| Name | Barbara Hackman Franklin |
|---|---|
| Order | 29th |
| Title | United States Secretary of Commerce |
| Term start | February 27, 1992 |
| Term end | January 20, 1993 |
| Predecessor | Robert Mosbacher |
| Successor | Ronald Harmon Brown |
| Birth date | March 19, 1940 |
| Birth place | Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Hempfield High School Pennsylvania State University Harvard School of Business}} |
Barbara Hackman Franklin (born March 19, 1940) was the second woman to serve as United States Secretary of Commerce from February 27, 1992 to January 20, 1993 during the last months of the George H. W. Bush administration.
Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:Dow Chemical Company Category:Harvard Business School alumni Category:Heritage Foundation Category:Penn State University alumni Category:People from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Category:United States Secretaries of Commerce Category:Women members of the Cabinet of the United States
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Theodore ("Ted") Greene (September 26, 1946 – July 23, 2005) was an American fingerstyle jazz guitarist, music columnist, and music educator active in Encino, California.
He briefly studied accounting at Cal State Northridge, but soon dropped out to devote all of his energies to music.
While Greene is often regarded as a jazz musician, he played many musical styles. He was known to guitarists due to his role as a music educator, which included private teaching, seminars at the Guitar Institute of Technology, columns for Guitar Player magazine, and his series of instructional books on guitar harmony, chord melody and single-note soloing. A voracious reader of almost any book on music theory, especially from the 'Common Practice Period' (circa 1600-1900) he distilled very complex concepts regarding the structure of western music, and would write out more accessible versions for students to understand (handed out to students in the form of lesson "sheets"), often applying keyboard concepts to the guitar. For example, many transcriptions of the Chorals of J.S. Bach would be re-written for guitar, along with useful analysis applicable to any musical setting, such as jazz and other styles.
He would also make occasional live appearances at clubs in the San Fernando Valley, usually playing a Fender Telecaster.
Greene typically worked as a vocal accompanist, which he preferred because he found group settings restrictive. While he was a sought-after session player, he derived much of his income from tutoring. He wrote four books on the subject of jazz guitar performance and theory: Chord Chemistry, Modern Chord Progressions: Jazz and Classical Voicings for Guitar, and the two-volume Jazz Guitar: Single Note Soloing.
His playing style included techniques such as harp-like harmonic arpeggios, combined with gentle, tasteful neck vibrato, creating a "shimmer" to his sound. Other notable techniques included playing songs with a "walking bass" line with simultaneous melodies. Greene used counterpoint to improvise in a variety of styles, such as playing a jazz standard such as Autumn Leaves in Baroque style. He used a large variety of chord voicings, often creating the effect of two simultaneous players.
He recorded one album "Solo Guitar" in 1977, and although respected by guitarists, he was not well known to the public. The recording, originally released in 1977 on PMP Records, contains no "over dubbing" (recording on multiple tracks). Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai has praised Greene's musical knowledge and perceptiveness on this recording, stating that Greene "is totally in touch with the potential of harmonic constructions" which allows him to create an "organic and inspired listening delight." Josh Gordon, in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine, stated that the recording has a "feeling of perfect proportion" and a "full spectrum of emotion and harmonic vision." Steven Rosenberg, in the Los Angeles Daily newspaper, stated "Greene managed to raise the bar for solo guitar."
Greene helped Fender design a 1952 Telecaster vintage reissue (their first such reissue) by making reference to his collection of old Telecasters, Broadcasters and Nocasters. Greene died in his apartment in Encino of a heart attack at age 58. Over 700 of his friends, former students and other musicians attended his memorial. Greene is survived by his long-time life partner, Barbara Franklin, who is organizing and archiving his written notes on music and guitar playing.
Category:American jazz guitarists Category:American educators Category:1946 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction
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Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974, having formerly been the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. A member of the Republican Party, he was the only President to resign the office as well as the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing his undergraduate work at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law in La Habra. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the United States Navy, serving in the Pacific theater, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during World War II. He was elected in 1946 as a Republican to the House of Representatives representing California's 12th Congressional district, and in 1950 to the United States Senate. He was selected to be the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party nominee, in the 1952 Presidential election, becoming one of the youngest Vice Presidents in history. He waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and an unsuccessful campaign for Governor of California in 1962; following these losses, Nixon announced his withdrawal from political life. In 1968, however, he ran again for president of the United States and was elected.
The most immediate task facing President Nixon was a resolution of the Vietnam War. He initially escalated the conflict, overseeing incursions into neighboring countries, though American military personnel were gradually withdrawn and he successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam in 1973, effectively ending American involvement in the war. His foreign policy initiatives were largely successful: his groundbreaking visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972 opened diplomatic relations between the two nations, and he initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. On the domestic front, he implemented the concept of New Federalism, transferring power from the federal government to the states; new economic policies which called for wage and price control and the abolition of the gold standard; sweeping environmental reforms, including the Clean Air Act and creation of the EPA; the launch of the War on Cancer and War on Drugs; reforms empowering women, including Title IX; and the desegregation of schools in the deep South. He was reelected by a landslide in 1972. He continued many reforms in his second term, though the nation was afflicted with an energy crisis. In the face of likely impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. He was later pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford, for any federal crimes he may have committed while in office.
In his retirement, Nixon became a prolific author and undertook many foreign trips. His work as an elder statesman helped to rehabilitate his public image. He suffered a debilitating stroke on April 18, 1994, and died four days later at the age of 81.
Nixon's early life was marked by hardship, and he would later quote a saying of Eisenhower to describe his boyhood, "We were poor, but the glory of it was, we didn't know it." The Nixon family ranch failed in 1922, and the family then moved to East Whittier, California, in an area with many Quakers, where his father opened a grocery store and gas station. Richard's younger brother Arthur died in 1925 after a short illness, and his older brother Harold, whom Richard greatly admired, died of tuberculosis in 1933. Historian David Reynolds summarises : "His father was a violent bully, his mother a devoted Quaker and home-maker, yet the young Richard drew no real warmth from her; there were few hugs and kisses. Much of his mother's energy was expended on his sickly brothers. Richard grew up insecure, withdrawn and emotionally bottled-up - yet these trials spurred a fierce ambition."
Nixon attended Fullerton High School in Fullerton, but later he transferred to Whittier High School, where he graduated second in his class in 1930. He lost the 1929 student body presidential election at Whittier to a more popular student, a loss which wounded him, but would be his last electoral defeat for 31 years. Richard was offered a scholarship to Harvard, but his family lacked the money for him to travel to and live in the East; he instead lived at home and took up a scholarship to Whittier College. a local Quaker school, where he co-founded a fraternity known as The Orthogonian Society. Nixon was a formidable debater, standout in collegiate drama productions, student body president, and was on the college baseball, football and track teams. While at Whittier, he lived at home and worked at his family's store;
Nixon received a full scholarship to Duke University School of Law. The number of scholarships were greatly reduced for second and third year students, forcing the students into intense competition. Nixon was elected president of the Duke Bar Association and graduated third in his class in June 1937.
In Congress, Nixon supported the Taft-Hartley Act of 1948, and served on the Education and Labor Committee. They were alleged to be accessible only to Hiss and to have been typed on his personal typewriter. Hiss was convicted of perjury in 1950 for statements he made to the HUAC. The discovery that Hiss committed perjury and thus may well have been a Soviet spy thrust Nixon into the spotlight for the first time.
This case turned the young Congressman into a controversial figure. The campaign is best remembered as one of the most contentious of the times. Nixon felt the former actress was a left-wing sympathizer, labeling her "pink right down to her underwear." He voted against price controls and other monetary controls, benefits for illegal immigrants, and public power. In September, the New York Post published an article claiming that campaign donors were buying influence with Nixon by providing him with a secret cash fund for his personal expenses. Republicans, including some within Eisenhower's campaign, pressured Eisenhower to remove Nixon from the ticket, but Eisenhower realized that he was unlikely to win without Nixon.
, 1957]] Nixon appeared on television on September 23, 1952, to defend himself against the allegations. He detailed his personal finances and mentioned the independent third-party review of the fund's accounting. and greatly aided Nixon in remaining on the ticket.
As Vice President, Nixon expanded the office into an important and prominent post. Nixon conducted National Security meetings in the president's absence.
Although he had little formal power, Nixon had the attention of the media and the Republican Party. Using these, he and his wife undertook many foreign trips of goodwill to garner support for American policies during the Cold War. Nixon was, and is still, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the African nation. In July 1959, President Eisenhower sent Nixon to the Soviet Union for Moscow's opening of the American National Exhibition. On July 24, while touring the exhibits with Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, the two stopped at a model of an American kitchen and engaged in an impromptu exchange that became known as the "Kitchen Debate" about the merits of capitalism versus communism.
Nixon lost the election narrowly, with Kennedy ahead by only 120,000 votes (0.2%) in the popular vote. After all the court battles and recounts were done, Kennedy had a greater number of electoral votes than he held after Election Day.
Local and national Republican leaders encouraged Nixon to challenge incumbent Pat Brown for Governor of California in the 1962 election.
The Nixon family traveled to Europe in 1963; Nixon gave press conferences and met with leaders of the countries he visited. The family soon moved to New York City, where Nixon became a senior partner in the leading law firm Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. Nelson Rockefeller lived upstairs, and during the Presidential campaign of 1968 the two used different entrances and elevators. In March–April 1964 he made a trip to Asia, which included South Vietnam and Japan. During and immediately after the trip, he made many media appearances in which he called on the Johnson Administration to escalate the struggle against communism in South East Asia to the point of invading North Vietnam and Laos.
Though largely out of the public eye, he was still supported by much of the Republican base who respected his knowledge of politics and international affairs. He campaigned for Republican candidates in the 1966 Congressional elections
Toward the end of 1967, Nixon was experiencing a crisis of indecision about whether to run for president the following year. He consulted with longtime friend the Reverend Billy Graham, who urged him to run. He later held a dinner at his home with friends and all except his wife supported a presidential bid. He appealed to what he called the "silent majority" of socially conservative Americans who disliked the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrators, and secured the nomination in August. His running mate, Maryland governor Spiro Agnew, became an increasingly vocal critic of these groups, solidifying Nixon's position with the right.
Nixon waged a prominent television campaign, meeting with supporters in front of cameras and advertising on the television medium. He stressed that the crime rate was too high, and attacked what he perceived as a surrender by the Democrats of the United States' nuclear superiority. His campaign was aided by turmoil within the Democratic Party: His slogan of "Nixon's the One" proved to be effective.
Nixon set out to reconstruct the Western Alliance, develop a relationship with China, pursue arms control agreements with the Soviet Union, activate a peace process in the Middle East, restrain inflation, implement anti-crime measures, accelerate desegregation, and reform welfare.
Nixon approved a secret bombing campaign of North Vietnamese positions in Cambodia in March 1969 (code-named Operation Menu) to destroy what was believed to be the headquarters of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam. The Air Force considered the bombings a success. In June 1969, in a campaign fulfillment, Nixon reduced troop strength in Vietnam by 25,000 soldiers, who returned home to the United States. From 1969 to 1972 troop reduction in Vietnam was estimated to be 405,000 soldiers.
In July 1969, the Nixons visited South Vietnam, where President Nixon met with his U.S. military commanders and President Nguyen Van Thieu. Amid protests at home, he implemented what became known as the Nixon Doctrine, a strategy of replacing American troops with Vietnamese troops, also called "Vietnamization". In a televised speech on April 30, 1970, Nixon announced the incursion of U.S. troops into Cambodia to disrupt so-called North Vietnamese sanctuaries. This led to protest and student strikes that temporarily closed 536 universities, colleges, and high schools.
Nixon formed the Gates Commission to look into ending the military service draft, implemented under President Johnson. The Gates Commission issued its report in February 1970, describing how adequate military strength could be maintained without conscription. The draft was extended to June 1973, and then ended. Military pay was increased as an incentive to attract volunteers, and television advertising for the United States Army began for the first time.
In December 1972, though concerned about the level of civilian casualties, Nixon approved Linebacker II, the codename for aerial bombings of military and industrial targets in North Vietnam. After years of fighting, the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973. The treaty, however, made no provision that 145,000–160,000 North Vietnam Army regulars located in the Central Highlands and other areas of S. Vietnam had to withdraw.
In 1970, the Democratic Congress passed the Economic Stabilization Act, giving Nixon power to set wages and prices; Congress did not believe the president would use the new controls and felt this would make him appear to be indecisive. While opposed to permanent wage and price controls, Nixon imposed the controls on a temporary basis in a 90 day wage and price freeze. The controls (enforced for large corporations, voluntary for others) were the largest since World War II; they were relaxed after the initial 90 days.
A Pay Board set wage controls limiting increases to 5.5% per year, and the Price Commission set a 2.5% annual limit on price increases. The limits did help to control wages, but not inflation. Overall, however, the controls were viewed as successful in the short term and were popular with the public, who felt Nixon was rescuing them from price-gougers and from a foreign-caused exchange crisis.
Nixon was worried about the effects of increasing inflation and accelerating unemployment, so he indexed Social Security for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In 1969, he had presented the only balanced budget between 1961 and 1998. However, despite speeches declaring an opposition to the idea, he decided to offer Congress a budget with deficit spending to reduce unemployment and declared, "Now I am a Keynesian". The price of gold had been set at $35 an ounce since the days of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency; foreign countries acquired more dollar reserves, outnumbering the entire amount of gold the United States possessed. Nixon completely eradicated the gold standard, preventing other countries from being able to claim gold in exchange for their dollar reserves, but also weakening the exchange rate of the dollar against other currencies and increasing inflation by driving up the cost of imports. Said Nixon in his speech:
"The American dollar must never again be a hostage in the hands of international speculators.... Government... does not hold the key to the success of a people. That key... is in your hands. Every action I have taken tonight is designed to nurture and stimulate that competitive spirit to help us snap out of self-doubt, the self-disparagement that saps our energy and erodes our confidence in ourselves... Whether the nation stays Number One depends on your competitive spirit, your sense of personal destiny, your pride in your country and yourself."
Other parts of the Nixon plan included the reimposition of a 10% investment tax credit, assistance to the automobile industry in the form of removal of excise taxes (provided the savings were passed directly to the consumer), His economic program was determined to be a clear success by December 1971. One of Nixon's economic advisers, Herbert Stein, wrote: "Probably more new regulation was imposed on the economy during the Nixon administration than in any other presidency since the New Deal." Indeed, Nixon believed in using government wisely to benefit all and supported the idea of practical liberalism.
Nixon initiated the Environmental Decade by signing the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act amendments of 1972, as well as establishing many government agencies. These included the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), The Clean Air Act was noted as one of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation ever signed. He reorganized the Post Office Department from a cabinet department to a government-owned corporation: the U.S. Postal Service.
On June 17, 1971, Nixon formally declared the U.S. War on Drugs.
On October 30, 1972 Nixon signed into law the Social Security Amendments of 1972 which included the creation of the Supplemental Security Income Program, a Federal Welfare Program still in existence today.
Nixon cut billions of dollars in federal spending and expanded the power of the Office of Management and Budget. He established the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1972 Strategically, Nixon sought a middle way between the segregationist George C. Wallace and liberal Democrats, whose support of integration was alienating some Southern white Democrats. He was determined to implement exactly what the courts had ordered— desegregation — but did not favor busing children, in the words of author Conrad Black, "all over the country to satisfy the capricious meddling of judges." Nixon, a Quaker, felt that racism was the greatest moral failure of the United States
Nixon tied desegregation to improving the quality of education and enforced the law after the Supreme Court, in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education (1969), prohibited further delays. By the fall of 1970, two million southern black children had enrolled in newly created unitary fully integrated school districts; only 18% of Southern black children were still attending all-black schools, a decrease from 70% when Nixon came to office. Nixon's Cabinet Committee on Education, under the leadership of Labor Secretary George P. Shultz, quietly set up local biracial committees to assure smooth compliance without violence or political grandstanding. "In this sense, Nixon was the greatest school desegregator in American history," historian Dean Kotlowski concluded. Author Conrad Black concurred: "In his singular, unsung way, Richard Nixon defanged and healed one of the potentially greatest controversies of the time." Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Nixon's presidential counselor, commented in 1970 that “There has been more change in the structure of American public school education in the last month than in the past 100 years.”
In addition to desegregating public schools, Nixon implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program in 1970. Nixon also endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment after it passed both houses of Congress in 1972 and went to the states for ratification as a Constitutional amendment. Nixon had campaigned as an ERA supporter in 1968, though feminists criticized him for doing little to help the ERA or their cause after his election, which led to a much stronger women's rights agenda. Nixon increased the number of female appointees to administration positions. Nixon signed the landmark laws Title IX in 1972, prohibiting gender discrimination in all federally funded schools and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. In 1970 Nixon had vetoed the Comprehensive Child Development Act, denouncing the universal child-care bill, but signed into law Title X, which was a step forward for family planning and contraceptives.
It was during the Nixon Presidency that the Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade ruling, legalizing abortion. First Lady Pat Nixon had been outspoken about her support for legalized abortion, a goal for many feminists (though there was a significant pro-life minority faction of the Women's Liberation Movement as well). Nixon himself did not speak out publicly on the abortion issue, but was personally pro-choice, and believed that, in certain cases such as rape, abortion was an option.
On January 5, 1972, Nixon approved the development of NASA's Space Shuttle program, a decision that profoundly influenced American efforts to explore and develop space for several decades thereafter. Under the Nixon administration, however, NASA's budget declined. NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine was drawing up ambitious plans for the establishment of a permanent base on the Moon by the end of the 1970s and the launch of a manned expedition to Mars as early as 1981. Nixon, however, rejected this proposal.
On May 24, 1972, Nixon approved a five-year cooperative program between NASA and the Soviet space program, culminating in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a joint-mission of an American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1975.
A conflict broke out in Pakistan in 1971 following independence demonstrations in East Pakistan; President Yahya Khan instructed the Pakistani Army to quell the riots, resulting in widespread human rights abuses. President Nixon liked Yahya personally, and credited him for helping to open a channel to China; accordingly, he felt obligated to support him in the struggle. There were limits to how far the U.S. could associate itself with Pakistan, however. and the emigration of over 10 million people into India. His objective was to prevent a war and safeguard Pakistan's interests, though he feared an Indian invasion of West Pakistan that would lead to Indian domination of the sub-continent and strengthen the position of the Soviet Union, which had recently signed a cooperation treaty with India. Nixon felt that the Soviet Union was inciting the country. he did not trust her and once referred to her as an "old witch". On December 3, Yahya attacked the Indian Air Force and Gandhi retaliated, pushing into East Pakistan. Nixon issued a statement blaming Pakistan for starting the conflict and blaming India for escalating it The United States was secretly encouraging the shipment of military equipment from Iran, Turkey, and Jordan to Pakistan, reimbursing those countries despite Congressional objections. A cease fire was reached on December 16 and Bangladesh was created.
Relations between the Western powers and Eastern Bloc changed dramatically in the early 1970s. In 1960, the People's Republic of China publicly split from its main ally, the Soviet Union, in the Sino-Soviet Split. As tension along the border between the two communist nations reached its peak in 1969 and 1970, Nixon decided to use their conflict to shift the balance of power towards the West in the Cold War.
Nixon had begun entreating China a mere month into office by sending covert messages of rapprochement through Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania and Yahya Khan of Pakistan in December 1970. He reduced many trade restrictions between the two countries, and silenced anti-China voices within the White House.
In April 1971, the Chinese table tennis team invited the American table tennis team to attend a demonstration competition for a week in China. The invitation came upon the order of Mao Zedong himself, who had taken note of Nixon's "subtle overtures" to improve U.S.-Chinese relations, including the conflict in Pakistan. (the term "ping pong diplomacy" arose from this encounter).
Chinese Premier Chou En-lai, through Pakistani intermediaries, had relayed a message to Nixon reading: "The Chinese government reaffirms its willingness to receive publicly in Peking a special envoy of the president of the United States, or the U.S. secretary of state, or even the president himself." Nixon sent then-National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger on a secret mission to China in July 1971, to arrange a visit by the president and first lady.
Mao Zedong (left) in a historic visit to the People's Republic of China, 1972.]] In February 1972, President and Mrs. Nixon traveled to China, where the president was to engage in direct talks with Mao and Chou. Kissinger briefed Nixon for over forty hours in preparation. Upon touching down, the President and First Lady emerged from Air Force One and greeted Chou. According to Nixon biographer Stephen Ambrose:
"[Nixon] knew that when his old friend John Foster Dulles had refused to shake the hand of Chou En-lai in Geneva in 1954, Chou had felt insulted. He knew too that American television cameras would be at the Beijing airport to film his arrival. A dozen times on the way to Peking, Nixon told Kissinger and Secretary of State William Rogers that they were to stay on the plane until he had descended the gangway and shaken Zhou Enlai's hand. As added insurance, a Secret Service agent blocked the aisle of Air Force One to make sure the president emerged alone."Over one hundred television journalists accompanied the president. On Nixon's orders, television was strongly favored over printed publications, as it would capture the trip's visuals much better while snubbing the print journalists Nixon despised. Mao later told his doctor that he had been impressed by Nixon, who was forthright, unlike the leftists and the Soviets. When not in meetings, Nixon toured architectural wonders including the Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, and the Great Wall.
during the Soviet Leader's trip to the U.S. in 1973]] Nixon met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, and engaged in intense negotiations regarding international issues To win American friendship, both China and the Soviet Union cut back on their diplomatic support for North Vietnam and advised Hanoi to come to terms. Nixon laid out his strategy:
"I had long believed that an indispensable element of any successful peace initiative in Vietnam was to enlist, if possible, the help of the Soviets and the Chinese. Though rapprochement with China and détente with the Soviet Union were ends in themselves, I also considered them possible means to hasten the end of the war. At worst, Hanoi was bound to feel less confident if Washington was dealing with Moscow and Beijing. At best, if the two major Communist powers decided that they had bigger fish to fry, Hanoi would be pressured into negotiating a settlement we could accept."
Having made great progress over the last two years in U.S.-Soviet relations, Nixon planned a second trip to the Soviet Union in 1974. He arrived in Moscow on June 27 to a welcome ceremony, cheering crowds, and a state dinner at the Grand Kremlin Palace that evening. Largely assured the Republican nomination, but Senator Edmund Muskie instead became the front runner, with Senator George McGovern in a close second place. Alabama Governor George Wallace entered the race as an Independent; popular in Florida, he would create havoc among the Democrats and boost Nixon's campaign.
Prominent issues of the early campaign included school busing and heated relations between the three branches of the government. Nixon addressed the nation on March 16 about the school busing issue, reiterating that it was wrong to force a child onto a school bus and that busing lowered the quality of education. the bill later passed. Vietnam was still ongoing, though Nixon had reduced troop levels dramatically.
On June 10, McGovern won the California primary and secured the Democratic nomination. The following month, Nixon was renominated at the 1972 Republican National Convention. He dismissed the Democratic platform as cowardly and divisive. Nixon was ahead in most polls for the entire election cycle, and was reelected on November 7, 1972 in one of the largest landslide election victories in U.S. political history. He defeated McGovern with over 60% of the popular vote, losing only in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Nixon's victory made him the first former Vice President since Thomas Jefferson to win two terms as President. Nixon and Franklin Roosevelt are the only candidates in U.S. history to appear on five presidential tickets for a major party.
In his 1974 State of the Union address, Nixon called for comprehensive health insurance. On February 6, 1974, he introduced the Comprehensive Health Insurance Act. Nixon's plan would have mandated employers to purchase health insurance for their employees, and in addition provided a federal health plan, similar to Medicaid, that any American could join by paying on a sliding scale based on income. The New York Daily News writes that Ted Kennedy rejected the universal health coverage plan offered by Nixon because it wasn't everything he wanted it to be. Kennedy later realized it was a missed opportunity to make major progress toward his goal.
After Nixon chose to go off the gold standard, foreign countries increased their currency reserves in anticipation of currency fluctuation, which caused deflation of the dollar and other world currencies. Since oil was paid for in dollars, OPEC was receiving less value for their product. They cut production and announced price hikes as well as an embargo targeted against the United States and the Netherlands, specifically blaming U.S. support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War for the actions.
On January 2, 1974, Nixon signed a bill that lowered the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 miles per hour (88.5 km/h) to conserve gasoline during the crisis. This law was repealed in 1995, though states had been allowed to raise the limit to 65 miles per hour in rural areas since 1987.
The term Watergate has come to encompass an array of illegal and secret activities undertaken by members of the Nixon administration. The activities became known in the aftermath of five men being caught breaking into Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972. The Washington Post picked up on the story, while reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward relied on an FBI informant known as "Deep Throat" to link the men to the Nixon White House. In July 1973, White House aide Alexander Butterfield testified that Nixon had a secret taping system that recorded his conversations and phone calls in the Oval Office.
as he departs the White House for the final time.]] Though Nixon lost much popular support, including from some in his own party, he rejected accusations of wrongdoing and vowed to stay in office. On November 17, 1973, during a televised question and answer session with the press,}}
In April 1974, Nixon announced the release of 1,200 pages of transcripts of White House conversations between him and his aides. On May 28, 2009, speaking to Republicans in Litchfield Beach, South Carolina, Ed Nixon said that his brother did not resign "in disgrace" but "resigned in honor. It was a disappointment to him because his missions were cut short." He also said that his brother "held the office of president in high regard."
Nixon appointed the following justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: Warren E. Burger as Chief Justice in 1969, Harry Andrew Blackmun in 1970, Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. in 1972, and William Rehnquist later that year. Along with his four Supreme Court appointments, Nixon appointed 46 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, and 181 judges to the United States district courts. Nixon formally nominated one person, Charles A. Bane, for a federal appellate judgeship, who was never confirmed.
Nixon issued 926 pardons or commutations. Among notable cases were labor leader Jimmy Hoffa (sentence commuted on condition) and mobster Angelo DeCarlo (convicted of extortion; served one and a half years; pardoned because of poor health). DeCarlo's pardon was later investigated, but no evidence was found of corruption.
During his presidency, Nixon decided to grant clemency in over 20% of requests.
Within one month, Ford's approval rating dropped from 71% to 49%. Nixon later told a former aide that he felt he was chased out of office by "the establishment" in Washington and leftist elements in the media, as they considered him a mortal threat to their domination of national affairs.
As a result of Watergate, Nixon was disbarred by the state of New York. He had attempted to resign his license, but the state refused to let him do so unless he admitted wrongdoing in Watergate. He later resigned his other law licenses, including one in California.
The evening of the pardon, Nixon experienced great pain in his lower left abdomen and his left leg had swollen to three times its normal size. It was determined that phlebitis, a condition which had afflicted Nixon the previous June, had recurred. Told that he would surely die if he did not go to a hospital, Nixon was taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital.
While Nixon was hospitalized, Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski subpoenaed him to testify before a trial regarding Watergate. Nixon's doctor, John Lungren, said that Nixon could not sustain a flight to Washington because of his condition, because he needed to avoid being seated for prolonged periods. Nixon was released from the hospital on October 4 and soon filed a motion requesting the judge to revoke the subpoena, Dr Lungren filed an affidavit, arguing that the well-being of the former president might be compromised by forcing him to appear at the trial.
On October 23, Nixon was taken back to the hospital after a recurrence of swelling. Doctors found serious vascular blockages and a danger of gangrene; it was feared that blood clots might break loose and travel to his heart or brain with lethal consequences. He underwent four blood transfusions in three hours and suffered severe internal bleeding, along with hypotension.
, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter at the White House, 1981]] By early 1975, Nixon's mental and physical health was improving. Nixon traveled extensively, both domestically and internationally. He was a frequent CB Radio user, which Nixon was not allowed to use while in the White House for security reasons. He took trips to Europe, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, Africa, and Asia. He would visit China four more times.
He soon published his memoirs, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon and a second book, The Real War. These were the first of ten books he was to author in his retirement, He supported Ronald Reagan for president in 1980, making numerous television appearances portraying himself as, in biographer Steven Ambrose's words, "the senior statesman above the fray." He wrote guest articles for numerous publications and participated in many television interviews. After 18 months in the New York City townhouse, Nixon and his wife moved to Saddle River, New Jersey in 1981. He later embarked on journeys to Japan, China, and the Soviet Union. Author Elizabeth Drew wrote that "even when he was wrong, Nixon still showed that he knew a great deal and had a capacious memory as well as the capacity to speak with apparent authority, enough to impress people who had little regard for him in earlier times." ran a story on "Nixon's comeback" with the headline "He's back."
On July 19, 1990, the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California opened as a private institution, with Nixon and Pat in attendance. They were joined by a throng of people, including Gerald Ford, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, and their spouses Betty, Nancy, and Barbara, respectively. The property was owned and operated by the Richard Nixon Foundation and was not part of the National Archives' presidential libraries system until July 11, 2007, when the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum was officially welcomed into the federal presidential library system. In January 1991, the former president founded the Nixon Center, a policy think tank and conference center.
Pat Nixon died on June 22, 1993 of health problems, including emphysema and lung cancer. Her funeral services were held on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace during the week leading up to her burial on June 26. Richard Nixon was deeply distraught, and broke down in convulsive sobs for the only time in his adult life. Inside the building, he delivered a tribute to her. Some commented that without Pat, Nixon would not "last a year." It was determined that a blood clot resulting from his heart condition had formed in his upper heart, then broken off and traveled to his brain. He was taken to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, initially alert, but unable to speak or to move his right arm or leg. Also in attendance were former Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush and their respective first ladies. Nixon was buried beside Pat on the grounds of the Nixon Library. He was survived by his two daughters, Tricia and Julie, and four grandchildren. Despite heavy rain, police estimated that roughly 50,000 people waited in lines up to 18 hours to file past the casket and pay their respects.
No other American has held office in the executive branch of the federal government as long as Richard Nixon did. He is the only person in American history to appear on the Republican Party's presidential ticket five times, to secure the Republican nomination for president three times, and to have been elected twice to both the vice presidency and the presidency. With Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, Richard Nixon was the chief builder of the modern Republican party. From 1952 to 1992, at least one of these three men appeared on the Republican ticket for nine of the eleven presidential elections. Throughout his career, he was instrumental in moving the party away from the control of isolationists and as a Congressman was a persuasive advocate of containing Soviet Communism.
Though often referred to as a conservative in politics because of his "Southern strategy" and his victory in numerous southern states in 1968, Nixon had a considerable share of detractors on the right of the political spectrum. Columnist George Will questioned Nixon's conservatism, citing the wage-and-price controls as "the largest peacetime intrusion of government in the economy in American history, surpassing even the dreams of the New Dealers".
Nixon had a complex personality, both very secretive and awkward yet strikingly reflective about himself. He was inclined to distance himself from people and was formal in all aspects, always wearing a coat and tie even when home alone. Conrad Black described him as being "driven" though also "uneasy with himself in some ways." According to Black, Nixon "thought that he was doomed to be traduced, double-crossed, unjustly harassed, misunderstood, underappreciated, and subjected to the trials of Job, but that by the application of his mighty will, tenacity, and diligence he would ultimately prevail." Biographer Elizabeth Drew summarized Nixon as a "smart, talented man, but most peculiar and haunted of presidents." In his account of the Nixon presidency, author Richard Reeves described Nixon as "a strange man of uncomfortable shyness, who functioned best alone with his thoughts". Nixon's presidency was doomed by his personality, Reeves argues: "He assumed the worst in people, and he brought out the worst in them. [...] He clung to the idea of being 'tough'. He thought that was what had brought him to the edge of greatness. But that was what betrayed him. He could not open himself to other men and he could not open himself to greatness".
Nixon frequently brandished the two-finger V sign (alternately viewed as the "Victory sign" or "peace sign") using both hands, an act that became one of his best-known trademarks.
James MacGregor Burns observed of Nixon, "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic President, so brilliant and so morally lacking?" George McGovern, Nixon's former opponent, commented in 1983, "President Nixon probably had a more practical approach to the two superpowers, China and the Soviet Union, than any other president since World War II....I think, with the exception of his inexcusable continuation of the war in Vietnam, Nixon really will get high marks in history."
Former president Harry Truman had a low regard for Nixon, stating in 1961: "Nixon is a shifty-eyed goddamn liar, and the people know it." In 1968, he added "He's one of the few in the history of this country to run for high office talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time and lying out of both sides." Martha Mitchell, the outspoken wife of Nixon's Attorney-General John Mitchell, said of Nixon in 1973, "He bleeds people. He draws every drop of blood and then drops them from a cliff. He'll blame any person he can put his foot on."
In October 1999, a volume of 1971 White House audio tapes were released which contained multiple anti-Semitic statements made by then-President Nixon to his staff and advisors. In one conversation with H.R. Haldeman, Nixon said that Washington was "full of Jews" and that "most Jews are disloyal," making exceptions for some of his top aides. He then added,"But, Bob, generally speaking, you can't trust the bastards. They turn on you. Am I wrong or right?" Nixon also drew connections between Jews and the Communist conspiracy, declaring "the only two non-Jews in the Communist conspiracy were
Elsewhere on the 1971 recordings Nixon denies being anti-Semitic, saying, "If anybody who's been in this chair ever had reason to be anti-Semitic, I did... And I'm not, you know what I mean?" plays, audio recordings.
In Oliver Stone's 1995 biopic Nixon he was played by Anthony HopkinsIn the 2008 movie Frost/Nixon directed by Ron Howard he was played by Frank Langella
In the film Secret Honor directed by Robert Altman he was played by Philip Baker Hall
His likeness appears in the video game during the "Zombie Mode 'Five'", a single-player or cooperative mode where four players incarnate Nixon, Kennedy, Fidel Castro or Robert McNamara. He is voiced by Dave Mallow.
* Category:American anti-communists Category:American lawyers Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American people of the Vietnam War Category:American Quakers Category:California Republicans Category:Deaths from stroke Category:Disbarred lawyers Category:Disease-related deaths in New York Category:Duke University alumni Category:Eisenhower Administration personnel Category:History of the United States (1964–1980) Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from California Category:Nixon administration personnel Category:People from Orange County, California Category:Presidents of the United States Category:Recipients of American presidential pardons Category:Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Category:United States Navy officers Category:United States presidential candidates, 1960 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1968 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1972 Category:United States Senators from California Category:United States vice-presidential candidates, 1952 Category:United States vice-presidential candidates, 1956 Category:U.S. Presidents surviving assassination attempts Category:Vice Presidents of the United States Category:Watergate figures Category:Whittier College alumni Category:1913 births Category:1994 deaths Category:20th-century presidents of the United States Category:20th-century vice presidents of the United States Category:Republican Party Presidents of the United States Category:Republican Party Vice Presidents of the United States Category:Republican Party United States Senators Category:Time Persons of the Year
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| Name | Ray Charles Robinson |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Ray Charles Robinson |
| Origin | Greenville, Florida, United States |
| Born | September 23, 1930Albany, Georgia, United States |
| Died | June 10, 2004Beverly Hills, California, United States |
| Instrument | Vocals, piano, keyboards, alto saxophone, trombone |
| Genre | R&B;, soul, rock and roll, blues, jazz, country, pop, gospel |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, bandleader |
| Years active | 1947–2004 |
| Label | Atlantic, ABC, Warner Bros., Swingtime, Concord, Columbia Records |
| Associated acts | The Raelettes, Quincy Jones, Betty Carter, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Little Richard |
| Url | Official website |
Rolling Stone ranked Charles number 10 on their list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004, and number two on their November 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In honoring Charles, Billy Joel noted: "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley. I don't know if Ray was the architect of rock & roll, but he was certainly the first guy to do a lot of things . . . Who the hell ever put so many styles together and made it work?"
Charles started to lose his sight at the age of five. He went completely blind by the age of seven, apparently due to glaucoma. He attended school at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine from 1937 to 1945, While at school, he became the school's premier musician. On Fridays, the South Campus Literary Society held assemblies where Charles would play piano and sing popular songs. On Halloween and Washington's birthday, the Colored Department of the school had socials where Charles would play. It was here he established "RC Robinson and the Shop Boys" and sang his own arrangement of "Jingle Bell Boogie." He spent his first Christmas at the school, but later the staff pitched in so that Charles could return to Greenville, as he did each summer.
Henry and Alice Johnson, who owned a store not unlike Mr. Pit's store in Greenville, moved to the Frenchtown section of Tallahassee, just west of Greenville; and they, as well as Freddy and Margaret Bryant, took Charles in. He worked the register in the Bryants' store under the direction of Lucille Bryant, their daughter. It's said he loved Tallahassee and often used the drug store delivery boy's motorbike to run up and down hills using the exhaust sound of a friend's bike to guide him. Charles found Tallahassee musically exciting too and sat in with the Florida A&M; University student band. He played with the Adderley brothers, Nat and Cannonball, and began playing gigs with Lawyer Smith and his Band in 1943 at the Red Bird Club and DeLuxe Clubs in Frenchtown and roadhouses around Tallahassee, as well as the Governor's Ball.
Charles had always played for other people, but he wanted his own band. He decided to leave Florida for a large city, but Chicago and New York City were too big. After asking a friend to look in a map and note the city in the United States that was farthest from Florida, he moved to Seattle in 1947 (where he first met and befriended a 14 year old Quincy Jones) and soon started recording, first for the Down Beat label as the Maxin Trio with guitarist G.D. McKee and bassist Milton Garrett, achieving his first hit with "Confession Blues" in 1949. The song soared to #2 on the R&B; charts. He joined Swing Time Records and under his own name ("Ray Charles" to avoid being confused with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson)
The song reached the top of Billboard's R&B; singles chart in 1955 and from there until 1959 he would have a series of R&B; successes including "A Fool For You" (#1), This Little Girl of Mine", "Lonely Avenue", "Mary Ann", "Drown in My Own Tears" (#1) and the #5 hit "The Night Time (Is the Right Time)", which were compiled on his Atlantic releases Hallelujah, I Love Her So, Yes Indeed!, and The Genius Sings the Blues.
During this time of transition, he recruited a young girl group from Philadelphia, The Cookies, as his background singing group, recording with them in New York and changing their name to the Raelettes in the process.
Hit songs such as "Georgia On My Mind" (US #1 Pop, #3 R&B;), "Hit the Road Jack" (US #1 Pop and R&B;), "One Mint Julep" (#8 Pop, #1 R&B;) and "Unchain My Heart" (#9 Pop, #1 R&B;) helped his transition to pop success, and his landmark 1962 album, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its sequel Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2, helped to bring country into the mainstream of music. His version of the Don Gibson song, I Can't Stop Loving You topped the Pop chart for five weeks and stayed at #1 R&B; for ten weeks in 1962. It also gave him his only number one record in the UK. In 1963, he founded his own record label, Tangerine Records which ABC-Paramount distributed. He also had major pop hits in 1963 with "Busted" (US #4) and Take These Chains From My Heart (US #8), and a Top 20 hit four years later, in 1967, with "Here We Go Again" (US #15) (which would be a duet with Norah Jones in 2004).
After having supported Martin Luther King, Jr. and for the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Charles courted controversy when he toured South Africa in 1981, Eventually, it sold more than 400,000 copies, and became that year's best-selling single performed by a Western artist for the Japanese music market.
Charles also appeared at two Presidential inaugurations in his lifetime. In 1985, he performed for Ronald Reagan's second inauguration, and in 1993 for Bill Clinton's first.
In the late 1980s/early 1990s, Charles made appearances on The Super Dave Osbourne Show, where he performed and appeared in a few vignettes where he was somehow driving a car, often as Super Dave's chauffeur. At the height of his newfound fame in the early nineties, Charles did guest vocals for several projects. He also appeared (with Chaka Khan) on long time friend Quincy Jones' hit "I'll Be Good to You" in 1990, from Jones's album Back on the Block. Following Jim Henson's death in 1990, Ray Charles appeared in the one-hour CBS tribute, The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. He gave a short speech about Henson, stating that he "took a simple song and a piece of felt and turned it into a moment of great power". Charles was referring to the song "It's Not Easy Being Green", which he later performed with the rest of the Muppet cast in a tribute to Henson's legacy.
During the sixth season of Designing Women, Charles sang "Georgia on My Mind", instead of the song being rendered instrumentally by other musicians as in the previous five seasons. He also appeared in 4 episodes of the popular TV comedy The Nanny in Seasons 4 & 5 (1997 & 1998) as 'Sammy', in one episode singing "My Yiddish Mamma" to December romance and later fiancee of character Gramma Yetta, played by veteran actress Ann Guilbert.
In 2001 Charles played a memorable show in a sold out Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, Venezuela. In 2002 Charles headlined during the Blues Passions Cognac festival in southern France. Charles, along with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall, paid a visit to Salt Lake City Tuesday night on October 15, 2002 and played a benefit concert for the Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's 10th Annual Caring Foundation for Children Gala.
In 2002, he took part with other musicians in a peace concert in Rome, the first event to take place inside the city's ancient Colosseum since A.D. 404. It was organized in partnership with the Global Forum and the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation. Charles appeared with Travis Tritt on CMT Crossroads in December of that year. He was invited to Star Academy (France) season 2 the 30th November for sing "Hit the Road Jack" with Emma Daumas.
In 2003, Ray Charles headlined the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C. where the President, First Lady, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice attended. He also presented one of his greatest admirers, Van Morrison, with his award upon being inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the two sang Morrison's song "Crazy Love". This performance appears on Morrison's 2007 album, The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3.
On Friday, April 11, 2003, Ray Charles sang 'America The Beautiful' at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, prior to the rained out Red Sox home opener against the Baltimore Orioles.
In 2003 Charles performed "Georgia On My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual electronic media journalist banquet held in Washington, D.C., at what may have been his final performance in public. His final public appearance came on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in the city of Los Angeles.
Two more posthumous albums, Genius & Friends (2005) and Ray Sings, Basie Swings (2006), were released. Genius & Friends consisted of duets recorded from 1997 to 2005 with his choice of artists. Ray Sings, Basie Swings consists of archived vocals of Ray Charles from live mid-1970s performances added to new instrumental tracks specially recorded by the contemporary Count Basie Orchestra and other musicians. Charles's vocals recorded from the concert mixing board were added to new accompaniments to create a "fantasy concert" recording. Gregg Field, who had performed as a drummer with both Charles and Basie, produced the album.
His children:
Charles gave each of his children $1 million (tax-free) in December 2002 at a family lunch. Ten of his 12 children were given a check for $1,000,000 at the luncheon, while two couldn't make it.
Charles was significantly involved in the biopic Ray, an October 2004 film which portrays his life and career between 1930 and 1966 and stars Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.
Before shooting could begin, director Taylor Hackford brought Foxx to meet Charles, who insisted that they sit down at two pianos and play together. After two hours, he stood up, hugged Foxx, and gave his blessing, proclaiming, "He's the one... he can do it." Charles was expected to attend a showing of the completed film, but died before it opened. The movie is the all-time number one biopic per screen average, opening on 2006 screens and making 20 million dollars.
As noted in the film's final credits, Ray is based on true events, but includes some characters, names, locations, events which have been changed and others which have been "fictionalized for dramatization purposes". Dramatic license accounts for scenes that refer to Charles as temporarily banned from performing in Georgia.
The credits note that he is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren as of the movie release in October 2004.
In 1979, Charles was one of the first of the Georgia State Music Hall of Fame to be recognized as a musician born in the state. Ray's version of "Georgia On My Mind" was made the official state song for Georgia. In 1981, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was one of the first inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural ceremony in 1986. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986.
In 1987, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1991, he was inducted to the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 1998 he was awarded the Polar Music Prize together with Ravi Shankar in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004 he was inducted to the Jazz Hall of Fame, and inducted to the National Black Sports & Entertainment Hall of Fame. The Grammy Awards of 2005 were dedicated to Charles.
On December 7, 2007, Ray Charles Plaza was opened in Albany, Georgia, with a revolving, lighted bronze sculpture of Charles seated at a piano. Later that month, on December 26, 2007, Ray Charles was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. He was also presented with the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement, during the 1991 UCLA Spring Sing.
In 2003, Charles was awarded an honorary degree by Dillard University. Upon his death, he endowed a professorship of African-American culinary history at the school, which is the first such chair in the nation. A $20 million performing arts center at Morehouse College was named after Charles and was dedicated in September 2010.
Category:1930 births Category:1940s singers Category:1950s singers Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2004 deaths Category:ABC Records artists Category:African American musicians Category:African American singers Category:American blues pianists Category:American blues singers Category:American composers Category:American country singers Category:American gospel singers Category:American keyboardists Category:American male singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American soul singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American soul musicians Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Blind musicians Category:Blind bluesmen Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Blind musicians Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from liver cancer Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Musicians from Florida Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:People from Albany, Georgia Category:People from Madison County, Florida Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Rhythm and blues pianists Category:Songwriters from Florida Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Urban blues musicians
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| Playername | Jean Banyolag |
|---|---|
| Fullname | Jean Franklin Banyolag |
| Height | |
| Dateofbirth | June 30, 1988 |
| Cityofbirth | Yaoundé |
| Countryofbirth | Cameroon |
| Currentclub | Yangon United FC |
| Clubnumber | 16 |
| Position | Attacking Midfielder |
| Youthyears | 2007 |
| Youthclubs | Kadji Sports Academy |
| Years | 2008 20092010– |
| Clubs | Port Authority of Thailand FC BEC Tero SasanaYangon United FC |
| Caps(goals) | 21 (2)25 (3) |
Category:Ivorian footballers Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:BEC Tero Sasana F.C. players Category:Expatriate footballers in Myanmar Category:Thai Port F.C. players Category:Expatriate footballers in Thailand Category:Cameroonian expatriates in Thailand Category:Kadji Sports Academy players
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
By the age of 15 he was teaching violin, but this experience apparently diminished his interest in the violin for a time. He returned to music doing vaudeville, appearing with Phil Baker as Baker and Bernie, but he met with little success until 1922 when he joined his first orchestra. Later, he had his own band, "The Lads," seen in the early DeForest Phonofilm sound short, Ben Bernie and All the Lads (1924–1925), featuring pianist Oscar Levant. He toured with Maurice Chevalier and also toured in Europe.
Bernie's orchestra recorded throughout the 1920s and 1930s; Vocalion (1922–1925), Brunswick (1925–1933), Columbia (1933), Decca (1936), and ARC (Vocalion and OKeh) (1939–1940). In 1925 Ben Bernie and his orchestra did the first recording of Sweet Georgia Brown. Bernie was the co-composer of this jazz standard, which became the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters.
On the Blue Network from 1935 to 1937, Bernie's sponsor was the American Can Company. He returned to CBS in 1938, sponsored by U.S. Rubber. With Half-&-Half Tobacco as a sponsor, he did a musical quiz program of CBS from 1938 to 1940. From 1940-41, Bromo-Seltzer was his sponsor on the Blue Network. Wrigley's Gum sponsored The Ben Bernie War Workers' Program (1941–43). He also made guest appearances on other radio shows.
His theme was "It's a Lonesome Old Town" and his signature trademark, "yowsah, yowsah, yowsah" (also spelled "yowsa" or "yowza"), became a national catch phrase. The term was memorably used by a character in the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and revived by the band Chic in 1977 with their hit "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)".
Announcers for Bernie's programs included Harlow Wilcox, Harry von Zell and Bob Brown. With comedy from Lew Lehr and Fuzzy Knight, the line-up of vocalists included Buddy Clark, Little Jackie Heller, Scrappy Lambert, Pat Kennedy, Jane Pickens, Dinah Shore and Mary Small.
To boost ratings, Walter Winchell and Bernie, who were good friends, staged a fake rivalry similar to the comedic conflict between Jack Benny and Fred Allen. This mutually beneficial "feud" was a running gag on their radio appearances and continued in two films in which they portrayed themselves: Wake Up and Live (1937) and Love and Hisses (1937). They are also caricatured in the Warner Brothers cartoons The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos as "Ben Birdie" and "Walter Finchell" and The Coo-Coo Nut Grove (1936) as "Ben Birdie" and "Walter Windpipe".
Ben Bernie was noted for always having a cigar in hand and some speculate this may have hastened his death in 1943.
Bernie was a free-mason, member of Keystone Lodge n.º 235, New York City
Category:American film actors Category:American radio personalities Category:Jazz violinists Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Vocalion Records artists Category:1891 births Category:1943 deaths
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