Name	Mitch McConnell
Jr/sr	United States Senator
State	Kentucky
Alongside	Rand Paul
Term start	January 3, 1985
Predecessor	Walter Huddleston
Office1	Senate Minority Leader
Deputy1	Trent LottJon Kyl
Term start1	January 3, 2007
Predecessor1	Harry Reid
Office2	Senate Majority Whip
Leader2	Bill Frist
Term start2	January 3, 2003
Term end2	January 3, 2007
Predecessor2	Harry Reid
Successor2	Dick Durbin
Birthname	Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr.
Birth date	February 20, 1942
Birth place	Tuscumbia, Alabama, United States
Party	Republican Party
Spouse	Sherrill Redmon (Divorced)Elaine Chao (1993–present)
Alma mater	University of LouisvilleUniversity of Kentucky
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Baptist
Signature	Mitch McConnell Signature.svg
Website	Senator Mitch McConnell
Branch	United States Army
Serviceyears	1967
Unit	Army Reserve }}

Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. (born February 20, 1942), a Republican, is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky and the Minority Leader. He is the longest serving U.S. Senator in Kentucky history.

Early life, education, and military service

McConnell was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama to Julia (née Shockley) and Addison Mitchell McConnell.

McConnell was raised in southern Louisville, Kentucky, where he attended the duPont Manual High School, and in 1964 he graduated with honors from the University of Louisville with a B.A. in political science. He was student body president and a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. McConnell has maintained strong ties to his ''alma mater'', and "remains a rabid fan of its sports teams." He graduated in 1967 from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he was elected president of the Student Bar Association.

McConnell became a member of the 100th Division (Training), U.S. Army Reserve, in Louisville, Kentucky, during his final semester of law school; and he reported for his six months of active service, primarily for training, in July 1967. After induction at Fort Knox, Kentucky, McConnell was released early from his active-duty military service in August 1967. McConnell received a medical discharge for optic neuritis, which is a common manifestation of multiple sclerosis.

Early political career

In 1967, to gain experience on Capitol Hill, during his final semester of law school, McConnell was an intern for Senator John Sherman Cooper (R-KY). Later, he was an assistant to Senator Marlow Cook (R-KY) and was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General under President Gerald R. Ford. From 1978 until his election to the Senate, he was the Jefferson County Judge/Executive, the former top political office in Jefferson County, Kentucky, which includes Louisville. However, Louisville and certain small cities were not under the County Judge's jurisdiction during that time.

U.S. Senate

Elections

In 1984, McConnell ran for the U.S. Senate against two-term Democratic incumbent Walter "Dee" Huddleston. The election race wasn't decided until the last returns came in, and McConnell won by a thin margin—only 5,200 votes out of more than 1.8 million votes cast, just over 0.4%. McConnell was the only Republican Senate challenger to win that year, despite Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the presidential election. Part of McConnell's success came from a series of television campaign spots called "Where's Dee", which featured a group of bloodhounds trying to find Huddleston, implying that Huddleston's attendance record in the Senate was less than stellar. It is likely that he was helped by Ronald Reagan's 21-point win in Kentucky that year. His campaign bumper stickers and television ads asked voters to "Switch to Mitch".

In 1990, McConnell faced a tough re-election contest against former Louisville Mayor Harvey I. Sloane, winning by 4.5 points. In 1996, he soundly defeated Steve Beshear, even as Bill Clinton narrowly carried the state. In keeping with a tradition of humorous and effective television ads in his campaigns, McConnell's campaign ran television ads that warned voters to not "Get Besheared" and included images of sheep being sheared. In 2002, he was re-elected with the largest majority by a Republican candidate in Kentucky history. In 2008, McConnell defeated Democratic opponent Bruce Lunsford in general election.

Tenure

He is widely considered a kingmaker in Kentucky Republican politics. Although he is considered by many as an ardent conservative, he has distanced himself from the majority in his party by supporting earmarks and opposing the Flag Desecration Amendment.

During the 1998 and 2000 election cycles, McConnell was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Republicans maintained control of the Senate in both. He was first elected as Majority Whip in the 108th Congress and unanimously re-elected on November 17, 2004. Senator Bill Frist, the Majority Leader, did not seek re-election in the 2006 elections. In November 2006, after Republicans lost control of the Senate, they elected McConnell to replace Frist as Minority Leader.

McConnell has supported several gun control measures put forth by Democrats, including the 1991 Crime Bill S.1241 (see U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote here) sponsored by then senator Joseph Biden, that instituted a national waiting period for handgun purchases as well as a federal ban on semi-automatic firearms. In 1998, McConnell voted for Barbara Boxer's Trigger Lock Amendment 3230 (see U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote here), which required the purchase of a trigger lock with the sale of each handgun.

In addition to regulation of fire arms, McConnell has also supported nuclear arms control initiatives such as the START I treaty, which he voted for in 1992, describing it as "an outstanding agreement".

McConnell is also well known for his opposition to campaign finance regulation on First Amendment grounds. He argues that regulations reduce participation in political campaigns and protect incumbents from competition. He spearheaded the movement against the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (known since 1995 as the "McCain–Feingold bill" and from 1989–1994 as the "Boren–Mitchell bill"), calling it "neither fair, nor balanced, nor constitutional." His opposition to the bill culminated in the 2003 Supreme Court case ''McConnell v. Federal Election Commission'' and the 2009 ''Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission''.

In August 2007 McConnell introduced the Protect America Act of 2007, which allowed the National Security Agency to monitor telephone and electronic communications of suspected terrorists inside and outside the United States without obtaining a warrant.

In 1996, McConnell demanded that President Clinton allow White House aides to testify under oath. On April 1, 2007, Chris Wallace suggested that McConnell's stance on Karl Rove and Harriet Miers testifying under oath in relation to the Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy was contradictory. Wallace asked, "In 1996, you were saying those White House aides should testify in open hearing. These were White House aides of Bill Clinton, in open hearing under oath. Why shouldn't the same rules apply for the [George W.] Bush White House and people like Karl Rove?" McConnell replied, "And what I’m telling you is the president's going to make that decision."

McConnell was the writer of the Gas Price Reduction Act. The GPRA calls for more offshore and domestic oil exploration, to try to curb rising gas prices.

On April 21, 2009, McConnell delivered a speech to the Senate criticizing United States President Barack Obama's plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. During the speech, he suggested that Obama's closure plans might result in the release of "murderers" into the U.S. He also asserted that the Department of Defense had identified 18 former Guantanamo prisoners who allegedly returned to battle, whom he called "recidivists", and he predicted that the closure of the camp would result in additional former captives returning to the battlefield.

McConnell opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

;War in Iraq McConnell voted for the initial War in Iraq, has supported the "troop surge", and opposed a timetable for withdrawal from the country. McConnell remains one of the strongest supporters of the Iraq War, which he considers a central part of the War on Terrorism. He holds the view that the violence in Iraq is perpetrated primarily by al-Qaeda and other international jihadists who would otherwise be engaged in terrorist actions within the United States. In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on January 10, 2007 (after President Bush's announcement of an escalation in troop levels in Iraq), McConnell claimed that the war in Iraq was a success because it had prevented terrorist attacks in the U.S. since the September 11 attacks. He warned that if the United States withdrew from Iraq, "the terrorists would come after us where we live."

In 2006, McConnell publicly criticized Senate Democrats for urging that troops be brought back from Iraq. According to Bush’s ''Decision Points'' memoir, however, McConnell was privately urging the then President to “bring some troops home from Iraq” to lessen the political risks. McConnell’s hometown paper, the ''Louisville Courier-Journal'', in an editorial titled "McConnell’s True Colors", criticized McConnell for the hypocrisy of his actions and asked him to “explain why the fortunes of the Republican Party are of greater importance than the safety of the United States.”

Regarding the failure of the Iraqi government to make reforms, McConnell said the following on ''Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer'': "The Iraqi government is a huge disappointment. Republicans overwhelmingly feel disappointed about the Iraqi government. I read just this week that a significant number of the Iraqi parliament want to vote to ask us to leave. I want to assure you, Wolf, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request."

On the June 17, 2007, edition of CBS News' ''Face the Nation,'' McConnell said, "Most members of my conference in the Senate believe [that September will be] the critical point to evaluate where we are ... I think everybody anticipates that there's going to be a new strategy in the fall. I find growing support in the Senate among Republicans, and for that matter, some Democrats as well, for the recommendations of the [Baker-Hamilton] Iraq Study Group".

On July 9, 2007, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky at Fort Campbell, speaking to a contingent of troops about to ship out for a 15-month deployment to Iraq, McConnell said, "The majority of the public has decided the Iraq effort is not worth it," he said. "That puts a lot of pressure on Congress to act because public opinion in a democracy is not irrelevant."

In its 2009 report, liberal government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named McConnell one of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress, stating that "Sen. McConnell's ethics issues stem primarily from (1) earmarks he inserted into legislation for clients of his former chief of staff in exchange for campaign contributions and (2) the misuse of his nonprofit McConnell Center for Political Leadership at the University of Louisville." McConnell was also included in the group's report in 2007 and 2008.

In 2004, during the debate over the FY2005 Defense Authorization Act, McConnell offered an alternative amendment (S.AMDT.3472) to that proposed by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). McConnell's amendment required the president to submit a public report to Congress on the strategy of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq regarding stabilization and rebuilding no later than 120 days after the bill passed. Opponents, mostly Democrats, argued the measure was not strong enough, for unlike that proposed by Kennedy, it did not require President Bush to provide an estimate regarding future troop levels in Iraq. The amendment passed, unlike Kennedy's, in a 71-27 vote. Main article: Congressional actions on the Iraq War following the 2003 U.S. invasion President Bush's troop "surge" in Iraq

In late January 2007, Senate Minority Leader McConnell said that Republicans would not attempt to filibuster a non-binding resolution opposing the "surge."

On February 5, 2007, the Senate planned to address several of the nonbinding resolutions concerning the troop "surge." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader McConnell were unable, however, to agree on which resolutions would be debated and the manner in which they would be considered. Before the debate began, Reid offered Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) a choice. Either all three proposed resolutions could come to a vote, with a simple majority needed for passing any of them, or a debate and vote would be held only on the resolutions introduced by Sens. John Warner (R-Va.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), with each requiring sixty votes to pass. McConnell, however, wanted all three resolutions to face a sixty-vote requirement, likely because it was believed only the Gregg measure could reach this threshold. In the end, the two sides could not reach an agreement, and Republicans blocked debate on the bill. Following an attempted cloture vote on one of the measures, which Republicans successfully filibustered, McConnell downplayed the vote as a mere procedural hurdle, calling it a “bump in the road” and added, “We are ready and anxious to have this debate this week.”

On February 17, another cloture vote was attempted on a troop "surge" resolution, but it also failed. Again, the filibuster was caused by a disagreement between Senate leaders. McConnell refused to support a vote on the resolution unless Majority Leader Reid also allowed a vote on a resolution promising that the Senate would continue to fund the war.

On March 26, 2007, McConnell asserted that although he would attempt to block a Democratic effort to force troop withdrawal contained in the Iraq spending bill, he would most likely not push to filibuster the measure, as he was sure that President Bush will veto the package. "Our goal is to pass it quickly... Our troops need the money." Unable to override Bush's veto, Democrats would have to redraft the bill without a "surrender deadline," he said. The legislation would require that Bush begin pulling out some troops right away with the goal of ending combat missions by March 31, 2008. Despite the Democrat's first attempt at including a deadline for troop withdrawal from Iraq, McConnell expressed confidence following the vote that Bush’s request for a “clean spending bill” (one without any calls for withdrawal) would ultimately pass. He stated, “It may take two tries to get there, but I think that’s very likely going to be the final outcome.”

When the first bill passed both chambers and then was vetoed by the President, Democrats attempted a second spending bill without a timetable, which only provided short term funding for the war. McConnell still voiced strong opposition to this provision. Main article: U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (H.R.2206) Following a failed cloture vote on Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-Wis.) amendment (S.AMDT.1098) to end funding for the Iraq War in 2008, another attempt to use a spending bill to withdrawal U.S. forces, Minority Leader McConnell stated that "once again, an overwhelming bipartisan majority rejected giving our enemy a timeline for withdrawal...The U.S. Senate has continued to show that an arbitrary surrender date is a non-starter. We need to move forward with the business of ensuring our troops have the funding, training and equipment they need to complete their mission."

;Fundraising From 2003 to 2008, among McConnell's top 20 donors have been 5 financial/investment firms: UBS, FMR Corporation (Fidelity Investments), Citigroup, Bank of New York and Merrill Lynch. During his entire political career, the top three industries donating to McConnell have been: Lawyers ($1.5 million), Securities and Investments ($1.5 million), and Health Professionals ($1.4 million).

In April 2010, while Congress was considering financial reform legislation, a reporter asked McConnell if he was "doing the bidding of the large banks." McConnell has received more money in donations from the "Finance, Insurance and Real Estate" sector than any other sector according to the Center for Responsive Politics. McConnell responded "I'd say that that's inaccurate. You could talk to the community bankers in Kentucky." The Democrats’ plan for financial reform is actually a way to institute "endless taxpayer funded bailouts for big Wall Street banks," says McConnell. McConnell is concerned that the proposed $50 billion, bank-funded fund that would be used to liquidate financial firms that could collapse "would of course immediately signal to everyone that the government is ready to bail out large banks." In McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper ran an opinion page story saying “We have read that the Republicans have a plan for financial reform, but McConnell isn't talking up any solutions, just trashing the other side's ideas with no respect for the truth.

;Obama 2012 comment Speaking with National Journal magazine about Republican Party priorities for the 2008-2010 Congress, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell explained that "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."

;Oil Mitch McConnell has voted in favor of big oil companies on 100% of important oil-related bills from 2005–2007, according to Oil Change International. These bills include Iraq war funding, climate change studies, clean energy, and emissions.

;Campaign spending regulations In April 2007, after a Republican Senator placed an anonymous hold on the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act of 2007, which would require Senators to file their campaign finance reports electronically to the Federal Election Commission, the Sunlight Foundation led a campaign to try and discover the identity of the anonymous senator. They eventually sought to procure the name from Minority Leader McConnell. Since all objections to legislation must be lodged with the party leader, McConnell was sure to know who was behind the objection. McConnell refused to release the name of the senator behind the hold. He stated that the failure of the bill's passage lied at the feet of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for refusing to bring the bill up for a floor vote. When Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) argued that the bill must pass by unanimous consent to avoid unnecessary amendments, McConnell admitted that the objecting Senator wished to add amendments to the bill.

On May 7, 2007, Sen. Feinstein sent a letter to McConnell asking for his help in passing the bill. Sen. Feinstein wrote, "I am ready to meet with [the objecting] Senators to discuss their amendments and try to address their concerns." As of yet, McConnell has not publicly responded.

On June 26, McConnell argued that he would not allow S.1, an important lobbying reform bill (which had passed), to go into conference unless Senate Republicans were allowed to add an amendment to the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (a so-called "poison pill" amendment). The amendment would allow party committees, like the RNC or the DSCC, to coordinate campaign activities with candidate committees. The amendment was widely opposed to by a majority of Democrats and would not only make the bill's passage impossible in conference or in the House, but also endanger the entire lobbying and ethics reform package. This maneuver was blocked by Majority Leader Reid, but resulted in stalling the appointment of Senate conferees on S. 1.

;Transparency On June 28, 2007, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) blocked a deal between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader McConnell that would have started up long-stalled conference proceedings on the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007. DeMint made an objection to the agreement by phone to the Senate floor, minutes after McConnell had said Republicans would drop their objections to naming conferees. DeMint argued that he would not let the bill proceed until certain earmark reforms were accepted. He stated, "We will not have earmark reform during this year’s appropriations process. That is why this is being done," DeMint charged on the floor, adding later that "the only reason to go to conference with [the rules] in is to take them out." Democrats responded, Harry Reid commenting, "Here we are, seconds from going to conference and a call comes in to the Republican cloak room. I understand the Minority Leader has a responsibility to take that ... but the eyes of the nation are on us... to not let us go to conference on some petty issue that my friend has raised is really bad.”

;Jack Abramoff connection McConnell "said through his spokesman that the money given to him and his political committee by three [American Indian] tribes will be donated to the Wayside Christian Mission in Louisville, which helps the poor and homeless. While federal records show McConnell received $18,500, his office's accounting showed $19,500, and that is what will be given to Wayside," James R. Carroll reported in the January 5, 2006, Louisville, Kentucky, Courier-Journal.

;Clash Over 9/11 bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and McConnell are disputing a provision to a 9/11 Bill. The current legislation gives collective bargaining rights to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners. Republicans have blasted Democrats, arguing that the bill is a giveaway to the labor interests that have given crucial political support to the new majority. Meanwhile, the Democrats say the provision is a necessary clause for this homeland security bill.

;9/11 Commission recommendations On June 26, 2007, Congress Democrats expressed the plan to push for the passage of a bill implementing terrorism-prevention measures suggested by the 9/11 commission. The goal would to pass the bill before the July 4 recess, though it was expected that Senate Republicans, led by Minority Leader McConnell, would probably object to the quick consideration necessary the bill to be sent to the president before the recess. One Democratic House aide commented, "If Sen. McConnell and the Republican leadership in the Senate chose obstruction on this legislation, it serves no one’s interests but the special interests."

Committee assignments

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

*Subcommittee on Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry, and Credit

*Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health

*Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms

Committee on Appropriations

* Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

* Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

* Subcommittee on Defense

* Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

* Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs, and Related Agencies

* Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

Committee on Rules and Administration

Select Committee on Intelligence (''Ex officio'')

Electoral history

Elections are shown with a map depicting county-by-county information. McConnell is shown in red and Democratic opponents shown in blue.

! Year	! % McConnell	! Opponent	! Party affiliation	! % of vote	! County-by-county map
	49.9%	Walter Huddleston (incumbent)	Democratic	49.5%
	52.2%	Harvey I. Sloane	Democratic	47.8%
	55.5%	Steve Beshear	Democratic	42.8%
	64.7%	Lois Combs Weinberg	Democratic	35.3%
	53.0%	Bruce Lunsford	Democratic	47.0%

Personal life

McConnell is a member of the Baptist Church. His first wife was Sherrill Redmon, later divorced, they have three daughters, Elly, Claire, and Porter. His second wife, whom he married in 1993, is Elaine Chao, the former Secretary of Labor under George W. Bush (the first Asian American woman to serve in the Cabinet).

Senator McConnell's personal fortune was between $9,839,049 to $44,587,000 in 2010 and he was ranked as the 10th wealthiest member of the U.S. Senate.

Memberships

McConnell also serves as a speaker for the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia, an organization that teaches conservative Americans how to influence public policy through activism and leadership, and is a lifelong member of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity. In 1997, he founded the James Madison Center for Free Speech, a Washington, D.C.-based legal defense organization.

See also

McConnell Center

References

External links

Senator Mitch McConnell ''official U.S. Senate site''

Mitch McConnell For U.S. Senate ''official campaign site''

Truth-O-Meter Profile at PolitiFact.com

Profile at SourceWatch

Candidate information from ''Our Campaigns''

Recommended Reading on Mitch McConnell, ''The Atlantic''

Category:1942 births Category:Baptists from the United States Category:DuPont Manual Magnet High School alumni Category:Kentucky lawyers Category:Kentucky Republicans Category:Leadership Institute alumni and associates Category:Living people Category:Louisville politicians Category:People from Louisville, Kentucky Category:People from the Florence – Muscle Shoals metropolitan area Category:Spouses of United States Cabinet members Category:United States Senators from Kentucky Category:University of Kentucky alumni Category:University of Louisville alumni Category:Republican Party United States Senators Category:United States congressional aides

de:Mitch McConnell fr:Mitch McConnell it:Mitch McConnell nl:Mitch McConnell ja:ミッチ・マコーネル no:Mitch McConnell pl:Mitch McConnell pt:Mitch McConnell ru:Макконнелл, Митч sh:Mitch McConnell fi:Mitch McConnell sv:Mitch McConnell zh:米奇·麥康諾

Birthname	Eric Ivan Cantor
Office	House Majority Leader
Deputy	Kevin McCarthy
Term start	January 3, 2011
Predecessor	Steny Hoyer
Office2	House Minority Whip
Leader2	John Boehner
Term start2	January 3, 2009
Term end2	January 3, 2011
Predecessor2	Roy Blunt
Successor2	Steny Hoyer
Office3	House Chief Deputy Whip
1blankname3	Whip
1namedata3	Roy Blunt
Term start3	January 3, 2003
Term end3	January 3, 2009
Predecessor3	Roy Blunt
Successor3	Kevin McCarthy
State4	Virginia
District4	7th
Term start4	January 3, 2001
Predecessor4	Thomas Bliley
State delegate5	Virginia
District5	73rd
Term start5	January 3, 1992
Term end5	January 3, 2001
Predecessor5	Walter Stosch
Successor5	John O'Bannon
Birth date	June 06, 1963
Birth place	Richmond, Virginia, United States
Party	Republican Party
Spouse	Diana Fine
Alma mater	George Washington UniversityWilliam & Mary Law SchoolColumbia University
Profession	AttorneyReal estate executive
Religion	Judaism
Website	Rep. Eric Cantor Eric Cantor Majority Leader }}

Eric Ivan Cantor (; born June 6, 1963) is the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 7th congressional district, serving since 2001. A member of the Republican Party, he became House Majority Leader when the 112th Congress convened on January 3, 2011. He previously served as House Minority Whip from 2009 to 2011.

His district includes most of the northern and western sections of Richmond, along with most of Richmond's western suburbs and portions of the Shenandoah Valley. Cantor is the only Jewish Republican currently serving in the U.S. Congress, and the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress in its history.

Early life, education and career

Cantor, the second of three children, was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Mary Lee (née Hudes), a schoolteacher, and Eddie Cantor, who owned a real estate firm. His paternal family immigrated from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s and his maternal grandfather was born in Romania. His father was the state treasurer for Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. Cantor was raised in Conservative Judaism. He graduated from the Collegiate School in 1981. He enrolled at George Washington University (GW) in 1981, and as a freshman he worked as an intern for House Republican Tom Bliley of Virginia and was Bliley's driver in the 1982 campaign. Cantor was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity while at GW and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1985 He earned a Juris Doctor degree from William & Mary Law School in 1988, and received a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University in 1989.

Cantor worked for over a decade with his family's business doing legal work and real estate development.

Virginia House of Delegates

Cantor served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1992–January 1, 2001. At various times he was a member of committees on Science and Technology, Corporation Insurance and Banking, General Laws, Courts of Justice, (co-chairman) Claims. Cantor announced on March 14, 2000 that he would seek the seat in the United States House of Representatives that was being vacated by Tom Bliley. Cantor had chaired Bliley's reelection campaigns for the previous six years, and immediately gained the support of Bliley's political organization, as well as Bliley's endorsement later in the primary.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

During his first term, Cantor was Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. He has also served on the House Financial Services Committee and on the House International Relations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.

Party leadership

In 2002–only a few weeks after winning a second term–Roy Blunt appointed Cantor Chief Deputy Republican Whip, the highest appointed position in the Republican caucus.

On November 19, 2008, Cantor was unanimously elected Republican Whip for the 111th Congress, after serving as Deputy Whip for six years under Blunt. Blunt had decided not to seek reelection to the post after Republican losses in the previous two elections. Cantor was the first member of either party from Virginia to hold the position of Party Whip. As Whip, Cantor was the second-ranking House Republican, behind Minority Leader John Boehner. He was charged with coordinating the votes and messages of Republican House members. Cantor became the Majority Leader when the 112th Congress took office on January 3, 2011. However, he is still second-in-command to Boehner in the House Republican caucus, as by tradition, the Speaker is considered to be the party leader.

Cantor is a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Republican National Committee. He is one of the Republican Party's top fundraisers, having raised over $30 million for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). He is also one of the three founding members of the GOP Young Guns Program. In the fall of 2010, Cantor wrote a ''New York Times'' bestselling book, ''Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders'', with the other two founding members of Young Guns. They describe the vision outlined in the book as "a clear agenda based on common sense for the common good." Cantor said in 2010 that he worked with the Tea Party movement in his district.

Campaign office incident

After the passage of the health care reform bill in March 2010, Cantor reported that somebody had shot a bullet through a window of his campaign office in Richmond, Virginia. A spokesman for the Richmond Police later stated that the bullet was not intentionally fired at Cantor's office, saying that it was instead random gunfire, as there were no signs outside the office identifying the office as being Cantor's. A preliminary investigation indicated that the bullet was fired into the air and hit the office window going down. The bullet landed within a foot of the window. Cantor responded to this by saying that Democratic leaders in the House should stop "dangerously fanning the flames" by blaming Republicans for threats against House Democrats who voted for the health care legislation.

Cantor also reported that he had received threatening e-mails related to the passage of the bill, but he declined to hand over copies of the e-mails, saying that doing so would encourage similar activity.

Political positions

Israel

As of December 2010, Cantor is the only Jewish Republican in the United States Congress. He supports strong United States-Israel relations. He cosponsored legislation to cut off all U.S. taxpayer aid to the Palestinian Authority and another bill calling for an end to taxpayer aid to the Palestinians until they stop unauthorized excavations on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Responding to a claim by the State Department that the United States provides no direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, Cantor claimed that United States sends about US$75 million in aid annually to the Palestinian Authority, which is administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development. He opposed a Congressionally approved three-year package of US$400 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority in 2000 and has also introduced legislation to end aid to Palestinians.

In May 2008, Cantor said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a "constant sore" but rather "a constant reminder of the greatness of America", and following Barack Obama's election as President in November 2008, Cantor stated that a “stronger U.S.-Israel relationship” remains a top priority for him and that he would be “very outspoken” if Obama "did anything to undermine those ties." Shortly after the 2010 midterm elections, Cantor met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just before Netanyahu was to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. According to Cantor's office, he "stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration" and "made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States." Cantor was criticized for engaging in foreign policy; one basis for the criticism was that in 2007, after Nancy Pelosi met with the President of Syria, Cantor himself had raised the possibility "that her recent diplomatic overtures ran afoul of the Logan Act, which makes it a felony for any American 'without authority of the United States' to communicate with a foreign government to influence that government’s behavior on any disputes with the United States."

Social issues

Cantor opposes public funding of embryonic stem cell research and opposes elective abortion. He is rated 100% by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and 0% by NARAL Pro-Choice America, indicating a pro-life voting record. He is also opposed to same-sex marriage, voting to Constitutionally define marriage as between a male and a female in 2006. In November 2007 he voted against prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. He also supports making flag burning illegal. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) rated him 19% in 2006, indicating an anti-affirmative action voting record. He is opposed to Gun Control, voting to ban product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers in 2005, and he voted not to require gun registration and trigger-lock laws in the District of Columbia. He has a rating of "A" from the National Rifle Association (NRA). On Nov. 2, 2010, Cantor told Wolf Blitzer of CNN that he would try to trim the federal deficit by reducing welfare.

Economy, budgeting, and trade

Cantor is a supporter of free trade, voting to promote trade with Peru, Chile, Singapore, and Australia. He also voted for the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He voted against raising the minimum wage to US$ 7.25 in 2007. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest federation of trade unions in the United States, rates Cantor 0%, indicating an anti-Union voting record.

In October 2008, Cantor advocated and voted for the TARP program which aided distressed banks.

On September 29, 2008 Cantor blamed Pelosi for what he felt was the failure of the $700 billion economic bailout bill. He noted that 94 Democrats voted against the measure, as well as 133 Republicans. Though supporting the Federal bailout of the nation's largest private banks, he referred to Pelosi's proposal to appoint a Car czar to run the U.S. Automobile Industry Bailout as a "bureaucratic" imposition on private business.

The following February, Cantor led Republicans in the House of Representatives in voting against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and was a prominent spokesman in voicing the many issues he and his fellow Republicans had with the legislation. Cantor voted in favor of a 90% marginal tax rate increase on taxpayer financed bonuses, despite receiving campaign contributions from TARP recipient Citigroup.

In his book ''Young Guns'', Cantor summarized Keynesian economics with the following opinion, "The idea is that the government can be counted on to spend more wisely than the people."

Recently, Cantor has taken criticism for blocking the Stock Act, which would require Congressman to disclose their stock investments more regularly, and seeks to end insider trading among congress members. The bill comes in response to public outrage over a story aired on the news program ''60 Minutes'' that illustrated how some members have taken advantage of information and power to enrich themselves.

Cantor has proposed intiatives which purport to help small businesses grow, including a 20 percent tax cut for businesses that employ fewer than 500 people.

Other foreign affairs

In an article he wrote for the ''National Review'' in 2007, he condemned Nancy Pelosi's diplomatic visit to Syria, and her subsequent meeting with President Bashar al-Assad, whom he referred to as a "dictator and terror-sponsor"; saying that if "Speaker Pelosi’s diplomatic foray into Syria weren’t so harmful to U.S. interests in the Middle East, it would have been laughable".

Political campaigns

Cantor currently represents Virginia's 7th congressional district, which stretches from the western end of Richmond, through its suburbs, and northward to Page, Rappahannock and Culpeper counties. It also includes the towns of Mechanicsville and Laurel. The district is strongly Republican; it has been in Republican hands since 1971 (it was numbered as the 3rd District prior to 1993).

2000

Cantor was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, filling the seat from which Tom Bliley was retiring. He defeated the Democratic nominee, by nearly 100,000 votes. Cantor had won the closely contested Republican primary over state Senator Stephen Martin by only 263 votes. During his first term, he was one of only two Jewish Republicans in the House of Representatives, the other being Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, who had been the only Jewish Republican since the departure of S. William Green in 1992. Gilman retired in 2002 and Cantor has been the only Jewish Republican since.

2002

In 2002 Cantor was opposed by Democrat Ben L. Jones, former Congressman from Georgia, who had played "Cooter Davenport" in the TV Series The Dukes of Hazard.

2008 Vice Presidential speculation

In August 2008 news reports surfaced that Cantor was being considered as John McCain's Vice Presidential running mate, with McCain's representatives seeking documents from Cantor as part of its vetting process. However, in May 2009, a source who claimed affiliation with the McCain campaign denied those reports, calling them "a complete and total joke", and blaming "Cantor’s PR people" for being responsible for the false reports. Additionally, a book by Washington Post reporters Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson outlining the McCain campaign does not mention Cantor as one of the possible running mates considered by McCain. The idea for Cantor to be McCain's running mate was supported by conservative leader Richard Land.

2008

Cantor won against Democratic nominee Anita Hartke.

2010

Cantor won against Democratic challenger Rick Waugh, and Independent Green Party candidate Floyd C. Bayne. Although he won with 59% of the vote, Cantor received his lowest vote percentage since taking the hill in 2000.

Electoral history

{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="margin:0.5em; font-size:95%;" |+ : Results 2000–2008 !|Year ! !|Democrat !|Votes !|Pct ! !|Republican !|Votes !|Pct ! !|Other !|Party !|Votes !|Pct ! |- |2000 | | | | align="right" |94,935 | |33% | | | | align="right" |192,652 | |67% | |* | | | | | |- |2002 | | | | align="right" |49,854 | |30% | | |Eric Cantor | align="right" |113,658 | |69% | |* | | | | | |- |2004 | | |''(no candidate)'' | align="right" | | | | | |Eric Cantor | align="right" |230,765 | |75% | | |W. Brad Blanton | |Independent | align="right" |74,325 | align="right" |24% | |* |- |2006 | | | | align="right" |88,206 | |34% | | |Eric Cantor | align="right" |163,706 | |64% | | |W. Brad Blanton | |Independent | align="right" |4,213 | align="right" |2% |* |- |2008 | | | | align="right" |138,123 | |37% | | |Eric Cantor | align="right" |233,531 | |63% | | | | | | |- |2010 | | | | align="right" |79,607 | |34% | | |Eric Cantor | align="right" |138,196 | |59% | | |Floyd Bayne | |Independent Green | align="right" |15,164 | align="right" |6% | |*

Personal life

Cantor met his wife, Diana Marcy Fine, on a blind date; they were married in 1989. They have three children: Evan, Jenna, and Michael. Prior to meeting her husband, Fine was a life-long liberal Democrat; contrary to her husband's positions, she is pro-choice and supports marriage equality.

Diana Cantor is a lawyer and certified public accountant. She founded, and from 1996 until 2008 was executive director of, the Virginia College Savings Plan (an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia). She was also chairman of the board of the College Savings Plans Network. Mrs. Cantor is a Managing Director in a division of Emigrant Bank, a subsidiary of New York Private Bank & Trust Corp.

References

External links

Office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor ''official site''

Eric Cantor ''official U.S. House site''

Eric Cantor United States Congressman ''official campaign site''

Allison Hoffman: “The Gentleman From Virginia”. ''Tablet Magazine'', February 8, 2011

Official social media

@GOPLeader ''official Twitter account''

@EricCantor ''official campaign Twitter account''

EricCantor ''official YouTube account''

House Chamber ''official Facebook account''

Eric Cantor ''official campaign Facebook account''

Media appearances

Interview on BlogTalkRadio, August 2, 2008

{{s-ttl| title = Chief Deputy Republican Whip | years = 2003–2009 }} {{s-ttl| title = House Minority Whip | years = 2009–2011 }} {{s-ttl| title = House Majority Leader | years = 2011–present }}

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:American Orthodox Jews Category:American people of Romanian descent Category:Columbia University alumni Category:George Washington University alumni Category:Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Category:Majority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Category:Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Category:People from Henrico County, Virginia Category:People from Richmond, Virginia Category:Virginia lawyers Category:Virginia Republicans Category:William & Mary Law School alumni

bcl:Eric Cantor de:Eric Cantor es:Eric Cantor fr:Eric Cantor he:אריק קנטור nl:Eric Cantor no:Eric Cantor pl:Eric Cantor pt:Eric Cantor sh:Eric Cantor sv:Eric Cantor

name	Rachel Maddow
birthname	Rachel Anne Maddow
birth date	April 01, 1973
birth place	Castro Valley, California, U.S.
education	B.A., Stanford UniversityD.Phil, University of Oxford
occupation	News anchorPolitical commentatorTelevision host
credits	''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (MSNBC)''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (Air America Radio)
url	}}

Rachel Anne Maddow (; born April 1, 1973) is an American television host, political commentator, and author. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, ''The Rachel Maddow Show'', on MSNBC. Her syndicated talk radio program of the same name aired on Air America Radio. Maddow is the first openly gay anchor of a prime-time news program in the United States.

Asked about her political views by the ''Valley Advocate'', Maddow replied, "I'm undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I'm in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform."

Early life and education

Maddow was born in Castro Valley, California. Her father, Robert B. "Bob" Maddow, is a former United States Air Force captain who resigned his commission the year before her birth and found civilian work as a lawyer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Her mother, Elaine Maddow (née Gosse), is a school program administrator from Newfoundland, Canada. She has one older brother, David. Her father is of Russian and Dutch descent and her mother is of English and Irish ancestry. Maddow's mother was raised a strict Roman Catholic, and Maddow herself grew up in a community that her mother has described as "very conservative." Maddow was a competitive athlete and played three sports in high school. Referencing John Hughes films, she describes herself in high school as "a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl."

A graduate of Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California, she attended Stanford University. While a freshman, she was outed by the college newspaper when an interview with her was published by the student newspaper before she could tell her parents. Maddow earned a degree in public policy from Stanford in 1994. At graduation she was awarded the John Gardner Fellowship. She was also the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship and began her postgraduate study in 1995 at Lincoln College, Oxford. In 2001, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in politics from Oxford University. Her thesis is titled ''HIV/AIDS and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons'' (supervisor: Dr Lucia Zedner). She was the first openly gay American to win a Rhodes scholarship.

Radio career

Maddow's first radio hosting job was at WRNX (100.9 FM) in Holyoke, Massachusetts, after she entered and won a contest the station held to find a new on-air personality. She was hired to co-host WRNX's morning show, ''The Dave in the Morning Show''. She went on to host ''Big Breakfast'' on WRSI, in Northampton, Massachusetts, for two years. She left the show in March 2004 to join the new Air America. There she hosted ''Unfiltered'' along with Chuck D (of the hip hop group Public Enemy) and Lizz Winstead (co-creator of ''The Daily Show''), until its cancellation in March 2005. Two weeks after the cancellation of ''Unfiltered'' in April 2005, Maddow's weekday two-hour radio program, ''The Rachel Maddow Show'', began airing; in March 2008 it gained an hour, broadcasting from 6 to 9 p.m. EST with David Bender filling in the third hour for the call-in section, when Maddow was on TV assignment. In September 2008, the show's length returned to two hours when Maddow began a nightly MSNBC television program. In February 2009, after renewing her contract with Air America, Maddow returned to the 5 am hour-long slot. Her last Air America show was on January 21, 2010, two weeks before its owners filed for bankruptcy.

Television career

In June 2005, Maddow became a regular panelist on MSNBC's ''Tucker.'' During and after the November 2006 election, she was a frequent guest on CNN's ''Paula Zahn Now.'' In January 2008, Maddow was given the position of MSNBC political analyst and was a regular panelist on MSNBC's ''Race for the White House'' with David Gregory and MSNBC's election coverage, as well as a frequent contributor on ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann.''

In April 2008, Maddow was the substitute host for ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', her first time hosting a program on MSNBC. Maddow described herself on air as "nervous." Keith Olbermann complimented her work and she was brought back to host "Countdown" in May 2008. The day she hosted was the highest rated news program among people 25 to 54 years of age, a demographic key to ratings. For her success, the next Monday Olbermann ranked Maddow third in his show's segment "World's Best Persons". Maddow filled in again on ''Countdown'' for eight and a half broadcasts while Olbermann was on vacation in July 2008 and the second half of the show on July 21. Maddow also filled in for David Gregory as host of ''Race for the White House''.

''The Rachel Maddow Show''

In August 2008, MSNBC announced ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' would replace ''Verdict with Dan Abrams'' in the channel's 9 p.m. slot the following month. Following its debut, the show topped ''Countdown'' as the highest rated show on MSNBC on several occasions. After being on air for more than a month, Maddow's program doubled the audience that hour.

Early reviews for her show were mostly positive. ''Los Angeles Times'' writer Matea Gold stated Maddow "finds the right formula on MSNBC," and ''The Guardian'' writes Maddow has become the "star of America's cable news." ''Associated Press'' columnist David Bauder said she's "[Keith] Olbermann's political soul mate" and the Olbermann-Maddow shows are a "liberal two-hour block."

Public image and publicity

Maddow has been profiled in People, the Guardian, and the New York Observer, has appeared on “The View” and “Charlie Rose”

Keith Olbermann played a pivotal role in Maddow's hiring at MSNBC. Olbermann was able to pressure Phil Griffin to give Maddow Dan Abram's slot. A fan of Maddow's, Olbermann was able to use his influence, which had become greater as his ratings rose.

A 2011 Hollywood Reporter profile of Maddow said that she was able to deliver news "with agenda, but not hysteria.” A Newsweek profile noted that “At her best, Maddow debates ideological opponents with civility and persistence...But for all her eloquence, she can get so wound up ripping Republicans that she sounds like another smug cable partisan.". Baltimore Sun critic David Zurawik has accused Maddow of acting like 'a lockstep party member.'”

A Time profile called her a “whip-smart, button-cute leftie.” It said that she radiates an essential decency and suggested that her career rise might signify that “nice is the new nasty.”

Political views

Distinguishing herself from others on the left, Maddow said she's a "national security liberal" and in a different interview that she's not "a partisan." ''The New York Times'' called her a "defense policy wonk" who is writing a book on the role of the military in postwar American politics. During the 2008 presidential election, Maddow did not formally support any candidate. Concerning Barack Obama's candidacy, Maddow said during the primaries, "I have never and still don't think of myself as an Obama supporter, either professionally or actually."

In March 2010, Republican Scott Brown, the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts, speculated that Maddow was going to run against him for his seat in 2012. He used this premise for a fundraising email that read "...The Massachusetts political machine is looking for someone to run against me. And you're not going to believe who they are supposedly trying to recruit — liberal MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow." Maddow said Brown's speculation was false. On her March 23, 2010, TV program, Maddow said, "I have the best job in the world. I am not running for office. Scott Brown didn't ask me if I was running or planning to run for office, before he wrote a fundraising letter with my name. No, it's completely made up by him." Despite her comments, the next day Brown continued along the same line, telling a Boston radio station, "Bring her on." To help put an end to the matter, Maddow ran a full-page advertisement in the ''Boston Globe'' confirming she was not running, and separately demanded Brown's apology. She added that despite repeated invitations over the months, Brown had refused to appear on her TV program.

Personal life

Maddow lives in Manhattan and western Massachusetts with her partner, artist Susan Mikula. The couple met in 1999, when Mikula hired Maddow to do yard work at her home. Maddow was working on her doctoral dissertation at the time. Their first date was at a National Rifle Association "Ladies' Day on the Range" event. Although Massachusetts and New York recognize same-sex marriage, as of 2009 Maddow and Mikula had no plans to marry.

Honors and awards

Maddow was named in ''Out'' magazine's "Out 100" list of the "gay men and women who moved culture" in 2008. Maddow was voted "Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year (American)" in AfterEllen's 2008 Visibility Awards. Maddow won a Gracie Award in 2009, presented by the American Women in Radio and Television. In 2009, Maddow was nominated for GLAAD's 20th Annual Media Awards for a segment of her MSNBC show, "Rick Warren, Change To Believe In?", in the Outstanding TV Journalism Segment category. On March 28, 2009, Maddow received a Proclamation of Honor from the California State Senate, presented in San Francisco by California State Senator Mark Leno. In April 2009, she was listed at number four in ''Out'' magazine's Annual Power 50 List. Maddow placed sixth in the "2009 AfterEllen.com Hot 100" list (May 11, 2009) and third in its "2009 Hot 100: Out Women" version. Maddow was included on a list of openly gay media professionals in The Advocate's "Forty under 40" issue of June/July 2009. In 1994, Maddow was an Honorable Mention in the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity Prize in Ethics. In June 2009, Maddow's MSNBC show was the only cable news show nominated for a Television Critics Association award in the ''Outstanding Achievement in News and Information'' category. In March 2010, Maddow won at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in the category, ''Outstanding TV Journalism- Newsmagazine'' for her segment, "Uganda Be Kidding Me". Maddow was the 2010 commencement speaker and was given an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree at Smith College in Northampton, MA in May 2010. In July 2010, Maddow was presented with a ''Maggie Award'' for her ongoing reporting of healthcare reform, the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and the anti-abortion movement. In August 2010, Maddow won the ''Walter Cronkite Faith & Freedom Award'', which was presented by The Interfaith Alliance. Past honorees included Larry King, Tom Brokaw, and the late Peter Jennings. In November 2011, she was included on the list of "Over-Rated Thinkers" by the editors of ''The New Republic''. In February 2012, Maddow was presented the John Steinbeck Award by the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University.

Bibliography

References

External links

Profile and show at MSNBC

Category:1973 births Category:Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Category:American anti–Iraq War activists Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American people of Russian descent Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American political pundits Category:American Rhodes scholars Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American television personalities Category:American women journalists Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:Living people Category:MSNBC Category:NBC News Category:People from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Stanford University alumni Category:LGBT journalists Category:LGBT broadcasters

ar:راتشيل مادو bg:Рейчъл Мадау de:Rachel Maddow et:Rachel Maddow es:Rachel Maddow eo:Rachel Maddow fa:ریچل مدو fr:Rachel Maddow ko:레이철 매도 nl:Rachel Maddow ja:レイチェル・マドー pl:Rachel Maddow ru:Мэддоу, Рэйчел simple:Rachel Maddow sh:Rachel Maddow fi:Rachel Maddow

Honorific-prefix	Daw
Name	Aung San Suu Kyi
Honorific-suffix	MP AC
Office	Chairman of the National League for Democracy
Term start	27 September 1988
Predecessor	Position established
Office1	Member of the Pyithu Hluttawfor Kawhmu
Term start1	2 May 2012
Predecessor1	Soe Tint
Majority1	46,730 (71.38%)
Birth date	June 19, 1945
Birth place	Rangoon, British Burma(now Yangon)
Party	National League for Democracy
Relations	Aung San (father)Khin Kyi (mother)
Spouse	Michael Aris (1972–1999)
Children	AlexanderKim
Alma mater	University of DelhiSt Hugh's College, OxfordUniversity of London
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Blank1	Awards
Data1	Rafto PrizeNobel Peace PrizeJawaharlal Nehru AwardInternational Simón Bolívar PrizeOlof Palme PrizeBhagwan Mahavir World Peace }}

Aung San Suu Kyi MP AC (, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese opposition politician and General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma. In the 1990 general election, the NLD won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her most recent release on 13 November 2010, becoming one of the world's most prominent (now former) political prisoners.

Suu Kyi received the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the government of India and the International Simón Bolívar Prize from the government of Venezuela. In 2007, the Government of Canada made her an honorary citizen of that country; at the time, she was one of only four people ever to receive the honor. In 2011, she was awarded the Wallenberg Medal.

On 1 April 2012, her opposition party, the National League for Democracy, announced that she was elected to the Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house of the Burmese parliament, representing the constituency of Kawhmu; her party also won 43 of the 45 vacant seats in the lower house. The election results were confirmed by the official electoral commission the following day.

Suu Kyi is the third child and only daughter of Aung San, considered to be the father of modern-day Burma.

Name

Aung San Suu Kyi derives her name from three relatives: "Aung San" from her father, "Suu" from her paternal grandmother and "Kyi" from her mother Khin Kyi. She is frequently called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. ''Daw'' is not part of her name, but is an honorific, similar to madame, for older, revered women, literally meaning "aunt." She is also often referred to as Daw Suu by the Burmese (or ''Amay Suu'', lit. "Mother Suu," by some followers), or "Aunty Suu", and as Dr. Suu Kyi, Ms. Suu Kyi, or Mrs. Suu Kyi by the foreign media. However, like other Burmese, she has no surname (see Burmese names). The pronunciation of her name is approximated as "Awn Sahn Sue Chee," although the "ch" in "Chee" is unaspirated.

Personal life

Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon (now named Yangon). Her father, Aung San, founded the modern Burmese army and negotiated Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1947; he was assassinated by his rivals in the same year. She grew up with her mother, Khin Kyi, and two brothers, Aung San Lin and Aung San Oo, in Rangoon. Aung San Lin died at age eight, when he drowned in an ornamental lake on the grounds of the house. Her elder brother emigrated to San Diego, California, becoming a United States citizen. After Aung San Lin's death, the family moved to a house by Inya Lake where Suu Kyi met people of very different backgrounds, political views and religions. She was educated in Methodist English High School (now Basic Education High School No. 1 Dagon) for much of her childhood in Burma, where she was noted as having a talent for learning languages. She is a Theravada Buddhist. Suu Kyi's mother, Khin Kyi, gained prominence as a political figure in the newly formed Burmese government. She was appointed Burmese ambassador to India and Nepal in 1960, and Aung San Suu Kyi followed her there, she studied in the Convent of Jesus and Mary School, New Delhi and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi with a degree in politics in 1964. Suu Kyi continued her education at St Hugh's College, Oxford, obtaining a B.A. degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1969. After graduating, she lived in New York City with a family friend and worked at the UN for three years, primarily on budget matters, writing daily to her future husband, Dr. Michael Aris. In 1972, Aung San Suu Kyi married Aris, a scholar of Tibetan culture, living abroad in Bhutan. The following year she gave birth to their first son, Alexander Aris, in London; their second son, Kim, was born in 1977. Subsequently, she earned a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 1985. She was elected as an Honorary Fellow in 1990. For two years she was a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS) in Shimla, India. She also worked for the government of the Union of Burma.

In 1988 Suu Kyi returned to Burma, at first to tend for her ailing mother but later to lead the pro-democracy movement. Aris' visit in Christmas 1995 turned out to be the last time that he and Suu Kyi met, as Suu Kyi remained in Burma and the Burmese dictatorship denied him any further entry visas. Aris was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 which was later found to be terminal. Despite appeals from prominent figures and organizations, including the United States, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Pope John Paul II, the Burmese government would not grant Aris a visa, saying that they did not have the facilities to care for him, and instead urged Aung San Suu Kyi to leave the country to visit him. She was at that time temporarily free from house arrest but was unwilling to depart, fearing that she would be refused re-entry if she left, as she did not trust the military junta's assurance that she could return.

Aris died on his 53rd birthday on 27 March 1999. Since 1989, when his wife was first placed under house arrest, he had seen her only five times, the last of which was for Christmas in 1995. She was also separated from her children, who live in the United Kingdom, but starting in 2011, they have visited her in Burma.

On 2 May 2008, after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, Suu Kyi lost the roof of her house and lived in virtual darkness after losing electricity in her dilapidated lakeside residence. She used candles at night as she was not provided any generator set. Plans to renovate and repair the house were announced in August 2009. Suu Kyi was released from house arrest on 13 November 2010.

Political beginnings

Coincident with Aung San Suu Kyi's return to Burma in 1988, the long-time military leader of Burma and head of the ruling party, General Ne Win, stepped down. Mass demonstrations for democracy followed that event on 8 August 1988 (8–8–88, a day seen as auspicious), which were violently suppressed in what came to be known as the 8888 Uprising. On 26 August 1988, she addressed half a million people at a mass rally in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital, calling for a democratic government. However in September, a new military junta took power.

Influenced by both Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and more specifically by Buddhist concepts, Aung San Suu Kyi entered politics to work for democratization, helped found the National League for Democracy on 27 September 1988, but was put under house arrest on 20 July 1989. Offered freedom if she left the country, she refused.

One of her most famous speeches was "Freedom From Fear", which began: "It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."

She also believes fear spurs many world leaders to lose sight of their purpose. "Government leaders are amazing", she once said. "So often it seems they are the last to know what the people want."

Political career

1990 general election

In 1990, the military junta called a general election, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) received 59% of the votes, guaranteeing NLD 80% of the parliament seats. Some claim that Aung San Suu Kyi would have assumed the office of Prime Minister; in fact, however, as she wasn't permitted, she did not stand as a candidate in the elections (although being a MP isn't a strict prerequisite for becoming PM in most parliamentary systems). Instead, the results were nullified and the military refused to hand over power, resulting in an international outcry. Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest at her home on University Avenue () in Rangoon, during which time she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990, and the Nobel Peace Prize the year after. Her sons Alexander and Kim accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. Aung San Suu Kyi used the Nobel Peace Prize's 1.3 million USD prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people. Around this time, Suu Kyi chose non-violence as an expedient political tactic, stating in 2007, "I do not hold to non-violence for moral reasons, but for political and practical reasons," however, nonviolent action as well as civil resistance in lieu of armed conflict are also political tactics in keeping with the overall philosophy of her Theravada Buddhist religion.

1996 attack

On 9 November 1996, the motorcade that she was traveling in with other National League for Democracy leaders Tin Oo and U Kyi Maung, was attacked in Yangon. About 200 men swooped down on the motorcade, wielding metal chains, metal batons, stones and other weapons. The car that Aung San Suu Kyi was in had its rear window smashed, and the car with Tin Oo and U Kyi Maung had its rear window and two backdoor windows shattered. It is believed the offenders were members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) who were allegedly paid 500 kyats (@ USD $0.5) each to participate. The NLD lodged an official complaint with the police, and according to reports the government launched an investigation, but no action was taken. (Amnesty International 120297)

House arrest

Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years, on different occasions, since she began her political career, during which time she was prevented from meeting her party supporters and international visitors. In an interview, Suu Kyi said that while under house arrest she spent her time reading philosophy, politics and biographies that her husband had sent her. She also passed the time playing the piano, and was occasionally allowed visits from foreign diplomats as well as from her personal physician.

The media were also prevented from visiting Suu Kyi, as occurred in 1998 when journalist Maurizio Giuliano, after photographing her, was stopped by customs officials who then confiscated all his films, tapes and some notes. In contrast, Suu Kyi did have visits from government representatives, such as during her autumn 1994 house arrest when she met the leader of Burma, General Than Shwe and General Khin Nyunt on 20 September in the first meeting since she had been placed in detention. On several occasions during Suu Kyi's house arrest, she had periods of poor health and as a result was hospitalized.

The Burmese government detained and kept Suu Kyi imprisoned because it viewed her as someone "likely to undermine the community peace and stability" of the country, and used both Article 10(a) and 10(b) of the 1975 State Protection Act (granting the government the power to imprison people for up to five years without a trial), and Section 22 of the "Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts" as legal tools against her. She continuously appealed her detention, and many nations and figures continued to call for her release and that of 2,100 other political prisoners in the country. On 12 November 2010, days after the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won elections conducted after a gap of almost 20 years, the junta finally agreed to sign orders allowing Suu Kyi's release, and Suu Kyi's house arrest term came to an end on 13 November 2010.

UN involvement

The UN has attempted to facilitate dialogue between the junta and Suu Kyi. On 6 May 2002, following secret confidence-building negotiations led by the UN, the government released her; a government spokesman said that she was free to move "because we are confident that we can trust each other". Aung San Suu Kyi proclaimed "a new dawn for the country". However on 30 May 2003 in an incident similar to the 1996 attack on her, a government-sponsored mob attacked her caravan in the northern village of Depayin, murdering and wounding many of her supporters. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene with the help of her driver, Ko Kyaw Soe Lin, but was arrested upon reaching Ye-U. The government imprisoned her at Insein Prison in Rangoon. After she underwent a hysterectomy in September 2003, the government again placed her under house arrest in Rangoon.

The results from the UN facilitation have been mixed; Razali Ismail, UN special envoy to Burma, met with Aung San Suu Kyi. Ismail resigned from his post the following year, partly because he was denied re-entry to Burma on several occasions. Several years later in 2006, Ibrahim Gambari, UN Undersecretary-General (USG) of Department of Political Affairs, met with Aung San Suu Kyi, the first visit by a foreign official since 2004. He also met with Suu Kyi later the same year. On 2 October 2007 Gambari returned to talk to her again after seeing Than Shwe and other members of the senior leadership in Naypyidaw. State television broadcast Suu Kyi with Gambari, stating that they had met twice. This was Suu Kyi's first appearance in state media in the four years since her current detention began.

The United Nations Working Group for Arbitrary Detention published an Opinion that Aung San Suu Kyi's deprivation of liberty was arbitrary and in contravention of Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, and requested that the authorities in Burma set her free, but the authorities ignored the request at that time. The U.N. report said that according to the Burmese Government’s reply, "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has not been arrested, but has only been taken into protective custody, for her own safety", and while "it could have instituted legal action against her under the country’s domestic legislation ... it has preferred to adopt a magnanimous attitude, and is providing her with protection in her own interests."

Such claims were rejected by Brig-General Khin Yi, Chief of Myanmar Police Force (MPF). On 18 January 2007, the state-run paper ''New Light of Myanmar'' accused Suu Kyi of tax evasion for spending her Nobel Prize money outside of the country. The accusation followed the defeat of a US-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Burma as a threat to international security; the resolution was defeated because of strong opposition from China, which has strong ties with the military junta (China later voted against the resolution, along with Russia and South Africa).

In November 2007, it was reported that Suu Kyi would meet her political allies National League for Democracy along with a government minister. The ruling junta made the official announcement on state TV and radio just hours after UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari ended his second visit to Burma. The NLD confirmed that it had received the invitation to hold talks with Suu Kyi. However, the process delivered few concrete results.

On 3 July 2009, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon went to Burma to pressure the junta into releasing Suu Kyi and to institute democratic reform. However, on departing from Burma, Ban Ki-moon said he was "disappointed" with the visit after junta leader Than Shwe refused permission for him to visit Suu Kyi, citing her ongoing trial. Ban said he was "deeply disappointed that they have missed a very important opportunity."

Periods under detention

20 July 1989: Placed under house arrest in Rangoon under martial law that allows for detention without charge or trial for three years. 10 July 1995: Released from house arrest. 23 September 2000: Placed under house arrest. 6 May 2002: Released after 19 months. 30 May 2003: Arrested following the Depayin massacre, she was held in secret detention for more than three months before being returned to house arrest. 25 May 2007: House arrest extended by one year despite a direct appeal from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to General Than Shwe. 24 October 2007: Reached 12 years under house arrest, solidarity protests held at 12 cities around the world. 27 May 2008: House arrest extended for another year, which is illegal under both international law and Burma's own law.

11 August 2009: House arrest extended for 18 more months because of "violation" arising from the May 2009 trespass incident.

13 November 2010: Released from house arrest.

2007 anti-government protests

Protests led by Buddhist monks began on 19 August 2007 following steep fuel price increases, and continued each day, despite the threat of a crackdown by the military.

On 22 September 2007, although still under house arrest, Suu Kyi made a brief public appearance at the gate of her residence in Yangon to accept the blessings of Buddhist monks who were marching in support of human rights. It was reported that she had been moved the following day to Insein Prison (where she had been detained in 2003), but meetings with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari near her Rangoon home on 30 September and 2 October established that she remained under house arrest.

2009 trespass incident

On 3 May 2009, an American man, identified as John Yettaw, swam across Inya Lake to her house uninvited and was arrested when he made his return trip three days later. He had attempted to make a similar trip two years earlier, but for unknown reasons was turned away. He later claimed at trial that he was motivated by a divine vision requiring him to notify her of an impending terrorist assassination attempt. On 13 May, Suu Kyi was arrested for violating the terms of her house arrest because the swimmer, who pleaded exhaustion, was allowed to stay in her house for two days before he attempted the swim back. Suu Kyi was later taken to Insein Prison, where she could have faced up to five years confinement for the intrusion. The trial of Suu Kyi and her two maids began on 18 May and a small number of protesters gathered outside. Diplomats and journalists were barred from attending the trial; however, on one occasion, several diplomats from Russia, Thailand and Singapore and journalists were allowed to meet Suu Kyi. The prosecution had originally planned to call 22 witnesses. It also accused John Yettaw of embarrassing the country. During the ongoing defence case, Suu Kyi said she was innocent. The defence was allowed to call only one witness (out of four), while the prosecution was permitted to call 14 witnesses. The court rejected two character witnesses, NLD members Tin Oo and Win Tin, and permitted the defense to call only a legal expert. According to one unconfirmed report, the junta was planning to, once again, place her in detention, this time in a military base outside the city. In a separate trial, Yettaw said he swam to Suu Kyi's house to warn her that her life was "in danger". The national police chief later confirmed that Yettaw was the "main culprit" in the case filed against Suu Kyi. According to aides, Suu Kyi spent her 64th birthday in jail sharing biryani rice and chocolate cake with her guards.

Her arrest and subsequent trial received worldwide condemnation by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Security Council, Western governments, South Africa, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member. The Burmese government strongly condemned the statement, as it created an "unsound tradition" and criticised Thailand for meddling in its internal affairs. The Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted in the state-run newspaper ''New Light of Myanmar'' as saying that the incident "was trumped up to intensify international pressure on Burma by internal and external anti-government elements who do not wish to see the positive changes in those countries' policies toward Burma". Ban responded to an international campaign by flying to Burma to negotiate, but Than Shwe rejected all of his requests.

On 11 August 2009 the trial concluded with Suu Kyi being sentenced to imprisonment for three years with hard labour. This sentence was commuted by the military rulers to further house arrest of 18 months. On 14 August, U.S. Senator Jim Webb visited Burma, visiting with junta leader Gen. Than Shwe and later with Suu Kyi. During the visit, Webb negotiated Yettaw's release and deportation from Burma. Following the verdict of the trial, lawyers of Suu Kyi said they would appeal against the 18-month sentence. On 18 August, United States President Barack Obama asked the country's military leadership to set free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. In her appeal, Aung San Suu Kyi had argued that the conviction was unwarranted. However, her appeal against the August sentence was rejected by a Burmese court on 2 October 2009. Although the court accepted the argument that the 1974 constitution, under which she had been charged, was null and void, it also said the provisions of the 1975 security law, under which she has been kept under house arrest, remained in force. The verdict effectively meant that she would be unable to participate in the elections scheduled to take place in 2010 – the first in Burma in two decades. Her lawyer stated that her legal team would pursue a new appeal within 60 days.

2009: International pressure for release, and Burmese general election 2010

It was announced prior to the Burmese general election that Aung San Suu Kyi may be released "so she can organize her party," However, Suu Kyi was not allowed to run. On 1 October 2010 the government announced that she would be released on 13 November 2010.

Burma's relaxing stance, such as releasing political prisoners, was influenced in the wake of successful recent diplomatic visits by the US and other democratic governments, urging or encouraging the Burmese towards democratic reform. U.S. President Barack Obama personally advocated for the release of all political prisoners, especially Aung San Suu Kyi, during the US-ASEAN Summit of 2009.

Democratic governments hoped that successful general elections would be an optimistic indicator of the Burmese government's sincerity towards eventual democracy. The Hatoyama government which spent 2.82 billion yen in 2008, has promised more Japanese foreign aid to encourage Burma to release Aung San Suu Kyi in time for the elections; and to continue moving towards democracy and the rule of law.

In a personal letter to Suu Kyi, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown cautioned the Burmese government of the potential consequences of rigging elections as "condemning Burma to more years of diplomatic isolation and economic stagnation".

The Burmese government has been granting Suu Kyi varying degrees of freedom throughout late 2009, in response to international pressure. She has met with many heads of state, and opened a dialog with the Minister of Labor Aung Kyi (not to be confused with Aung San Suu Kyi).

Suu Kyi was allowed to meet with senior members of her NLD party at the State House, however these meeting took place under close supervision.

2010 release

On the evening of 13 November 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest. This was the date her detention had been set to expire according to a court ruling in August 2009 and came six days after a widely criticized general election. She appeared in front of a crowd of her supporters, who rushed to her house in Rangoon when nearby barricades were removed by the security forces. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate had been detained for 15 of the past 21 years. The government newspaper ''New Light of Myanmar'' reported the release positively, saying she had been granted a pardon after serving her sentence "in good conduct". The New York Times suggested that the military government may have released Suu Kyi because it felt it was in a confident position to control her supporters after the election. The role that Aung San Suu Kyi will play in the future of democracy in Burma remains a subject of much debate.

Her son Kim Aris was granted a visa in November 2010 to see his mother, Aung San Suu Kyi, shortly after her release, for the first time in 10 years. He visited again in 5 July 2011, to accompany her on a trip to Bagan, her first trip outside Yangon since 2003. Her son visited again in 8 August 2011, to accompany her on a trip to Pegu, her second trip.

Discussions were held between Suu Kyi and the Burmese government during 2011, which led to a number of official gestures to meet her demands. In October, around a tenth of Burma's political prisoners were freed in an amnesty and trade unions were legalised.

In November 2011, following a meeting of its leaders, the NLD announced its intention to re-register as a political party in order contend 48 by-elections necessitated by the promotion of parliamentarians to ministerial rank. Following the decision, Suu Kyi held a telephone conference with U.S. President Barack Obama, in which it was agreed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would make a visit to Burma, a move received with caution by Burma's ally China. On 1 December 2011, Suu Kyi met with Hillary Clinton at the residence of the top-ranking US diplomat in Yangon.

On 21 December 2011, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra met Suu Kyi in Yangoon, becoming Suu Kyi's "first-ever meeting with the leader of a foreign country".

On 5 January 2012, British Foreign Minister William Hague met Aung San Suu Kyi and his Burmese counterpart. This represented a significant visit for Suu Kyi and Burma. Suu Kyi studied in the UK and maintains many ties there, whilst Britain is Burma's largest bilateral donor.

2012 by-elections

In December 2011, there was speculation that Suu Kyi would run in the 2012 national by-elections to fill vacant seats. On 18 January 2012, Suu Kyi formally registered to contest a Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house) seat in the Kawhmu Township constituency in special parliamentary elections to be held on 1 April 2012. The seat was previously held by Soe Tint, who vacated it after being appointed Construction Deputy Minister, in the 2010 election. She is running against Union Solidarity and Development Party candidate Soe Min, a retired army physician and native of Twante Township.

On 3 March 2012, at a large campaign rally in Mandalay, Suu Kyi unexpectedly left after 15 minutes, because of exhaustion and airsickness.

In an official campaign speech broadcast on Burmese state television's MRTV on 14 March 2012, Suu Kyi publicly campaigned for reform of the 2008 Constitution, removal of restrictive laws, more adequate protections for people's democratic rights, and establishment of an independent judiciary. The speech was leaked online a day before it was broadcast. A paragraph in the speech, focusing on the Tatmadaw's repression by means of law, was censored by authorities.

Suu Kyi has also called for international media to monitor the upcoming by-elections, while publicly pointing out irregularities in official voter lists, which include deceased individuals and exclude other eligible voters in the contested constituencies. On 21 March 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi was quoted as saying "Fraud and rule violations are continuing and we can even say they are increasing."

When asked whether she would assume a ministerial post if given the opportunity, she said the following:

On 26 March 2012, Suu Kyi suspended her nationwide campaign tour early, after a campaign rally in Myeik (Mergui), a coastal town in the south, citing health problems due to exhaustion and hot weather.

On 1 April 2012, the NLD announced that Suu Kyi had won the vote for a seat in Parliament. A news broadcast on state-run MRTV, reading the announcements of the Union Election Commission, confirmed her victory, as well as her party's victory in 43 of the 45 contested seats, officially making Suu Kyi the Leader of the Opposition in the lower house.

Although she and other MP-elects were expected to take office on 23 April when the Hluttaws resume session, National League for Democracy MP-elects, including Suu Kyi, may not take their oaths because of its wording; in its present form, parliamentarians must vow to "safeguard" the constitution. In an address on Radio Free Asia, she said "We don't mean we will not attend the parliament, we mean we will attend only after taking the oath... Changing that wording in the oath is also in conformity with the Constitution. I don't expect there will be any difficulty in doing it."

International support

Aung San Suu Kyi has received vocal support from Western nations in Europe, Australia and North and South America, as well as India, Israel, Japan the Philippines and South Korea. In December 2007, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously 400–0 to award Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal; the Senate concurred on 25 April 2008. On 6 May 2008, President George Bush signed legislation awarding Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal. She is the first recipient in American history to receive the prize while imprisoned. More recently, there has been growing criticism of her detention by Burma's neighbours in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, particularly from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. At one point Malaysia warned Burma that it faced expulsion from ASEAN as a result of the detention of Suu Kyi. Other nations including South Africa, Bangladesh and the Maldives have also called for her release. The United Nations has urged the country to move towards inclusive national reconciliation, the restoration of democracy, and full respect for human rights. In December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the human rights situation in Burma and calling for Suu Kyi's release—80 countries voting for the resolution, 25 against and 45 abstentions. Other nations, such as China and Russia, are less critical of the regime and prefer to cooperate only on economic matters. Indonesia has urged China to push Burma for reforms. However, Samak Sundaravej, former Prime Minister of Thailand, criticised the amount of support for Suu Kyi, saying that "Europe uses Aung San Suu Kyi as a tool. If it's not related to Aung San Suu Kyi, you can have deeper discussions with Myanmar."

Vietnam, however, does not support calls by other ASEAN member states for Myanmar to free Aung San Suu Kyi, state media reported Friday, 14 August 2009. The state-run Việt Nam News said Vietnam had no criticism of Myanmar's decision 11 August 2009 to place Suu Kyi under house arrest for the next 18 months, effectively barring her from elections scheduled for 2010. "It is our view that the Aung San Suu Kyi trial is an internal affair of Myanmar", Vietnamese government spokesman Le Dung stated on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In contrast with other ASEAN member states, Dung said Vietnam has always supported Myanmar and hopes it will continue to implement the "roadmap to democracy" outlined by its government.

Nobel Peace Prize

Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. The decision of the Nobel Committee mentions:

Nobel Peace Prize winners (Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Shirin Ebadi, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Mairead Corrigan, Rigoberta Menchú, Prof. Elie Wiesel, U.S. President Barack Obama, Betty Williams, Jody Williams and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter) called for the rulers of Burma to release Suu Kyi in order to "create the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all concerned parties and ethnic groups in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the direct support of the United Nations." Some of the money she received as part of the award helps fund London-based charity Prospect Burma, which provides higher education grants to Burmese students.

Organizations

Freedom Now, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization, was retained in 2006 by a member of her family to help secure Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest. The organization secured several opinions from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that her detention was in violation of international law; engaged in political advocacy such as spearheading a letter from 112 former Presidents and Prime Ministers to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to go to Burma to seek her release, which he did six weeks later; and published numerous opeds and spoke widely to the media about her ongoing detention. Its representation of her ended when she was released from house arrest on 13 November 2010.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been an honorary board member of International IDEA and ARTICLE 19 since her detention, and has received support from these organisations.

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Université catholique de Louvain, both located in Belgium, have granted her the title of Doctor Honoris Causa. In 2003, the Freedom Forum recognized Suu Kyi's efforts to promote democracy peacefully with the Al Neuharth Free Spirit of the Year Award, in which she was presented over satellite because she was under house arrest. She was awarded one million dollars. In June of each year, the U.S. Campaign for Burma organizes hundreds of "Arrest Yourself" house parties around the world in support of Aung San Suu Kyi. At these parties, the organizers keep themselves under house arrest for 24 hours, invite their friends, and learn more about Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Freedom Campaign, a joint effort between the Human Rights Action Center and US Campaign for Burma, looks to raise worldwide attention to the struggles of Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma.

The Burma Campaign UK is a UK based NGO (Non Governmental Organisation) that aims to raise awareness of Burma's struggles and follow the guidelines established by the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi.

St. Hugh's College, Oxford, where she studied, had a Burmese theme for their annual ball in support of her in 2006.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the official patron of The Rafto Human Rights House in Bergen, Norway. She received the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize in 1990.

She was made an honorary free person of the City of Dublin, Ireland in November 1999, although a space had been left on the roll of signatures to symbolize her continued detention.

In November 2005 the human rights group Equality Now proposed Aung Sun Suu Kyi as a potential candidate, among other qualifying women, for the position of U.N. Secretary General. In the proposed list of qualified women Suu Kyi is recognised by Equality Now as the Prime Minister-Elect of Burma. The UN' special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, met Aung San Suu Kyi on 10 March 2008 before wrapping up his trip to the military-ruled country. Aung San Suu Kyi is an honorary member of The Elders, a group of eminent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela. Her ongoing detention means that she is unable to take an active role in the group, so The Elders place an empty chair for her at their meetings. The Elders have consistently called for the release of all political prisoners in Burma.

In 2008, Burma’s devoted human rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize, was welcomed as Club of Madrid Honorary Member.

In 2011 Aung San Suu Kyi is the Guest Director of the 45th Brighton Festival

In June 2011, the BBC announced that Aung San Suu Kyi was to deliver the 2011 Reith Lectures. The BBC covertly recorded two lectures with Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, which were then smuggled out of the country and brought back to London. The lectures were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service on 28 June 2011 and 5 July 2011.

In November 2011, Suu Kyi received Francois Zimeray, France's Ambassador for Human Rights.

In April 2012, British Prime Minister David Cameron became the first leader of a major world power to visit Aung San Su Kyi and the first of a British prime minister since the 1950s. In his visit, Cameron invited San Su Kyi to Britain where she would be able to visit her 'beloved' Oxford, an invitation which she later accepted; no specifec date has been confirmed but the month is thought to be June 2012.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Miller, J. E. (2001). ''Who's who in contemporary women's writing.'' Routledge.

Reid, R., Grosberg, M. (2005). ''Myanmar (Burma).'' Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1740596954.

Stewart, Whitney (1997). ''Aung San Suu Kyi: fearless voice of Burma.'' Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 978-0822549314.

Further reading

''Aung San Suu Kyi (Modern Peacemakers)'' (2007) by Judy L. Hasday, ISBN 978-0791094358

''The Lady: Aung San Suu Kyi: Nobel Laureate and Burma's Prisoner'' (2002) by Barbara Victor, ISBN 978-0571211777, or 1998 hardcover: ISBN 978-0571199440

''Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi'' (2007) by Justin Wintle, ISBN 978-0091796815

''Tyrants: The World's 20 Worst Living Dictators'' (2006) by David Wallechinsky, ISBN 978-0060590048

''Aung San Suu Kyi (Trailblazers of the Modern World)'' (2004) by William Thomas, ISBN 978-0836852639

''No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs'' (2002) by Naomi Klein ISBN 978-0312421434

''Mental culture in Burmese crisis politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (ILCAA Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa Monograph Series)'' (1999) by Gustaaf Houtman, ISBN 978-4872977486

'' Hidden Agendas'' (1998) by John Pilger, ISBN 978-0099741510

''Aung San Suu Kyi: Standing Up for Democracy in Burma (Women Changing the World)'' (1998) by Bettina Ling ISBN 978-1558611979

''Prisoner for Peace: Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Struggle for Democracy (Champions of Freedom Series)'' (1994) by John Parenteau, ISBN 978-1883846053

''Des femmes prix Nobel de Marie Curie à Aung San Suu Kyi, 1903–1991'' (1992) by Charlotte Kerner, Nicole Casanova, Gidske Anderson, ISBN 978-2721004277

''Aung San Suu Kyi, towards a new freedom'' (1998) by Chin Geok Ang ISBN 978-9814024303

''Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle: Its principles and strategy'' (1997) by Mikio Oishi ISBN 978-9839861068

''Finding George Orwell in Burma'' (2004) by Emma Larkin ISBN 0143037110

''Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember'' (2005) by John McCain, Mark Salter. Random House ISBN 978-1400064120

''The Political Thought of Aung San Suu Kyi by Josef Siverstein (1996)''

''Under the Dragon: A Journey Through Burma'' (1998/2010) by Rory MacLean ISBN 978-1-84511-622-4

External links

Aung San Suu Kyi's website via the Internet Archive

Nobel Peace Prize 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi at NobelPrize.org

Aung San Suu Kyi – Summary, biography, excerpts from books

Burma's Suu Kyi, Free at Last – slideshow by ''Der Spiegel''

Peace Prize 2012 from India by Sarhad organization PUNE City

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Category:1945 births Category:Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Category:Alumni of the School of Oriental and African Studies Category:Amnesty International prisoners of conscience Category:Buddhist pacifists Category:Burmese democracy activists Category:Burmese human rights activists Category:Burmese Nobel laureates Category:Burmese pacifists Category:Burmese prisoners and detainees Category:Burmese socialists Category:Burmese Theravada Buddhists Category:Burmese women in politics Category:Burmese women writers Category:Burmese writers Category:Civil rights activists Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Free Your Mind Award winners Category:Gandhians Category:Honorary Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Living people Category:National League for Democracy politicians Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates Category:Nonviolence advocates Category:Olof Palme Prize laureates Category:People from Yangon Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Prisoners and detainees of Burma Category:Recipients of the Sakharov Prize Category:UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize laureates Category:University of Delhi alumni Category:The Elders (organization) Category:Women Nobel laureates

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