William Lewis Dayton
United States Senator from New Jersey
In office July 2, 1842 – March 4, 1851
Preceded by	Samuel L. Southard
Succeeded by	Robert F. Stockton
Personal details
Born	(1807-02-17)February 17, 1807 Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Died	December 1, 1864(1864-12-01) (aged 57) Paris, France
Political party	Whig, Republican
Spouse(s)	Margaret E. Dayton
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

William Lewis Dayton (February 17, 1807 – December 1, 1864) was an American politician.

A distant relation of U.S. House Speaker and U.S. Constitution signatory Jonathan Dayton, he was born in Basking Ridge, New Jersey to farmer Joel Dayton and his wife. He graduated from College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1825 and worked as a lawyer in Freehold.

In 1837, he was elected to the New Jersey Legislative Council, then became an associate judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court the following year. Following the death of U.S. Senator Samuel L. Southard he was appointed to the United States Senate starting July 2, 1842 and was re-elected by the New Jersey Legislature as a Whig in 1845, but lost in 1851, ending his service on March 4.

In 1856, he was selected by the nascent Republican Party as their first nominee for Vice President of the United States over Abraham Lincoln at the Philadelphia Convention. He and his running mate, John C. Fremont, lost to the Democratic ticket of James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge. Afterwards, he served as New Jersey Attorney General until 1861, when President Lincoln appointed him Minister to France, serving in that role from 1861–1864 throughout most of the American Civil War. There, Dayton successfully lobbied the government of Napoleon III not to recognize the independence of the Confederacy or allow it the use of French ports. Dayton died in Paris in 1864 while serving in that capacity. He was buried in Riverview Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey.^[1]

His son, William Lewis Dayton, Jr. (1839–1897), graduated from Princeton in 1858 and served as President Chester A. Arthur's Minister to the Netherlands from 1882–1885.

Later, the town of Dayton, New Jersey was named in his honor. ^[2]

References[link]

References[link]

• Republican Campaign Edition for the Million. Containing the Republican Platform, the Lives of Fremont and Dayton, with Beautiful Steel Portraits of Each, 1856 (Boston: John P. Jewett), via Illinois Historical Digitization Projects of the Northern Illinois University Libraries

External links[link]

• Biographical Dictionary of the U.S. Congress
• Photograph of William Lewis Dayton at PictureHistory.com
• William L. Dayton Papers at the Princeton University Library

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Joseph W. Kittinger II
Joseph W. Kittinger II
Nickname	Red
Born	(1928-07-27) July 27, 1928 (age 83) Tampa, Florida
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1950-1978
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Korean War and Vietnam War
Awards	Silver Star (2) Legion of Merit (2) Distinguished Flying Cross (6) Bronze Star (3) Purple Heart (2) Meritorious Service Medal Air Medal (24) Prisoner of War Medal

Joseph William Kittinger II (born July 27, 1928) is a former Command Pilot and career military officer in the United States Air Force. He is most famous for his participation in Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior, holding the records for having the highest, fastest and longest skydive, from a height greater than 31 kilometres (19 mi),^[1] and for being the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon. Serving as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, he was shot down and spent 11 months in a North Vietnamese prison.

Early life and military career[link]

Born in Tampa, Florida, Kittinger was educated at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, and the University of Florida. After racing speedboats as a teenager, he entered the U.S. Air Force in March 1949. On completion of aviation cadet training in March 1950, he received a pilot rating and a commission as a second lieutenant. He was subsequently assigned to the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing based at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany, flying the F-84 Thunderjet and F-86 Sabre.

In 1954 Kittinger was transferred to Holloman AFB, New Mexico and the Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC). He flew the observation/chase plane which monitored flight surgeon Colonel John Stapp's rocket sled run of 632 mph (1,017 km/h) in 1955. Kittinger was impressed by Stapp's dedication and leadership as a pioneer in aerospace medicine. Stapp, in turn, was impressed with Kittinger's skillful jet piloting, later recommending him for space-related aviation research work. Stapp was to foster the high altitude balloon tests which would later lead to Kittinger's record-setting leap from over 102,800 feet (31,300 m). In 1957, as part of Project Manhigh, Kittinger set an interim balloon altitude record of 96,760 feet (29,490 m) in Manhigh I, for which he was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross.

Project Excelsior[link]

Kittinger next to the Excelsior gondola

Captain Kittinger was next assigned to the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. For Project Excelsior (meaning "ever upward"), a name given to the project by Colonel Stapp as part of research into high altitude bailouts,^{[citation needed]} he made a series of three extreme altitude parachute jumps from an open gondola carried aloft by large helium balloons.

Kittinger's first high-altitude jump, from about 76,400 feet (23,300 m) on November 16, 1959, was a near-disaster when an equipment malfunction caused him to lose consciousness.^[2] The automatic parachute opener in his equipment saved his life. He went into a flat spin at a rotational velocity of about 120 rpm. The g-forces at his extremities have been calculated to be over 22 times the force of gravity, setting another record.^{[citation needed]} On December 11, 1959, he jumped again from about 74,700 feet (22,800 m). For that leap, Kittinger was awarded the A. Leo Stevens Parachute Medal.Template:Http://www.aero.com/publications/parachutes/9601/pc0196.htm

Kittinger's record-breaking skydive

On August 16, 1960, he made the final jump from the Excelsior III at 102,800 feet (31,300 m).^[2] Towing a small drogue parachute for initial stabilization, he fell for four minutes and 36 seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 614 miles per hour (988 km/h)^[3][4] before opening his parachute at 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Pressurization for his right glove malfunctioned during the ascent, and his right hand swelled up to twice its normal size.^[5][6] He set historical numbers for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, longest drogue-fall (four minutes), and fastest speed by a human being through the atmosphere.^[7] These are still current USAF records, but were not submitted for aerospace world records to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).^{[citation needed]}

These jumps were made in a "rocking-chair" position, descending on his back, rather than in the usual face-down position familiar to skydivers. This was because he was wearing a 60 lb (27 kg) "kit" on his behind, and his pressure suit naturally formed a sitting shape when it was inflated, a shape appropriate for sitting in an airplane cockpit.^{[citation needed]} For this series of jumps, Kittinger was decorated with a second Distinguished Flying Cross, and he was awarded the Harmon Trophy by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.^{[citation needed]}

Project Stargazer[link]

Back at Holloman Air Force Base, Kittinger took part in Project Stargazer on December 13–14, 1963. He and the astronomer William C. White took an open-gondola helium balloon packed with scientific equipment to an altitude of about 82,200 feet (25,100 m), where they spent over 18 hours performing astronomical observations.

Later USAF career[link]

Kittinger later served three combat tours of duty during the Vietnam War, flying a total of 483 missions. During his first two tours he flew as aircraft commander in Douglas A-26 Invaders and modified On Mark Engineering B-26K Counter-Invaders as part of Projects Farm Gate and Big Eagle. Following his first two Vietnam tours, he returned to the United States, and he soon transitioned to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. During a voluntary third tour of duty to Vietnam in 1971-72, he commanded the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron (555 TFS), the noted "Triple Nickel" squadron, flying the F-4D Phantom II. Kittinger would also later serve as vice commander of the 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. During this period he was also credited with shooting down a North Vietnamese MiG-21.^[8]

Kittinger was shot down on May 11, 1972, just before the end of his third tour of duty. While flying an F-4D, USAF Serial No. 66-0230, with his Weapons Systems Officer, 1st Lieutenant William J. Reich, Lieutenant Colonel Kittinger was leading a flight of Phantoms approximately five miles northwest of the village of Thai Nguyen, North Vietnam, when they were engaged by a flight of MiG-21 fighter planes. Kittinger and his wingman were chasing a MiG-21 when Kittinger's Phantom II was hit by an air-to-air missile that damaged the fighter's starboard wing and set the airplane on fire. Kittinger and Reich ejected a few miles from Thai Nguyen and were soon captured and taken to the city of Hanoi. During the same engagement, Kittinger's wingman, Captain S. E. Nichols, shot down the MiG-21 they had been chasing.^[9]

Kittinger and Reich spent 11 months as prisoners of war (POWs) in the "Hanoi Hilton" prison. Kittinger was put through "rope torture" soon after his arrival at the POW compound and this made a lasting impression on him. Kittinger was the senior ranking officer (SRO) among the newer prisoners of war (those captured after 1969), and in John D. Sherwood's book, Fast Movers, he was described as having been in conflict with some of his fellow prisoners over his leadership style. He tried to keep the aggressive junior officers under his command from active resistance to their captors on the basis that it might result in more torture for the POWs. In Kittinger's autobiography "Come Up and Get Me" by Kittinger and Craig Ryan, Kittinger defended himself as being very serious about maintaining the military structure that he considered essential to survival. Kittinger and Reich were returned to American hands on March 28, 1973, and they continued their Air Force careers, with Kittinger promoted to full colonel shortly thereafter.

Later civilian career[link]

Kittinger retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1978, and initially he went to work for Martin Marietta Corporation in Orlando, Florida.

Still interested in ballooning, he set a gas balloon world distance record for the AA-06 size class (since broken) of 3,221.23 km in 1983.^[10] He then completed the first solo Atlantic crossing in the 106,000 cubic foot (3,000 m³) Balloon of Peace from September 14 to September 18, 1984.^[11] As an official FAI world aerospace record, it is (as of December 2008) the longest gas balloon distance flight in AA-10 size category (5,703.03 km).^[10] He participated in the Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning in 1989 (ranked 3rd) and 1994 (ranked 12th).

Kittinger still lives in the Orlando area, and he was the Vice President of Flight Operations for Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus, part of the Rosie O'Grady's/Church Street Station entertainment complex in Orlando, prior to the parent company's dissolution. Kittinger is still active in the aviation community as a consultant and touring barnstormer.

Legacy[link]

In September 1992, Colonel Joe Kittinger Park in Orlando, Florida was completed by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) for the city of Orlando. It was located on the southwest corner of the Orlando Executive Airport (KORL). The aviation-themed park was named in Kittinger's honor, but was temporarily demolished to permit a highway expansion project of the Florida State Road 408 East-West Expressway.

In March 2011 the park was reopened, relocated to the corner of Crystal Lake Drive and South Street at Orlando Executive Airport.^[12] City officials are also considering inclusion in the park of a restored USAF F-4 Phantom II aircraft, to be placed on pylon static display and painted with the colors of an F-4D formerly flown by Colonel Kittinger.^{[citation needed]} Kittinger has also been honored at a ceremony in Caribou, Maine, where he served as the guest of honor at a sesquicentennial celebration.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, Kittinger was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.^[13]

On January 23, 2007, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the United States Air Force Auxiliary, honored Kittinger by renaming the Texas CAP wing's TX-352 Squadron for him. Texas Governor Rick Perry cited Kittinger's work, as did the Texas state senate with a special resolution presented during the dedication ceremony attended by Kittinger and his wife Sherry. The Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger Phantom Senior Squadron of CAP's Texas Wing is based at the former Bergstrom AFB, which is now the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The Project Manhigh and Excelsior balloon capsules and the suit from his highest jump are on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. An additional exhibit depicting his highest balloon jump opened at the National Air and Space Museum on 6 April 2008.

Kittinger is currently advising Felix Baumgartner on a planned free-fall from 120,000 feet (about 36,000m).^[6] The project is called the Red Bull Stratos project and has collected leading experts in the fields of aeronautics, medicine and engineering to ensure its success. If his jump is successful, Baumgartner will become the first person ever to break the sound barrier while in free fall. Baumgartner's jump will be used to test the next generation of full pressure space suits and to collect medical and scientific information.^[14] Although the jump was originally planned for 2010, it has been delayed by a legal case between Red Bull and promoter Daniel Hogan, who claims that he was first to propose the jump to Red Bull in 2004 and alleges that Red Bull backed out before resurrecting the project some years later.^[15] The lawsuit was resolved out of court in June 2011, and two test jumps were made on March 15, 2012.^[16]

See also[link]

United States Air Force portal

• Eugene Andreev
• Felix Baumgartner
• Michel Fournier
• Nick Piantanida
• Cheryl Stearns
• Steve Truglia

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Kittinger, Joseph (1961). The Long, Lonely Leap. New York: E. P. Dutton.  (Kittinger's autobiography)
• Kennedy, Gregory P. (2007). Touching Space: the story of Project Manhigh. Schiffer. ISBN 0-7643-2788-7. 
• Ryan, Craig (1995). The Pre-Astronauts: Manned Ballooning on the Threshold of Space. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-732-5. 
• Kittinger, Joseph (2010). Come Up and Get Me. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-4803-3. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joseph Kittinger

• "National Affairs: The 20-Mile Fall". Time. August 29, 1960. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,939169,00.html. 
• USAF People, Colonel Joe Kittinger Jr.
• USAF Museum Fact Sheet
• Overview of his life for Centennial of Flight
• Joe Kittinger: A Legend Looks Back - slideshow by Life magazine
• Clash, James M. (December 8, 2003). "Adventurer: One Giant Step". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/global/2003/1208/060.html. 
• Clash, James M. (December 8, 2003). "Above His Peers". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/1208/282.html. 
• "Aviation Pioneer Recognized For Parachute Jump From Edge Of Space". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. April 18, 2008. http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/04/87b0b0d8-4e31-461b-a347-97acb9df5797.html. Retrieved 2011-01-18. 
• "Joseph W. Kittinger and the Highest Step in the World". Greg Kennedy. March 17, 2010. http://stratocat.com.ar/artics/excelsior-e.htm. 
• Anderson-Sweet, Mason (March 4, 2010). "This Guy Jumped Out of a Balloon at 102,800 Feet". Vice. http://www.viceland.com/blogs/en/2010/03/04/this-guy-jumped-out-of-a-balloon-at-102800-feet/. 
• Details of his Big Jump from a stratospheric balloon in 1960
• Details of the MANHIGH-I mission that took Kittinger to the stratosphere in 1957
• Details of the STARGAZER mission that took Kittinger along with William C. White to the stratosphere in 1962
• Huang, Jian (1997). "Speed of a Skydiver (Terminal Velocity)". The Physics Factbook. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml. 
• Yoon, Joe (September 18, 2005). "Fastest Skydiver Joseph Kittinger". "Ask a Rocket Scientist," aerospaceweb.org. http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/q0243.shtml. 
• Video: First man In Space - Skydiving from the edge of the world
• Joseph Kittinger getting suited up for a test flight 23 minute video, no sound
• The Red Bull Stratos Project — The mission to the edge of space
• The Ballad Of The Rosie O'Grady - 2011 live performance of a song by Thomas Burby about the solo Atlantic flight.

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Hank Williams, Jr.
Hank Williams, Jr. performing during a 2006 concert.
Background information
Birth name	Randall Hank Williams
Born	(1949-05-26) May 26, 1949 (age 63) Shreveport, Louisiana, US
Genres	Country, outlaw country, southern rock, country rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, keyboards, harmonica, fiddle, saxophone, dobro, drums, piano[1]
Years active	1957–present
Labels	MCA, Warner Bros., Curb
Website	www.hankjr.com

Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country. He is the son of country music pioneer Hank Williams and the father of Hank Williams III, Holly Williams, Hilary Williams, Samuel Williams, and Katie Williams.

Williams began his career by following in his famed father's footsteps; singing his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams's own style slowly evolved as he struggled to find his own voice and place within the country music industry. This trend was interrupted by a near fatal fall off the side of Ajax Mountain in Montana on August 8, 1975. After an extended recovery he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. Williams enjoyed much success in the 1980s from which he earned considerable recognition and popularity both inside and outside the country music industry.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams's repertoire of skills include guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, piano, keyboards, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.^[1]

From 1989 until October 2011,^[2] a version of his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" was used as the opening for broadcasts of Monday Night Football.^[3]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Williams was born on May 26, 1949, in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father nicknamed him Bocephus (after Grand Ole Opry comedian Rod Brasfield's ventriloquist dummy). After his father's untimely death in 1953, he was raised by his mother, Audrey Williams. While he was a child, a vast number of contemporary musicians visited his family, who influenced and taught him various music instruments and styles. Among these figures of influence were Johnny Cash, Fats Domino, Earl Scruggs, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Williams first stepped on the stage and sang his father's songs when he was eight years old. In 1964 he made his recording debut with "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", one of his father's many classic songs.

Williams's early career was guided, and to an extent some observers say outright dominated, by his mother who is widely claimed as having been the driving force that led his late father to musical superstar status during the late 1940s and early 1950s^{[citation needed]}. Audrey, in many ways, promoted young Hank Jr. as a Hank Williams impersonator, even to the extent of having stage clothes designed for him that were identical to his father's, and encouraging vocal styles very similar to those of his father.

A change in appearance and musical direction[link]

Although Williams's recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s with his role as a "Hank Williams impersonator", he became disillusioned and severed ties with his mother.

By the mid-1970s, Williams began to pursue a musical direction that would, eventually, make him a superstar. While recording a series of moderately successful songs, Williams began a heavy pattern of both drug and alcohol abuse. Upon moving to Alabama, in an attempt to refocus both his creative energy and his troubled personal life, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians, among them Jake Lovendahl, Waylon Jennings, Toy Caldwell, Charlie Daniels, and others. Hank Williams, Jr. and Friends, often considered his watershed album, was the product of these then-groundbreaking collaborations. In 1977, Williams recorded and released One Night Stands, The New South, and worked closely with his old friend Waylon Jennings on the album Once and For All.

On August 8, 1975, Williams was nearly killed in a mountain-climbing accident. While he was climbing Ajax Peak in Montana, the snow beneath Williams collapsed and he fell almost 500 feet onto solid rock. He suffered multiple skull and facial fractures—his face was split vertically from chin to hairline, exposing the frontal lobes of his brain and requiring over two years^[4] of reconstructive surgeries to rebuild his face. To hide the scars and the disfigurement from the accident, Williams grew a beard and began wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat. The beard, hat, and sunglasses have since become his signature look and he is rarely seen without them.

Acceptance into the country music establishment[link]

This section of a biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2008)

Hank Williams Jr., in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, on August 4, 2006.

Williams's career began to hit its peak after the Nashville establishment gradually—and somewhat reluctantly—accepted his new sound. His popularity had risen to levels where he could no longer be overlooked for major industry awards. He was prolific throughout the 1980s, sometimes recording and releasing two albums a year. Family Tradition, Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound, Habits Old and New, Rowdy, The Pressure Is On, High Notes, Strong Stuff, Man of Steel, Major Moves, Five-O, Montana Cafe, and many others resulted in a long string of hits. Between 1979 and 1992, Williams released 21 albums that were all, at least, certified gold by the RIAA. Between 1979 and 1990, Williams enjoyed a string of 30 Top Ten singles on the Billboard Country charts, including 8 #1 singles, for a total of 44 Top Ten singles, including a total of 10 #1 singles, during his career. In 1987 and 1988, Williams was named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association. In 1987, 1988, and 1989, he won the same award from the Academy of Country Music. The pinnacle album of his acceptance and popularity was Born to Boogie. During the 1980s, Williams became a country music superstar known for catchy anthems and hard-edged rock-influenced country. During the late 1970s and into the early to mid 1980s Hank Jr's songs constantly flew into the number one or number two spot. His songs like "Family Tradition", "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound", "Old Habits", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Born to Boogie", and "My Name Is Bocephus".^{[clarification needed]} The 1987 hit single Wild Streak was co-written by Houston native Terri Sharp, for which Williams and Sharp both earned gold records.

In 1988 he released a Southern pride song, "If The South Woulda Won". The reference is to a Southern victory in the Civil War. The song featured modern Southern holidays, honoring Elvis Presley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Patsy Cline. Hank Williams Jr. would run for president of the South. He would place the capital in Montgomery, Alabama. Honoring his father, Hank Williams Sr., with his image on the $100 bill.

His 1989 hit "There's a Tear in My Beer" was a duet with his father created using electronic merging technology. The song itself was written by his father, and had been previously recorded with Hank Williams playing the guitar as the sole instrument. The music video for the song combined television footage that had existed of Hank Williams performing, onto which electronic merging technology impressed the recordings of Hank Jr., which then made it appear as if he were actually playing with his father. The video was both a critical and commercial success. It was named Video of the Year by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Hank Williams Jr. would go on to win a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.

He is well known for his hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" and as the performer of the theme song for Monday Night Football, based on his 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, Williams's opening themes for Monday Night Football earned him four Emmy Awards. In 2001 Hank rewrote his classic hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" after 9/11, renaming it "America Can Survive". In 2004, Williams was featured prominently on CMT Outlaws. In 2006 Williams starred at the Summerfest concert.

He has also made a cameo appearance along with Larry the Cable Guy, Kid Rock, and Charlie Daniels in Gretchen Wilson's music video for the song "All Jacked Up". He and Kid Rock also appeared in Wilson's "Redneck Woman" video. Hank is also in a small part of Kid Rock's video "Only God Knows Why". He is also referenced in numerous songs by modern-day country singers, including Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Gretchen Wilson, Alan Jackson, Justin Moore, Trace Adkins, and Aaron Lewis.

In April 2009, Williams released a new single, "Red, White & Pink-Slip Blues", which charted to number 3 on the country charts. The song was the lead-off single to Williams's album 127 Rose Avenue. The album debuted and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Also in July 2009, it was announced that 127 Rose Avenue would be his last album for Curb Records.^[5]

Notable events[link]

This section of a biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2008)

Williams donated $125,000 to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in Biloxi, Mississippi, on October 14, 2005.^[6]

Williams visited with Randal McCloy Jr., the only survivor of the Sago Mine accident, on Wednesday, January 11, 2006, in Morgantown, West Virginia. Williams traveled to the hospital after learning that McCloy was a fan of his music. "It just hit me like a ton of bricks because I had a big mountain fall in the 1970s, and they said I wouldn't live," Williams told Pittsburgh TV station KDKA-TV. "It really, really affected me, and I said, 'I've just got to go there and meet the family.'"

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling stating that Williams and half-sister Jett have the sole rights to sell their father's old recordings made for a Nashville radio station in the early 1950s. The court rejected claims made by Polygram Records and Legacy Entertainment in releasing recordings Williams made for the Mother's Best Flour Show, a program that originally aired on WSM-AM. The recordings, which Legacy Entertainment acquired in 1997, include live versions of Williams's hits and his cover version of other songs. Polygram contended that Williams's contract with MGM Records, which Polygram now owns, gave them rights to release the radio recordings.

Williams opened for Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006 on ABC and was in the stands as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, presenting it to him at the 2006 CMT Music Awards.

He sold the majority of his compound outside Missoula, Montana, in 2007. He kept a small plot of land and now stays in his guest house when he is in Montana. He also resides in the small town of Paris, Tennessee, and owns a hunting cabin in rural Pike County, Alabama.

In 2008 Williams performed at the first annual BamaJam Music and Arts Festival in Enterprise, Alabama.^[7] On January 18, 2009, he performed in front of a sold-out crowd at Heinz Field before the 2009 AFC championship game.

On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon at the 56th annual BMI Country Awards. The artists and songwriters named BMI Icons have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers."^[8]

Politics[link]

Williams has been politically involved with the Republican Party. For the 2000 election, he redid his song "We Are Young Country" to "This is Bush–Cheney Country". On October 15, 2008, at a rally in Virginia Beach for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, he performed "McCain–Palin Tradition", a song in support of McCain and his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.^[9] He has made many contributions to federal election campaigns, mostly to Republicans, including Michele Bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign.^[10]

In November 2008, Williams explored a run for the 2012 Republican nomination as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee for the seat held by Bob Corker, though his publicist said Williams "has talked about it, but no announcement has been made".^[11]

[edit] 2011 Fox and Friends appearance

On October 3, 2011, in a morning interview with Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends, Williams in reference to a June golf game where President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner had teamed against Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Governor John Kasich, offered the opinion that match was "one of the biggest political mistakes ever".

Asked about why that golf game disturbed him, Williams said, "Come on. That'd be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu ... In the country this shape is in ... I mean, in the shape this country is in?" He also stated that the President and Vice President are "the enemy" and compared them to "the Three Stooges". When anchor Gretchen Carlson later said to him, "You used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe, I think, the president." Williams replied, "Well, that is true. But I'm telling you like it is." As a result of his statements, ESPN dropped Williams' opening musical number from its Monday Night Football broadcast of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Indianapolis Colts and replaced it with the national anthem.

Later Williams, stated his analogy was "extreme – but it was to make a point", stating that "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood ... I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me – how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites, and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will."

Williams went on to claim he has "always respected the office of the president" despite having called the commander-in-chief "the enemy" and in context continued with, "Every time the media brings up the Tea Party, it's painted as racist and extremists – but there's never a backlash, no outrage to those comparisons ... Working-class people are hurting – and it doesn't seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job – it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change." ESPN announced later that they were "extremely disappointed" in Williams' comments, and pulled his opening from that night's broadcast.^[12]

Three days later, ESPN released a statement announcing Williams and his song would not return to Monday Night Football, ending the use of the song that had been part of the broadcast on both ABC and ESPN since 1991.^[13] Williams has further expressed defiance and indifference on his website, and said he was the one who made the decision. "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision," he wrote. "By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It's been a great run."^[14] Williams' son, Hank Williams III, stayed neutral in the debate, telling TMZ.com that most musicians, including his dad, are "not worthy" of a political discussion.^[15]

After his song was pulled from Monday Night Football broadcasts permanently, Williams recorded a song criticizing President Obama, ESPN and Fox & Friends titled "Keep the Change". He released the track on iTunes and via free download at his website.^[16] The song garnered over 180,000 downloads in two days.^[17]

Discography[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Hank Williams, Jr. on Myspace
• HANK On Facebook
• Huge Hank Jr. CD Store