–present)

Special envoy to the Middle East

* George J. Mitchell (2009–2011)

* David Hale (2011–present)

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

* Robert Mueller² (2009–present)

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

* Leon Panetta (2009–2011)

* Michael Morell (Acting-2011)

* David Petraeus (2011–present)

Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers

* Christina Romer (2009–2010)

* Austan Goolsbee (2010–2011)

* Alan Krueger (2011–present)

Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission

* Mary Schapiro (2009–present)

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

* Lawrence Summers (2009–2010)

* Gene Sperling (2011–present)

Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board

* Paul Volcker (2009–2011)

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

Chairperson of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

* Jeffrey R. Immelt (2011–present)

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

Judicial nominees

United States Supreme Court

Obama appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: Sonia Sotomayor2009 Elena Kagan2010

Other courts

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

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

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

Policies

Economy

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

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

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

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

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

Ethics

Lobbying reform

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

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

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

Transparency

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Foreign policy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Guantánamo Bay detention camp

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

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

Killing of Osama bin Laden

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

Overseas Contingency Operation

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

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

Gun control

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

Science and technology

Cybersecurity

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

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

Environment

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

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

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

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

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

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

NASA

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

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

Stem cell research

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

Social policy

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

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

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

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

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

Health care reform

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

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

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

Education reform

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

Gates arrest controversy

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

Wall Street reform

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

2010 midterm elections

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

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

2012 re-election campaign

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

References

External links

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

The Official White House YouTube page

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

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

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

Obama, Barack

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

Name	Asher Roth
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Asher Paul Roth
Birth date	August 11, 1985
Origin	Morrisville, Pennsylvania, US
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2005-present
Genre	hip hop
Associated acts	Nottz Raw, All City Chess Club
Label	Schoolboy, SRC, Def Jam
Website	}}

Asher Paul Roth (born August 11, 1985) is an American rapper.

Early life

Asher Roth was born and raised in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, a small town about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. His mother, Elizabeth (née McConnell), is a yoga instructor, and his father, David Roth, is the executive director of a design firm. His mother has Scottish ancestry and his paternal grandfather was Jewish. Roth does not consider himself Jewish, although his name often leads people to believe he is. He attended Pennsbury High School. Growing up, Roth was exposed to little hip hop in his family, with his parents preferring "The Temptations, Earth, Wind & Fire ... Bruce Springsteen and Dire Straits." According to Roth:

The first CD I ever bought was Dave Matthews Band's ''Crash'' ...That is how suburban I am...I finally got into hip hop in '98 when I heard the Annie sample with Jay-Z....When I wrote my 'A Milli' freestyle, that was me listening to 10 years of hip hop and not relating to it at all. Like, Damn I don’t sell coke. Damn, I don’t have cars or 25-inch rims. I don't have guns. I finally got to a point where I had the confidence to do this thing myself, and I was making music for me. And it turns out, a lot of people feel the same way I do.

Asher has also stated that:

Hip-hop has always been very influential in the ‘burbs, [but] it’s just a matter of where we could relate to it. You find a lot of kids that are really confused. You look at them and they’re dressed out of character. They don’t look right. I figured out, I don’t have to dress this way, but I can still love hip-hop.

After graduating high school, Roth entered West Chester University and became an Elementary Education major, while continuing to record verses over other people's beats. During sophomore year, Roth posted some of his verses on his MySpace page and sent a Friend Request to Scooter Braun, an Atlanta-based promoter and former VP of Marketing for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def. One week after speaking to Braun, Roth flew down to Atlanta and was immediately signed by Braun, who subsequently became his manager.

Asher Roth cites Jay-Z and Eminem among his influences in hip hop, mostly by Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life".

Roth's lyrics characteristically center around what have been called "middle-class minutiae, some also consider them to be a joke." Roth's song "I Love College" is about partying after a visit to Penn State, but includes fatuous lyrics such as "I can get pizza a dollar a slice" that have been identified as "far from threatening".

Music career

After linking up with Braun, Roth moved to Atlanta to pursue a hip-hop career full-time. As industry buzz grew, Roth was courted by a number of labels, including SRC, Def Jam, Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic. Roth would eventually sign a joint venture between Braun's Schoolboy Music and Steve Rifkind, chairman of SRC/Universal Records. On June 13, 2008, Roth put out his first professional release, the Don Cannon and DJ Drama-helmed ''The Greenhouse Effect'' mixtape, via the Internet. This resulted in Roth being the second white rapper to be featured on Drama and Cannon’s Gangsta Grillz series.

2009: ''Asleep in the Bread Aisle''

Roth started recording a full album in late 2008. It was completed in 2009. The first single was "I Love College" which received many hits across North America. His second single was "Lark on my Go-Kart". After the two singles were released, Roth's studio album ''Asleep in the Bread Aisle'' was released on April 20, 2009. He supported his album with a nationwide tour with B.o.B. and Kid Cudi. Asher also joined Blink-182 in the second half of their reunion tour in the fall of 2009.

Roth was featured on the cover of ''XXL'' magazine’s annual Top 10 Freshmen: Hip-Hop’s Class ’09 issue.

2010-present: ''The Rawth EP'' and ''Is This Too Orange?''

After finishing touring in 2009 and releasing a second mixtape, ''Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry'', Roth began working on his second studio album. From his friend Boyder's YouTube page, he has been seen working with producers Pharrell Williams and Nottz Raw. While working with Nottz, the two of them decided to collaborate on a project together, due to having a number of records rejected by the label due to sampling & copyright issues. The end result was an eight track EP, solely produced by Nottz, entitled ''The Rawth EP''. The EP, which features appearances from Colin Munroe, D.A. (of Chester French), Rhymefest and Kardinal Offishall, was released December 27, 2010. Roth released and promoted "G.R.I.N.D (Get Ready It's a New Day)", the first single off of his upcoming second album, by traveling to different radio stations around the country. Roth revealed four tracks on his upcoming album in a XXL article. One features Game, one is produced by Swizz Beatz and another is titled "Run it Back". On May 25, it was announced that Roth's second studio album would no longer be called ''The Spaghetti Tree''. His song with Akon titled "Last Man Standing" is featured on the soundtrack for the videogame ''Madden NFL 12''. In an interview with Rikki Martinez of Power 106 he announced he will be releasing a mixtape titled ''Pabst & Jazz'' and revealed the title of his upcoming second album, ''Is This Too Orange?''. On November 11th, 2011 he released the first offering off ''Pabst & Jazz'', a song titled "Common Knowledge". In November 2011, Roth signed to Def Jam Recordings after several years been signed to SRC Records.

Personal life

Asher Roth is open about his use of cannabis. As stated in an interview conducted and filmed by DJ Vlad, Roth stated his views about the legalization of marijuana and the use of cigarettes:

Cigarettes don't do anything for you except kill you ... I honestly don't believe [marijuana] is the gateway drug, because I use it and I've never done anything else ... I'm trying to be open about my "pot smoking" ...

Discography

Studio albums

''Asleep in the Bread Aisle'' (2009)

''Is This Too Orange?'' (2012)

Mixtapes

''The GreenHouse Effect'' (2008)

''Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry'' (2010)

''Pabst & Jazz'' (2011)

EPs

''Just Listen'' (2005)

''The Rawth EP'' (With Nottz) (2010)

Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

*Best New Artist ("I Love College") [Nominated]

*Best Hip Hop Video ("I Love College") [Nominated]

References

External links

Official website

Office page at Facebook

Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Category:Rappers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Universal Records artists Category:Scooter Braun Category:West Chester University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:Rappers from Pennsylvania

af:Asher Roth cs:Asher Roth da:Asher Roth de:Asher Roth es:Asher Roth fr:Asher Roth hu:Asher Roth ja:アッシャー・ロス pl:Asher Roth pt:Asher Roth fi:Asher Roth sv:Asher Roth tr:Asher Roth