Johnson is an English, Scottish, and Irish name of Norman origin. The name itself is a patronym of the given name John, literally meaning "son of John." The name John derives from Latin Johannes, which is derived through Greek Ἰωάννης Iōannēs, from Hebrew יוחנן Yohanan meaning "Yahweh has favoured". The name was extremely popular in Europe since the Christian era, as a result of it being given to St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist and nearly one thousand other Christian saints.^[3] Johnson is the tenth most common surname in the United Kingdom,^[1] and second most common in the United States. ^[4]

Description[link]

In North America, the surname Johnson has absorbed many variants of this patronym from European languages^[3], as well as the Danish Jørgensen (which does not share its root with Johnson, but is derived from Latin Georgius). It is the second most common family name in the United States after Smith. During the 1990 census, approximately 0.81% of people counted had this family name.^[5]

In Ireland, Johnson is the Anglicization of the Gaelic surnames Mac Sean (McShane) or Mac Eoin (McKeown).^[6]

Notable people sharing the surname Johnson[link]

• Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), English author
• Andrew Johnson (1808–1875), 17th President of the United States
• Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973), 36th President of the United States
• Boris Johnson (born 1964), British politician
• Earvin "Magic" Johnson (born 1959), American basketball player and businessman

See also[link]

• Jensen
• Jonson
• Jonsson
• Johansson
• Johnsson
• Johnston
• Jovanović
• Jones

References[link]

Ray William Johnson (born 1981-1982) is an American actor and comedian best known for his YouTube series Equals Three, in which he provides commentary on viral videos.^[2][3] Many of the videos featured on Equals Three are noted to have received an additional boost of popularity.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} As of May 2012, the RayWilliamJohnson channel is the most subscribed channel on YouTube,^[9][10] with over 5.4 million subscribers, and over 1.7 billion video views.^[11] In February 2011, one industry publication noted that Johnson currently had six of the top twenty most watched videos of the month.^[12]

Background[link]

Johnson graduated from Norman North High School in Oklahoma, in 1999,^[1] however Johnson's Youtube profile states he was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.^[13] In an interview with Wall Street Journal, Johnson says that he studied at Columbia University, as a history major,^[1] while his profile adds he was preparing to study law.^[13] While at Columbia, Johnson started his first formatted show, Equals Three, as a way to combine two popular video styles, watching viral videos and video bloggers.^[2]

Current projects[link]

[edit] Equals Three

Equals Three
Title card
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Ray William Johnson
Written by	Phil Haney Steve Greene Marvin Silbermintz Erin Schmalfeld Ilana Cohn Brandon Perna "Big Rob" Lance Patrick Ray William Johnson
Presented by	Ray William Johnson
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English Spanish (Igual a Tres)
No. of episodes	265 (as of March 3, 2012)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Ray William Johnson
Producer(s)	Erin Schmalfeld
Editor(s)	Brandon Perna
Broadcast
Original channel	RayWilliamJohnson
Original run	2008 (2008) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Breaking Your Favorite Martian Igual a Tres YFMTS
External links
Website

In Equals Three (stylized as "=3"), Ray William Johnson reviews, criticizes, and adds commentary to some of the internet's latest viral videos.^[3] Equals Three episodes are usually uploaded to his channel every Tuesday and Friday. In these episodes, Johnson interacts with his audience by posting a viewer-submitted "comment question of the day", then features five of his favorite comments in the preceding episode. Equals Three is on the most subscribed channel on YouTube, having over 5 million subscribers to date, and has been recognized by Guinness World Records.^[2][14][15] Because of his popularity, Equals Three episodes can consistently obtain several million views within a week. Johnson has been able to leverage his popularity to secure several celebrity guests on Equals Three, including Robin Williams,^[16] Gabriel Iglesias,^[17] Kal Penn,^[18] Margaret Cho,^[19] Bobby Lee,^[20] T.J. Miller,^[21] Garfunkel and Oates,^[22] John Cho,^[18] Jason Biggs,^[23] Andy Milonakis^[24] and Traphik.^[25]

Your Favorite Martian[link]

In January 2011, Johnson launched a collaborative YouTube channel called "YourFavoriteMartian", which features animated music videos.^{[26][27][dead link]} The songs are performed by a virtual band of four fictional cartoon characters: PuffPuff Humbert (vocals, voiced by Johnson), DeeJay (turntables), Axel Chains (drums), and Benatar (vocals, guitar/keytar).^[28] Johnson writes lyrics, raps, sings, composes beats, and sometimes collaborates with other musicians to produce the songs.^[29] The following is a list of music videos that have been released so far:

To date, Johnson has released 30 original songs, 1 remix, and 3 covers through the channel. As of May 2012, the channel has over 1.8 million subscribers, making it one of the most subscribed channels on YouTube, and over 372 million video views.^[30][31] Due to the rapid growth of popularity of the channel and the music videos getting more views than the Equals Three episodes, Johnson has commented in his Breaking Los Angeles video blog that he at some point hopes to have the music videos released weekly instead of bi-weekly.^[32]

[edit] Breaking

BreakingNYC is a former daily video blog or vlog that Johnson started in December 2009 while living in New York City. He made the vlogs almost daily until June 2010. After nearly a year-long hiatus, Johnson resumed contributing to the video blog channel, creating a new higher quality series with a similar format. The new series titled, Breaking Los Angeles and the Adventures of Puff Puff, was released every Friday and is filmed in Los Angeles. Johnson often featured notable guests in his new series, including rappers Wax, Hoodie Allen and Dumbfoundead, slam poet George Watsky, comedian Gabriel Iglesias, and actor/director Bobcat Goldthwait. After Johnson took a three-month hiatus from making videos for the channel, a third season of Breaking Los Angeles (retitled to Breaking: Season 3), premiered on December 14, 2011.

References[link]

External links[link]

Internet portal

• Official Site

Anjelah Nicole Johnson (born May 14, 1982) is an American actress, comedienne, and former NFL cheerleader. Johnson is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv during its 13th Season. Her characters include a rude fast food employee named Bon Qui Qui and a Vietnamese nail salon employee.

Career[link]

After three years of college, Johnson moved to Los Angeles to pursue an entertainment career. She decided to become a comedian in 2005 and began doing stand-up comedy after a friend suggested that she join a joke writing class.^[2] Prior to that she had been working as an actress in Los Angeles and was taking improv classes in church.^[2][3] She quickly began to headline her own shows after being a featured comedian in just three shows.^[2] As a featured comedian, the comedy clubs that hired her gave her preferential treatment over even the headliners after noticing that her routines were popular with the audiences.^[2] Her stand-up routine comprising her impression of a Vietnamese nail salon employee received much attention on YouTube, and a year after beginning her stand-up career,^[2] in 2007, Johnson joined the cast of sketch comedy show MADtv, as a featured performer. Because of the impending writers strike, Johnson was often given only a few lines in the scripts during her tenure on the show, as the writers had to produce more scripts at a faster pace and thus opted to write more for the already established performers.^[2] However, her character Bon Qui Qui, a fast food employee who treats customers rudely, which she wrote herself was received well.^[2] The clip made its way to YouTube where it gained a large following, quickly outstripping her already popular nail salon routine in views.^[2] In 2008, Johnson was nominated for an ALMA Award for Outstanding Female Performance in a Comedy Television Series for her work on MADtv.^[4]

Johnson was given her own 1 hour Comedy Central special, "Anjelah Johnson: That's How We Do It" in 2009.^[1] She filmed a role in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel in 2009. She also appeared as America Ferrera's sister in the comedy, Our Family Wedding alongside Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia in 2010.^[4] She provided her voice for the live-action adaptation of Marmaduke, which starred Owen Wilson and Emma Stone.^[4] She was also featured on the late night talk show Lopez Tonight, hosted by one of her comedic influences, George Lopez, performing her stand-up routine to the audience. Johnson became the "TC Girl", a spokesperson for Mexican restaurant Taco Cabana in 2011 and appeared in television advertisements for the chain.^[5]

Personal life[link]

Johnson was born and raised in San Jose, California in a devout Christian family.^[3] She is of Mexican-American and Native American descent.^[6] She was a Pop Warner cheerleader from the age of 8 and was active in sports including soccer, softball and track.^[7] She also practiced various dancing style, such as hip hop to break dancing.^[7] She began acting as a senior in high school and was especially interested in affecting different accents.^[7] She later studied speech communications in college.^[7] She subsequently became a cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders after being inducted in 2002.^[7] As a member of the Oakland Raiderettes she was named Rookie of the year and performed in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Johnson married Group 1 Crew member Manwell Reyes in 2011.

Filmography[link]

Movie appearances[link]

Television appearances[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Anjelah Johnson at IMDb
• Anjelah Johnson on Myspace
• Anjelah Johnson on Twitter

This article about an American television actor or actress born in the 1980s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Don Johnson
Johnson in 1986 during an interview aboard the USS Lexington aircraft carrier.
Born	Donnie Wayne Johnson (1949-12-15) December 15, 1949 (age 62) Flat Creek, Missouri, United States
Other names	DJ, The Don
Occupation	Actor Producer Director Singer-songwriter[1]
Years active	1969–present
Spouse	Anonymous Dancer (1968; annulled)[2][3] Anonymous Musician (annulled) Melanie Griffith (1976, 1989-96) Kelley Phleger (1999-present)
Partner	Patti D'Arbanville (1981-85)

Donnie Wayne "Don" Johnson^[1] (born December 15, 1949)^[1] is an American actor known for his work in television and film. He played the lead role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s TV cop series, Miami Vice, which led him to huge success. He also played the lead role in the 1990s cop series, Nash Bridges. More recently, Johnson played Kenny Powers' father on the HBO series, Eastbound and Down. Johnson is a Golden Globe winning actor for his role in Miami Vice, a winner of the APBA Offshore World Cup, and has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[4] He is also a singer, songwriter, producer, and director.

Early life and education[link]

Johnson was born in Flat Creek, Missouri.^[1] His father, Wayne, was a farmer, and his mother, Nell, was a beautician;^[5] they were 19 and 17 at the time of his birth, respectively. At age six, he moved from Missouri to Wichita, Kansas. A 1967 graduate of South High School, he was involved in the high school's theatre program. As a senior, he played the lead role of Tony in West Side Story. His biography noted that he had previously appeared in "Burnt Cork and Melody" and "The Hullabaloo." He also attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.

In the late 1960s, Johnson was in a psychedelic rock band called Horses. Also in the band were future members of the band Kingfish, which featured Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir. The band put out one self-titled record on the White Whale label in 1969, later re-issued on the Gear Fab label in 2004 and then on the Rev-Ola label in 2005. Johnson, as several noteworthy news sources have mentioned over the years, was relieved of his military obligation due to a high lottery number. In a 1970 newspaper article, Johnson stated that, due to his beliefs at that time, he would have become a draft resister.

Johnson is quoted in a 1970 newspaper article, mentioning his draft-exempt status and his dislike for war.^[6]

Acting[link]

Early years[link]

Johnson studied drama at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. His first major role was in the 1969 Los Angeles stage production of Fortune and Men's Eyes in which he played Smitty, the lead role. This exposure led to the quickly forgotten film The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970, based on a novel by Robert Westbrook, son of columnist Sheilah Graham). He continued to work on stage, film and television without breaking out into stardom. His notable films from this period were Zachariah (1971), The Harrad Experiment (1973), Lollipop and Roses (1974), and A Boy and His Dog (1975)

[edit] Miami Vice

From 1984-1989, after years of struggling to establish himself as a TV actor (in such fare as Revenge of the Stepford Wives) and a string of failed pilots which were never followed by an actual TV series, Johnson's fortunes changed when he landed a starring role as undercover police detective Sonny Crockett in the cop series, Miami Vice. He typically wore thousand dollar Versace and Hugo Boss suits over pastel cotton t-shirts, drove a Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona (really a replica kit on a 1981 Corvette chassis), followed by a Ferrari Testarossa and lived on a 42-foot (13 m) yacht with his pet alligator "Elvis". Miami Vice was noted for its revolutionary use of music, cinematography, and imagery as well as a more glitzy take on the police drama genre.

In between seasons, Don Johnson gained further renown through several TV miniseries, such as the 1985 TV remake of The Long, Hot Summer.

[edit] Nash Bridges

Johnson at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

Johnson later starred in the 1996-2001 drama Nash Bridges with Cheech Marin, Jeff Perry, Jaime P. Gomez and Jodi Lyn O'Keefe. Johnson played the title role of Nash Bridges, an inspector for the San Francisco Police Department. In Nash Bridges Johnson was again paired with a flashy convertible car, this time an Lemon Twist Yellow 1971 Plymouth Barracuda.

2000s[link]

In the fall of 2005, he briefly starred in The WB courtroom television drama show Just Legal as a jaded lawyer with a very young and idealistic protégé/partner (Jay Baruchel); the show was canceled in October 2005 after just three episodes aired. In January 2007, Johnson began a run in the London West End production of Guys and Dolls as Nathan Detroit.

Don Johnson also has a role in the Norwegian comedy Lange Flate Ballær 2 ("Long Flat Balls II"), directed by Johnson's friend Harald Zwart. Johnson did the movie as a favour to Zwart. The movie was launched March 14, 2008 in Norway, with Johnson making an appearance at the premiere. He next appeared in When in Rome with Danny DeVito, Anjelica Huston and Kristen Bell, and Machete with Robert De Niro and Steven Seagal.^[7]

2010s[link]

Johnson & Jon Heder co-hosted WWE's Monday Night RAW on January 18, 2010.^[8]

Johnson had a small role in Robert Rodriguez's film, Machete. Johnson played Von Jackson, "a twisted border vigilante leading a small army." The film was released on September 3, 2010.

In October 2010, he began appearing on the HBO series Eastbound & Down, playing Kenny Powers' long-lost father, going by the alias "Eduardo Sanchez". He also reprised his role as Sonny Crockett for a Nike commercial with LeBron James where the NBA player contemplates acting and appears alongside Johnson on Miami Vice.^[9]

In September 2011, Johnson has a cameo in the comedy A Good Old Fashioned Orgy with Jason Sudeikis. ^[10]

Music[link]

Johnson released two albums of pop music in the 1980s, one in 1986 and the other in 1989. His single "Heartbeat", the title track from his first album, and was a collaboration with 80s one hit wonder - Robert Tepper, reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Johnson is also a good friend of Willie Nelson and Robert Tepper, and was briefly a part of the "Thailand Pack", alongside Tommy Morrison, and British TV funny man Les Dennis. Previously, Johnson worked with Gregg Allman and Dickie Betts of the Allman Brothers, co-writing the songs "Blind Love" and "Can't Take It with You" with Dickie Betts, which appeared on their 1979 album, Enlightened Rogues.^[1][11]

Personal life[link]

Relationships and family[link]

Johnson with third wife Melanie Griffith in 1990.

Johnson has had four wives in five marriages, three of which were brief.^[12]

His first two marriages, in the late 1960s, were annulled. The names of Johnson's first two wives have not been made public knowledge, although sources state that they were a dancer and a musician, respectively.^[2]

Johnson had a major supporting role in The Harrad Experiment (released 1973), whose female lead was Tippi Hedren.^[13] He met Hedren's daughter, Melanie Griffith^[12][14] around the first half of 1972; she was an uncredited extra.^[15] He was aged 22 and dating and living with groupie Pamela Des Barres^[16] and Melanie was 14 when they began what became a four-year affair, that included marrying, in 1976, for less than a year.^[14][17] Melanie and Don reconciled and conceived a child close to the start of 1989, announced wedding plans in mid-February,^[14] and were married a second time, from that year until 1996. They had a daughter, Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4, 1989).

He lived with Patti D'Arbanville^[17] from 1981 to 1985. The couple had a son, Jesse Wayne Johnson (born on December 7, 1982).

He had a relationship with Barbra Streisand, lasting into at least September 1988.^[14] Streisand and Johnson were supposedly secretly engaged at one point. He created a single with her called "Till I Loved You", released that year. Johnson had a relationship with Jeanne Anderson in 1996.^{[citation needed]}

On April 29, 1999, he married San Francisco socialite and former preschool teacher Kelley Phleger. He and Phleger had a daughter, Atherton Grace Johnson (born on December 28, 1999), and two sons, Jasper Breckinridge Johnson (born on June 6, 2002) and Deacon Johnson (born on April 29, 2006).

It has also been revealed on The Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion show that he and housewife Danielle Staub engaged in a brief affair.^{[citation needed]}

Legal problems[link]

In 2001, a 36-year-old woman accused an intoxicated Johnson of squeezing and bruising her wrist and lewdly propositioning her outside a restroom at San Francisco restaurant Mas Sake, and claimed while still firmly squeezing her wrist he began drunkenly singing "Heartbeat". The woman's friends made their way across the restaurant to confront Johnson as he continued to sing but said when he saw them he let go of her and quickly fled out the back door. Johnson said he was considering buying an advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle to state his side of the story, but later decided to post the notices on his website. Due to insufficient evidence, no charges were filed.^[18][19]

In November 2002,^[20] German customs officers at the Swiss-German^[20] border performed a routine search of Johnson's car.^[20] Bank statements evidencing US$8 billion in transactions were found in the trunk of his car.^[20][21][22] He was accompanied in his black Mercedes-Benz^[21] by three men: an investment adviser,^[21] a personal assistant,^[21] and a third of unknown identity.^[21] Initially it was thought Johnson was involved in money-laundering,^[22] but he was cleared of wrongdoing.^[23] Upon receiving word of the incident, German tabloids began exploiting and perpetuating the story, at times pointing at the irony (as perceived by them) that Don Johnson has frequently portrayed police officers in his acting works. Johnson explained the incident by saying "I was meeting with some American businessmen in Zürich for financing,^[22] for a film fund that I was putting together for my company. They gave me some bank statements and some resumes and some other documents, some things to prove that they could perform as investors."^{[citation needed]} The police found and copied these documents, and the money laundering story grew somehow out of this.^[24]

In May 2008, Johnson came within hours of losing his Woody Creek, Colorado home to foreclosure; he paid off his $14.5 million debts less than 24 hours before a scheduled auction of the property.^[25]

In July 2010, a Los Angeles jury awarded Johnson $23.2 million in a lawsuit against production company Rysher Entertainment, from whom Johnson sought a share of profits commensurate with his ownership of half the copyright of Nash Bridges.^[26] Rysher announced they would appeal the verdict.^[27]

Reception[link]

Awards and recognitions[link]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

Featured singles[link]

Videography[link]

• 1987: Heartbeat - Full Length Video (VHS) - (Release date: May 10, 1987)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Don Johnson

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Don Johnson

• Don Johnson at the Internet Movie Database

Gary Johnson
29th Governor of New Mexico
In office January 1, 1995 – January 1, 2003
Lieutenant	Walter Bradley
Preceded by	Bruce King
Succeeded by	Bill Richardson
Personal details
Born	Gary Earl Johnson (1953-01-01) January 1, 1953 (age 59) Minot, North Dakota, U.S.
Political party	Libertarian (2011-present)
Other political affiliations	Republican Party (before 2011)
Spouse(s)	Dee Simms (1977–2005)
Domestic partner	Kate Prusack (fiancée; 2009–present)
Alma mater	University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
This article is part of a series on Gary Johnson Our America Initiative  · Political positions  · 2012 presidential campaign

Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, a former Governor of New Mexico, and the Libertarian Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election.^[1] Johnson served as the 29th Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, as a member of the Republican Party, and is known for his low-tax libertarian views and his regular participation in triathlons.

Johnson founded one of New Mexico's largest construction companies.^[2] He entered politics for the first time by running for Governor of New Mexico in 1994 on a fiscally conservative, low-tax, anti-crime platform.^[3] He beat incumbent Democratic governor Bruce King by 50% to 40%. He cut the 10% annual growth in the budget: using his gubernatorial veto 200 times during his first six months in office.^[2] His use of the veto over his two terms gained him the nickname "Governor Veto".^[4][5]

Johnson sought re-election in 1998, winning by 55% to 45%. In his second term, he concentrated on the issue of school voucher reforms,^[6] as well as campaigning for marijuana decriminalization. During his tenure as governor, Johnson adhered to an anti-tax and anti-bureaucracy policy, setting state and national records for his use of veto powers:^[2] more than the other 49 contemporary governors put together.^[7][8] Term-limited, Johnson could not run for re-election at the end of his second term.

Johnson announced his candidacy for President on 21 April 2011 as a Republican.^[9] On 28 December 2011, he withdrew his candidacy for the Republican nomination and announced that he would continue his presidential campaign as a candidate for the nomination of the Libertarian Party.^[10]

As a fitness enthusiast,^[11][12] Johnson has taken part in several Ironman Triathlons, and he climbed Mount Everest in May 2003.^[13]

Early life and career[link]

Johnson was born in 1953 in Minot, North Dakota, the son of Lorraine B. (née Bostow), who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Earl W. Johnson, a public school teacher.^[14] His father was of half Danish and half Norwegian ancestry, and his mother was of Russian descent.^[15][16] Johnson graduated from Sandia High School in Albuquerque in 1971, where he was on the school track team.^[17] He attended the University of New Mexico from 1971 to 1975 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree.^[18] It was there that he met his future wife, Denise "Dee" Simms. While in college, Johnson earned money as a door-to-door handyman.^[19] His success in that arena encouraged him to start his own business, Big J Enterprises, in 1976. When he started the business, which focused on mechanical contracting, Johnson was its only employee.^[20] His major break with the firm was receiving a large contract from Intel's expansion in Rio Rancho, which increased Big J's revenue to $38 million.^[16] Over-stretched by his success, Johnson enrolled in a time management course at night school, which made him heavily goal-driven.^[16] He eventually grew Big J into a multi-million dollar corporation with over 1,000 employees.^[21] By the time he sold the company in 1999, it was one of New Mexico's leading construction companies.^[22]

Governor of New Mexico[link]

First term[link]

Johnson entered politics for the first time in 1994, with the intention of running for governor and was advised by "Republican Elders"^[16] to run for the State Legislature instead.^[16] Despite their advice, Johnson spent $500,000 of his own money and entered the race with the intent of bringing a "common sense business approach" to the office.^[23] Johnson's campaign slogan was "People before Politics".^[24] His platform emphasized tax cuts, job creation, state government spending growth restraint, and law and order.^[3] He won the Republican nomination, defeating state legislator Richard P. Cheney by 34% to 33%, with John Dendahl and former governor David F. Cargo in third and fourth. Johnson subsequently won the general election, defeating the incumbent Democratic Governor Bruce King by 50% to 40%. Johnson was elected in a nationally Republican year, although party registration in the state of New Mexico at the time was 2-to-1 Democratic. As governor, Johnson followed a strict small government approach. According to former New Mexico Republican National Committee member Mickey D. Barnett, "Any time someone approached him about legislation for some purpose, his first response always was to ask if government should be involved in that to begin with."^[25] He vetoed 200 of 424 bills in his first six months in office – a national record of 48% of all legislation – and used the line-item veto on most remaining bills.^[2] In office, Johnson fulfilled his campaign promise to reduce the 10% annual growth of the state budget.^{[citation needed]} In his first budget, Johnson proposed a wide range of tax cuts, including a repeal of the prescription drug tax, a $47 million income tax cut, and a 6 cents per gallon gasoline tax cut. However, of these, only the gasoline tax cut was passed.^[26] During the November 1995 federal government shutdown, he joined 20 other Republican governors who called on the Republican leadership in Congress to stand firm in negotiations against the Clinton administration in budget negotiations; in the article reporting on the letter and concomitant news conference he was quoted as calling for eliminating the budget deficit through proportional cuts across the budget.^[27] Although Johnson worked to reduce overall state spending, in his first term, he raised education spending by nearly a third.^[11] When drop-out rates and test scores showed little improvement, Johnson changed his tactics and began advocating for school vouchers – a key issue in budget battles of his second term as governor.^[11]

Second term[link]

In 1998, Johnson ran for re-election as governor against Democratic Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez. In his campaign, he promised to continue the policies of his first term: improving schools; cutting state spending, taxes, and bureaucracy; and frequent use of his veto power.^[28] Fielding a strong Hispanic candidate in a 40% Hispanic state, the Democrats were expected to oust Johnson,^[11] but Johnson won by a 55%-to-45% margin:^[29] making him the first Governor of New Mexico to serve two four-year terms after term limits were expanded to two terms in 1991.^[23] Johnson made the promotion of a school voucher system a "hallmark issue" of his second term.^[30] In 1999, he proposed the first statewide voucher system in America, which would have enrolled 100,000 students in its first year.^[11] That year, he vetoed two budgets that failed to include a voucher program and a government shutdown was threatened,^[11] but ultimately yielded to Democratic majorities in both houses of the New Mexico Legislature, who opposed the plan. Johnson signed the budget, but line-item vetoed a further $21m, or 0.5%, from the legislative plan.^[31] In 1999, Johnson became one of the highest-ranking elected officials in the United States to advocate the legalization of marijuana.^[32] Saying the War on Drugs was "an expensive bust," he advocated the decriminalization of marijuana use and concentration on harm reduction measures for all other illegal drugs. "He compared attempts to enforce the nation's drug laws with the failed attempt at alcohol prohibition. Half of what government spends on police, courts and prisons is to deal with drug offenders."^[20] He suggests that drug abuse be treated as a health issue, not as a criminal issue. His approach to the issue garnered supportive notice from conservative icon William F. Buckley,^[33] as well as the Cato Institute and Rolling Stone.^[16] In 2000, Johnson proposed a more ambitious voucher program than he had proposed the year before, under which each parent would receive $3,500 per child for education at any private or parochial school.^[30] The Democrats sought $90m extra school funding without school vouchers, and questioned Johnson's request for more funding for state-run prisons, having opposed his opening of two private prisons.^[34] Negotiations between the governor and the legislature were contentious, again nearly leading to shut down the government. In 2000, New Mexico was devastated by the Cerro Grande Fire. Johnson's handling of the disaster earned him accolades from the The Denver Post, which observed that he:

was all over the Cerro Grande Fire last week. He helped reporters understand where the fire was headed when low-level Forest Service officials couldn't, ran herd over the bureaucratic process of getting state and federal agencies and the National Guard involved, and even helped put out some of the fire with his feet. On a tour of Los Alamos last Wednesday, when he saw small flames spreading across a lawn, he had his driver stop his car. He jumped out and stomped on the flames, as did his wife and some of his staffers.^[12]

Johnson's leadership during the fire was praised by Democratic Congressman Tom Udall, who said: "I think the real test of leadership is when you have circumstances like this. He's called on his reserves of energy and has just been a really excellent leader under very difficult circumstances here."^[12] He rebuffed efforts by the Libertarian Party to draft him in the 2000 presidential election, then stating himself to be a Republican with no interest in running for president.^[35]

Legacy[link]

Logo of the Our America Initiative, which Johnson founded in 2009.

In an interview in Reason magazine in January 2001, Johnson's accomplishments in office were described as follows: "no tax increases in six years, a major road building program, shifting Medicaid to managed care, constructing two new private prisons, canning 1,200 state employees, and vetoing a record number of bills."^[23] Andrew Sullivan quoted a claim that Johnson "is highly regarded in the state for his outstanding leadership during two terms as governor. He slashed the size of state government during his term and left the state with a large budget surplus."^[36] According to one New Mexico paper, "Johnson left the state fiscally solid," and was "arguably the most popular governor of the decade . . . leaving the state with a $1 billion budget surplus."^[37] The Washington Times has reported that when Johnson left office, "the size of state government had been substantially reduced and New Mexico was enjoying a large budget surplus."^[25] According to a profile of Johnson in the National Review, "During his tenure, he vetoed more bills than the other 49 governors combined — 750 in total, one third of which had been introduced by Republican legislators. Johnson also used his line-item-veto power thousands of times. He credits his heavy veto pen for eliminating New Mexico's budget deficit and cutting the growth rate of New Mexico's government in half."^[38] Johnson has "said his numerous vetoes, only two of which were overridden, stemmed from his philosophy of looking at all things for their cost-benefit ratio and his axe fell on Republicans as well as Democrats."^[20] Johnson was term limited and could not run for a third consecutive term as governor in 2002.^[39] In the 2008 presidential election campaign, Johnson endorsed Ron Paul for the Republican nomination.^[40] Johnson serves on the Advisory Council of Students for Sensible Drug Policy,^[41] a student nonprofit organization that believes that the war on drugs needs to be reevaluated. As of April 2011^[update], he serves on the board of directors of Students For Liberty, a nonprofit libertarian organization.^[42]

2012 presidential campaign[link]

Johnson speaking at CPAC 2011.

Johnson indicated interest in running for President of the United States in the 2012 election.^[43][44] In December 2009, Johnson hired strategist Ronald T. Nielson of NSON Opinion Strategy to organize the 501(c)(4) committee Our America Initiative. Ron Nielson (aka RT Nielson) has worked with Johnson since 1993 when he ran his successful gubernatorial campaign. In the April 20, 2009 edition of The American Conservative Magazine, Bill Kauffman told readers to "keep an eye out" for a Johnson presidential campaign in 2012, reporting that Johnson had told him that "he was keeping his options open for 2012" and that "he may take a shot at the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 as an antiwar, anti-Fed, pro-personal liberties, slash-government-spending candidate — in other words, a Ron Paul libertarian".^[43] During a June 24, 2009 appearance on Fox News's Freedom Watch, host Judge Andrew Napolitano asked Johnson if he would run for President in 2012, to which Johnson responded that he thought it would be inappropriate to openly express his desires before President Obama is given the opportunity to prove himself, but he followed up that statement by saying "it appears personal freedoms are being shoveled out the window more and more."^{[45][not in citation given]} In an October 26, 2009 interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican's Steve Terrell, Johnson announced his decision to form an advocacy committee called the Our America Initiative to help him raise funds and promote small government ideas. The stated focus of the organization is to "...speak out on issues regarding topics such as government efficiency, lowering taxes, ending the war on drugs, protecting civil liberties, revitalizing the economy and promoting entrepreneurship and privatization".^[46] The move prompted speculation among media pundits and Johnson's supporters that he may be laying the groundwork for a 2012 presidential run.^[47][48] Throughout 2010, Johnson repeatedly deflected questions about a 2012 presidential bid by saying his 501(c)(4) status forbids him from expressing a desire to run for federal office on politics.^[49][50] However, he has been outspoken about the issues affecting the country, particularly "the size and cost of government" and the "deficits and debt that truly threaten to consume the U.S. economy, and which represent the single greatest threat to our national security."^[51]

In February 2011, Johnson was a featured speaker at both the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and the Republican Liberty Caucus.^[52] At CPAC, "the crowd liked him – even as he pushed some of his more controversial points."^[53] Johnson tied with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for third in the CPAC Straw Poll, trailing only Ron Paul and Mitt Romney (and ahead of such notables as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and former Alaska Governor and 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin).^[54] David Weigel of Slate called Johnson the second-biggest winner of the conference, writing that his "third-place showing in the straw poll gave Johnson his first real media hook ... He met tons of reporters, commanded a small scrum after the vote, and is a slightly lighter shade of dark horse now."^[55]

Republican presidential candidacy[link]

On April 21, 2011 Johnson announced via Twitter, "I am running for president."^[56] He followed this announcement with a speech at the New Hampshire State House in Concord, New Hampshire.^[9] He was the first of an eventually large field to announce his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.^[57] Johnson chose Ron Nielson, a director for both of his New Mexico gubernatorial campaigns, as his presidential campaign director and senior advisor.^[57] The campaign is being run from Salt Lake City, Utah.^[57] Johnson's economics advisor is Harvard economics professor Jeffrey Miron.^[58] Initially, Johnson hoped Ron Paul would not run for President so that Johnson could galvanize from Paul's network of libertarian-minded voters.^[57] Johnson even traveled to Houston to tell Paul of his decision to run in person.^[57] But Paul announced his candidacy on May 13, 2011. Johnson participated in the first of the Republican presidential debates, hosted by Fox News in South Carolina on May 5, 2011, appearing on stage with Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum. Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann both declined to debate. Johnson was excluded from the next three debates on June 13 (hosted by CNN in New Hampshire), August 11 (hosted by Fox News in Iowa), and September 7 (hosted by CNN in California).^[57] After the first exclusion, Johnson made a 43-minute video responding to each of the debate questions, which he posted on Youtube.^[57][59] The first exclusion, which was widely publicized, gave Johnson "a little bump" in name recognition and produced "a small uptick" in donations.^[57] But "the long term consequences were dismal."^[57] For the financial quarter ending June 30, Johnson raised a mere $180,000.^[57] Despite the fact that, in some polls, Johnson polled higher than Rick Santorum or Jon Huntsman, who were invited to debates, Johnson was not.^[57] Then Fox News decided that because Johnson polled at least 2% in five recent polls, he could participate in a September 22 debate in Florida, which it co-hosted with the Florida Republican Party (the party objected to Johnson's inclusion).^[57] Johnson participated, appearing on stage with Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. During the debate, Johnson delivered what many media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, and Time, called the best line of the night: "My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than this administration."^[60][61] Entertainment Weekly even opined that Johnson had won the debate.^[62]

Libertarian presidential nomination[link]