Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something, the noun's second meaning).

In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to include a variety of senior officials, often sitting on a specific commission. In particular, commissioner frequently refers to senior police or government officials. A High Commissioner is equivalent to an ambassador, originally between the United Kingdom and the Dominions sharing the British Monarch as head of state and now between all Commonwealth states whether Commonwealth Realms, Commonwealth Republics or Commonwealth states having their own monarchs. The title is also sometimes given to senior officials in the private sector, for instance many North American sports leagues.

Domestic public official[link]

A Commissioner within a modern state generally holds his office by virtue of a commission from the head of state or a council of elected representatives (or appointed by non-elected officials in the case of dictatorships).

Imperial China[link]

Senior Public Servants, Commissioners and other high ranking bureaucrats referred to collectively as Mandarins.

Canadian territories[link]

Commissioners are the formal head of the territories in Canada (i.e. those areas under the formal jurisdiction of the federal government and without separate constitutional status of a province). Unlike the Governor General or a Lieutenant Governor, who are representative of the Queen of Canada, Commissioners are not vice-regal representatives, although they perform similar duties including; reading the Speech from the Throne at the opening of the territorial Legislature. They are appointed by the federal government as delegates of cabinet. Under federal statutes^[1][2][3] governing the territories, Commissioners act in accordance with written instructions from cabinet or the minister responsible (currently the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development). While commissioners formerly had direct day-to-day role in administration and government and chaired the Executive Council, today they are under instruction to act more like provincial Lieutenant-Governors, as territorial assemblies have taken on more responsibility.

Commissioners are eligible to present a Vice-Regal Commendation to any Canadian Forces Members as any Lieutenant-Governors for long-term or outstanding service to the Office of a Lieutenant-Governor or Commissioner.^[4]

Current Canadian commissioners[link]

Symbol of Office	Territory	Current commissioner	Commissioner since	Website
	Northwest Territories	The Honourable George Tuccaro	May 28, 2010	Website
	Nunavut	The Honourable Edna Elias	May 21, 2010	Website
	Yukon	The Honourable Doug Phillips	December 1, 2010	Website

Police[link]

In police services in the Commonwealth and USA, the title of commissioner typically designates the head of an entire police force (e.g., Australian Federal Police, the New South Wales Police Force, New York City Police Department, St. Louis Police Department, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ontario Provincial Police, the London Metropolitan Police or the California Highway Patrol). In some countries, such as in many Latin American countries and in France and in Italy, the title of commissioner refers to the head of a single police station.

Scotland[link]

Prior to the Acts of Union 1707, an elected member of the Estates (parliament) of Scotland held the office of Commissioner, representing a constituency (the equivalent of a Member of Parliament in the contemporaneous Parliament of England). There were Burgh Commissioners and Shire or Stewartry Commissioners.

Isle of Man[link]

In the local government system of the Isle of Man, a Commissioner is an elected representative equivalent to a Councillor. All town, village, district and parish local government bodies consist of commissioners, with the exception of Douglas, which has a council and councillors.

Malawi[link]

Malawi's position of District Commissioner refers to the person that in appointed by the President of Malawi to oversea the administration of any of its 28 districts. One commissioner is appointed per district. The position was created during the colonial era, sustained during the Kamuzu Banda era and continues as a prominent position in democratic era in Malawi.

Soviet Union[link]

From the October Revolution in 1917 until the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, the Soviet government as well as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its predecessors used commissioner (in Russian комиссар or commissar) as a term for multiple positions. From 1917 until 1946 ministers of government were called people's commissars (and ministries were called "people's commissariats"). In workplaces a commissar was appointed to assure that communist political doctrine was observed. In military units such commissars were also called the политрук (politruk, meaning "political director") or замполит (zampolit, or deputy commander for political affairs). By contrast, a военный комиссар (voyennyy komissar), or military commissar, was merely a local military official in charge of supervising the induction of military draftees.

Iמ English-language usage, "commissar" has a connotation vastly different from "commissioner", being specifically identified with Communism and the Soviet Union, and as such often carrying a pejorative meaning (especially during the Cold War).

United States[link]

In many U.S. states, the legislative and executive decision-making bodies of counties are called the board of commissioners or county commission.

In Minnesota, Alaska, New York and Tennessee, the heads of statewide cabinet-level departments are called "commissioners".

In California, commissioners are subordinate judicial officers.

Historically, the U.S. government appointed special commissioners for a variety of tasks. For example, the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1862 to 1889 was a commissioner, not a Cabinet secretary.^[5]

International public and colonial context[link]

British and Commonwealth overseas possessions[link]

The title of Commissioner, as such, was used by the (gubernatorial) chief British official in:

• British India, now composed of four independent countries (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), where the Divisional Commissioner was the head of one of the few Divisions of a province, and was higher than a Deputy Commissioner and lower than a Secretary (now Principal Secretary) in the provincial capital.
• British Central Africa
• Territories of Zambesia and Rhodesia, administered under charter by the British South Africa Company
• the Oil Rivers Protectorate (from 5 June 1885 under a consul-general; soon renamed Niger Coast Protectorate), from 3 August 1891 till 1 January 1900 when it became the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, hence under a High Commissioner
• the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands, 1874 - 4 July 1959, as a dependency under the Governor of Jamaica colony
• the Weihaiwei concession territory (held from China) from 1902 to 1938
• Kamaran Island, in June 1915 taken from the Ottoman Empire and subordinated to the Aden Settlement, but not incorporated, till on 30 November 1967 it became part of the newly independent People's Republic of South Yemen.
• the UN trust territory of British Cameroons, only two incumbents, from 1 October 1954 (the only Special Resident succeeding himself till 1956) to 1 October 1961 when Southern British Cameroons is incorporated into the independent Republic of Cameroon (former French mandate of Cameroun), after the northern part united with Nigeria on 1 June 1961.

Canada[link]

Canada calls its government officials in charge of export promotion "trade commissioners". There are 150 offices of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Canada and abroad, and they "assist with export advice and guidance to help [Canadians] achieve [their] international business goals." The website devoted to the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service uses the Internet domain www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca.^[6]

European Union[link]

The European Commissioners are the members of the European Commission, the highest executive organ of the European Union, which is the closest EU equivalent to a government. Each Commissioner is assigned a portfolio, but they make most important decisions collegially, often subject to approval by the European Parliament and/or the Council of the European Union.

French colonies[link]

The French equivalent, Commissaire, was used for various officials employed at different levels of the colonial administration in several French-ruled countries.

Russian Empire[link]

After on 17 April 1914 Tannu Tuva (ethnically Mongolian) was declared a Russian 'protected' area (Uryanhay [Urjanhaj] kray), two subsequent Russian Commissioners for the Affairs of Urjanhai Kray (1914 - 1915 A.P. Cererin (Tsererin) and 1915 - 1917 Yu.V. Grigoryev) were appointed, alongside the last native tribal Paramount chief (title Ambyn-noyon), followed by a single Commissar of the Provisional Government (October 1917 - 16 March 1918 Aleksey Aleksandrovich Turchaninov) until czarist rule collapsed for good, giving way to the Soviet regime

United Nations administration[link]

A UN Commissioner appointed in 1949 supervised the transition of the UN Trust territory of Libya (a former Italian colony; actually Tripolitania and Cyrenaica each were under a British Administrator, in 1949 restyled Resident, Fezzan under a French Military Governor, in 1950 also restyled Résident) to independence as a united monarchy in 1951.

United States[link]

From the mid-19th century until 1939, two U.S. Government cabinet departments used the title "commissioner" for officials posted abroad who did not enjoy diplomatic status. U.S. federal agencies have not titled officials posted abroad as commissioners since 1939.

U.S. Department of Agriculture[link]

During the 19th century, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began sending employees, called "agricultural commissioners", abroad to investigate foreign agriculture. These appointments were of a roving nature, as the officials were not assigned to a particular country or city. In 1919 USDA posted to London an agricultural commissioner without diplomatic status, Edward Foley, to report on British agriculture. Additional commissioners were posted through the 1920s to Buenos Aires, Berlin, and Shanghai. The title began to be phased out in 1930 with passage of the Foreign Agricultural Service Act, which granted USDA authority to use the diplomatic title "attaché". The last USDA employee to bear the title "agricultural commissioner" was Owen Dawson, agricultural commissioner at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, who received diplomatic status and the title agricultural attaché in 1939 when USDA's overseas officers were transferred to the Department of State.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Noted American author Mark Twain recounted meeting one of the 19th-century roving agricultural commissioners in Innocents Abroad:

I was proud to observe that among our excursionists were three ministers of the gospel, eight doctors, sixteen or eighteen ladies, several military and naval chieftains with sounding titles, an ample crop of "Professors" of various kinds, and a gentleman who had "COMMISSIONER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA" thundering after his name in one awful blast! I had carefully prepared myself to take rather a back seat in that ship because of the uncommonly select material that would alone be permitted to pass through the camel's eye of that committee on credentials; I had schooled myself to expect an imposing array of military and naval heroes and to have to set that back seat still further back in consequence of it maybe; but I state frankly that I was all unprepared for this crusher.

I fell under that titular avalanche a torn and blighted thing. I said that if that potentate must go over in our ship, why, I supposed he must -- but that to my thinking, when the United States considered it necessary to send a dignitary of that tonnage across the ocean, it would be in better taste, and safer, to take him apart and cart him over in sections in several ships.

Ah, if I had only known then that he was only a common mortal, and that his mission had nothing more overpowering about it than the collecting of seeds and uncommon yams and extraordinary cabbages and peculiar bullfrogs for that poor, useless, innocent, mildewed old fossil the Smithsonian Institute, I would have felt so much relieved.^[11]

U.S. Department of Commerce[link]

Following unification of the U.S. Foreign Service under the Rogers Act in 1924, overseas trade promotion shifted from consuls of the United States to "trade commissioners" employed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Most but not all trade commissioners were retitled commercial attachés upon creation of the Foreign Commerce Service (viz.) in 1927. The title "trade commissioner" went out of use in the United States when Commerce's overseas officials were transferred to the Department of State and all three U.S. foreign services (of the Departments of State, Agriculture and Commerce) were merged in 1939 under Reorganization Plan No. II.^[5][12]

Non-public entities[link]

The Salvation Army[link]

In The Salvation Army the rank of Commissioner is the second-highest attainable rank and the highest rank by appointment,^[13] as the rank of General is by election. It is one of the original ranks of the Army and has been in use since 1880, the first Commissioner was George Scott Railton.

Scouting[link]

Within the Scout Movement, a Commissioner is a senior adult leader who is responsible for the management of an aspect of Scouting and/or the leadership of other adults, as opposed to adult leaders who lead youth members.

Sports[link]

In many North American sports leagues, including nearly all professional leagues, the commissioner is the highest executive position. The exact powers of the commissioner depend on the constitution and/or rules of the league. Commissioners are elected by the owners of the league's clubs, and handle matters such as discipline, arbitration of disputes between the clubs, etc.

The title was first used in 1920, when Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed Commissioner of Baseball in the aftermath of the Black Sox Scandal. Landis was titled "Commissioner" partly to distinguish his office from that of the "President" of the American and National Leagues. Landis' title derived from the National Commission, the ruling body for baseball established in 1903, which were largely autonomous organizations at the time. Eager to restore public confidence in their sport's integrity, baseball owners gave Landis absolute power and a lifetime contract,^{[dubious – discuss]} which permitted the former judge to assume more power over the sport than a commissioner in any sport has held since.^{[citation needed]}

The other major professional sports leagues of North America followed suit, replacing their positions of league president with that of commissioner. The National Football League appointed its first commissioner in 1941, the National Basketball Association in 1967, and the National Hockey League in 1993. However, the commissioners' powers and responsibilities in these leagues are not substantially different from those of the presidents that preceded them. Although baseball's subsequent commissioners have not had the absolute power that Landis did, current Commissioner Bud Selig has succeeded in centralizing authority over Major League Baseball in the commissioner's office, relegating the position of league president to an honorary title and giving baseball's commissioner competencies similar to those of his colleagues in the other major sports.^{[citation needed]}

Many minor professional and amateur leagues throughout the United States and Canada have also appointed commissioners. The title has not caught on outside North America. In addition to Selig, the other current commissioners of the North American major professional leagues are Roger Goodell in the NFL, David Stern in the NBA, Gary Bettman in the NHL, and Don Garber in MLS.

Compound titles[link]

In many cases the term Commissioner is part of a more specific title, including English renditions of such titles in other languages. Examples (in some cases there are further compounds) include:

• Assistant Commissioner
• Chief Commissioner
• Civil Commissioner
• Commissioner of Business Services
• Commissioner of Finance
• Commissioner of Legal Services
• Commissioner of Public Lands
• Commissioner of Public Works
• Commissioner-General
• Deputy Commissioner
• District Commissioner
• Divisional Commissioner
• Extraordinary Commissioner
• Federal Commissioner
• Fire Commissioner
• Government Commissioner
• High Commissioner
• Imperial Commissioner
• Insurance Commissioner
• Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
• Lord High Commissioner and its further compounds, notably Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland
• Military and Civil Commissioner
• Police Commissioner
• Provincial Commissioner
• Resident Commissioner
• Royal commissioner
• Scout Commissioner
• Special Commissioner
• State Commissioner and Commissioner of State
• Trade Commissioner
• Traveling Commissioner

See also[link]

• Ombudsman
• List of Commissioners of New South Wales Police
• List of Northwest Territories commissioners
• List of Nunavut commissioners
• List of Yukon commissioners

External links[link]

• Official Handbook for Commissioners of the Territories (Canada)
• WorldStatesmen

References[link]

Aaron Russo
Russo promoting his film America: Freedom to Fascism
Born	February 14, 1943 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	August 24, 2007(2007-08-24) (aged 64) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Known for	Music Manager, Film producer, libertarian politician and activist
Religion	Judaism[citation needed]

Aaron Russo (February 14, 1943 - August 24, 2007) was an American entertainment businessman, film producer and director, and political activist. He was best known for producing such movies as Trading Places, Wise Guys, and The Rose. Later in life, he created various Libertarian-leaning political documentaries including Mad as Hell and America: Freedom to Fascism. After a six-year battle with bladder cancer, Russo died on August 24, 2007.

Early life[link]

Aaron Russo was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1943. Growing up on Long Island, Russo worked for his family's undergarment business.

Entertainment career[link]

In April 1968, Russo opened the nightclub Kinetic Playground in Chicago, Illinois, originally naming it the Electric Theater. He booked numerous prominent rock groups and musicians at the club such as The Grateful Dead, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Rotary Connection, and The Who.

In addition to owning his own nightclub, Russo managed several musical acts throughout the 1970s including The Manhattan Transfer and Bette Midler.^[1]

Russo then moved into producing and directing movies, six of them receiving Academy Award nominations and two receiving Golden Globe Award nominations.^[2] His final film would be America: Freedom to Fascism, a political documentary critical of the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve System and warning about the coming of the New World Order.

Political career[link]

Russo became involved in political issues in the early-1990s when he produced and starred in the documentary entitled Mad As Hell in which he criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the federal government's War on Drugs, the concept of a National Identity Card, and government regulation of alternative medicine.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, Russo took his political interests to a higher level, running for governor of the state of Nevada as a Republican. Placing second in the Republican primary with 26% of the vote to candidate Kenny Guinn, Russo later endorsed the Democratic nominee, then-Las Vegas mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who would eventually lose to Republican nominee Kenny Guinn.^{[citation needed]} Russo was planning to run again for Nevada governor in 2002 as either an independent or Libertarian but was sidelined by cancer.

In January 2004, Russo declared his candidacy for the President of the United States initially as an independent but then as a Libertarian. At the Libertarian National Convention in May 2004, Russo received 258 votes to Michael Badnarik's 256 votes and Gary Nolan's 246 votes, short of the majority required to receive the presidential nomination. Russo would eventually lose the nomination on the convention's third and final ballot to Badnarik by a vote of 423-344.

On January 14, 2007, Russo announced his full support for US Congressman Ron Paul's candidacy for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.^[3]

Later in 2007, Russo created the political grassroots organization, Restore the Republic (restoretherepublic.com), to fulfill the political ambitions laid out in his final movie documentary, America: Freedom to Fascism. Regarding the organization, Russo said his goal was to "try and get the word out to the public about what's happening to America -- and give them an opportunity to try to change things".

Death[link]

On August 24, 2007, Russo died at the age of 64 of bladder cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• America: Freedom to Fascism, Russo's last film
• Visit Aaron Russo' Virtual Memorial
• Aaron Russo at the Internet Movie Database

Sheldon Cohen (b. October 11, 1947) is the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the director of the Laboratory for the Study of Stress, Immunity and Disease. He is a member of the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Background[link]

Cohen received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Monteith College, Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) in 1969 and a Ph.D. in Psychology from New York University in 1973. He was Assistant to Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon from 1973 through 1982, and has been a Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) since 1982. He was named the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology in 2003. Since 1990 he has also been an Adjunct Professor of Pathology and Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as well as a member of the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute; from 1999 to 2010 he served as a member of the Executive Board of the National Institutes of Health Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center. In 1992 he served as the interim director of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Behavioral Medicine Program and was the co-director of Pittsburgh's Brain Behavior and Immunity Center from 1990-1999. He was also a member of the core groups of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health and of the Fetzer Institute's Working Group on Psychosocial Factors in Asthma, and served as chair of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Planning Group on Social Connectedness and Health.^{[citation needed]}

Cohen was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science in 2004. He is the recipient of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology (2004), the American Psychological Society's (Now Association for Psychological Science) James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Research in Applied Psychology (2002), the American Psychological Association's (Division 38) Award for Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology as a Junior (1987) and Senior (2008) Investigator, the American Psychosomatic Society's Patricia R. Barchas Award for Significant Contributions to the Study of the Impact of Social Behavior on Physiology (2006). He has received the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Scientist Development (1987–1997), and Senior Scientist Awards (1997–2002). He was an American Psychological Association Distinguished Lecturer, and a British Psychological Association Senior Fellow Lecturer. His paper entitled "Social Support, Stress and the Buffering Hypothesis"^[1] was named a Current Contents Citation Classic; in 2003 he was named one of Science's Most Cited Authors by the Institute for Scientific Information.

Cohen's work focuses on the roles of stress, emotions, social support systems and personality^[2] in health and well-being.^[3][4][5][6] He published pioneering theoretical and empirical work on the effects of aircraft noise on health and development of schoolchildren,^[7][8] and on the roles of stress and social networks^[9][10] in physical and mental health.^{[11][12][13][14]} With colleagues he has developed a number of scales assessing psychological and social variables including the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Interpersonal Support Evaluation Scale (ISEL), the Social Network Index (SNI), the Partner Interaction Questionnaire (PIQ) and the Cohen-Hoberman Inventory of Physical Symptoms (CHIPS).^[15][16] Over the last 30 years he has studied the effects of psychological^[17] stress,^{[18][19][20][21]} social support,^[22] and social status on immunity and susceptibility to infectious disease.^[23][24][25] This work attempts to identify the neuroendocrine, immune,^[26] and behavioral^{[27][28][29][30]} pathways that link stress, personality,^[31][32][33] and social networks to disease susceptibility.^[34][35][36] He is also involved in studies of the effects of psychosocial factors on the onset and progression of asthma, and on the effectiveness of social support interventions in facilitating psychological adjustment and disease progression in women with breast cancer. His current work focuses on how interpersonal dispositions and behaviors influence immunity and host resistance to infectious disease.^[37] His research has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine,^[38] the Journal of the American Medical Association,^[39][40][41] the Journal of the National Cancer Institute,^[42] and the American Journal of Public Health^[43] in addition to other medical, public health, and sociology journals as well as in numerous psychology journals.^[44]

Awards and Memberships[link]

• 1987: American Psychological Association's (Division 38) Junior Investigator Award for Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology
• 2002: American Psychological Society's (Now Association for Psychological Science) James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Research in Applied Psychology [1]
• 2003-present: Highly Cited Author, ISI (Institute for Scientific Information)
• 2004-present: Member, IOM (Institute of Medicine)
• 2004: American Psychological Association, Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology [2]^[45]
• 2006: American Psychosomatic Society's Patricia R. Barchas Award for Significant Contributions to the Study of the Impact of Social Behavior on Physiology
• 2008: American Psychological Association's (Division 38) Senior Investigator Award for Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology
• 1996-2010: Member, Core Group John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Network on Social Economic Status and Health.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

Bob Kerrey
Kerrey speaking at a March 2009 event regarding education
United States Senator from Nebraska
In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	David K. Karnes
Succeeded by	Ben Nelson
35th Governor of Nebraska
In office January 6, 1983 – January 9, 1987
Lieutenant	Donald McGinley
Preceded by	Charles Thone
Succeeded by	Kay A. Orr
Personal details
Born	Joseph Robert Kerrey (1943-08-27) August 27, 1943 (age 68) Lincoln, Nebraska
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Sarah Paley
Children	Ben Lindsey Henry (b. 2002)
Residence	Omaha, Nebraska
Alma mater	University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Profession	Naval officer, Politician, Restaurateur
Religion	United Church of Christ
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1966–1969
Rank	Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Unit	SEAL Team 1
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Medal of Honor Bronze Star Purple Heart

Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey (born August 27, 1943) was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. After serving in the Vietnam War and being awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992. From 2001 to 2010, Kerrey served as president of The New School, a university in New York City.^[1] In May 2010, he was selected to become the head of the Motion Picture Association of America.^[2] But in July 2010, both Kerrey and the MPAA could not reach an agreement^[3] and former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd was selected instead. On February 27, 2012, aides confirmed that Kerrey was filing to seek election to his old Senate seat, to replace the retiring Democratic incumbent Ben Nelson.^[4] He faces Republican nominee Deb Fischer.

Early life and education[link]

Kerrey was born in Lincoln, Nebraska where he attended the public schools, graduating from Lincoln Northeast High School. He credits Bob Reese, his chemistry teacher, for inspiring his pursuit of a career in the sciences.^[5] He went on to earn a degree in pharmacy from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1966. Kerrey pledged Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and during his senior year he was tackled into the Society of Innocents, the chancellor's senior honorary society of spirit boosters.

Military service[link]

Kerrey served in the United States Navy as a SEAL from 1966 to 1969 during the Vietnam War. He lost the lower part of one leg in combat and received the Medal of Honor for action near Nha Trang Bay in South Vietnam on 14 March 1969.

Medal of Honor citation[link]

His Medal of Honor citation reads:^[6]

Medal of Honor

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a SEAL team leader during action against enemy aggressor (Viet Cong) forces. Acting in response to reliable intelligence, Lt. (j.g.) Kerrey led his SEAL team on a mission to capture important members of the enemy's area political cadre known to be located on an island in the bay of Nha Trang. In order to surprise the enemy, he and his team scaled a 350-foot sheer cliff to place themselves above the ledge on which the enemy was located. Splitting his team in 2 elements and coordinating both, Lt. (jg.) Kerrey led his men in the treacherous downward descent to the enemy's camp. Just as they neared the end of their descent, intense enemy fire was directed at them, and Lt. (jg.) Kerrey received massive injuries from a grenade that exploded at his feet and threw him backward onto the jagged rocks. Although bleeding profusely and suffering great pain, he displayed outstanding courage and presence of mind in immediately directing his element's fire into the heart of the enemy camp. Utilizing his radio, Lt. (jg.) Kerrey called in the second element's fire support, which caught the confused Viet Cong in a devastating crossfire. After successfully suppressing the enemy's fire, and although immobilized by his multiple wounds, he continued to maintain calm, superlative control as he ordered his team to secure and defend an extraction site. Lt. (jg.) Kerrey resolutely directed his men, despite his near unconscious state, until he was eventually evacuated by helicopter. The havoc brought to the enemy by this very successful mission cannot be over-estimated. The enemy soldiers who were captured provided critical intelligence to the allied effort. Lt. (jg.) Kerrey's courageous and inspiring leadership, valiant fighting spirit, and tenacious devotion to duty in the face of almost overwhelming opposition sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Thanh Phong raid[link]

In 2001, the New York Times Magazine and 60 Minutes II carried reports on an incident that occurred during Kerrey's Vietnam War service. On February 25, 1969, he led a Swift Boat raid on the isolated peasant village of Thanh Phong, Vietnam, targeting a Viet Cong leader that intelligence suggested would be present. The village was considered part of a free-fire zone by the U.S. military.

Kerrey's SEAL team first encountered a peasant house, or hooch, and killed the people inside with knives. While Kerrey says he did not go inside the hooch and did not participate in the killings, another member of the team, Gerhard Klann, said that the people killed there were an elderly man and woman and three children under 12, and that Kerrey helped kill the man. Despite the differing recollections about who actually stabbed these people, Kerrey accepts responsibility as the team leader for their deaths: "Standard operating procedure was to dispose of the people we made contact with," he told the New York Times Magazine.^[7] Later, according to Kerrey, the team was shot at from the village and returned fire, only to find after the battle that some of the deceased appeared to be under 18, clustered together in the center of the village. "The thing that I will remember until the day I die is walking in and finding, I don't know, 14 or so, I don't even know what the number was, women and children who were dead," Kerrey said in 1998. "I was expecting to find Vietcong soldiers with weapons, dead. Instead I found women and children."^[7]

Kerrey expressed anguish and guilt over the incident:

You can never, can never get away from it. It darkens your day. I thought dying for your country was the worst thing that could happen to you, and I don't think it is. I think killing for your country can be a lot worse.^[8]

Kerrey was awarded a Bronze Star for the raid on Thanh Phong. The citation for the medal reads, "The net result of his patrol was 21 Viet Cong killed, two hooches destroyed and two enemy weapons captured."

Nebraska Governor[link]

Returning to Nebraska, he operated a chain of restaurants and fitness centers from 1972 to 1982 before narrowly defeating Charles Thone in the 1982 election for Governor of Nebraska. He served in that office from 1983 to 1987. In 1986 Kerrey served as the Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association.

U.S. Senate[link]

Official Senate portrait of Bob Kerrey

Elections[link]

1988

In 1988, ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by recently appointed incumbent Republican David Karnes. Kerrey won the Democratic primary with 92% of the vote.^[9] In the general election, he defeated Karnes 57%-42%.^[10]

1994

He won re-election to a second term defeating businesswoman Jan Stoney^[11] 55%-45%^[12] even though it was during the Republican Revolution of 1994 and that she was endorsed by several state newspapers including McCook Daily Gazette, North Platte Telegraph, Norfolk Daily News, and Grand Island Independent.^[13]

2000

On January 20, 2000, Kerrey announced that he would not seek re-election for a third term. He stated that felt he could best serve the nation in the future as a private citizen, but left the door open to running for public office again in the future. ^[14]

Tenure[link]

As a U.S. Senator representing one of the more conservative states in the country, Kerrey took arguably liberal positions on some hot-button, conservative issues. For example, he was one of only 14 senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. Kerrey also led the opposition in the Senate to the proposed flag burning amendment, which failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority needed for passage. His record on economic issues was mixed but generally liberal. He voted for the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which repealed the Glass–Steagall Act in 1999, defending his position against opposition by stating, "The concerns that we will have a meltdown like 1929 are dramatically overblown,".^[15] He voted against phasing out many farm subsidy programs, lawsuit reform measures such as the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, and he was one of the twelve senators to vote against the initial version of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, a welfare reform bill vetoed by President Bill Clinton. Kerrey also voted against the revised version of the legislation that was signed into law by Clinton in August 1996. Kerrey's record on environmental issues and taxation was more moderate, and he was a strong supporter of free trade and limiting the size of the federal government. The Senator pushed for a more aggressive foreign policy, helping to author the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. He was a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

Committee assignments[link]

He served as the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 104th Congress before retiring in 2000. Kerrey served as a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (popularly known as the "9/11 Commission"), where he accused Madeleine Albright, William Cohen, and Donald Rumsfeld of pursuing U.S. interests with insufficient aggression.

1992 presidential election[link]

In September 1991, Kerrey announced his candidacy for the 1992 Democratic nomination for president. In a small field of five second tier candidates devoid of an early frontrunner, Kerrey was seen as the early favorite. However, his performance on the campaign trail often seemed lackluster, especially in comparison to the dynamic Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton. A weak performance at a Chicago Democratic gathering in November 1991, combined with a lesbian joke that he told Clinton that was overheard on an open mike, diminished the initial positive press coverage Kerrey had enjoyed. Most damaging of all, though, was the revelation that few workers at Kerrey's restaurants and fitness clubs received health insurance, this despite the fact that Kerrey emphasized universal health care as one of his primary campaign themes. Kerrey finished a weak third in the New Hampshire primary in February 1992, despite spending heavily on TV advertising. He briefly rebounded after winning the South Dakota primary, but soon dropped out of the race after finishing fourth in the Colorado primary. Kerrey was on Clinton's "short list" for vice presidential candidate, but Tennessee Senator Al Gore received the nod instead.

The New School[link]

In 2001 Kerrey left the Senate to become President of The New School. At the school, Kerrey initially opposed the efforts of the United Auto Workers to unionize the adjunct (part-time) faculty, agreeing to negotiate with them only after several rulings against the administration by the National Labor Relations Board. A threatened strike of adjunct faculty was averted by the approval of a labor contract just before the strike deadline of October 31, 2005.

Kerrey presided over an ambitious program of reorganization at the university. He overhauled several divisions and brought in the respected Arjun Appadurai as Provost in 2005. Appadurai resigned this post in 2006. On April 14, 2005, Kerrey announced that the university was changing its name from New School University to The New School, and rebranding its eight divisions as specialized, separate entities serving different constituencies.

On December 10, 2008 it was announced that Kerrey had received a vote of no confidence from the University's senior faculty. This was perceived to have come as a response to his management style, his handling of a University budget crisis, and his controversial decision, later retracted,^[16] to act as temporary Provost with the departure of Joseph W. Westphal. Kerrey had five provosts during his 8-year tenure, something the faculty believed was the result of his inability to reconcile with the academic nature of a University and had prevented the growth and development of academic life at the school. Ironically, one of his vocal critics is Arjun Appadurai.^[17] This no-confidence vote was largely a symbolic gesture. The Board of Trustees, themselves under fire from the students for questionable investment of school money and connections to the defense industry, had until that point, stood by Kerrey.^[18]

On December 16, 2008, dozens of students took over the cafeteria in the 65 5th Avenue building; as the occupation continued, the group grew into hundreds of students from the New School, other New York City based universities, labor union members, and other supporters. This evolved into a 30-hour occupation involving hundreds of students, and dozens of police and New School officials. The occupation ended when students accepted a treaty; Kerrey agreed to amnesty, more student space, and more student power in school communications, investments, and decision making.^[19][20]

The following spring semester, students contended that the concessions from the December occupation were being buried in red tape. Early in the morning of April 10, 2009, 19 students took over the entire 65 5th Avenue building, erecting an anarchist flag and demanding once again that Kerrey resign. A few hours later, police in riot gear swarmed the same building, arresting 22 students (including 3 who were not inside) and ending the occupation after five hours.^[21]

On May 7, 2009 Kerrey announced that he would leave New School when his current contract expired on July 1, 2011.^[22] However, he ended up resigning earlier than planned, and was succeeded by David E. Van Zandt on January 1, 2011.^[23]

Return to politics[link]

Speculation[link]

On April 17, 2005, The New York Times reported that Kerrey was interested in becoming a Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York City, joining such candidates as Fernando Ferrer and C. Virginia Fields in opposing the re-election of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. After much speculation over the potential ramifications of his entry into the race, Kerrey eventually withdrew his interest in the 2005 mayoral race.

Following the announcement that Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning would challenge incumbent Senator Chuck Hagel in the Republican Primary, Kerrey began to show interest in returning to the Senate. Kerrey had endorsed Hagel had the Senator chosen to run again.^[24] On August 23, Kerrey said he believed that Sen. Hagel would retire, and he contacted the board of directors at The New School to inform them of the possibility that he might announce a return to Nebraska to run for the open seat.^[25] On September 8, 2007, Republican officials confirmed that Hagel would not run for a third term, heightening speculation that Kerrey would run.^[26]

On October 24, 2007 Kerrey announced through a news release that he would not run for the Senate because his family decided that it was "not the time for me to re-enter politics as a candidate".^[27]

Endorsement of Hillary Clinton[link]

On December 19, 2007, Kerrey endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential nomination. In doing so, he stated that about Senator Barack Obama: "I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. [...] There's a billion people on the planet that are Muslims, and I think that experience is a big deal." Some took this as an attack and Kerrey later wrote a letter of apology to Obama, saying: "I answered a question about your qualifications to be president in a way that has been interpreted as a backhanded insult of you. I assure you I meant to do just the opposite." Obama has said that he accepted Kerrey's apology.^[28]

Kerrey made negative comments about John Edwards while speaking of his Hillary Clinton endorsement in January 2008:

"Even before John Edwards was chasing ambulances in North Carolina and Barack was voting ‘present’ in the Illinois state senate, Senator Clinton was involved in major policy initiatives."^[29]

2012 U.S. Senate election[link]

On December 27, 2011, Political Wire reported that Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson would not seek re-election, and asserted that Kerrey was in talks with senior Democrats about the possibility of replacing him.^[30] The Washington Post reported that Kerrey would neither confirm nor deny the rumor.^[31] American Crossroads has been running advertisements critical of Kerrey's potential Nebraska Senate run, focusing on the fact that Kerrey has been living in New York for the last ten years.^[32] Kerrey responded to the ads with an invitation for Karl Rove to eat at one of Kerrey's restaurants in Nebraska, or to work out at one of his gyms that he owns in that state.^[33] On February 27, 2012, the Washington Post reported that Kerrey had earlier decided against a run, but that an aide had confirmed that he was now filing to seek election to his old Senate seat.^[4] Kerrey has decided to run after all.^[34]

Personal life[link]

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While he was Governor of Nebraska, Kerrey dated actress Debra Winger while the latter was in Lincoln filming Terms of Endearment (part of which is set in Nebraska), which won the 1983 Oscar for Best Picture. When confronted with intense questioning by the press over the nature of the relationship, Kerrey famously replied; "What can I say – she swept me off my foot," alluding to the fact that the lower part of one of his legs was amputated due to injuries sustained in his Medal of Honor action in Vietnam.^[35]

He is married to Sarah Paley and lives in New York City.^[35] They had a son Henry (b. September 10, 2001). He has two children from his previous marriage: Ben and Lindsey.

Kerrey is friends with fellow Vietnam veteran James H. Webb. In 2006 he became involved in convincing Webb to run for the US Senate. Webb entered the Virginia Democratic Primary, and Kerrey volunteered to serve as Webb's National Finance Chair. Webb went on to win the extremely close election in Virginia, defeating George Allen. Kerrey has also endorsed, and appeared at campaign events for, Al Franken in his bid for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota.

Honors[link]

On September 9, 2008, a pedestrian bridge connecting Omaha, Nebraska with Council Bluffs, Iowa was named in his honor by the Omaha City Council.

Military awards[link]

200px

Special Warfare insignia
Naval Parachutist Insignia
Medal of Honor|	Bronze Star Medal	Purple Heart Medal

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Navy portal

• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War
• Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

Notes[link]

References[link]

• "The New School's website of president Bob Kerrey". http://www.newschool.edu/admin/pres/. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• Vistica, Gregory L. (April 25, 2001). "One Awful Night in Thanh Phong,". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/25/magazine/25KERREY.html?ex=1138251600&en=3db9255f522f13f6&ei=5070. Retrieved October 5, 2010. ^{[dead link]} by Gregory L. Vistica, New York Times Magazine, April 25, 2001
• "2002 Interview on Education". http://www.educationupdate.com/archives/2002/feb02/htmls/coll_kerrey.html. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• "CNN Story on the Thanh Phong Incident". April 25, 2001. http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/04/25/kerrey.blitzer.02/. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.
• "Saddam, Al Qaeda Did Collaborate, Documents Show". http://www.nysun.com/article/29746. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• ""The War Within Bob Kerrey", New York Times, published April 26, 2001". The New York Times. April 26, 2001. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801EEDC1539F935A15757C0A9679C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/V/Vietnam%20War. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• ""Finish the war. Liberate Iraq. " by Robert Kerrey, The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2002". http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002252. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• ""My Perspective on the New School Commencement", blog by Bob Kerrey, Huffington Post, posted May 23, 2006". March 28, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-kerrey/my-perspective-on-the-new_b_21515.html?view=print. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• ""Why I'm Not Running Again for the US Senate" blog by Bob Kerrey, Huffington Post, posted October 24, 2007". March 28, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-kerrey/why-im-not-running-again_b_69700.html. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 

Further reading[link]

• Kerrey, Robert. When I Was a Young Man: A Memoir. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2002.
• Vistica, Gregory L. The Education of Lieutenant Kerrey. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2003.

External links[link]

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Appearances at the Internet Movie Database
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Bob Kerrey in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• "Americans at War". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzusaODijRs. 

v t e Governors of Nebraska Territorial (1854–1867) Burt Cuming (acting) Izard Cuming (acting) Richardson Morton (acting) Black Morton (acting) Paddock Saunders State (since 1867) Butler James (acting) Furnas Garber Nance Dawes Thayer Boyd Crounse Holcomb Poynter Dietrich Savage Mickey Sheldon Shallenberger Aldrich Morehead Neville McKelvie Bryan McMullen Weaver Bryan Cochran Griswold Peterson Crosby Anderson Brooks Burney Morrison Tiemann Exon Thone Kerrey Orr Nelson Johanns Heineman

v t e United States Senators from Nebraska Class 1 Tipton Paddock Van Wyck Paddock Allen Hayward Allen Dietrich Burkett G. Hitchcock Howell Thompson Hunter Burke Butler Reynolds Hruska Zorinsky Karnes Kerrey Nelson Class 2 Thayer P. Hitchcock Saunders Manderson Thurston Millard Brown Norris Wherry Seaton Griswold Bowring Abel Curtis Exon Hagel Johanns