- published: 07 Oct 2011
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- author: UkrainianKozak
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- ABC News
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Austin, Texas
Austin (/ˈɒstɨn/ or /ˈɔːstɨn/) is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006. Austin has a population of 790,390 (2010 U.S. Census). The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metropolitan area, which had an estimated population 1,783,519 (2011 U.S. Census), making it the 34th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.
In the 1830s, pioneers began to the settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River. After Republic of Texas Vice President Mirabeau B. Lamar visited the area during a buffalo-hunting expedition between 1837 and 1838, he proposed that the republic's capital then located in Houston, Texas, be relocated to the area situated on the north bank of the Colorado River near the present-day Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge. In 1839, the site was officially chosen as the republic's new capital (the republic's seventh and final location) and was incorporated under the name, Waterloo. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas" and the republic's first secretary of state.
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Bel Air, Los Angeles
Bel Air is an affluent residential community in the hills of the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. Together with Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills it forms the Platinum Triangle of Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Bel Air is situated about 12 miles (19 km) west of downtown Los Angeles and includes some of the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. It borders the north side of UCLA along Sunset Boulevard. At the heart of the community sits the Bel Air Country Club and the Hotel Bel Air. The community was founded in 1923 by Alphonzo E. Bell, Sr.
It is bordered by Brentwood on the west and southwest, Westwood on the south, Beverly Hills Post Office on the east, and Sherman Oaks on the north. Bel Air is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities and high-profile corporate executives. The Bel Air Association has been operational since 1942, dedicated to preserving the life-style and property-values of their residential community. The Bel Air Association is located at the entrance of the East Gate of Bel Air at 100 Bel Air Road.
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Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda. (In Aramaic, beth hesda means "House of Mercy" and in Hebrew, "bait" "chesed" means "House of Kindness".) The National Institutes of Health main campus and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center are in Bethesda, as are a number of corporate and government headquarters.
Bethesda is one of the most affluent and highly educated communities in the country, placing first in Forbes list of America's most educated small towns and first on CNNMoney.com's list of top-earning American towns. In April 2009, Forbes ranked Bethesda second on its list of "America's Most Livable Cities." In October 2009, based on education, income, health, and fitness, Total Beauty ranked Bethesda first on its list of the U.S.'s "Top 10 Hottest-Guy Cities."
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Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the New York City borough of Queens.
Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City.[citation needed] Flushing's diversity is reflected by the numerous ethnic groups that reside there, including people of Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, European, and African American ancestry, as well as Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Sephardi, and Bukhari Jewish communities. It is part of the Fifth Congressional District, which encompasses the entire northeastern shore of Queens County, and extends into neighboring Nassau County. Flushing is served by five railroad stations on the Long Island Rail Road Port Washington Branch, and the New York City Subway Number 7 subway line has its terminus at Main Street. The intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue is the third busiest intersection in New York City, behind only Times Square and Herald Square.
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Hilton Washington
The Hilton Washington (also called the Washington Hilton and locally the Hinckley Hilton) is a hotel in Washington, D.C. It is located at 1919 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., roughly at the boundaries of the Kalorama, Dupont Circle, and Adams Morgan neighborhoods.
Developed by Uris Brothers and built in 1965 in a double-arched design, the hotel long sported the largest pillar-less hotel ballroom in the city. Numerous large events have been regularly hosted at the Hilton Washington, including the annual dinners of the White House Correspondents Association and the Radio and Television Correspondents Association, as well as the National Prayer Breakfast.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the hotel hosted a number of big musical acts for concerts in their large ballroom, including The Doors and Jimi Hendrix. In 1972 is was home to the first International Conference on Computer Communications which demonstrated new ARPANET technology.
The hotel was the site of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. on March 30, 1981. The attempt occurred at the hotel's T Street NW exit.
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Manhattan
Manhattan (/mænˈhætən/) is the most densely populated and the oldest of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the U.S. state of New York. The borough and county consist of Manhattan Island and several small adjacent islands: Roosevelt Island, Randall's Island, Wards Island, Governors Island, Liberty Island, part of Ellis Island,Mill Rock, and U Thant Island; as well as Marble Hill, a very small area on the mainland bordering the Bronx. The original city of New York began at the southern end of Manhattan, expanded northward, and then between 1874 and 1898, annexed land from surrounding counties.
The New York County is the most densely populated county in the United States, and one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a 2010 population of 1,585,873 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles (59.5 km2), or 69,464 residents per square mile (26,924/km²), more dense than any individual American city. It is also one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, with a 2005 per capita income above $100,000. Manhattan is the third-largest of New York's five boroughs in population, and its smallest borough in land area.
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Maryland
Maryland (
i/ˈmɛrɨlənd/) is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east. Maryland was the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution, and three nicknames for it (the Old Line State, the Free State, and the Chesapeake Bay State) are occasionally used. Maryland is the 9th smallest state by area, but the 19th most populous and the 5th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state's most populated city is Baltimore. Its capital is Annapolis. It was named after Queen Henrietta Maria.
Maryland has an area of 12,406.68 square miles (32,133.2 km2) and is comparable in overall area with the European country of Belgium (11,787 square miles (30,530 km2)). It is the 42nd largest/9th smallest state, and is closest in size to Hawaii (10,930.98 square miles (28,311.1 km2)), the next smallest state. The next largest state, Maryland's neighbor West Virginia, is almost twice the size of Maryland (24,229.76 square miles (62,754.8 km2)).
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Massachusetts
Massachusetts (i/ˌmæsəˈtʃuːsɨts/), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts is the 7th least extensive, but the 14th most populous and the 3rd most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state features two separate metropolitan areas – the eastern Boston metropolitan area and the western Springfield metropolitan area. Approximately two thirds of the state's population lives in Greater Boston, most of which is either urban or suburban. Western Massachusetts features one urban area – the Knowledge Corridor along the Connecticut River – and a mix of college towns and rural areas. Massachusetts is the most populous of the six New England states and has the US's sixth highest GDP per capita.
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MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres (546,000 m²) in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. The third park built at the resort, it opened on May 1, 1989 as Disney-MGM Studios.
In 2010, the park hosted approximately 9.6 million guests, ranking it the fifth-most visited amusement park in the United States, and eighth-most visited in the world.
The park is represented by The Sorcerer's Hat, a stylized version of the magical hat from Fantasia. It replaced the Earful Tower as the park's icon in 2001.
The idea that led to Disney’s Hollywood Studios began at its sister park, Epcot. A team of Imagineers led by Marty Sklar and Randy Bright had been given an assignment to create two new pavilions for the park's Future World section. The fruits of the brainstorming sessions were the Wonders of Life pavilion and the Great Movie Ride pavilion. The second of the two was to have sat between the Land pavilion and the Journey Into Imagination pavilion, and was to look like a soundstage backdrop, with a movie theater-style entrance in the middle. The actual attraction in Disney's Hollywood Studios is very similar to the plans for the equivalent that was proposed for Epcot, only, when newly-appointed CEO Michael Eisner saw the plans for the pavilion, he requested that, instead of placing the ride in an already existing park, it should be surrounded by a brand new theme park which extended the showbiz, Hollywood, and entertainment theme.
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Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix (
/ˈfiːnɪks/ FEE-niks; O'odham: Ski:kigk; Yavapai: Wathinka or Wakatehe; Western Apache: Fiinigis; Navajo: Hoozdoh; Mojave: Hachpa 'Anya Nyava) is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populous city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data. It is the anchor of the Phoenix metropolitan area (also known as the Valley of the Sun), and is the 12th largest metro area by population in the United States with about 4.2 million people in 2010. In addition, Phoenix is the county seat of Maricopa County, and is one of the largest cities in the United States by land area. Phoenix is the largest capital city in the United States and the only state capital with over 1,000,000 people.
Phoenix was incorporated as a city in 1881, after being founded in 1861 near the Salt River, close to the confluence with the Gila River. The city has a notable and famous political culture and has been home to numerous influential American politicians and other dignitaries, including Barry Goldwater, William Rehnquist, John McCain, Carl Hayden, and Sandra Day O'Connor. Residents of the city are known as Phoenicians.
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San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley (locally known as "The Valley") is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it. Home to 1.76 million people, it lies north of the larger and more populous Los Angeles Basin.
Nearly two thirds of the Valley's land area is part of the city of Los Angeles. The other incorporated cities in the valley are Burbank, Glendale, San Fernando, Hidden Hills and Calabasas.
The San Fernando Valley is about 260 square miles (670 km2) bounded by the Santa Susana Mountains to the northwest, the Simi Hills to the west, the Santa Monica Mountains and Chalk Hills to the south, the Verdugo Mountains to the east, and the San Gabriel Mountains to the northeast. The northern Sierra Pelona Mountains, northwestern Topatopa Mountains, southern Santa Ana Mountains, and Downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers can be seen from higher neighborhoods, passes, and parks in the San Fernando Valley.
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White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) expanded the building outward, creating two colonnades that were meant to conceal stables and storage.
In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed house in October 1817. Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North in 1829. Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office which was eventually moved as the section was expanded. The third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events; Jefferson's colonnades connected the new wings. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space. By 1948, the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely dismantled and a new internal load-bearing steel frame constructed inside the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt.
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Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams (née Smith; November 22 [O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth. She was the first Second Lady of the United States, and the second First Lady of the United States.
Adams is remembered for the many letters she wrote to her husband while he stayed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the Continental Congresses. John frequently sought the advice of Abigail on many matters, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. The letters serve as eyewitness accounts of the American Revolutionary War home front.
Abigail Adams was born in the North Parish Congregational Church in Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Reverend William Smith and Elizabeth (née Quincy) Smith. On her mother's side she was descended from the Quincy family, a well-known political family in the Massachusetts colony. Through her mother she was a cousin of Dorothy Quincy, wife of John Hancock. Adams was also the great-granddaughter of the Rev. John Norton, founding pastor of Old Ship Church in Hingham, Massachusetts, the only remaining 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in Massachusetts.
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Abigail Fillmore
Abigail Powers Fillmore (March 13, 1798 – March 30, 1853), wife of Millard Fillmore, was First Lady of the United States from 1850 to 1853.
Abigail was born in Stillwater, New York, 1798, in Saratoga County, New York. She was the daughter of the Reverend Lemuel Powers, a Baptist minister, and Abigail Newland-Powers, Abigail grew up in Moravia, New York, not far from the Fillmore farm. Her father died shortly after her birth. Her mother moved the family westward, thinking her scanty funds would go further in a less settled region, and ably educated her small son and daughter beyond the usual frontier level with the help of her husband's library.
In 1819, she took a teaching post at the new academy in New Hope, where her oldest pupil was 19-year-old Millard Fillmore. The world of knowledge and Fillmore's steady progress in it drew them together, and gradually the relationship of teacher and student evolved into romantic attachment.
After a long courtship, Millard, aged 26, and Abigail, aged 27, were married on February 5, 1826, by the Reverend Orasius H. Smith at the home of the bride's brother Judge Powers in Moravia, New York. Without a honeymoon, they settled at East Aurora, New York. Mrs. Fillmore continued to teach school until the birth of her first son and maintained a lifelong interest in education. She shared her husband's love of books and helped build their personal library.
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Albert Brooks
Albert Lawrence Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein; July 22, 1947) is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian and director. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his role in Broadcast News. His voice acting credits include Marlin the clownfish in Finding Nemo, recurring guest voices for the animated television series The Simpsons, including Russ Cargill in The Simpsons Movie.
Brooks was born in Beverly Hills, California, the son of Thelma Leeds (née Goodman), a singer and actress, and Harry Einstein, a radio comedian who performed on Eddie Cantor's radio program and was known as Parkyakarkus. His brothers are comedic actor Bob Einstein, better known by his stage name "Super Dave Osborne," and Cliff Einstein, a partner and longtime chief creative officer at Los Angeles advertising agency Dailey & Associates. His half-brother was Charles Einstein (1926–2007), a writer for such television programs as Playhouse 90 and Lou Grant. Brooks is Jewish; his grandparents emigrated from Austria and Russia. He grew up among show business royalty in southern California, attending Beverly Hills High School with the likes of Richard Dreyfuss and Rob Reiner.
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Alla Nazimova
Alla Nazimova (Russian and Ukrainian: Алла Назимова; 3 June [O.S. 22 May] 1879 – 13 July 1945) was a Russian American film and theater actress, a screenwriter, and film producer. She is perhaps best known as simply Nazimova, but also went under the name Alia Nasimoff.
She was born Miriam Edez Adelaida Leventon, one of three children of Yakov Leventon and Sonya Horowitz. The family was Jewish and lived in Yalta, Crimea (then a part of the Russian Empire; now a part of Ukraine). She grew up in a dysfunctional family and after her parents' separation was shuffled among boarding schools, foster homes, and relatives. A precocious child, she was playing the violin by age seven.[citation needed]
As a teenager she began to pursue an interest in the theatre and took acting lessons at the Academy of Acting in Moscow before joining Constantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre as "Alla Nazimova," and later just "Nazimova." (Her stage name was a combination of her middle name Adelaida and the surname of Nadezhda Nazimova, the heroine of the Russian novel Children of the Streets.
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Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern (born Harriet Arlene Lake, January 22, 1909 – March 15, 2001) was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.
Sothern was born in Valley City, North Dakota, but was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she graduated from Minneapolis Central High School in 1926. Sothern left home and began her film career as an extra in the 1927 film Broadway Nights at the age of 18. During 1929 and 1930, she appeared as a chorus girl in such films as The Show of Shows and Whoopee! (as one of the "Goldwyn Girls"). She appeared on Broadway and had a trained voice, occasionally singing in films.
On Broadway in 1931, she had leading roles in America's Sweetheart (135 performances in which she sang "I've Got Five Dollars" and "We'll Be The Same") and in Everybody's Welcome (139 performances).
In 1934, Sothern signed a contract with Columbia Pictures, but after two years the studio released her. In 1936, she was signed by RKO Radio Pictures and after a string of films that failed to attract an audience, Sothern left RKO and was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, making her first film for them in 1939.
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Anna Harrison
Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison (July 25, 1775 - February 25, 1864), wife of President William Henry Harrison and grandmother of President Benjamin Harrison, was nominally First Lady of the United States during her husband's one-month term in 1841, but she never entered the White House.
Anna was born at her father's estate Solitude, just outside Morristown, New Jersey (present day Wheatsheaf Farms subdivision off Sussex Avenue in Morris Township, New Jersey ) on July 25, 1775 to Judge John Cleves Symmes and Anna Tuthill Symmes of Long Island. Her father was a Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and later became a prominent landowner in southwestern Ohio. When her mother died in 1776 her father disguised himself as a British soldier to carry her on horseback through the British lines to her grandparents on Long Island, who cared for her during the war. Her father was also a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress and the Chairman of the Sussex County Committee of Safety.
She grew up in Long Island, receiving an unusually broad education for a woman of the times. She attended Clinton Academy at Easthampton, Long Island, and the private school of Isabella Graham in New York City.
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Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (Hangul: 반기문; Hanja: 潘基文; born 13 June 1944) is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he graduated from university, accepting his first post in New Delhi, India. In the foreign ministry he established a reputation for modesty and competence .
Ban was the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea from January 2004 to November 2006. In February 2006, he began to campaign for the office of Secretary-General. Ban was initially considered to be a long shot for the office. As foreign minister of South Korea, however, he was able to travel to all of the countries that were members of the United Nations Security Council, a maneuver that turned him into the front runner.
On 11 October 2006, he was elected to be the eighth Secretary-General by the United Nations General Assembly and officially succeeded Annan on 1 January 2007. Ban has led several major reforms regarding peacekeeping and UN employment practices. Diplomatically, Ban has taken particularly strong views on Darfur, where he helped persuade Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to allow peacekeeping troops to enter Sudan; and on global warming, pressing the issue repeatedly with former U.S. President George W. Bush. Ban has received strong criticism from OIOS, the UN internal audit unit, stating that the secretariat, under Ban's leadership, is "drifting into irrelevance".
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Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (
i/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.
Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.
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Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra. After a short but notable career as a stage actress in the late 1920s, she made 85 films in 38 years in Hollywood, before turning to television.
Stanwyck was nominated for the Academy Award four times, and won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. She was the recipient of honorary lifetime awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1981, the American Film Institute in 1987, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Golden Globes, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the Screen Actors Guild. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is ranked as the eleventh greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.
Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens in Brooklyn, New York on July 16, 1907. She was the fifth and youngest child of Catherine Ann (née McPhee) and Byron E. Stevens; the couple were working-class, her father a native of Massachusetts and her mother an immigrant from Nova Scotia, Canada. Stanwyck had English and Scottish ancestry. When she was four, her mother was killed when a drunken stranger pushed her off a moving streetcar. Two weeks after the funeral, Byron Stevens joined a work crew digging the Panama canal and was never seen again. Ruby and her brother Byron were raised by their elder sister Mildred, five years Ruby's senior. When Mildred got a job as a John Cort showgirl, Ruby and Byron were placed in a series of foster homes (as many as four in a year), from which Ruby often ran away.
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Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters (born September 25, 1929) is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows (Today and The View), the television news magazine (20/20), former co-anchor of the ABC World News, and current contributor to ABC News.
Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news anchor for over 10 years on NBC's Today, where she worked with Hugh Downs and later hosts Frank McGee and Jim Hartz. Walters later spent 25 years as co-host of ABC's news magazine 20/20. She was the first female co-anchor of network evening news, working with Harry Reasoner on the ABC Evening News, and continuing as a contributor to the network news division and its flagship program, ABC World News.
In 1996, Walters was ranked #34 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
Walters was born in 1929 in Boston, the daughter of Dena (née Seletsky) and Louis "Lou" Walters (born Louis Warmwater). Her parents were both Jewish and descendants of refugees from the former Russian Empire, now Eastern Europe. Walters' paternal grandfather, Abraham Isaac, was from what is now Łódź, Poland, and first immigrated to England, changing his name first to Warmwater and later to Abraham Walters (the original family surname was Waremwasser). Walters' father was born there c. 1894, and moved to the United States with his family in 1900. In 1937, her father opened the New York version of the Latin Quarter; he also worked as a Broadway producer (he produced the Ziegfeld Follies of 1943). He also was the Entertainment Director for the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he imported the "Folies Bergere" stage show from Paris to the resort's main showroom. Walters' brother, Burton, died in 1932 of pneumonia. Walters' elder sister, Jacqueline, was born mentally disabled and died of ovarian cancer in 1985. She has another half sister, Walda Walters Anderson, born to a different mother.[citation needed]
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Bernice Layne Brown
Bernice Layne Brown (November 19, 1908 – May 9, 2002) was the wife of former Governor of California Edmund "Pat" Brown and the mother to former and current governor Jerry Brown.
Bernice Layne was born on November 19, 1908, in Los Angeles, California, to Arthur and Allis Layne. She married future California governor Pat Brown on October 20, 1930, and eventually had four children: Jerry, Kathleen, Cynthia and Barbara.
She became first lady of California after her husband defeated William Knowland in 1958. While there, she was known for being a great speaker, often involving family life. In 1962, her husband was elected to a second term, defeating Richard Nixon. Pat Brown's bid for a third term in 1966 ended in defeat to future U.S President Ronald Reagan.
Bernice lived to see her son Jerry serve two terms as governor (1975-1983) and died in 2002 aged 93.
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Bess Truman
Bess Truman (née Elizabeth Virginia Wallace) (February 13, 1885 – October 18, 1982), was the wife of Harry S. Truman and First Lady of the United States from 1945 to 1953.
She had known her future husband since they attended the same school in Independence, Missouri. As First Lady, she did not enjoy big social events, and was relieved to quit Washington. Dying at 97, she remains the longest-lived First Lady.
Elizabeth Virginia Wallace was born to David Willock Wallace (1860–1903) and his wife, the former Margaret Elizabeth Gates (1862–1952), in Independence, Missouri, and was known as Bessie during her childhood. She was the eldest of four; three brothers: Frank Gates Wallace, (4 March 1887 - 12 August 1960), George Porterfield Wallace, (1 May 1892 - 24 May 1963), David Frederick Wallace, (7 January 1900 - 30 September 1957).
Harry Truman, whose family moved to town in 1890, always kept his first impression of when he saw her at Sunday school: "Golden curls" and "the most beautiful blue eyes." A relative said, "there never was but one girl in the world" for him. They attended the same schools from fifth grade through high school.
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Betsy Bloomingdale
Betsy Bloomingdale (born Betty Lee Newling; August 2, 1922, Los Angeles, California) is an American socialite and philanthropist. She is the widow of businessman Alfred S. Bloomingdale, heir to the department store chain.
Betty Lee Newling was born and raised in a socially prominent Los Angeles family. She is a frequent party host, many for charity, being dubbed "Good Queen Betts".
Mrs. Bloomingdale is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, currently residing in Holmby Hills. A practicing Roman Catholic, she has been involved in fundraising projects for the Los Angeles Cathedral. She also contributed to the funding for the development of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Her life and marriage and her husband's well-publicized affair were the basis of Dominick Dunne's novel An Inconvenient Woman. Bloomingdale remained friendly with Dunne, appearing with him at the annual Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2006. Other friends include Nancy Reagan, Joan Collins and Nan Kempner.
In 2007, Bloomingdale took part in presenting fashion designer James Galanos with the Rodeo Drive Style Award, and attended the opening of "Nancy Reagan: A First Lady's Style", an exhibit chronicling Nancy Reagan's different clothing at the Reagan Presidential Library.
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Betty Ford
Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford (April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011), better known as Betty Ford, was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford. As First Lady, she was active in social policy and created precedents as a politically active presidential wife.
Throughout her husband's term in office, she maintained high approval ratings despite opposition from some conservative Republicans who objected to her more moderate and liberal positions on social issues. Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy and was a passionate supporter of, and activist for, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Pro-choice on abortion and a leader in the Women's Movement, she gained fame as one of the most candid first ladies in history, commenting on every hot-button issue of the time, including feminism, equal pay, the ERA, sex, drugs, abortion, and gun control. She also raised awareness of addiction when she announced her long-running battle with alcoholism in the 1970s.
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Brenda Marshall
Brenda Marshall (September 29, 1915 – July 30, 1992) was an American film actress.
Born Ardis Ankerson in Negros, Philippines, Marshall made her first film appearance in the 1939 Espionage Agent. The following year, she played the leading lady to Errol Flynn in The Sea Hawk. After divorcing actor Richard Gaines in 1940, she married the actor William Holden in 1941 and her own career quickly slowed. She starred opposite James Cagney in the 1942 film Captains of the Clouds. The Constant Nymph (1943) was a popular success but she virtually retired after this, appearing in only four more inconsequential films. Among these, she played scientist Nora Goodrich in the grade-B 1946 cult classic Strange Impersonation.
She was born Ardis Ankerson on September 29, 1915, in Negros, Philippines. Ardis Ankerson attended Texas Woman's College for her freshman and sophomore years, 1934-1935. She was named the Freshman Class Beauty in 1934, chosen by modern dancer Ted Shawn.
Brenda Marshall was her stage name but she refused to use the name off-camera and insisted that her friends call her by her real name. First married to actor Richard Gaines (born July 23, 1904 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, died July 20, 1975 in North Hollywood, California), they had one daughter, Virginia. The couple divorced in 1940. In 1941, Marshall married actor William Holden, who subsequently adopted Virginia Gaines. Marshall and Holden had two additional children: Scott Porter Holden (born May 2, 1946, died January 21, 2005, of lung cancer in San Diego, California) and Peter Westfield Holden (born November 17, 1943). After several separations, Marshall and Holden were divorced in 1971. Marshall died from throat cancer in Palm Springs, California, at the age of 76.
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Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, PC CC GOQ (born March 20, 1939) was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax, and the rejection of constitutional reforms such as the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. Prior to his political career, he was a prominent lawyer and businessman in Montreal.
Mulroney was born on March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, a remote and isolated town in the eastern part of the province. He is the son of Irish Canadian Catholic parents, Mary Irene (née O'Shea) and Benedict Martin Mulroney, who was a paper mill electrician. Six of the couple's children survived infancy. As there was no English-language Catholic high school in Baie-Comeau, Mulroney completed his high school education at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Chatham, New Brunswick operated by St. Thomas University (in 2001, St. Thomas University named its newest academic building in his honour). Benedict Mulroney worked overtime and ran a repair business to earn extra money for his children's education, and he encouraged his oldest son to attend university.
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Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004. Williams was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007, and in 2010, a prominent media observer dubbed him "the Walter Cronkite of the 21st century."
Williams was reared in a middle-class Irish Catholic home. His father, Gordon L. Williams, was an executive vice president of the National Retail Merchants Association, in New York. During childhood, his family moved from his birthplace, Ridgewood, New Jersey, to Elmira, New York. He lived in Elmira for ten years before moving to Middletown, New Jersey, when he was in junior high school.
He graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown. While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.
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Caroline Harrison
Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison (October 1, 1832 – October 25, 1892), wife of Benjamin Harrison, was first lady of the United States from 1889 until her death.
Caroline Scott was born in Oxford, Ohio, the second daughter of the Reverend Dr. John Witherspoon Scott, a Presbyterian minister and professor of science and math at Miami University, and Mary Potts Neal. Although the family was not well-off, Caroline's father made sure that his children were well-educated. Wherever they lived, he always filled the house with books, art, and music. Religion, too, played a large part in his and the family's life.
In 1845, Dr. Scott, along with several other professors, were fired from their positions after a dispute with the university president, George Junkin, over slavery; Scott opposed it, Junkin supported it. After his dismissal, the entire family moved to College Hill, near Cincinnati, where Scott had accepted a job teaching chemistry and physics at Farmer's College. It was in Cincinnati that young Caroline met one of her father's students and her future husband, Benjamin Harrison. The two began a courtship that would last nearly a decade before their marriage in 1853.
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Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes. He also is well known for his roles in the films The Greatest Show on Earth and Touch of Evil.
Heston was also known for his political activism. In the 1950s and 1960s he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to speak openly against racism and was an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Initially a moderate Democrat, he later supported conservative Republican policies and was president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
Heston was born John Charles Carter, the son of Lilla (née Charlton; 1899–1994) and Russell Whitford Carter (1897–1966), a sawmill operator. Most sources state that he was born in Evanston, Illinois. Heston's autobiography, however, and some other sources place his birth in No Man's Land, Illinois, which usually refers to a then-unincorporated area now part of Wilmette, a wealthy northern suburb of Chicago. Heston said in a 1995 interview that he was not very good at remembering addresses or his early childhood.
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Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960), known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh. His performance earned him his third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor; he won for It Happened One Night (1934) and was also nominated for Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). Later movies included Run Silent, Run Deep, a submarine war film, and his final film, The Misfits (1961), which paired Gable with Marilyn Monroe, also in her last screen appearance. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Gable seventh among the greatest male stars of all time. He was nicknamed 'The King of Hollywood.'
Gable appeared opposite some of the most popular actresses of the time. Joan Crawford, who was his favorite actress to work with, was partnered with Gable in eight films, Myrna Loy worked with him seven times, and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six productions. He also starred with Lana Turner in four features, and with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner in three each. In the mid-1930s, Gable was often named the top male movie star, and second only to the top box-office draw of all, Shirley Temple.
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Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds (born April 1, 1932) is an American actress, singer, and dancer.
Initially signed at age sixteen by Warner Bros., Reynolds' career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) gave her a small but significant part in the film Three Little Words (1950), then signed her to a seven-year contract. In her next film, Two Weeks with Love (1950), she had a hit with the song "Aba Daba Honeymoon". However, it was her first leading role, in Singin' in the Rain (1952), that set her on the path to fame. By the mid 1950s, she was a major star.
Other notable successes include Tammy and the Bachelor (1957), in which her rendering of the song "Tammy" reached number one on the music charts; and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She continues to perform successfully on stage, television and film to the present day.
Reynolds' first marriage, to popular singer Eddie Fisher, produced a son and a daughter, actress/author Carrie Fisher, but ended in divorce in 1959 when Fisher and her former (and later) friend Elizabeth Taylor fell in love. Her second and third marriages also ended in divorce, each time ruining her financially.
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Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney (born January 30, 1941) served as the 46th Vice President of the United States (2001–2009), under George W. Bush.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Cheney was primarily raised in Sumner, Nebraska, and Casper, Wyoming. He began his political career as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger, eventually working his way into the White House during the Nixon and Ford administrations, where he served the latter as White House Chief of Staff. In 1978, Cheney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming; he was reelected five times, eventually becoming House Minority Whip. Cheney was selected to be the Secretary of Defense during the presidency of George H. W. Bush, holding the position for the majority of Bush's term. During this time, Cheney oversaw the 1991 Operation Desert Storm, among other actions.
Out of office during the Clinton presidency, Cheney was chairman and CEO of Halliburton Company from 1995 to 2000.
Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, the son of Marjorie Lorraine (née Dickey) and Richard Herbert Cheney. He is of predominantly English, as well as Welsh, Irish, and French Huguenot, ancestry; Cheney's 8th great-grandfather, William Cheney, immigrated from England to Massachusetts in the 17th century. Although not a direct descendant, he is collaterally related to Benjamin Pierce Cheney (1815–1895), the early American expressman. Cheney is a very distant cousin of both Harry S. Truman and Barack Obama; the three share a common ancestor in Mareen Duvall, a Huguenot who fled from France to England in the 17th century and later settled in Maryland. His father was a soil conservation agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and his mother was a softball star in the 1930s; Cheney was one of three children.
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Dolley Madison
Dolley Payne Todd Madison (May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was the spouse of the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, and was First Lady of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was notable for her social gifts and helped define the role of the First Lady. Her success as a hostess contributed to increasing the popularity of Madison as president.
During the previous administration of Thomas Jefferson, a widower and their friend, she occasionally acted as First Lady for him to fulfill the ceremonial functions more usually associated with the President's wife. She also aided in the completion and furnishing the interior of the newly constructed White House.
In the past, biographers and others stated that her given name was Dorothea after her aunt, or Dorothy, and that Dolly was a nickname. But, her birth was registered with the New Garden Friends Meeting as Dolley, and her will of 1841 states "I, Dolly P. Madison". Based on manuscript evidence and the scholarship of recent biographers, Dollie, spelled with an "i", appears to have been her given name at birth. Spelling was more variable in those years. Historians have settled on using Dolley as the spelling of her given name.
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Donald Regan
Donald Thomas Regan (December 21, 1918 – June 10, 2003) was the 66th United States Secretary of the Treasury, from 1981 to 1985, and Chief of Staff from 1985 to 1987 in the Ronald Reagan Administration, where he advocated "Reaganomics" and tax cuts to create jobs and stimulate production.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Kathleen (née Ahearn) and William Francis Regan, he was of Irish Catholic origins. Regan earned his bachelor's degree in English from Harvard University in 1940 and attended Harvard Law School before dropping out to join the United States Marine Corps at the outset of World War II. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel while serving in the Pacific theater, and was involved in five major campaigns including Guadalcanal and Okinawa.
After the War, he joined Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. in 1946, as an account executive trainee, working up through the ranks, eventually taking over as Merrill Lynch's chairman and CEO in 1971, the year the company went public. He held those positions until 1980.
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Edith Luckett Davis
Edith Luckett Davis (July 16, 1888 – October 27, 1987) was a film and Broadway stage actress in the 1910s and 1920s, and was the mother of Nancy Reagan, wife of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
Edith Luckett, nicknamed "Lucky", was the ninth and youngest child of Charles Edward Luckett and Sarah Whitlock.
She grew up in Washington, D.C., as her father worked for the Adams Express Company. Known for her vivacious and outgoing personality and style, Luckett began acting at the age of 15. She appeared in several films, including The Other Girl (1915). She acted on stage, most notably on Broadway but also with several regional stock companies. She performed and became friends with such stars as Walter Huston, George M. Cohen, and Spencer Tracy. Other friends in the business included Zasu Pitts, Louis Calhern, David Belasco, and Alla Nazimova.
Luckett married Kenneth Robbins of Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1916. The couple had one daughter, christened Anne Frances Robbins, but known as Nancy. Luckett and Robbins separated soon after Nancy's birth, and later divorced. In order for Luckett to support herself and her daughter, she chose to resume her stage career, and arranged to have her daughter live with her sister's family in Bethesda, Maryland while she toured the East Coast with acting troupes. She would visit her daughter in Maryland when time allowed. Her last acting role was in 1928, with Walter Huston and Kay Francis in Elmer the Great.
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Edith Roosevelt
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt (August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of Theodore Roosevelt and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1901 to 1909.
Born in Norwich, Connecticut, the daughter of Charles Carow (1825–1883), a merchant, and the former Gertrude Elizabeth Tyler (1836–1895) and a granddaughter of Daniel Tyler who was a general in the American Civil War, Edith grew up next door to Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt in New York and was best friends with his younger sister Corinne. She was T.R.'s first real playmate outside his immediate family.
She and her sister Emily Tyler Carow (1865–1939) were brought up in an environment of comfort and tradition. An infant brother, Kermit (b. February 1860; d. August 1860) died one year before her birth.
At Miss Comstock's school, Edith acquired the proper finishing touch for a young lady of that era. A quiet girl who loved books, she was often T.R.'s companion for summer outings at Oyster Bay, Long Island; but this ended when he entered Harvard College. Although she attended his wedding to Alice Hathaway Lee in 1880, their lives ran separately until 1885.
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Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (/ˈɛlɨnɔr ˈroʊzəvɛlt/; October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international author, speaker, politician, and activist for the New Deal coalition. She worked to enhance the status of working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women.
In the 1940s, Roosevelt was one of the co-founders of Freedom House and supported the formation of the United Nations. Roosevelt founded the UN Association of the United States in 1943 to advance support for the formation of the UN. She was a delegate to the UN General Assembly from 1945 and 1952, a job for which she was appointed by President Harry S. Truman and confirmed by the United States Senate. During her time at the United Nations she chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Truman called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.
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Elizabeth Monroe
Elizabeth Kortright Monroe (June 30, 1768 – September 23, 1830) was First Lady of the United States from 1817 to 1825, as the wife of James Monroe, fifth President of the United States, who held the office for two terms.
Born in New York in 1768, Elizabeth was the daughter of Lawrence Kortright, an officer in the British army who had made a fortune privateering during the French and Indian War, and Hannah Aspinwall. She acquired social grace and elegance at an early age. A gown in the collection of the James Monroe Museum indicates she was a petite woman, not taller than 5 feet. She first caught Monroe's attention in 1785 while he was in New York serving as a member of the Continental Congress. James, age twenty-seven, married Elizabeth, age seventeen, on February 16, 1786, in New York City. After a brief honeymoon on Long Island, the newlyweds returned to New York to live with her father until Congress adjourned.Their first child, Eliza, was born in late 1786 or early 1787 in Virginia.
In 1794, James was appointed United States Minister to France by President George Washington. In Paris, as wife of the American Minister during the Reign of Terror, she helped secure the release of Madame La Fayette, wife of the Marquis de Lafayette when she learned of her imprisonment and threatened death by guillotine. The Monroes also provided support and shelter to the American citizen Thomas Paine in Paris, after he was arrested for his opposition to the execution of Louis XVI. While in France, the Monroes' daughter Eliza became friends with Hortense de Beauharnais, step-daughter of Napoleon, and both girls received their education in the school of Madame Jeanne Campan, who had been an advisor on court etiquette to Marie Antoinette. This association led to a friendship between the family of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Monroes.
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Ellen Axson Wilson
Ellen Axson Wilson (May 15, 1860 – August 6, 1914), first wife of Woodrow Wilson, was First Lady of the United States from 1913 until her death.
Born Ellen Louise Axson in Savannah, Georgia, the daughter of the Reverend Samuel Edward Axson, a Presbyterian minister, and Margaret Jane (née Hoyt) Axson, Ellen was a lady of refined tastes with a fondness for art, music and literature.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson first saw her when he was about three and she was only a baby. In April 1883, Woodrow visited his cousin Jesse Woodrow Wilson in Rome, Georgia and met Ellen again—she was now keeping house for her widowed father. He thought, "what splendid laughing eyes!"[citation needed]. They were engaged five months later but postponed the wedding, while he did postgraduate work at Johns Hopkins University and she nursed her ailing father.
Wilson, aged 28, married Ellen, aged 25, on June 24, 1885, at the home of the bride's paternal grandfather in Savannah, Georgia. The wedding was performed jointly by his father, the Reverend Joseph R. Wilson, and her grandfather, the Reverend Isaac Stockton Keith Axson. They honeymooned at Waynesville, a mountain resort in western North Carolina.
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Emily Donelson
Emily Donelson (June 1, 1807 – December 19, 1836) was the niece of U.S. President Andrew Jackson. She served as White House hostess and unofficial First Lady of the United States. Born on June 1st, 1908, her father was John Donelson the brother of her aunt, Rachel Donelson. Emily married her cousin, A.J Donelson on September 16, 1824. After her aunt's divorce with Lewis Robards in 1773 and marriage with military fighter, Andrew Jackson on 1741. Her big problem with not creating a legal divorce, having to separate from Jackson, legally divorced Mr. Robards, and remarried Jackson on 1794. At that point the problem was solved, but during the election of 1828, Republicans and supporters to John Quincy Adams found out the whole thing, and blamed Rachel for a bigamist. Even after Emily's uncle won election, 3 weeks later Rachel died of a deadly heart attack. Emily proudly served as hostess until the Peggy Eaton Affair took place, Emily meanly insulted the scandal's subject, Peggy Eaton, the whole thing leaded to Emily quitting job of hostess, so Ms. Donelson was replaced by Sarah Yorke Jackson. Suffering with tuberculosis during working as hostess, she stayed at her mothers house until Emily's died on December 19, 1836 of her tuberculosis.
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Florence Harding
Florence Mabel Kling "Flossie" Harding (previously DeWolfe; August 15, 1860, Marion, Ohio – November 21, 1924), wife of President Warren G. Harding, was the First Lady of the United States from 1921 to 1923.
She married the somewhat-younger Harding when he was a newspaper publisher in Ohio, and she was acknowledged as the brains behind the business. Known as The Duchess, she adapted well to the White House, where she gave notably elegant parties.
She was born Florence Kling, the daughter of Amos Kling, a prominent Marion, Ohio banker, and Louisa Bouton Kling.
Pregnant at age 19, Florence eloped with Henry "Pete" Athenton DeWolfe, her childhood friend and neighbor, in 1880. To date, scholastic researchers have been unable to locate official documentation or a legal marriage license for the couple, leading to the belief that DeWolfe and Harding were never civilly married, but instead declared common law marriage as allowed at the time in Ohio. DeWolfe proved a spendthrift and a heavy drinker. Shortly after the birth of their son Marshall Eugene DeWolfe (also known as Marshall Eugene Kling) in 1880, Florence left her husband and returned to Marion. She divorced DeWolfe in 1886 and resumed her maiden name; he died in 1894 at age 35.
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Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra, /sɨˈnɑːtrə/, (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and film actor.
Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the "bobby soxers", he released his first album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra in 1946. His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1953 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity.
He signed with Capitol Records in 1953 and released several critically lauded albums (such as In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice 'n' Easy). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records in 1961 (finding success with albums such as Ring-a-Ding-Ding!, Sinatra at the Sands and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and statesmen, including John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".
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George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States (1989–93). He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States (1981–89), a congressman, an ambassador, a Director of Central Intelligence, and is currently the oldest surviving president.
Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to Senator Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bush postponed going to college, enlisted in the US Navy on his 18th birthday, and became the youngest aviator in the Navy at the time. He served until the end of the war, then attended Yale University. Graduating in 1948, he moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, becoming a millionaire by the age of 40.
He became involved in politics soon after founding his own oil company, serving as a member of the House of Representatives, among other positions. He ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States in 1980, but was chosen by party nominee Ronald Reagan to be the vice presidential nominee, and the two were subsequently elected. During his tenure, Bush headed administration task forces on deregulation and fighting drug abuse.
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George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. The eldest son of Barbara Bush and George H. W. Bush, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, Bush worked in oil businesses. He married Laura Welch in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. In a close and controversial election, Bush was elected President in 2000 as the Republican candidate, defeating Vice President Al Gore in the Electoral College. Bush is the second American president to have been the son of a former president. He is also the brother of Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida.
Terrorist attacks occurred eight months into Bush's first term as president on September 11, 2001. In response, Bush announced the War on Terror, an international military campaign which included the war in Afghanistan launched in 2001 and the war in Iraq launched in 2003. In addition to national security issues, Bush promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, and social security reform. He signed into law broad tax cuts, the PATRIOT Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, and Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors. His tenure saw national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance, and enhanced interrogation techniques. His administration also withdrew the U.S. from a some international treaty processes, including the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
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Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974. As the first person appointed to the vice-presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment (after Spiro Agnew had resigned), when he became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, he became the only President of the United States who was never elected President nor Vice-President by the Electoral College. Before ascending to the vice-presidency, Ford served nearly 25 years as the Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district, eight of them as the Republican Minority Leader.
As President, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam nine months into his presidency, U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Domestically, Ford presided over arguably the weakest economy since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure. One of his more controversial acts was to grant a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. During Ford's incumbency, foreign policy was characterized in procedural terms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corresponding curb on the powers of the President. In 1976, Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but lost the presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.
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Grace Coolidge
Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge (January 3, 1879 – July 8, 1957) was the wife of Calvin Coolidge and First Lady of the United States from 1923 to 1929.
She contributed greatly to her husband's rise to office, balancing his natural shyness with her own outgoing style, though he never discussed politics with her. She proved an exceptionally popular White House hostess.
Born in Burlington, Vermont, the only child of Andrew Issaclar Goodhue (1848–1923), a mechanical engineer and steamboat inspector, and Lemira Barrett Goodhue (1849–1929), Grace graduated from the University of Vermont in 1902, where she was a founding member of the Beta chapter of Pi Beta Phi sorority. She then joined the faculty of the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts, as a lip reading instructor.
While watering flowers outside the school one day in 1903, she happened to look up at the open window of Robert N. Weir's boardinghouse and caught a glimpse of Calvin Coolidge shaving in front of a mirror with nothing on but long underwear and a hat. She burst out laughing at the sight; he heard the noise and turned to look at her. It was their first meeting. After a more formal introduction sometime later, the two were quickly attracted to each other.
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Harriet Lane
Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston (May 9, 1830 – July 3, 1903), niece of lifelong bachelor United States President James Buchanan, acted as First Lady of the United States from 1857 to 1861. She was one of the few women to hold the position of First Lady while not being married to the President.
Harriet Lane's family was from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. She was the youngest child of Elliott Tole Lane, a merchant, and Jane Ann Buchanan Lane. An orphan after the death of her father when she was 11 years old (her mother had died two years earlier), she requested that her favorite uncle, James Buchanan, be appointed her legal guardian. Buchanan, an unmarried Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, indulged his niece and her sister, enrolling them in boarding schools in Charleston, Virginia (later West Virginia), and then for two years at the Academy of the Visitation Convent in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. By this time, Buchanan was Secretary of State, and he introduced her to fashionable circles as he had promised.
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Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid (born December 2, 1939) is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.
Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Nevada's 1st congressional district, and served in Nevada local and state government as city attorney of Henderson, a state legislator, the 25th Lieutenant Governor, and chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission.
As Senate Majority Leader and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Harry Reid has achieved a more senior elected position in the United States government than any Mormon in history.
Reid was born in Searchlight, Nevada, the third of the four sons of Inez Orena (née Jaynes), a laundress, and Harry Vincent Reid, a miner. His paternal grandmother was an English immigrant from Darlston, Staffordshire. Reid's boyhood home had no indoor toilet, hot water or telephone. Searchlight had no high school, so Reid boarded with relatives 40 miles away in Henderson, Nevada to attend Basic High School where he played football, and was an amateur boxer. While at Basic High he met future Nevada governor Mike O'Callaghan, who was a teacher there. Reid attended Southern Utah University and graduated from Utah State University where he double majored in political science and history. Reid also minored in economics from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. He then went to George Washington University Law School earning a J.D. while working for the United States Capitol Police.
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Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953). As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States (1945), he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his unprecedented fourth term.
During World War I, Truman served in combat in France as an artillery officer in his National Guard unit. After the war, he joined the Democratic Party political machine of Tom Pendergast in Kansas City, Missouri. He was elected a county official and in 1934 United States senator. After he had gained national prominence as head of the wartime Truman Committee, Truman replaced vice president Henry A. Wallace as Roosevelt's running mate in 1944.
Truman faced many challenges in domestic affairs. The disorderly postwar reconversion of the economy of the United States was marked by severe shortages, numerous strikes, and the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act over his veto. He confounded all predictions to win election in 1948, helped by his famous Whistle Stop Tour of rural America. After his election, he passed only one of the proposals in his liberal Fair Deal program. He used executive orders to end racial discrimination in the armed forces and created loyalty checks that dismissed thousands of communist supporters from office.
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Hedrick Smith
Hedrick Smith (born July 9, 1933 in Kilmacolm, Scotland) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former reporter and editor for The New York Times, an Emmy Award-winning producer/correspondent for the PBS show Frontline, and author of several books.
He was educated at The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut and at Williams College, and did graduate work at Oxford University. He was a reporter for the New York Times from 1962 to 1988. He won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 1974 for stories from Russia and Eastern Europe.
Smith has been a Nieman Fellow.
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Helen Herron Taft
Helen Louise Herron "Nellie" Taft (June 2, 1861 – May 22, 1943) was the wife of William Howard Taft and First Lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the fourth child of Judge John Williamson Herron (1827–1912), a law partner of Rutherford B. Hayes, and Harriet Collins (1833–1902), Nellie graduated from the Cincinnati College of Music and taught school briefly before her marriage. With her parents, she attended the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration of President and Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes at the White House in 1877. Her grandfather, Ela Collins and uncle William Collins were both members of Congress.
Two years later, she met William Howard Taft at a bobsledding party in Cincinnati; he was 22 years old, she was 18. He asked her out for the first time in February 1880, but they did not date regularly until 1882. He proposed in April 1885, and she accepted in May.
Taft married Nellie on June 19, 1886, at the home of the bride's parents in Cincinnati. The wedding was performed by the Reverend D.N.A. Hoge of Zanesville, Ohio. Taft's younger brother Horace Taft was best man. The couple honeymooned one day in New York City and four days at Sea Bright, New Jersey, before setting off on a three-month tour of Europe.
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Howard Kurtz
Howard "Howie" Alan Kurtz (born August 1, 1953) is an American journalist and author with a special focus on the media. He is host of CNN's Reliable Sources program, and Washington bureau chief for The Daily Beast. He is the former media writer for The Washington Post. He has written five books about the media. He has been described as the nation's "most influential media reporter".
Kurtz was born in Brooklyn, New York in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood. He is a graduate of the University at Buffalo (SUNY). In college he worked on a student newspaper, the "Spectrum", becoming the editor in his senior year. He then attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. After Columbia he went to work for the Bergen Record in New Jersey. He left New Jersey to move to Washington D.C. and to work as a reporter for syndicated columnist Jack Anderson. Kurtz left Anderson to join the Washington Star, an afternoon newspaper. When that newspaper closed in 1981 Kurtz was hired at the Washington Post by Bob Woodward, then the Metro editor. Kurtz has written for The New Republic, The Washington Monthly, and New York magazine.
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Ida Saxton McKinley
Ida Saxton McKinley (June 8, 1847 – May 26, 1907), wife of William McKinley, was First Lady of the United States from 1897 to 1901.
Ida was born in Canton, Ohio, the elder daughter of James Saxton, prominent Canton banker, and Katherine DeWalt. Her grandfather, John Saxton, in 1815 founded The Repository, the city's first and now its only newspaper. A graduate of Brook Hall Seminary, a finishing school in Media, Pennsylvania, Ida was refined, charming, and strikingly attractive when she met William "Bill" McKinley at a picnic in 1867. They did not begin courting until after she returned from a European tour in 1869. While single, she worked for a time as a cashier in her father's bank, a position then usually reserved for men.
William McKinley, aged 27, married Ida Saxton, aged 23, on January 25th, 1871, at the First Presbyterian Church in Canton, then still under construction. Following the wedding, performed by the Reverend E. Buckingham and the Reverend Dr. Endsley, the couple attended a reception at the home of the bride's parents and left on an eastern wedding trip.
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Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey ("The Manassa Mauler") (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983) was an American professional boxer who held the World Heavyweight Championship from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first million dollar gate. He is listed #10 on The Ring's list of all-time heavyweights and #7 among its Top 100 Greatest Punchers. In 1950, the Associated Press voted Dempsey as the greatest fighter of the past 50 years. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Born in Manassa, Colorado, with the name of William Harrison Dempsey, he grew up in Colorado, West Virginia and Utah, in a poor family of mixed ancestry. His father, Hiram Dempsey, was of Irish, Cherokee descent and his mother, Mary Celia (née Smoot), was also of Irish and Cherokee descent. Both parents became Mormon converts, and Jack was baptized on August 2, 1903, after he reached the required age of accountability. Jack would later write, "I'm proud to be a Mormon. And ashamed to be the Jack Mormon that I am." Because his father had difficulty finding work, the family traveled often. He dropped out of grade school to work. Dempsey left home at the age of 16, eager to start a better life for himself. Due to lack of money, he frequently had to travel underneath trains and sleep in hobo camps. However, Dempsey was a strong, powerful youth who soon discovered a talent for fighting. With the help of his older brother Bernie, he commenced training as a professional boxer. In 1927, tragedy befell Dempsey's family when his other brother, John, shot his own wife, then killed himself in a murder-suicide.
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Jack Reagan
John Edward “Jack” Reagan (July 13, 1883–May 18, 1941) was the father of United States President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) and his older brother Neil "Moon" Reagan (1908–1996).
Jack was the youngest of four children born to John Michael Reagan and Jennie (née Cusick), both of whom were first-generation Irish Americans. Reagan's parents died of tuberculosis when he was six, and he then lived with an elderly aunt who provided him with a strict Catholic upbringing. After a few years of elementary education, Reagan worked as a shoe salesman. He met Nelle Wilson in a dry goods store in Fulton, Illinois. The two were married in Fulton's Catholic church in November 1904. They had two children: Neil "Moon" Reagan and Ronald Wilson Reagan. After the birth of their second son, Reagan's wife Nelle was told not to have any more children. Between 1914 to 1920, the Reagan family moved several times from Tampico to several small Illinois towns and Chicago, before finally settling down in Dixon in 1920.
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Jacqueline Kennedy
Jacqueline "Jackie" Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (pronounced /ˌdʒækˈliːn ˈliː ˈbuːvieɪ ˈkɛnɨdi oʊˈnæsɨs/; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis; they remained married until his death in 1975. For the final two decades of her life, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had a career as a book editor. She is remembered for her contributions to the arts and preservation of historic architecture, her style, elegance, and grace. A fashion icon, her famous pink Chanel suit has become a symbol of her husband's assassination and one of the lasting images of the 1960s. A book containing the transcripts of interviews with Kennedy from 1964 was released in September, 2011. She was the first and only Catholic to serve as First Lady.
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born in Southampton, New York, to Wall Street stock broker John Vernou Bouvier III (also known as 'Black Jack Bouvier') and Janet Norton Lee. Jacqueline's younger sister Caroline Lee—later known as Lee—was born in 1933. The Bouviers divorced in 1940. Janet Bouvier later married Standard Oil heir Hugh D. Auchincloss, Jr. in 1942, and had two more children: Janet and James Auchincloss.
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James Galanos
James Galanos ([gulAn´Os]) is an American fashion designer, widely considered to be one the world's foremost 20th century couturiers.
James Galanos was born September 20, 1924 in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the only son of Greek-born parents. His mother, Helen Gorgoliatos, and his father, Gregory Galanos, a frustrated artist, ran a restaurant in southern New Jersey, where Galanos had his first glimpses of well-dressed women. He grew up a shy boy and learned to work hard from early age. Galanos remembers that he was "a loner, surrounded by three sisters. I never sewed; I just sketched. It was simply instinctive. As a young boy I had no fashion influences around me but all the while I was dreaming of Paris and New York." Galanos graduated from Bridgeton High School in Bridgeton, New Jersey in 1942 and went to New York City intending to enroll at a school headed by Barbara Karinska, the great Russian stage designer and costumer. When the school failed to open in the autumn, he enrolled at the Traphagen School of Fashion, one of the first schools of its kind. He attended two semesters at Traphagen, the first spent in general design studies and the second in draping and construction. After eight months, in 1943, Galanos left the school because he felt that what he wanted to learn could only be acquired from practical experience in the garment industry.
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Jane Irwin Harrison
Jane Irwin Harrison (Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1804–May 11, 1846), wife of William Henry Harrison, Jr., and daughter-in-law of William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States. Her grandfather was James Ramsey, who owned Millmont Farm at Montgomery Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
President Harrison's wife, Anna Harrison, was too ill to travel when her husband left Ohio for his inauguration. William Henry Harrison, Jr. died in 1838, but assisted by her aunt, Jane Irwin Findlay (her father's sister, who was then seventy-three), Jane Irwin Harrison acted as official hostess during President Harrison's brief tenure in office, which lasted for 32 days in 1841.
Her sister, Elizabeth Ramsey Irwin (1810-1850), married John Scott Harrison in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1831—another son of William Henry Harrison—and was mother of US President Benjamin Harrison.
Jane Irwin Harrison died May 11, 1846 at age 41.
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Jane Pierce
Jane Means Appleton Pierce (March 12, 1806 – December 2, 1863), wife of U.S. President Franklin Pierce, was First Lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857.
Born in Hampton, New Hampshire, the daughter of Reverend Jesse Appleton, a Congregationalist minister, and Elizabeth Means-Appleton, Jane was a petite, frail, shy, melancholy figure. After the death of her father, who had served as president of Bowdoin College not long before Franklin enrolled there, she at age 13 moved into the mansion of her wealthy maternal grandparents in Amherst.
How she met Pierce, a young lawyer with political ambitions, is unknown, but her brother-in-law Alpheus S. Packard was one of Pierce's instructors at Bowdoin. Franklin, aged almost 30, married Jane, aged 28, on November 19, 1834, at the home of the bride's maternal grandparents in Amherst, New Hampshire. Theirs was a small wedding, conducted by a brother-in-law of Jane, the Reverend Silas Aiken. The couple honeymooned six days at the boardinghouse of Sophia Southurt near Washington, D.C..
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Jane Powell
Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929) is an American singer, dancer and actress.
After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens. Once there, the studio utilized her vocal, dancing and acting talents, casting her in such musicals as Royal Wedding, with Fred Astaire, A Date with Judy, with friend Elizabeth Taylor, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Howard Keel. In the late 1950s, her film career slowed, only to be replaced with a busy theater and television career.
As of 2010, Powell lives with her fifth husband, former child star Dickie Moore, in New York City and Connecticut, and is still active in television and theater.
Despite the same last name she is not related to actors William Powell, Dick Powell, or Eleanor Powell.
The only child born to Paul E. Burce (a Wonder Bread employee) and Eileen Baker Burce (a housewife) in Portland, Oregon, Powell began dance lessons at the age of two. Powell was born a brunette, with straight hair. In an attempt to liken her appearance to Shirley Temple, Powell's mother took her to get her first perm the same year she began dance lessons. It wasn't until she starred in Technicolor pictures that she became a blonde.
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Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. She was the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Discovered by actress Norma Shearer, Leigh secured a contract with MGM and began her film career in 1947. She appeared in several popular films over the following decade, including Little Women (1949), Holiday Affair (1949), Angels in the Outfield (1951), and Living It Up (1954).
In 1951, she married actor Tony Curtis, her third husband, with whom she co-starred in five films, including Houdini (1953), The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), and The Perfect Furlough (1958). During the latter half of the 1950s, she played mostly dramatic roles in such films as Safari (1955), Touch of Evil (1958) and Psycho (1960), for which she was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She continued to appear occasionally in films and television, including The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and two films with her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis: The Fog (1980) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).
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Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States (1977–1981) and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office. Before he became President, Carter served as a U.S. Naval officer, was a peanut farmer, served two terms as a Georgia State Senator and one as Governor of Georgia (1971–1975).
During Carter's term as President, two new cabinet-level departments were created: the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. In foreign affairs, Carter pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), and returned the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. Throughout his career, Carter strongly emphasized human rights. He took office during a period of international stagflation, which persisted throughout his term. The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (at the end of 1979), 1980 Summer Olympics boycott by the United States of the Moscow Olympics and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
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Joan Quigley
Joan Quigley (born April 10, 1927), of San Francisco, is an astrologer best known for her astrological advice to the Reagan White House in the 1980s. Quigley was born in Kansas City, Missouri.
She was called on by First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1981 after John Hinckley's attempted assassination of the president, and stayed on as the White House astrologer in secret until being outed in 1988 by ousted former chief of staff Donald Regan.
Quigley first met Nancy Reagan in the 1970s on The Merv Griffin Show. Nancy Reagan grew concerned after the attempt on her husband's life on March 30, 1981 and asked Quigley if she could have foreseen, and possibly prevented, the assassination attempt. Quigley answered affirmatively, that had she been looking, she would have known. Mrs. Reagan enlisted Quigley's astrological advice on a regular basis, and would hold regular telephone conversations with her. Explaining why she turned to Quigley, Nancy later wrote, "Very few people can understand what it's like to have your husband shot at and almost die, and then have him exposed all the time to enormous crowds, tens of thousands of people, any one of whom might be a lunatic with a gun... I was doing everything I could think of to protect my husband and keep him alive."[citation needed]
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John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy
pronunciation (help·info) (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
After military service as commander of the Motor Torpedo Boats PT-109 and PT-59 during World War II in the South Pacific, Kennedy represented Massachusetts's 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. Thereafter, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated then Vice President and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. He was the youngest elected to the office, at the age of 43, the second-youngest President (after Theodore Roosevelt), and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president. Kennedy is the only Catholic president, and is the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize. Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African American Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War.
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John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 United States election.
McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. In October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes of torture, and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. His war wounds left him with lifelong physical limitations.
He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, he served two terms, and was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily four times, most recently in 2010. While generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain at times has had a media reputation as a "maverick" for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. After being investigated and largely exonerated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as a member of the Keating Five, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually led to the passage of the McCain-Feingold Act in 2002. He is also known for his work towards restoring diplomatic relations with Vietnam in the 1990s, and for his belief that the war in Iraq should be fought to a successful conclusion. McCain has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, opposed spending that he considered to be pork barrel, and played a key role in alleviating a crisis over judicial nominations.
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Julia Gardiner Tyler
Julia Gardiner Tyler (May 4, 1820 or July 29, 1820 – July 10, 1889) was the second wife of John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States, and served as First Lady of the United States from June 26, 1844, to March 4, 1845.
Julia Gardiner Tyler was born in 1820 on Gardiner's Island off the eastern tip of Long Island, New York. She was the daughter of Juliana McLachlan-Gardiner and David Gardiner, a prominent landowner and New York State Senator from 1824 to 1828. Julia was raised in the New York town of East Hampton as well as in the small hamlet of Bay Shore, Long Island. At the age of 19, she shocked polite society by posing for a department store advertisement that billed her as the "Rose of Long Island".
In early 1842, Julia was introduced to US President John Tyler at a White House reception. They began seeing each other in January 1843 a few months after the death of First Lady Letitia Tyler.
Julia, her sister Margaret, and her father joined a presidential excursion on the new steam frigate Princeton. David Gardiner, along with a number of others, lost his life in the explosion of a huge naval gun. Tyler comforted Julia in her grief and won her consent to a secret engagement, proposing in 1843 at the George Washington Ball. Because of the circumstances surrounding her father's death, the couple agreed to marry with a minimum of celebration. Thus on June 26, 1844, the president slipped into New York City, where the nuptials were performed by the Right Reverend Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk, fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, at the Church of the Ascension. President Tyler was aged 54; Julia just 24.
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Julia Grant
Julia Boggs Dent Grant (January 26, 1826 – December 14, 1902), was the wife of the 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, and was First Lady of the United States from 1869 to 1877.
Born Julia Boggs Dent at White Haven plantation west of St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Colonel Frederick Dent, a slaveholding planter and merchant, and Ellen Wrenshall-Dent, Julia was rather plain in appearance[citation needed] and squinted through crossed eyes. In memoirs prepared late in life—unpublished until 1975—she pictured her girlhood as an idyll: "one long summer of sunshine, flowers, and smiles".
She attended the Misses Mauros' boarding school in St. Louis for seven years among the daughters of other affluent parents. She excelled in art and voice. A social favorite in that circle, she met "Ulys" at her home, where her family welcomed him as a West Point classmate of her brother Frederick; soon she felt lonely without him, dreamed of him, and agreed to wear his West Point ring.
Grant proposed several times before Julia finally accepted. When she did, they were sitting on the front steps of her beloved childhood home, a picturesque plantation called White Haven. In 1844 the couple embarked on a four-year engagement, delayed by the Mexican-American War, during which they saw each other only once.
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Kitty Kelley
Kitty Kelley (born April 4, 1942) is an American journalist and author of several best-selling unauthorized biographies of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British Royal Family, the Bush family, and Oprah Winfrey.
Although Kelley has been called "the consummate gossip monger, a vehicle for all the rumor and innuendo surrounding her illustrious subjects" she maintains, "I am an unabashed admirer of transparency and believe in the freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment", and, to that end, her writing is about "moving an icon out of the moonlight and into the sunlight".
Born in Spokane, Washington, Kitty Kelley received a B.A. in English from the University of Washington. She worked at the New York World's Fair in 1964 and went on to become a receptionist/press secretary for Senator Eugene McCarthy. Following four years as a press assistant to McCarthy, Kelley worked for two years as the editorial page researcher for The Washington Post. Since then, she has worked as a freelance writer, her articles appearing in many major publications.
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Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson (December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States (1963-69) during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson.
Notably well educated for her time, she proved a capable manager and a shrewd investor. After marrying LBJ in 1934, when he was a political hopeful in Austin, Texas, she used a modest inheritance to bankroll his congressional campaign, and then ran his office while he was serving in the Navy. Next, she bought a radio station and then a TV station, which would soon make them millionaires. As First Lady, she broke new ground by liaising directly with Congress, employing her own press secretary, and making a solo electioneering tour.
Johnson was a lifelong advocate for beautifying the nation's cities and highways ("Where flowers bloom, so does hope") and the Highway Beautification Act was informally known as Lady Bird's Bill. She was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest US civilian honors.
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Lally Weymouth
Elizabeth Morris "Lally" Graham Weymouth (born 3 July 1943) is an American journalist who serves as Senior Associate Editor of the Washington Post. She previously served as Special Diplomatic Correspondent of Newsweek magazine, during her family's ownership of the publication.
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She is the only daughter of Katharine Graham and Philip Graham, both of whom were publishers of the Post. She attended The Madeira School and Radcliffe College. She is the sister of Donald Graham, the Washington Post Company's chief executive officer, and the mother of Katharine Weymouth, the newspaper's publisher. The company owned Newsweek from 1961 - 2010.
Lally Weymouth graduated from Radcliffe College at Harvard University with a degree in American History and Literature.
From 1968 to 1969, Weymouth worked for Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation.[clarification needed (RFK died in 1968)]
Weymouth edited and compiled Thomas Jefferson: The Man, His World, His Influence (1973, G.P. Putnam), a collection which includes contributions from leading Jeffersonian scholars. She is the author of America in 1876, The Way We Were (1976, Random House). She worked as a freelance journalist and contributing editor from 1977 to 1983 for such publications as New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Atlantic Monthly, and Parade. From 1983 to 1986 she was a contributing editor for the Los Angeles Times.
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Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush (born November 4, 1946) is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in education and soon took a job as a second grade teacher. After attaining her Master's degree in Library Science at the University of Texas at Austin, she was employed as a librarian. She met George Walker Bush in 1977, and they were married later that year. The couple had twin daughters in 1981.
Bush's political involvement began with her marriage. She campaigned during her husband's unsuccessful 1978 run for the United States Congress and later his successful Texas gubernatorial campaign. As First Lady of Texas, Bush implemented many initiatives focused on health, education, and literacy. In 1999, she aided her husband in campaigning for the presidency in a number of ways, most notably delivering a keynote address at the 2000 Republican National Convention, which gained her national attention. She became first lady after her husband defeated Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election.
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Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (French pronunciation: [lɛzli kaʁɔ̃]; born 1 July 1931) is a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. In 2006, her performance in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit won her an Emmy for guest actress in a drama series. Her autobiography Thank Heaven, was published in 2010 in the UK and US, and in 2011 in a French version.
Caron is best known for the musical films An American in Paris (1951), Lili (1953), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Gigi (1958), and for the non-musical films Fanny (1961), The L-Shaped Room (1962), and Father Goose (1964). She received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. She speaks French, English, and Italian. She is one of the few dancers or actresses who has danced with Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Rudolf Nureyev.
Caron was born in Boulogne-sur-Seine, Seine (now Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine), France, the daughter of Margaret (née Petit), an American dancer on Broadway, and Claude Caron, a French chemist. Caron was prepared for a performing career from childhood by her mother.
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Lou Henry Hoover
Lou Henry Hoover (March 29, 1874 – January 7, 1944) was the wife of President of the United States Herbert Hoover and First Lady, 1929-1933.
Marrying her engineer husband in 1899, she travelled widely with him and became a cultivated scholar and linguist. During World War I, Mrs. Hoover helped him in providing relief for Belgian refugees. As First Lady, she oversaw construction of the presidential retreat at Rapidan Camp in Virginia. She was the first First Lady to make regular radio broadcasts to the Nation. She was president of the Girl Scouts of the USA in 1922-1925 and 1935-1937.
Lou Henry was born in Waterloo, Iowa to Charles Delano Henry, a banker, and Florence Ida Weed, his wife. Lou grew up something of a tomboy in Waterloo, Whittier, California and Monterey, California. Charles Henry took his daughter on camping trips in the hills—her greatest pleasures in her early teens. Lou became a fine horsewoman; she hunted, and preserved specimens with the skill of a taxidermist; she developed an enthusiasm for rocks, minerals, and mining. She attended San Jose Normal School and in 1894 enrolled at Stanford University as the school's only female geology major. That year she met Herbert Hoover, then a senior.
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Louisa Adams
Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, born Louisa Catherine Johnson (February 12, 1775 – May 15, 1852), wife of John Quincy Adams, was First Lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829.
Born in London, she was the only First Lady born outside of the United States. She was the daughter of Joshua Johnson, an American merchant, and Catherine Nuth-Johnson, an Englishwoman. Her father was originally from Maryland and served as United States consul general in London after 1790. She had six sisters: Ann, Caroline, Harriet, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Adelaide, and a brother, Thomas. Louisa grew up in London and Nantes, France, where the family took refuge during the American Revolution. It was in Nantes that four-year-old Louisa first met her future husband, who at 12 was traveling through France with his father.
She again met Adams, this time in London, where her father had been appointed American consul. Adams at first showed interest in her older sister but soon settled on Louisa. John Quincy Adams, aged 30, married Louisa, aged 22, on July 26, 1797, at All Hallows Barking parish in London, England. Adams' father, John Adams, then President of the United States, overcame his initial objections to his son marrying a person born in another country and welcomed his daughter-in-law into the family.
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Lucretia Garfield
Lucretia Rudolph-Garfield (April 19, 1832 – March 14, 1918), wife of James A. Garfield, was First Lady of the United States in 1881.
Born in Hiram, Ohio, the daughter of Zebulon Rudolph, a farmer and co-founder of the Eclectic Institute at Hiram, and Arabella Mason-Rudolph, Lucretia "Crete" Rudolph was a devout member of the Churches of Christ.
She first met James Garfield in 1849 when they were classmates at Geauga Seminary in Chester, Ohio, and followed him to the Eclectic Institute, where they began dating. She was somewhat plain in appearance, but Garfield was attracted to her keen intellect and appetite for knowledge. While Garfield went on to Williams College, she taught school in Cleveland, Ohio and Bayou, Ohio. They had planned to marry on his graduation in 1856, but decided to postpone the wedding for a couple of years until he was earning more money.
Both James and Crete were 26-years when they married on November 11, 1858 at the home of the bride's parents in Hiram. Although both were members of the churches of Christ, the nuptials were performed by Henry Hitchcock, a Presbyterian minister. The newlyweds did not take a honeymoon but instead set up housekeeping immediately in Hiram.
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Lucy Webb Hayes
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes (28 August 1831 – 25 June 1889) was a First Lady of the United States and the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Historians have christened her "Lemonade Lucy" due to her staunch support of the temperance movement; however, contrary to popular belief, she was never referred to by that nickname while living, and it was her husband who banned alcohol from the White House.
Born in Chillicothe, Ohio, the daughter of James Webb, a doctor, and Maria Cook-Webb, Lucy was descended from seven veterans of the American Revolution. Her father died when she was a child. With her mother, she moved to Ohio where in 1847 she met Rutherford B. Hayes. Later that year, she enrolled at Wesleyan Women’s College (now Ohio Wesleyan University) (class of 1850); she was the first first lady to have graduated from college and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Hayes was by this time practicing law in Cincinnati, and the two began dating seriously. He proposed in June 1851.
Rutherford Hayes, aged 30, married Lucy Webb, aged 21, on December 30, 1852, at the home of the bride’s mother in Cincinnati, Ohio. After the wedding, performed by Dr. L.D. McCabe of Delaware, the couple honeymooned at the home of the groom’s sister and brother-in-law in Columbus, Ohio.
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Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States (1963–1969), a position he assumed after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States (1961–1963). He is one of only four people who served in all four elected federal offices of the United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President, and President. Johnson, a Texas Democrat, served as a United States Representative from 1937–1949 and as a Senator from 1949–1961, including six years as United States Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader and two as Senate Majority Whip. After campaigning unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1960, Johnson was asked by John F. Kennedy to be his running mate for the 1960 presidential election.
Johnson succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, completed the rest of Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin in the 1964 election. Johnson was greatly supported by the Democratic Party and as President, he was responsible for designing the "Great Society" legislation that included laws that upheld civil rights, public broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection, aid to education, and his "War on Poverty." He was renowned for his domineering personality and the "Johnson treatment," his coercion of powerful politicians in order to advance legislation.
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Mamie Eisenhower
Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower (November 14, 1896 – November 1, 1979) was the wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
Mamie married Dwight Eisenhower in 1916, the young couple moved frequently between military quarters in many postings, from Panama to the Philippines. As First Lady, she entertained a wide range of foreign dignitaries, who reacted well to her confident style and splendid costumes. On leaving the White House, she made clear her disapproval of the incoming Kennedys.
Mamie Eisenhower spent her retirement and widowhood at the family farm at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Hollywood star Mamie Van Doren was so named by Universal Studios in her honor.
Born in Boone, Iowa and named, in part, after the popular song Lovely Lake Geneva, Mamie Geneva Doud was the second child born to John Sheldon Doud, a meatpacking executive, and his wife, the former Elivera Mathilde Carlson. She grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Denver, Colorado, and the Doud winter home in San Antonio, Texas. Her father, who retired at age 36, ran a meatpacking company founded by his father, Doud & Montgomery ("Buyers of Live Hogs"), and had investments in Illinois and Iowa stockyards. Her mother was a daughter of Swedish immigrants. She had three sisters: Eleanor Carlson Doud, Eda Mae Doud, and Mabel Frances "Mike" Doud.
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Margaret Taylor
Margaret Mackall Smith "Peggy" Taylor (September 21, 1788 – August 14, 1852), wife of Zachary Taylor, was First Lady of the United States from 1849 to 1850.
Born in Calvert County, Maryland, on September 21, 1788, the daughter of Walter Smith, a prosperous Maryland planter and veteran officer of the American Revolution, and Ann Mackall-Smith, "Peggy" was raised amid refinement and wealth.
While visiting her sister in Kentucky in 1809, she was introduced to Lieutenant Zachary Taylor, then home on leave, by Dr. Alexander Duke.
Taylor, aged 25, married Peggy Smith, aged 21, on June 21, 1810, at the home of the bride's sister, Mrs. Mary Chew near Louisville, Kentucky. Their marriage appears to have been a happy one. A devout Episcopalian, Mrs. Taylor prayed regularly for her soldier husband. She became somewhat reclusive because, it is said, she had promised God to give up the pleasures of society if her husband returned safely from war.
The Taylors' surviving children were:
With the rise in Taylor's political career, she literally prayed for his defeat, for she dreaded the personal consequences of his becoming president. By the time she became First Lady, the hardships of following her husband from fort to fort and the birth of several children had taken their toll. A semi-invalid, she remained in seclusion on the second floor of the White House, leaving the duties of official hostess to her daughter Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Taylor.
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Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, née Roberts (born 13 October 1925) is a British politician and the longest-serving (1979–1990) British prime minister of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. A Soviet journalist nicknamed her the "Iron Lady", which later became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As prime minister, she implemented conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became prime minister after winning the 1979 general election.
After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived as Britain's precipitous national decline. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership.
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Mary Arthur McElroy
Mary Arthur McElroy (July 5, 1841 – January 8, 1917) was the sister of 21st President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, and served as a hostess for his administration (1881-1885). She assumed the role because Arthur's wife, Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur, had died only a year and a half earlier.
Mary Arthur was born in Greenwich, New York to William and Malvina S. Arthur. She was the last of nine children. She attended the Emma Willard School Seminary in Troy, New York and later married insurance salesman John McElroy (in 1851). They lived in Albany, New York and had four children.
In November 1880, McElroy's brother Chester Arthur was elected vice president. In July 1881, President James Garfield was fatally wounded and died on September 19, 1881. Arthur succeeded him, and asked McElroy to care for his young daughter Ellen and act as "Mistress of the White House." Because she had her own family in Albany, McElroy lived in Washington, D.C. only during the busy winter social season. Although Arthur never officially granted her the protocol of a formal position, she proved to be a popular and competent hostess. The procedures she and her brother developed for the social functions were used by future First Ladies for decades.
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Mary Harrison McKee
Mary Scott Harrison McKee (April 3, 1858 – October 28, 1930) was the first lady to her father President Benjamin Harrison, when her mother, Caroline Harrison, was seriously ill and then died.
She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mary Harrison married James Robert McKee, one of the founders of the General Electric company, in November 1884. They had two children, Benjamin Harrison McKee (known as Baby McKee), and Mary Lodge McKee.
Following her mother's death in October, 1892 and after her father's defeat for reelection, Mrs. McKee and the former president became estranged over his romantic involvement with her cousin, Mary Lord Dimmick, the former first lady's niece. Upon Harrison's marriage to Dimmick in 1896, Mrs. McKee and the president did not speak again. She tried to return to Indianapolis to be by his side when he died in March, 1901, but arrived several hours after his death.
She died at the age of 72 and was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.
She is the most recent first lady of the United States not to be the wife of a President.
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Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989. She was also the mother of actor Larry Hagman.
Mary Martin's life as a child, as she describes it in her autobiography My Heart Belongs, was secure and happy. She had close relationships with both her mother and father, as well as her siblings. Her autobiography details how the young actress had an instinctive ear for recreating musical sounds.
Martin's father, Preston Martin, was a lawyer and her mother, Juanita Presley, was a violin teacher. Although the doctors told Juanita that she would risk her life if she attempted to have another baby, she was determined to have a boy. Instead, she had Mary, who became quite a tomboy. Her birth was an event as all of the neighbors gathered around Juanita's bedroom window, waiting for the raising of a curtain to signal the baby’s arrival.
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Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Ann (née Todd) Lincoln (December 13, 1818 – July 16, 1882) was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865.
A member of a large, wealthy Kentucky family, Mary was well educated. After living in the Todd House and a finishing school during her teens, she then moved to Springfield, Illinois and lived with her sister, Elizabeth. Mary was courted by Stephen Douglas, against whom her later husband notably debated. She and Abraham had four sons, only one of whom outlived her. Their home of about 15 years still stands in Springfield.
Lincoln suffered from headaches and other illness through much of her adult life. She supported her husband throughout his presidency, and was witness to his assassination.
Born in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Robert Smith Todd, a banker, and Elizabeth Parker Todd, Mary was raised in comfort and refinement. When Mary was six, her mother died; her father married Elizabeth "Betsy" Humphreys Todd in 1826. Mary had a difficult relationship with her stepmother. From 1832, Mary lived in what is now known as the Mary Todd Lincoln House, an elegant 14-room residence in Lexington. From her father's two marriages, Mary had a total of 14 siblings.
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Maureen Reagan
Maureen Elizabeth Reagan (January 4, 1941 – August 8, 2001) was the first child of former President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman. Her siblings were Michael Reagan; a sister, Christine, who died shortly after birth, and—from her father's second marriage to Nancy Davis—Patti Davis and Ron Reagan.
Reagan pursued a career in acting in her youth, appearing in films such as Kissin' Cousins (1964) with Elvis Presley.
She was married three times:
Reagan was involved with the Republican Party and worked as a political activist, radio talk show host, commentator and health care advocate. Her most active political years were in the 1980s, during her father's presidency, when she was a member of the California World Trade Commission, chairwoman of the United States delegation to the United Nations' Decade for Women Conference in Kenya, in 1985; co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, and chairwoman of the Republican Women's Political Action League.
She was the first daughter of a president to run for political office, but both of her attempts at election to a public office ended in defeat. She ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate from California in 1982, and in 1992 for California's 36th congressional district.
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Michael Beschloss
Michael Richard Beschloss (born November 30, 1955) is an American historian. A specialist in the United States presidency, he is the author of nine books.
Beschloss was born in Chicago, grew up in Flossmoor, Illinois, and was educated at Eaglebrook School, Andover, Williams College and Harvard University. He majored in political science, working under James MacGregor Burns at Williams, from which he graduated with Highest Honors, and earned an MBA at Harvard Business School, with the original intention of writing history while serving as a foundation executive.
Beschloss has been a frequent commentator on the PBS NewsHour and is the NBC News Presidential Historian. He is a trustee of the White House Historical Association and the National Archives Foundation and he also sits on the boards of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs and the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. He was formerly a trustee of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Monticello), the Urban Institute and the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. He also sits on the advisory board to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and is a former member of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. He has served as a historian at the Smithsonian Institution, a Senior Associate Member at St. Antony's College (University of Oxford), a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard University Russian Research Center, a Senior Fellow of the Annenberg Foundation and a Montgomery Fellow and Dorsett Fellow at Dartmouth College.
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Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician who is currently Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $22 billion in 2012, he is also the 11th-richest person in the United States. He is the founder and 88% owner of Bloomberg L.P., a financial data-services firm.
A Democrat before seeking elective office, Bloomberg switched his registration in 2001 and ran for mayor as a Republican, winning the election that year and a second term in 2005. Bloomberg left the Republican Party over policy and philosophical disagreements with national party leadership in 2007 and ran for his third term in 2009 as an independent candidate on the Republican ballot line. He was frequently mentioned as a possible independent candidate for the 2008 presidential election, which fueled further speculation when he left the Republican Party. There was also speculation that he would run as a vice-presidential candidate. Bloomberg did not, however, seek the presidency nor was he selected as a running mate by any of the presidential candidates.
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Michael Deaver
Michael Keith Deaver (April 11, 1938 – August 18, 2007) was a member of President Ronald Reagan's White House staff serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James Baker III and Donald Regan from January 1981 until May 1985.
Deaver was born in Bakersfield, California, the son of a Shell Oil Co. distributor. He graduated from Desert High School at North Edwards, California in 1956. He received his bachelor's degree in political science from San Jose State College (now San Jose State University).
He worked for IBM, served in the United States Air Force, and later was executive director of the Santa Clara County Republican Party. While Ronald Reagan was running for governor of California, Deaver worked as a political field representative for the California Republican Party, running several state assembly campaigns. After being elected governor, Reagan's chief of staff recruited Deaver to the administration where he began a 30-year career working for Reagan, and building a very close friendship with him and Nancy Reagan.
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Michael Reagan
Michael Edward Reagan (born March 18, 1945) is the son of former President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman. He is also a former American radio host and Republican strategist. His nationally syndicated radio show, The Michael Reagan Talk Show, aired on stations throughout the United States on the Premiere Radio Networks before being dropped, after which it moved to Radio America. After Radio America dropped the show it was picked up by American Family Radio for about one year. The show is no longer on the air. Reagan was said to be considering a challenge to Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2012 but announced on Townhall.com on 15 March 2012 that chairing the Citizen Legislature Act "is better for me and the state".
He was born in Los Angeles, California, to Irene Flaugher (born 1916- died December 26, 1985), an unwed woman from Kentucky who became pregnant through a relationship with an army corporal named John Bourgholtzer (died 1993). He was adopted by Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman shortly after his birth.
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Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School before returning to Chicago and to work at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband's presidential bid and delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She is the mother of two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and is the sister of Craig Robinson, men's basketball coach at Oregon State University. As the wife of a Senator, and later the First Lady, she has become a fashion icon and role model for women, and an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition and healthy eating.
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Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: Михаи́л Серге́евич Горбачёв, tr. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov; IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil sʲɪrˈɡʲejəvʲɪtɕ ɡərbɐˈtɕof] (
listen); born 2 March 1931) is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the Soviet Union, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991. He was the only general secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to have been born during the Communist rule.
Gorbachev was born in Stavropol Krai into a peasant Ukrainian–Russian family, and in his teens operated combine harvesters on collective farms. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1955 with a degree in law. While he was at the university, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and soon became very active within it. In 1970, he was appointed the First Party Secretary of the Stavropol Kraikom, First Secretary to the Supreme Soviet in 1974, and appointed a member of the Politburo in 1979. Within three years of the deaths of Soviet Leaders Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko, Gorbachev was elected General Secretary by the Politburo in 1985. Before he reached the post, he had occasionally been mentioned in western newspapers as a likely next leader and a man of the younger generation at the top level.
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Molly Ivins
Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins (August 30, 1944 – January 31, 2007) was an American newspaper columnist, populist,political commentator, humorist and author.
Ivins was born in Monterey, California, and raised in Houston, Texas. Her father Jim Ivins, known as "General Jim" because of his rigid authoritarianism (or sometimes "Admiral Jim" for his love of sailing), was an oil and gas executive, and the family lived in Houston's affluent River Oaks neighborhood. Ivins graduated from St. John's School in 1962. In high school, she was active in extracurricular activities, including the yearbook staff. She had her first pieces of journalism published in The Review, the official student newspaper of St. John's School, though she never wrote any of the political columns that would become her specialty later in life. Ivins later became co-editor of the arts and culture section of the student paper. In addition, she frequently participated in theater productions and earned a lifetime membership to Johnnycake, the drama club.
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Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921) is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
Nancy was born in New York City; her parents divorced soon after her birth and she grew up in Maryland, living with an aunt and uncle while her mother pursued acting jobs. As Nancy Davis, she was an actress in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s, starring in films such as Donovan's Brain, Night into Morning, and Hellcats of the Navy. In 1952 she married Ronald Reagan, who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild, and they had two children. Nancy was the First Lady of California when her husband was Governor from 1967 to 1975. In that capacity, she began work with the Foster Grandparents Program.
Nancy Reagan became First Lady of the United States in January 1981 following her husband's election. She was criticized early in his first term largely due to her decision to replace the White House china, despite it being paid for by private donations. Nancy restored a Kennedy-esque glamor to the White House following years of lax formality, and her interest in high-end fashion garnered much attention, as well as criticism. She championed recreational drug prevention causes by founding the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign, which was considered her major initiative as first lady. Always protective of her husband, more controversy ensued when it was revealed in 1988 that she had consulted an astrologer to assist in planning the president's schedule after the 1981 assassination attempt on her husband. She had a strong influence on her husband and played a role in a few of his personnel and diplomatic decisions.
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Neil Reagan
John Neil Reagan (September 16, 1908 - December 11, 1996) was a radio station manager, CBS senior producer and senior vice president of McCann Erickson. He is the older brother of Ronald Reagan.
Neil "Moon" Reagan was baptized as a Roman Catholic at birth. As an infant, Neil attended his mother's Disciples of Christ church, but became affiliated with his father's Catholic faith in his youth. He was described as a boisterous and gregarious personality in his youth. In 1933, Neil graduated Eureka College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He followed his brother to California and established a career as a television producer and advertising executive.
From the '30s through the '50s, Neil Reagan directed the radio series Dr. Christian, starring Jean Hersholt. In between he launched a brief Hollywood career as a supporting actor in films such as Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940) and Doughboys in Ireland (1943). Neil Reagan directed Ronald Reagan in the television series Death Valley Days.
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Nelle Wilson Reagan
Nelle Clyde Wilson Reagan (July 24, 1883–July 25, 1962) was the mother of United States President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) and his older brother Neil "Moon" Reagan (1908–1996).
Nelle was of Scots-English ancestry, the oldest of seven children born to Mary Ann (née Elsey) and Thomas Wilson. She met Jack Reagan in a farm town along the Illinois prairie. The two were married in Fulton, Illinois in November 1904. They had two children: Neil "Moon" Reagan and Ronald Wilson Reagan. After the birth of her second son, Nelle was told not to have any more children. The Reagan family moved from Tampico to many small Illinois towns, and Chicago, depending on Jack's employment.
Ronald Reagan wrote that his mother "always expected to find the best in people and often did." She attended the Disciples of Christ church regularly and was active, and very influential, within it; she frequently led Sunday school services and gave the Bible readings to the congregation during the services. A strong believer in the power of prayer, she led prayer meetings at church and was in charge of mid-week prayers when the pastor was out of town. Her strong commitment to the church is what induced her son Ronald to become a Protestant Christian rather than a Roman Catholic like his father. He also stated that she strongly influenced his own beliefs: "I know that she planted that faith very deeply in me." For example, Ronald Reagan attended Eureka College, founded by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1855. While pursuing the degree he earned in economics-sociology in 1932, Ronald Reagan continued to be surrounded with the same faith his mother had introduced in his life.
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Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (April 15 [O.S. April 3] 1894, – September 11, 1971) led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.
Khrushchev was born in the Russian village of Kalinovka in 1894, close to the present-day border between Russia and Ukraine. He was employed as a metalworker in his youth, and during the Russian Civil War was a political commissar. With the help of Lazar Kaganovich, he worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. He supported Joseph Stalin's purges, and approved thousands of arrests. In 1939, Stalin sent him to govern Ukraine, and he continued the purges there. During what was known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War (Eastern Front of World War II), Khrushchev was again a commissar, serving as an intermediary between Stalin and his generals. Khrushchev was present at the bloody defense of Stalingrad, a fact he took great pride in throughout his life. After the war, he returned to Ukraine before being recalled to Moscow as one of Stalin's close advisers.
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Oscar de la Renta
Óscar de la Renta (born July 22, 1932 in Dominican Republic) is one of the world's leading fashion designers. Trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio Castillo, he became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers to dress Jacqueline Kennedy. An award-winning designer, he worked for Lanvin and Balmain; his eponymous fashion house continues to dress leading figures, from film stars to royalty, into the 2010s. De La Renta is particularly known for his red carpet gowns and evening wear.
De la Renta was born Óscar Aristides Renta Fiallo in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father. At the age of 18 he left the Dominican Republic to study in Spain, where he studied painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. He quickly became interested in the world of fashion design and began sketching for leading Spanish fashion houses, which soon led to an apprenticeship with Spain's most renowned couturier, Cristóbal Balenciaga. Later, de la Renta left Spain to join Antonio Castillo as a couture assistant at Lanvin in Paris.
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Pat Nixon
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon (March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974.
Born in Ely, Nevada, she grew up with her two brothers in what is now Cerritos, California, graduating from high school in 1929. She attended Fullerton Junior College and later the University of Southern California. She paid for her schooling by working multiple jobs, including pharmacy manager, typist, X-ray technician, and retail clerk. In 1940, she married lawyer Richard Nixon and they had two daughters. She campaigned for her husband in his successful congressional campaigns of 1946 and 1948. Richard Nixon was elected Vice President in the Eisenhower administration, whereupon Pat undertook many missions of goodwill with her husband and gained favorable media coverage. She assisted her husband in both his unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign, and later in his successful presidential campaign of 1968.
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Patti Davis
Patti Davis (born Patricia Ann Reagan on October 21, 1952 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress and author. She is the daughter of former President of the United States Ronald Reagan and Reagan's second wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan. Davis was called the "black sheep" of the Reagan children, and her many conflicts with her parents have been well publicized.
She is the older sister of Ron Reagan, the half-sister of the late Maureen Reagan, and has an adopted brother, Michael Reagan.
Like her brother Ron, she is known for holding liberal viewpoints, which clashed often with her conservative father. For example during his presidency it was already known to the press that she held a pro-choice viewpoint on abortion, supported gay rights, and opposed nuclear weapons. Also at the time of her father's election to the White House she was unmarried and living with her boyfriend.
While she was a student at the University of Southern California, she changed her surname from Reagan to Davis, her mother's maiden name.
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People (magazine)
People (originally called People Weekly) is a weekly American magazine of celebrity and human-interest stories, published by Time Inc. As of 2006, it has a circulation of 3.75 million and revenue expected to top $1.5 billion. It was named "Magazine of the Year" by Advertising Age in October 2005, for excellence in editorial, circulation and advertising.People ranked #6 on Advertising Age's annual "A-list" and #3 on Adweek's "Brand Blazers" list in October 2006.
The magazine runs a roughly 50/50 mix of celebrity and human-interest articles. People's editors claim to refrain from printing pure celebrity gossip, enough so to lead celebrity publicists to propose exclusives to the magazine, evidence of what one staffer calls a "publicist-friendly strategy".
People's website, People.com, focuses exclusively on celebrity news. In February 2007, the website drew 39.6 million page views "within a day" of the Golden Globes. However "the mother ship of Oscar coverage" broke a site record with 51.7 million page views on the day after the Oscars, beating the previous record set just a month before from the Golden Globes.[not in citation given]
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Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen (7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984), better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.
He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting. In his earlier professional years (late 1930s through the 1950s) he had a strong presence in popular culture and starred in a number of highly acclaimed films.
Born in London in 1923, he was the only child of Lieutenant-General Sir Sydney Turing Barlow Lawford KBE (1865-1953) and May Aylen (née May Sommerville Bunny, 1883-1972). At the time of Lawford's birth, however, his mother was married to her second husband, Dr. Capt. Ernest Vaughn Aylen, one of Sir Sidney's officers, while his father was married to the former Muriel Williams. After Peter's birth, his mother confessed to Aylen that the child was not his, a revelation that resulted in a double divorce. Sir Sydney and May Aylen then wed in September 1924, after their divorces were finalized and when their son was one year old.
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Raisa Gorbachev
Raisa Maximovna Gorbachova (Russian: Раи́са Макси́мовна Горбачёва tr. Raisa Maksimovna Gorbachyova, née Titarenko, Титаре́нко (5 January 1932 – 20 September 1999) was a major fundraiser for preservation of the Russian heritage, for new talents' education and for children's blood cancer treatment programs in Russia. She was the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Raisa Maximovna Titarenko was born in the city of Rubtsovsk in the Altai region of Siberia. She was the eldest of three children of Maxim Andreyevich Titarenko, a railway engineer originally from Chernihiv, Ukraine, and his Siberian wife, Alexandra Petrovna Porada, originally from Veseloyarsk. She spent her childhood in the Ural Mountains region, and met her future husband while studying philosophy in Moscow. She earned an advanced degree at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute, and taught briefly at the Moscow State University.
They married in September 1953 and moved to her husband's home region of Stavropol in southern Russia upon graduation. There, she taught Marxist-Leninist philosophy and defended her sociology research thesis about kolkhoz life. She gave birth in 1958 to their only child, daughter Irina Mikhailovna (married name: Virganskaya; Ири́на Миха́йловна Вирга́нская). When her husband returned to Moscow as a rising Soviet Communist Party official, Gorbachova took a post of a lecturer at her alma mater, Moscow State University. She left the post when her husband became a leader of the Soviet Union in 1985. Her public appearances beside her husband as First Lady were a novelty at home and went a long way in humanizing the country's image. Her dynamic personality and style caught the attention of Western media and observers.[citation needed]
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Ray Milland
Ray Milland (3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend (1945), a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (1942), the murder-plotting husband in Dial M for Murder (1954), and as Oliver Barrett III in Love Story (1970).
Milland was born Alfred Reginald Jones (not Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones as has often been stated). His birth was registered in the March Quarter of 1907 in Neath, Wales, and he was the son of Elizabeth Annie (née Truscott) and Alfred Jones. In the 1911 census the family were living at 66 Coronation Road, Mount Pleasant, Neath, Wales. Of his parents, Milland wrote in his 1974 autobiography Wide-Eyed in Babylon, "My father was not a cruel or harsh man. Just a very quiet one. I think he was an incurable romantic and consequently a little afraid of his emotions and perhaps ashamed of them... he had been a young hussar in the Boer War and had been present at the relief of Mafeking. He never held long conversations with anyone, except perhaps with me, possibly because I was the only other male in our family. The household consisted of my mother, a rather flighty and coquettish woman much concerned with propriety and what the neighbours thought.."
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Richard L. Coe
Richard Livingston Coe (1914–1995), born in New York City, was a theatre and cinema critic for The Washington Post for more than fifty years. Coe was renowned for the astute advice he gave to many pre-Broadway try-out companies. His adroit and knowledgeable commentary is credited with persuading producers to make changes vital to the ultimate success of Hello, Dolly!, West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and many other shows. Coe's enormous love of the theatre made him fierce when he thought that actors, directors or producers had not lived up to their best potential, but more often it made him sensitive to the nuances of good work, supportive of the best endeavors, and wise in educating audiences and encouraging their support of the live theatre.
Coe, arguably, unlike other critics of his time, was considered a unique critic, who expressed more of the positive rather than the negative in his support for actors in his years of writing for the Washington Post, and often took license with his own "gut" opinions.
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Robert Stack
Robert Stack (January 13, 1919 – May 14, 2003) was a multilingual American actor and television host. In addition to acting in more than 40 feature films, he starred in the 1959–63 television series The Untouchables, and later hosted Unsolved Mysteries.
Robert Stack was born Charles Langford Modini Stack in Los Angeles, California, but his first name (selected by his mother) was changed to Robert by his father. He spent his early childhood growing up in Europe. He became fluent in French and Italian at an early age, but he did not learn English until returning to Los Angeles. Stack's parents divorced when he was a year old, and he was raised by his mother, Mary Elizabeth (née Wood). His father, James Langford Stack, a wealthy advertising agency owner, died when Stack was nine. He always spoke of his mother with the greatest respect and love. When he collaborated with Mark Evans on his autobiography, Straight Shooting, he included a picture of him and his mother. He captioned it, "Me and my best girl." His grandfather was an opera singer named Charles Wood, who went by the name "Modini".
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Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( /ˈrɒnəld ˈwɪlsən ˈreɪɡən/; February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981 to 1989. Prior to that, he was the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and a radio, film and television actor.
Born in Tampico, Illinois and raised in Dixon, Reagan was educated at Eureka College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology. After his graduation, Reagan moved first to Iowa to work as a radio broadcaster and then in to Los Angeles in 1937 where he began a career as an actor, first in films and later television. Some of his most notable films include Knute Rockne, All American, Kings Row, and Bedtime for Bonzo. Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and later as a spokesman for General Electric (GE); his start in politics occurred during his work for GE. Originally a member of the Democratic Party, his positions began shifting rightward in the late 1950s, and he switched to the Republican Party in 1962. After delivering a rousing speech in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, he was persuaded to seek the California governorship, winning two years later and again in 1970. He was defeated in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 as well as 1976, but won both the nomination and general election in 1980, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.
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Rosalynn Carter
Eleanor Rosalynn Carter (born Eleanor Rosalynn Smith; August 18, 1927) is the wife of the former President of the United States Jimmy Carter and in that capacity served as the First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981. As First Lady and after, she has been a leading advocate for numerous causes, perhaps most prominently for mental health research. She was politically active in her White House years as her husband's closest adviser and sat in on Cabinet and policy meetings. She also served as an envoy abroad, most notably to Latin America.
Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, the eldest of the four children of Allie M. Smith (1905–2000), a dressmaker, and Wilburn Edgar Smith (1896–1940), an automobile mechanic and farmer. Her brothers were William Jerrold "Jerry" Smith (engineer, 1929–2003) and Murray Lee Smith (teacher and minister, 1932–2003) and her sister is Lillian Allethea Smith Wall (born 1936).
Her father died of leukemia when she was 13 and she helped her mother to raise her younger siblings, as well as to assist in the dressmaking business in order to meet the family's financial obligations. Carter graduated as valedictorian of Plains High School and then attended Georgia Southwestern College.
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Rose Cleveland
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland (June 13, 1846 - November 22, 1918), was the First Lady of the United States from 1885 to 1886, during the first of her brother U.S. President Grover Cleveland's two administrations.
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Sarah Childress Polk
Sarah Childress Polk (September 4, 1803 – August 14, 1891) was the wife of the 11th President of the United States, James Polk, and the 12th woman to serve as First Lady.
Sarah Childress was born in 1803 to Joel Childress, a prominent planter, merchant, and land speculator, and Elizabeth Whitsitt Childress—the third of their six children. Sarah was well educated for a woman of her time and place, attending the exclusive Moravians' "female academy" at Salem, North Carolina. She was then schooled at what is now Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1817, one of the few institutions of higher learning available to women in the early 19th century.
Sarah met James Polk while both were receiving instruction from Samuel P. Black in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; he was 19, she was 12. Several years later James began courting her, and in 1823 the two became engaged. Sarah Childress, aged 20, married James Polk, aged 28, on January 1, 1824, at the plantation home of the bride's parents near Murfreesboro. The Polks had no children of their own, but raised a nephew, Marshall Tate Polk (1831–1884) as their personal ward. After her husband's death, Mrs. Polk assumed guardianship of an orphaned niece, Sarah Polk Jetton (1847–1924), and raised the girl as her own.
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Sarah Yorke Jackson
Sarah Yorke Jackson (July 16, 1803 – August 23, 1887) was the daughter-in-law of U.S. President Andrew Jackson. She served as White House hostess and unofficial First Lady of the United States from November 26, 1834 to March 4, 1837.
Sarah was born on July 16, 1803 into a wealthy family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father Peter Yorke, a sea captain and successful merchant, died in 1815. Her mother Mary Haines Yorke died during a trip to New Orleans in 1820 leaving Sarah and her two sisters orphaned. She was raised by two aunts.
Sarah married Andrew Jackson, Jr., the adopted son of Andrew Jackson, in Philadelphia on November 24, 1831. After an extended honeymoon at the White House, the new couple left for The Hermitage, Jackson's plantation in Tennessee. The couple remained at the Hermitage managing the plantation until a fire destroyed much of the main house in 1834. The couple and their two young children went to Washington to live with President Jackson at the White House. Later she was an artist for 15 years.
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Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. Respected for his natural style and versatility, Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. In a screen career that spanned 37 years, he was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Actor—a record he holds with Laurence Olivier—of which he won two.
Tracy discovered his talent for acting while a student at Ripon College, and subsequently gained a scholarship for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He spent seven years in the theatre, working in a succession of stock companies and intermittently on Broadway. Tracy's breakthrough came in 1930, when his lead performance in The Last Mile caught the attention of Hollywood. After a successful film debut in Up the River, Tracy was signed to a contract with Fox Film Corporation. His five years with Fox were unremarkable, and he remained largely unknown to audiences after 25 films. In 1935, Tracy joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hollywood's most prestigious studio. His career flourished with a series of hit films, and in 1937 and 1938 he won consecutive Oscars for Captains Courageous and Boys Town. By the 1940s, Tracy was one of the studio's top stars. In 1942 he appeared with Katharine Hepburn in Woman of the Year, beginning a popular partnership that produced nine movies over 25 years.
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Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who served for 48 years as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrat) candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes. Thurmond later represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 until 2003, at first as a Democrat and after 1964 as a Republican. He switched out of support for the conservatism of Republican presidential candidate and Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who shared his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He left office as the only senator to reach the age of 100 while still in office and as the oldest-serving and longest-serving senator in U.S. history (although he was later surpassed in the latter by Robert Byrd). Thurmond holds the record for the longest-serving Dean of the United States Senate in U.S. history at 14 years.
He conducted the longest filibuster ever by a lone senator, in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, at 24 hours and 18 minutes in length, nonstop. In the 1960s, he continued to fight against civil rights legislation. He always insisted he had never been a racist, but was merely opposed to excessive federal authority. However, he infamously said that "all the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, into our schools, our churches and our places of recreation and amusement", while attributing the movement for integration to Communism. Starting in the 1970s, he moderated his position on race, but continued to defend his early segregationist campaigns on the basis of states' rights in the context of Southern society at the time, never fully renouncing his earlier viewpoints.
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Van Cliburn
Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn, Jr. (born July 12, 1934), is an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958 at the age of twenty-three, when he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War.
Van Cliburn was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and began taking piano lessons at the age of three from his mother, the former Rildia Bee O'Bryan, who herself had been instructed by Arthur Friedheim, a pupil of Franz Liszt. At six years old, Cliburn moved with his family to Kilgore, Texas, and at twelve he won a statewide piano competition which enabled him to debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He entered the Juilliard School at the age of seventeen, and studied under Rosina Lhévinne, who trained him in the tradition of the great Russian romantics. At twenty, Cliburn won the Leventritt Award, and made his Carnegie Hall debut.
It was his recognition in Moscow that propelled Cliburn to international fame. The first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 was an event designed to demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority during the Cold War, on the heels of their technological victory with the Sputnik launch in October 1957. Cliburn's performance at the competition finale of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 earned him a standing ovation lasting eight minutes. When it was time to announce a winner, the judges were obliged to ask permission of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to give first prize to an American. "Is he the best?" Khrushchev asked. "Then give him the prize!" Cliburn returned home to a ticker-tape parade in New York City, the only time the honor has been accorded a classical musician. His cover story in Time proclaimed him "The Texan Who Conquered Russia."
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Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries. The Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist-controlled common front, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The Vietnam People's Army (North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes.
The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. The North Vietnamese government and Viet Cong viewed the conflict as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state. American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned international borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. American involvement in the war peaked in 1968, at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were gradually withdrawn as part of a policy known as Vietnamization. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued.
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Walter Huston
Walter Thomas Huston ( /ˈwɔːltər ˈhjuːstən/; April 5, 1883 – April 7, 1950) was a Canadian-born American actor. He was the father of actor and director John Huston and the grandfather of actress Anjelica Huston and actor Danny Huston.
Huston was born in York County, Ontario, the son of Elizabeth (née McGibbon) and Robert Moore Huston, a provincial farmer who founded a construction company. He was of Scottish and Irish descent.
Huston began his Broadway career in 1924. Once talkies began in Hollywood, he achieved fame in character roles. His first major role was in 1929's The Virginian with Gary Cooper. He appeared in the Broadway theatrical adaptation of Sinclair Lewis's novel Dodsworth in 1934 and the play's film version two years later.
Huston remained busy throughout the 1930s and 1940s, both on stage and screen (becoming one of America's most distinguished actors); he performed "September Song" in the original Broadway production of Knickerbocker Holiday in 1938 (his grandaughter Anjelica Huston sang it on the May 7, 2012 episode of the NBC TV series "Smash"). Among his films are Abraham Lincoln (1930), Rain (1932), Gabriel Over the White House (1933), The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and Mission to Moscow (1943), a pro-Soviet World War II propaganda film as Ambassador Joseph E. Davies. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1948 for his role in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which was directed by his son, John Huston. His last film was The Furies in 1950 with Barbara Stanwyck.
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Warren Burger
Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger had conservative leanings and was considered a strict constructionist, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a variety of transformative decisions on abortion, capital punishment, religious establishment, and school desegregation during his tenure.
Burger was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, one of seven children. His parents were of Swiss German descent. His grandfather, Joseph Burger, had emigrated from Switzerland and joined the Union Army when he was 14. Joseph Burger fought and was wounded in the Civil War, and was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Burger grew up on the family farm near the edge of Saint Paul. He attended John A. Johnson High School, where he was president of the student council. He competed in hockey, football, track, and swimming. While in high school, he wrote articles on high school sports for local newspapers. He graduated in 1925.
That same year, Burger also worked with the crew building the Robert Street Bridge, a crossing of the Mississippi River in Saint Paul that still exists. Concerned about the number of deaths on the project, he asked that a net be installed to catch anyone who fell, but was rebuffed by managers. In later years, Burger made a point of visiting the bridge whenever he came back to town.
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William Holden
William Holden (April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974. One of the most popular and well known movie stars of all time, Holden was one of the biggest box office draws of the 1950s, he was named one of the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" six times (1954–1958, 1961) and appeared on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars list as number 25. He starred in some of the most popular and critically acclaimed films of all time, including such blockbusters as Sunset Boulevard, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Wild Bunch, The Towering Inferno, and Network.
Holden was born William Franklin Beedle, Jr. in O'Fallon, Illinois, the son of Mary Blanche (née Ball), a schoolteacher, and William Franklin Beedle, Sr., an industrial chemist. He had two younger brothers, Robert and Richard. Holden's paternal great-grandmother, Rebecca Westfield, was born in England in 1817, while some of his mother's ancestors settled in Virginia's Lancaster County after emigrating from England in the 17th century. Growing up, Holden was raised in the Methodist church, and while some sources cite him as a Congregationalist, Holden identified himself as a Methodist throughout his life. His family moved to South Pasadena when he was three.
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Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009. Blitzer previously hosted Wolf Blitzer Reports, which was replaced by The Situation Room.
The son of Jewish refugees from Poland, Wolf Blitzer was born in Augsburg, Germany and raised in Buffalo, New York. Blitzer graduated from Kenmore West Senior High School and received a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University at Buffalo in 1970. While there, he was a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi. In 1972, he received a Master of Arts in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. While at Johns Hopkins, Blitzer studied abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he learned Hebrew.
Blitzer has said that he has frequently been asked about his name, which has been characterized as seemingly "made-for-TV". In a Wayne's World Saturday Night Live sketch which was aired during the Persian Gulf War, Wayne and Garth picked Blitzer as having the "worst name" of any war correspondent, with Garth remarking, "It's so obvious the guy made it up for the war!" Blitzer explains that his surname goes back for generations, and his first name, 'Wolf', is the same first name as his maternal grandfather.
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Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner (Russian: Юлий Борисович Бринер, Yuliy Borisovich Bryner; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-born stage and film actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times onstage. He is also remembered as Rameses II in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille blockbuster The Ten Commandments, General Bounine in Anastasia and Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven. Brynner was noted for his distinctive voice and for his shaven head, which he maintained as a personal trademark long after adopting it for his initial role in The King and I. He was also a photographer and the author of two books.
Yul Brynner was born Yuliy Borisovich Bryner in 1920. He exaggerated his background and early life for the press, claiming that he was born Taidje Khan of part-Mongol-Tatar parentage, on the Russian island of Sakhalin. In reality, he was born at home in a four-storey residence at 15 Aleutskaya Street, Vladivostok, in the Far Eastern Republic (present-day Primorsky Krai, Russia). He also occasionally referred to himself as Julius Briner,Jules Bryner, or Youl Bryner. A biography written by his son, Rock Brynner, in 1989 clarified these issues.
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Zasu Pitts
ZaSu Pitts ( /ˈseɪzuː ˈpɪts/; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.
Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas, to Rulandus and Nellie (née Shay) Pitts; she was the third of four children. Her father, who had lost a leg while serving in the 76th New York Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, had settled the family in Kansas by the time ZaSu was born.
The names of her father's sisters, Eliza and Susan, became the basis for ZaSu's unique first name, which has been (incorrectly) spelled as Zazu Pitts in many film credits and articles. Though the name is commonly mispronounced /ˈzæzuː/ ZAZ-oo or /ˈzeɪsuː/ ZAY-soo, or /ˈzeɪzuː/ ZAY-zoo, in her 1963 book Candy Hits (p. 15),[citation needed] Pitts herself gives the correct pronunciation as "Say Zoo" (/ˈseɪzuː/), recounting that Mary Pickford predicted, "[M]any will mispronounce it," and adding, "How right [she] was."
In 1903, when she was nine years old, the family moved to Santa Cruz, California, seeking a warmer climate and better job opportunities. Her childhood home at 208 Lincoln Street still stands. She attended Santa Cruz High School, where she participated in school theatricals.
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Reagan, Nancy Filmography
Famous quotes by Nancy Reagan:
"Just say no to drugs!"
"I do not believe in abortion at will. I do not believe that if a woman just wants to have an abortion she should... I do believe if you have an abortion you are committing murder."
"I think people would be alive today if there were a death penalty"
"I am a big believer that eventually everything comes back to you. You get back what you give out."
"I don't intend for this to take on a political tone. I'm just here for the drugs."
"A lot of what acting is paying attention."
"Pornography is pornography, what is there to see? Movies are attempting to destroy something that's supposed to be the most beautiful thing a man and a woman can have by making it cheap and common. It's what you don't see that's attractive."
"I have been very happy with my homes, but homes really are no more than the people who live in them."
"I think a woman gets more if she acts feminine."
"A woman is like a tea bag, you can not tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water"
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02 February 11 2011 PBS on Nancy Reagan part 1 of 4 PA065470_x264.mp4
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 17:53
- Updated: 10 Oct 2011
Part 1 of 4: This video is in 4 parts of about 15 minutes each. It is the story of Nancy Reagan and her life with the late Ronald Reagan, as he worked his way up the political ladder to becoming the President of the United States. It shows the dedication that she had to her relationship with Ronald Reagan, and how the strength of this relationship lead to one success after another after another, year over year that spanned decades after decades. They worked so hard for their accomplishments through dedication and discipline. Lessons that everyone can learn from.
http://wn.com/02_February_11_2011_PBS_on_Nancy_Reagan_part_1_of_4_PA065470_x264mp4
Part 1 of 4: This video is in 4 parts of about 15 minutes each. It is the story of Nancy Reagan and her life with the late Ronald Reagan, as he worked his way up the political ladder to becoming the President of the United States. It shows the dedication that she had to her relationship with Ronald Reagan, and how the strength of this relationship lead to one success after another after another, year over year that spanned decades after decades. They worked so hard for their accomplishments through dedication and discipline. Lessons that everyone can learn from.
12/20/81: The First Lady
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:54
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
First Lady Nancy Reagan revealed to Mike Wallace, 27 years ago this week, the challenges she and previous First Ladies have faced in dealing with the press and the American public.
http://wn.com/12_20_81_The_First_Lady
First Lady Nancy Reagan revealed to Mike Wallace, 27 years ago this week, the challenges she and previous First Ladies have faced in dealing with the press and the American public.
- published: 09 Nov 2010
- views: 6739
- author: CBS
Nancy Reagan tells Larry King about Ronald Reagan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:35
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
In 2007, former first lady Nancy Reagan talked to CNN's Larry King about her lifelong love affair with President Reagan.
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_tells_Larry_King_about_Ronald_Reagan
In 2007, former first lady Nancy Reagan talked to CNN's Larry King about her lifelong love affair with President Reagan.
- published: 23 May 2012
- views: 3991
- author: CNN
President Obama, with Nancy Reagan, Signs Law for Ronald Reagan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:08
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
June 3, 2009 | 6:08 The President is joined by Nancy Reagan when he signs the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission honoring his memory. June 2, 2009 (public domain)
http://wn.com/President_Obama,_with_Nancy_Reagan,_Signs_Law_for_Ronald_Reagan
June 3, 2009 | 6:08 The President is joined by Nancy Reagan when he signs the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission honoring his memory. June 2, 2009 (public domain)
- published: 25 Sep 2012
- views: 424
- author: infomisa
Nancy Reagan Falls, Recovering From Broken Ribs
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:13
- Updated: 07 Oct 2012
Ninety-year old former first lady faces health scare. For more, click here: abcnews.go.com
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_Falls,_Recovering_From_Broken_Ribs
Ninety-year old former first lady faces health scare. For more, click here: abcnews.go.com
- published: 24 May 2012
- views: 1092
- author: ABCNews
Nancy Reagan: Her Life and Times
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:01
- Updated: 27 Oct 2012
Nancy Reagan was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. I take no credit for any photos or clips shown in this video.
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_Her_Life_and_Times
Nancy Reagan was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. I take no credit for any photos or clips shown in this video.
- published: 06 Apr 2008
- views: 8861
- author: mynameisjim93
Nancy Reagan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:43
- Updated: 27 Oct 2012
Nancy Reagan made things difficult at times with her stubbornness. Nancy's importance to her husband "goes with the turf when you're dealing with the Reagans," says advisor Stuart K. Spencer.
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan
Nancy Reagan made things difficult at times with her stubbornness. Nancy's importance to her husband "goes with the turf when you're dealing with the Reagans," says advisor Stuart K. Spencer.
- published: 01 Feb 2012
- views: 970
- author: AmericanExperience
Nancy Reagan - Wiki Article
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 53:53
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921) is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Nancy was born in ... Nancy Reagan - Wiki Article - wikiplays.org Original @ http All Information Derived from Wikipedia using Creative Commons License: en.wikipedia.org Author: Official White House photographer Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship., This work is in the Public Domain., This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Unknown Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship., This work is in the Public Domain., This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Unknown Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original...
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_Wiki_Article
Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921) is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Nancy was born in ... Nancy Reagan - Wiki Article - wikiplays.org Original @ http All Information Derived from Wikipedia using Creative Commons License: en.wikipedia.org Author: Official White House photographer Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship., This work is in the Public Domain., This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Unknown Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship., This work is in the Public Domain., This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Unknown Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original...
- published: 02 Nov 2012
- views: 240
- author: WikiPlays
Mini BIO - Nancy Reagan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:09
- Updated: 19 Oct 2012
After graduating from Smith College, Nancy Reagan moved to Hollywood to become an actress and met Ronald Reagan. As First Lady, she launched the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign in 1982. Learn more about nancy Reagan: bit.ly Watch more Mini Bios: bit.ly Learn more about US First Ladies: bit.ly Learn more about Breast Cancer Survivors: bit.ly
http://wn.com/Mini_BIO_Nancy_Reagan
After graduating from Smith College, Nancy Reagan moved to Hollywood to become an actress and met Ronald Reagan. As First Lady, she launched the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign in 1982. Learn more about nancy Reagan: bit.ly Watch more Mini Bios: bit.ly Learn more about US First Ladies: bit.ly Learn more about Breast Cancer Survivors: bit.ly
- published: 17 Oct 2012
- views: 189
- author: BiographyChannel
CNN: 1986: Nancy Reagan's 'Just say no' campaign
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:03
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
In September 1986, first lady Nancy Reagan warned Americans about drugs, including a then-new drug called crack.
http://wn.com/CNN_1986_Nancy_Reagan's_'Just_say_no'_campaign
In September 1986, first lady Nancy Reagan warned Americans about drugs, including a then-new drug called crack.
- published: 28 Feb 2011
- views: 5827
- author: CNN
Nancy Reagan roasts Ronald Reagan with Jack Benny YouTube0
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:15
- Updated: 05 Oct 2012
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_roasts_Ronald_Reagan_with_Jack_Benny_YouTube0
- published: 14 Jul 2012
- views: 318
- author: tele Swansea
Nancy Reagan Tribute to Bob Hope "Thanks for the Memories" 1988
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:46
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
Rare video of the 1st Lady, beautiful Nancy Reagan singing "Thanks for the Memories", classy and glamourous. This comes from an 85th birthday tribute to Bob Hope. Forget the politics. This is about music and a historical event. It's rare to see any First Lady performing.
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_Tribute_to_Bob_Hope_Thanks_for_the_Memories_1988
Rare video of the 1st Lady, beautiful Nancy Reagan singing "Thanks for the Memories", classy and glamourous. This comes from an 85th birthday tribute to Bob Hope. Forget the politics. This is about music and a historical event. It's rare to see any First Lady performing.
- published: 30 Dec 2008
- views: 32469
- author: Scott Rogers
The Blue Riddim Band "Nancy Reagan" 30th Anniversary Remastered Edition-Rougher Records
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:02
- Updated: 17 Oct 2012
The 30th anniversary remastered edition release of "Nancy Reagan", the American reggae classic from The Blue Riddim Band. This song is available from www.rougherrecords.com as a 7" vinyl record, with a remix of the track with new lyrics by reggae legend Big Youth titled, "Voice Of The People (Nancy Reagan Remix 2011)" on the other side. "Voice Of The People" is also available as a digital download from CD Baby or i-Tunes. This remastered original track will be available at these sites starting December 13, 2011.
http://wn.com/The_Blue_Riddim_Band_Nancy_Reagan_30th_Anniversary_Remastered_Edition-Rougher_Records
The 30th anniversary remastered edition release of "Nancy Reagan", the American reggae classic from The Blue Riddim Band. This song is available from www.rougherrecords.com as a 7" vinyl record, with a remix of the track with new lyrics by reggae legend Big Youth titled, "Voice Of The People (Nancy Reagan Remix 2011)" on the other side. "Voice Of The People" is also available as a digital download from CD Baby or i-Tunes. This remastered original track will be available at these sites starting December 13, 2011.
- published: 30 Nov 2011
- views: 1062
- author: RougherRecords
Nancy Reagan Clint Eastwood Just Say No PSA
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:49
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_Clint_Eastwood_Just_Say_No_PSA
- published: 02 Jul 2010
- views: 6212
- author: Commercialjukebox
Jane Fonda Now Starring as Nancy Reagan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:57
- Updated: 23 Nov 2012
Jane Fonda Now Starring as Nancy Reagan TJ Walker is the #1 rated Daily Internet-only liberal news video pundit (viewed at www.tjwalker.com and http Walker is also a regular contributor to Forbes.com, Daily Kos, and the Reuters Insider Network. Walker is also a USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Business Week best-selling author. A frequent network news analyst, Walker has made more than 1000 national TV and radio guest appearances on CBS, ABC, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, Bloomberg TV, Al Jazeera, NBC, Fox Business, Russia Today, HLN, TrueTV, Comedy Central, Sirius and NPR. In 2009, Walker entered the Guinness Book Of World Records for most talk show appearances ever in a 24 hour period. (www.mediatrainingworldwide.com) http
http://wn.com/Jane_Fonda_Now_Starring_as_Nancy_Reagan
Jane Fonda Now Starring as Nancy Reagan TJ Walker is the #1 rated Daily Internet-only liberal news video pundit (viewed at www.tjwalker.com and http Walker is also a regular contributor to Forbes.com, Daily Kos, and the Reuters Insider Network. Walker is also a USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Business Week best-selling author. A frequent network news analyst, Walker has made more than 1000 national TV and radio guest appearances on CBS, ABC, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, Bloomberg TV, Al Jazeera, NBC, Fox Business, Russia Today, HLN, TrueTV, Comedy Central, Sirius and NPR. In 2009, Walker entered the Guinness Book Of World Records for most talk show appearances ever in a 24 hour period. (www.mediatrainingworldwide.com) http
- published: 13 Sep 2012
- views: 49
- author: tjwalker
*touching tribute to nancy reagan*
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:10
- Updated: 14 Sep 2012
Life changing tribute for a life changing lady person.
http://wn.com/*touching_tribute_to_nancy_reagan*
Life changing tribute for a life changing lady person.
- published: 09 Sep 2012
- views: 46
- author: sleepoptimistic
Nancy Reagan Happy Birthday, Ronnie.wmv
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:00
- Updated: 18 Oct 2012
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_Happy_Birthday,_Ronniewmv
- published: 06 Feb 2011
- views: 4786
- author: Beeglz
Nancy Reagan 1995: Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:15
- Updated: 08 Nov 2012
1995 Goldwater Institute Dinner honoring President Ronald Reagan: "The dramatic movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive" (full video here, youtu.be Related: legalinsurrection.com
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_1995_Ronnie_turned_that_torch_over_to_Newt
1995 Goldwater Institute Dinner honoring President Ronald Reagan: "The dramatic movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive" (full video here, youtu.be Related: legalinsurrection.com
- published: 26 Jan 2012
- views: 24527
- author: legalinsurrection
![Nancy Reagan Recovering After Fall [5-23-2012]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121204015503im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kbKnyF6YS5c/default.jpg "Nancy Reagan Recovering After Fall [5-23-2012]")
Nancy Reagan Recovering After Fall [5-23-2012]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:41
- Updated: 01 Jun 2012
Visit: MeTee.com Create and Publish a T-shirt and order for a coupon discount using the link above. MeTee: It's T-Shirt Design done in seconds and Always Free Shipping. - Like on Facebook for Newsfeed Updates: www.facebook.com - Signup for the Daily News Email Subscription: tinyurl.com - Like/Dislike, Comment, Favorite and share on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ to get the word out on this video. Saturday June 2 2012 12:03 am If you are interested in becoming a channel sponsor for $1/day for 30 days send a youtube message letting me know.
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan_Recovering_After_Fall_5-23-2012_
Visit: MeTee.com Create and Publish a T-shirt and order for a coupon discount using the link above. MeTee: It's T-Shirt Design done in seconds and Always Free Shipping. - Like on Facebook for Newsfeed Updates: www.facebook.com - Signup for the Daily News Email Subscription: tinyurl.com - Like/Dislike, Comment, Favorite and share on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ to get the word out on this video. Saturday June 2 2012 12:03 am If you are interested in becoming a channel sponsor for $1/day for 30 days send a youtube message letting me know.
- published: 01 Jun 2012
- views: 42
- author: LatestNutrition
First Lady Nancy Reagan - About Marvin Hamlisch
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:13
- Updated: 01 Oct 2012
Statement from former First Lady Nancy Reagan. Read at Marvin Hamlisch's funeral. August 14th, 2012. Temple Emanu-El, New York, NY
http://wn.com/First_Lady_Nancy_Reagan_About_Marvin_Hamlisch
Statement from former First Lady Nancy Reagan. Read at Marvin Hamlisch's funeral. August 14th, 2012. Temple Emanu-El, New York, NY
- published: 24 Aug 2012
- views: 156
- author: Marvin Hamlisch
1983 - Commercial - Nancy Reagan for The Chemical People - Alcohol and Chemical Abuse Epidemic
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:41
- Updated: 02 Oct 2012
Brought to you by www.videoarcheology.com Follow us on Twitter @ http Do you have a favorite memory pertaining to this video artifact? Please share your comments with us. Can you recognize or identify any of the actors or personalities? Please let us know. Do you know any of the creative staff and crew involved in producing this piece? Your comments are welcome. Your meaningful comments contribute to the contextualization and documentation of our cultural history. www.videoarcheology.com - discover, document, digitize, distribute All works presented are © and TM of their respective owners. "Fair Use Law" (17 USC 107 (1988 & Supp. IV 1993). Section 107)
http://wn.com/1983_Commercial_Nancy_Reagan_for_The_Chemical_People_Alcohol_and_Chemical_Abuse_Epidemic
Brought to you by www.videoarcheology.com Follow us on Twitter @ http Do you have a favorite memory pertaining to this video artifact? Please share your comments with us. Can you recognize or identify any of the actors or personalities? Please let us know. Do you know any of the creative staff and crew involved in producing this piece? Your comments are welcome. Your meaningful comments contribute to the contextualization and documentation of our cultural history. www.videoarcheology.com - discover, document, digitize, distribute All works presented are © and TM of their respective owners. "Fair Use Law" (17 USC 107 (1988 & Supp. IV 1993). Section 107)
- published: 01 Jul 2012
- views: 211
- author: videoarcheology3
Ronald and Nancy Reagan admit to using drugs!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:46
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
What the government didn't want you to see and hear!
http://wn.com/Ronald_and_Nancy_Reagan_admit_to_using_drugs!
What the government didn't want you to see and hear!
- published: 02 Jun 2012
- views: 1598
- author: MondoReyTV1
Nancy Reagan's Agony: Avoiding Bone-Breaking Falls
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:29
- Updated: 10 Sep 2012
http://wn.com/Nancy_Reagan's_Agony_Avoiding_Bone-Breaking_Falls
- published: 10 Sep 2012
- views: 48
- author: NewsmaxTV
photo: UN / Shareef Sarhan
02 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Guest Writer Gilad Atzmon. Israel suffered a humiliating defeat at The UN recently. The nations of the world stood up and said NO to the Jewish state - NO to Israeli occupation, NO to Israeli human rights abuse, NO to Jewish racism. In effect, they stood up and confessed to serious Zio-fatigue ... This is a very good news indeed. But interestingly, this united opposition to Israel is not in response to Israeli strength ... ....(size: 2.6Kb)
photo: USAF / Senior Airman Patrice Clarke
02 Dec 2012
There have been "multiple explosions" near an airfield at a US base in eastern Afghanistan, Nato has said. Afghan intelligence officials told the BBC seven suicide attackers targeted the base in Jalalabad, and witnesses said that gunfire was heard ... Counter claims ... There were no Nato casualties in the attack, officials said ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)
photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus
03 Dec 2012
UNITED NATIONS. UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned Sunday that if Israel implemented its latest plan for new settlements it would deal an “almost fatal blow” to any prospects for peace with the Palestinians. Israel’s announcement about the 3,000 Jewish settler homes, whose planned location was not revealed, came in the wake of a historic vote by the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade Palestine’s diplomatic status ... ....(size: 4.2Kb)
photo: AP / Patrick Semansky
02 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. Much like the United States, the Vikings were a paradoxical and duplicitous civilization. Not only were they highly skilled shipbuilders and tremendous explorers, not to mention their expertise in the fishing, farming and trading industries, but they helped establish and contribute to the nation-states of France, England, Ireland, Germany, Russia, and Iceland ... This came to mind when Pfc....(size: 5.5Kb)
photo: AP / Sang Tan, File
03 Dec 2012
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A major U.S. delegation is in Dubai to lead opposition to possible new Internet regulations at a U.N. conference ... and Microsoft Corp. ....(size: 0.9Kb)
Buffalo News
30 Nov 2012
But she has brought a surprise with her ... This does not go over well with her staunchly Republican parents (David Lamb and Barbara Link LaRou), who have struggled since the suicide of their radical leftist son to repair their reputation as modern-day torch-carriers for the Reagan Revolution ... In the interest of maintaining appearances for her circle of elite friends (among whom she counts Nancy Reagan), the implacable Mrs ... email ... ....(size: 4.4Kb)
STL Today
30 Nov 2012
Republicans find themselves in the unenviable position of being forced to agree to raise taxes on those earning more than $200,000 (the actual cut off for those President Barack Obama refers to as "millionaires and billionaires"), or risk being blamed for a tax increase on all taxpaying Americans ... Making the books balance is (obviously) not Obama's goal ... That's his lodestar ... She served as First Lady Nancy Reagan's speechwriter. ....(size: 4.7Kb)
Huffington Post
29 Nov 2012
Bush and first lady Laura Bush salute and wave during an election victory rally at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington ... Bush." It has been fixed.</em>1984 -- Ronald Reagan ... 6, 1984, with first lady Nancy Reagan at his side. (AP Photo/File) 1980 -- Ronald Reagan. President-elect Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy wave to well-wishers on Tuesday, Nov....(size: 9.6Kb)
Daily Press
28 Nov 2012
CHICAGO (Reuters) - To help decorate the White House for the Christmas season this year, President Barack Obama turned to an artist from his hometown ... Nancy Reagan ... Nancy Reagan commissioned decorations from a drug treatment organization in Washington ... Nancie Mills Pipgras, editor of the online magazine "Mosaic Art Now," says she was not surprised Csicsko was chosen for the White House considering "his work is a people magnet." ... ....(size: 7.8Kb)
Huffington Post
28 Nov 2012
WASHINGTON — An independent House panel has concluded that there is substantial reason to believe Rep ... Also on HuffPost. Loading Slideshow. Barack Obama ... Sen ... Former U.S ... Sen ... Bush ... AFP PHOTO /Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)Ronald and Nancy Reagan ... President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan share a laugh in this undated file photo ... (Photo courtesy Ronald Reagan Presidental Library/Getty Images)....(size: 9.6Kb)
Huffington Post
28 Nov 2012
The White House, like the rest of the nation, is already in holiday mode. On Wednesday they sent out images of a bookmark, given to White House tour-goers, that features an illustration of First Dog Bo Obama ... Bo Holiday Bookmarks. Also on HuffPost. Loading Slideshow ... Edward Kennedy, a fan of the breed ... The Reagans originally had a Bouvier des Flandres named Lucky, given to Nancy Reagan by the 1985 March of Dimes poster child Kristen Ellis....(size: 7.6Kb)
The Examiner
27 Nov 2012
Rating for Wu-Block. 4. Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan and Sheek Louch of D-Block have joined forces to form Wu-Block. Wu-Block is also the title of the full-length album that features guest verses from members of Ghost and Sheek’s respective crews ... The crime rhymes continue on a song called ‘Cocaine Central’ ... The rhymes aren’t much better as Sheek spits lines like, “Nancy Reagan making shots for us/TMZ said they saw us.” ... ....(size: 3.0Kb)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
26 Nov 2012
For the past 21/2 years, Marlena Hall, a public relations and marketing professional, has visited Nancy Reagan (not the former first lady, but an aesthetician with about 200 clients) almost weekly ... Reagan isn't a therapist in the clinical sense ... Reagan, who has been in the business for 20 years, speaking from her spa in Delray Beach, Fla....(size: 4.5Kb)
Huffington Post
26 Nov 2012
Bush and first lady Laura Bush salute and wave during an election victory rally at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington ... Bush." It has been fixed.</em>1984 -- Ronald Reagan ... 6, 1984, with first lady Nancy Reagan at his side. (AP Photo/File) 1980 -- Ronald Reagan. President-elect Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy wave to well-wishers on Tuesday, Nov....(size: 13.4Kb)
STL Today
26 Nov 2012
The advice columns of newspapers are good windows into the conscience of a culture. There you will find a field guide to what is considered socially acceptable and unacceptable. One of the advice columnists for the Washington Post, Carolyn Hax, is consistently sensible and solid in her suggestions ... But not always ... They work and live across the country ... A shotgun wedding? Obviously not ... She served as First Lady Nancy Reagan's speechwriter. ....(size: 4.5Kb)
STL Today
26 Nov 2012
Post-election season is a time for healing, for putting aside the rancor of a long campaign and rediscovering what unites us. It has not been that way this year. Prudence, one would think, if not generosity of spirit, should impel Democrats to be magnanimous in victory. Romney did receive about 48 percent of the vote. A little modesty among the winners would seem to be in order ... She served as First Lady Nancy Reagan's speechwriter. ....(size: 4.7Kb)
Huffington Post
26 Nov 2012
If you got sucked into watching "Liz & Dick" on Sunday night, take heart -- you weren't alone ... But hey, it could have been worse ... The 150 guests in attendance included Liza Minnelli, Eddie Murphy, Nancy Reagan, and Brooke Shields, who strained to hear the ceremony as <a href=""http.//www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20111095,00.html"" target="_hplink">paparazzi helicopters</a> hovered overhead ... ....(size: 9.2Kb)
The News & Observer
24 Nov 2012
Email Print Order Reprint Share This. Text. tool name. tool goes here. The Associated Press. The Associated Press. Larry Hagman, whose masterful portrayal of the charmingly loathsome J.R. Ewing on "Dallas" brought him his greatest stardom, has died at the age of 81 ... Text ... Make ... 9, 1985 file photo, first lady Nancy Reagan kisses actor Larry Hagman, playing Santa Claus, at a showing of the holiday decorations at the White House in Washington ... ....(size: 14.5Kb)
| Nancy Reagan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1983 | |
| First Lady of the United States | |
| In office January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 |
|
| Preceded by | Rosalynn Carter |
| Succeeded by | Barbara Bush |
| First Lady of California | |
| In office January 3, 1967 – January 6, 1975 |
|
| Preceded by | Bernice Layne Brown |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Anne Frances Robbins (1921-07-06) July 6, 1921 (age 90) New York City, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Ronald Reagan (m. 1952–2004) |
| Relations | Parents: Kenneth Seymour Robbins, Edith Luckett Davis[1][2] adopted by stepfather Loyal Davis |
| Children | Patti Davis, Ron Reagan |
| Alma mater | Smith College |
| Occupation | Actress, First Lady of the United States |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Signature |  |
Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921) is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
Nancy was born in New York City; her parents divorced soon after her birth and she grew up in Maryland, living with an aunt and uncle while her mother pursued acting jobs. As Nancy Davis, she was an actress in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s, starring in films such as Donovan's Brain, Night into Morning, and Hellcats of the Navy. In 1952 she married Ronald Reagan, who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild, and they had two children. Nancy was the First Lady of California when her husband was Governor from 1967 to 1975. In that capacity, she began work with the Foster Grandparents Program.
Nancy Reagan became First Lady of the United States in January 1981 following her husband's election. She was criticized early in his first term largely due to her decision to replace the White House china, despite it being paid for by private donations. Nancy restored a Kennedy-esque glamor to the White House following years of lax formality, and her interest in high-end fashion garnered much attention, as well as criticism. She championed recreational drug prevention causes by founding the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign, which was considered her major initiative as first lady. Always protective of her husband, more controversy ensued when it was revealed in 1988 that she had consulted an astrologer to assist in planning the president's schedule after the 1981 assassination attempt on her husband. She had a strong influence on her husband and played a role in a few of his personnel and diplomatic decisions.
The Reagans retired to their home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California in 1989. Nancy devoted most of her time to caring for her ailing husband, diagnosed in 1994 with Alzheimer's disease, until his death in 2004. Nancy Reagan has remained active within the Reagan Library and in politics, particularly in support of stem-cell research.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Anne Frances Robbins was born on July 6, 1921,[3][4] at Manhattan's Sloane Hospital for Women in New York,[5][6] as the only child of car salesman Kenneth Seymour Robbins (1894–1972)[7] and his actress wife, Edith Luckett (1888–1987).[1][2][8] Her godmother was silent-film-star Alla Nazimova.[9] She lived her first two years in Flushing, Queens, in New York.[10] While her parents divorced soon after her birth, they had already been separated for some time.[11] As her mother traveled the country to pursue acting jobs, Nancy was raised in Bethesda, Maryland for the next six years by her aunt Virginia and uncle Audley Gailbraith.[12] Nancy describes longing for her mother during those years: "My favorite times were when Mother had a job in New York, and Aunt Virgie would take me by train to stay with her."[13]
In 1929, her mother married Loyal Davis (1896–1982), a prominent, politically conservative neurosurgeon who moved the family to Chicago.[3] Nancy and her stepfather got along very well;[14] she would later write that he was "a man of great integrity who exemplified old-fashioned values".[15] He formally adopted her in 1935,[3] and she would always refer to him as her father.[14] At the time of the adoption, her name was legally changed to Nancy Davis (since birth, she had commonly been called Nancy).[11] She attended the Girls' Latin School of Chicago (describing herself as an average student), graduated in 1939, and later attended Smith College in Massachusetts, where she majored in English and drama and graduated in 1943.[8][16]
Acting career[link]
Following her graduation, Davis held jobs in Chicago as a sales clerk in Marshall Field's department store and as a nurse's aide.[8] With the help of her mother's colleagues in theatre, including Zasu Pitts, Walter Huston, and Spencer Tracy,[14] she pursued a career as a professional actress. She first gained a part in Pitts' 1945 road tour of Ramshackle Inn,[3][8] moving to New York City. She landed the role of Si-Tchun, a lady-in-waiting,[17] in the 1946 Broadway musical about the Orient, Lute Song, starring Mary Martin and a pre-stardom Yul Brynner.[8] The show's producer told her, "You look like you could be Chinese."[18]
After passing a screen test,[8] she moved to California and signed a seven-year contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) in 1949;[3] she later remarked, "Joining Metro was like walking into a dream world."[19] Her combination of attractive appearance – centered around her large eyes – and somewhat distant and understated manner made her hard at first for MGM to cast and publicize.[20] Davis appeared in 11 feature films, usually typecast as a "loyal housewife",[21] "responsible young mother", or "the steady woman".[22] Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron, and Janet Leigh were among those that she competed with for roles at MGM.[20]
Davis' film career began with minor roles in 1949's The Doctor and the Girl with Glenn Ford, and followed with East Side, West Side starring Barbara Stanwyck.[23] She played a child psychiatrist in the film noir Shadow on the Wall (1950) with Ann Sothern and Zachary Scott; her performance was called "beautiful and convincing" by New York Times critic A. H. Weiler.[24] She co-starred in 1950's The Next Voice You Hear..., playing a pregnant housewife who hears the voice of God from her radio. Influential reviewer Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that "Nancy Davis [is] delightful as [a] gentle, plain, and understanding wife."[25] In 1951, Davis appeared in her favorite screen role,[26] Night Into Morning, a study of bereavement starring Ray Milland. Crowther said that Davis "does nicely as the fiancée who is widowed herself and knows the loneliness of grief,"[27] while another noted critic, The Washington Post's Richard L. Coe, said Davis "is splendid as the understanding widow."[28] MGM released Davis from her contract in 1952;[29] she sought a broader range of parts,[30] but also married Reagan, keeping her professional name as Davis, and had her first child that year.[29] She soon starred in the 1953 science fiction film Donovan's Brain; Crowther said that Davis, playing the role of a possessed scientist's "sadly baffled wife", "walked through it all in stark confusion" in an "utterly silly" film.[31] In her next-to-last movie, Hellcats of the Navy (1957), she played nurse Lieutenant Helen Blair and shared the screen for the only time with her husband, playing what one critic called "a housewife who came along for the ride".[32] Another reviewer, however, stated that Davis plays her part well, and "does well with what she has to work with".[33]
Garry Wills believes that Davis was underrated as an actress overall because her constrained part in Hellcats was her most widely seen performance.[22] In addition, Davis downplayed her Hollywood goals: MGM promotional material in 1949 said that her "greatest ambition" was to have a "successful happy marriage"; decades later, in 1975, she would say, "I was never really a career woman but [became one] only because I hadn't found the man I wanted to marry. I couldn't sit around and do nothing, so I became an actress."[22] Ronald Reagan biographer Lou Cannon nevertheless characterized her as a "reliable" and "solid" performer who held her own in performances with better-known actors.[22] After her final film, Davis appeared for a brief time as a guest star in television dramas such as Wagon Train and The Tall Man until 1962, when she retired as an actress.[23][34] During her career, Davis served on the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild for nearly ten years.[35] Decades later, Albert Brooks attempted to coax her out of acting retirement by offering her the title role opposite himself in his 1996 film Mother.[36] She declined in order to care for her husband, and Debbie Reynolds played the part.[36]
Marriage and family[link]
File:Ronald and Nancy Reagan Newlyweds.JPG
Newlyweds Ronald and Nancy Reagan, March 4, 1952
During her Hollywood career Davis dated many actors, including Clark Gable, Robert Stack, and Peter Lawford;[29] she later called Gable the nicest of the stars she had met.[14] On November 15, 1949, she met Ronald Reagan,[37] who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild. Nancy had noticed that her name had appeared on the Hollywood blacklist and sought Reagan's help to maintain her employment as a guild actress in Hollywood, and for assistance in having her name removed from the list.[14] Reagan informed her that she had been confused with another actress of the same name.[14] The two began dating and their relationship was the subject of many gossip columns; one Hollywood press account described their nightclub-free times together as "the romance of a couple who have no vices".[37] Ronald Reagan was skeptical about marriage, however, following his painful 1948 divorce from Jane Wyman, and he still saw other women.[37] After three years of dating, he eventually proposed to Davis in the couple's favorite booth at the Beverly Hills restaurant Chasen's.[37] They married on March 4, 1952 in a simple ceremony designed to avoid the press[38] at the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. The only people in attendance were actor William Holden, the best man, and his wife, actress Brenda Marshall, the matron of honor.[37][39] The couple's first child, Patricia Ann Reagan (better known by her professional name, Patti Davis), was born on October 21, 1952. Their son, Ronald Prescott Reagan, was born six years later on May 20, 1958. Nancy Reagan also became stepmother to Maureen Reagan (1941–2001) and Michael Reagan (born 1945), the children of her husband's first marriage to Jane Wyman.
Observers described Ronald and Nancy Reagan's relationship as intimate.[40] As president and first lady, the Reagans were reported to display their affection frequently, with one press secretary noting, "They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting."[41][42] Ronald often called Nancy "Mommy"; she called him "Ronnie".[42] While the President was recuperating in the hospital after the 1981 assassination attempt, Nancy Reagan wrote in her diary, "Nothing can happen to my Ronnie. My life would be over."[43] In a letter to Nancy, Ronald wrote, "whatever I treasure and enjoy ... all would be without meaning if I didn’t have you."[44] In 1998, while her husband was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, Nancy told Vanity Fair, "Our relationship is very special. We were very much in love and still are. When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did. I can't imagine life without him."[41] Nancy was known for the focused and attentive look, termed "the Gaze", that she fastened upon her husband during his speeches and appearances.[45] President Reagan's death in June 2004 ended what Charlton Heston called "the greatest love affair in the history of the American Presidency."[41]
Nancy's relationship with her children was not always as close as that with her husband. She frequently quarreled with her biological children and her stepchildren. Her relationship with Patti was the most contentious; Patti flouted American conservatism and rebelled against her parents by joining the nuclear freeze movement and authoring many anti-Reagan books.[46] The nearly 20 years of family feuding left her very much estranged from both her mother and father.[47] Soon after her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Patti and her mother reconciled and began to speak on a daily basis.[48] Nancy's disagreements with Michael were also public matters; in 1984, she was quoted as saying that the two were in an "estrangement right now". Michael responded that Nancy was trying to cover up for the fact she had not met his daughter, Ashley, who had been born nearly a year earlier.[49] They too eventually made peace. Nancy was thought to be closest to her stepdaughter Maureen during the White House years, but each of the Reagan children experienced periods of estrangement from their parents.[41]
First Lady of California, 1967–1975[link]
Reagan was First Lady of California during her husband's two terms as governor. She disliked living in Sacramento, which lacked the excitement, social life, and mild climate to which she was accustomed in Los Angeles.[50] She first attracted controversy early in 1967, when, after four months' residence in the California Governor's Mansion in Sacramento, she moved her family into a wealthy suburb because fire officials had labeled the mansion as a "firetrap".[51] Though the Reagans leased the new house at their expense,[50] the move was viewed as snobbish. Nancy defended her actions as being for the good of her family, a judgment with which her husband readily agreed.[50][51] Friends of the family later helped support the cost of the leased house, while Nancy Reagan supervised construction of a new ranch-style governor's residence in nearby Carmichael.[52] The new residence was finished just as Ronald Reagan left office in 1975, but his successor, Jerry Brown, refused to live there. It was sold in 1982, and California governors have been living in improvised arrangements ever since.[52]
In 1967, Nancy Reagan was appointed by her husband to the California Arts Commission,[53] and a year later was named Los Angeles Times' Woman of the Year; in its profile, the Times labeled her "A Model First Lady".[54] Her glamour, style, and youthfulness made her a frequent subject for press photographers.[55] As first lady, Reagan visited veterans, the elderly, and the handicapped, and worked with a number of charities. She became quite involved with the Foster Grandparents Program,[56] helping to popularize it in the United States, then in Australia.[57] She later expanded her work with the organization after arriving in Washington,[56] and wrote about her experiences in her 1982 book To Love a Child.[58] The Reagans held dinners for former POWs and Vietnam War veterans while governor and first lady.[59]
Role in 1976 and 1980 presidential campaigns[link]
Main articles: United States presidential election, 1976 and United States presidential election, 1980
Governor Reagan's term ended in 1975, and he did not run for a third; instead, he met with advisors to discuss a possible bid for the presidency in 1976, challenging incumbent President Gerald Ford. Reagan still needed to convince a reluctant Nancy before running, however.[60] She feared for her husband's health and his career as a whole, though she felt that he was the right man for the job and eventually approved.[61] Nancy took on a more traditional role in the campaign, holding coffees, luncheons, and talks with senior citizens.[61] With that, she oversaw personnel, monitored her husband's schedule, and occasionally provided press conferences.[62] The 1976 campaign included the so-called "battle of the queens", contrasting Nancy with First Lady Betty Ford. They both spoke out over the course of the campaign on similar issues, but with different approaches.[63] Nancy was particularly upset by the warmonger image that the Ford campaign had drawn of her husband.[61]
Though he lost the 1976 Republican nomination, Reagan ran again for the presidency in 1980 and succeeded in winning the nomination and election. During this second campaign, Nancy played a very prominent role and her management of staff became more apparent.[62] She arranged a meeting among feuding campaign managers John Sears and Michael Deaver and her husband, which resulted in Deaver leaving the campaign and Sears being given full control. After the Reagan camp lost the Iowa caucus and fell behind in New Hampshire polls, Nancy organized a second meeting and decided it was time to fire Sears and his associates; she gave Sears a copy of the press release announcing his dismissal.[62] Her influence on her husband became particularly notable; her presence at rallies, luncheons, and receptions increased his confidence.[64]
First Lady of the United States, 1981–1989[link]
White House glamour[link]
Renovation[link]
Nancy Reagan became the First Lady of the United States when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president in January 1981. Early in her husband's presidency, Reagan stated her desire to create a more suitable "first home" in the White House, as the building had fallen into a state of disrepair following years of neglect.[65] White House aide Michael Deaver described the second and third floor family residence as having "cracked plaster walls, chipped paint [and] beaten up floors;"[66] rather than use government funds to renovate and redecorate, she sought private donations.[8] In 1981, Nancy directed a major renovation of several White House rooms, including all of the second and third floors[67] and rooms adjacent to the Oval Office, including the press briefing room.[68] The renovation included repainting walls, refinishing floors, repairing fireplaces, and replacing antique pipes, windows, and wires.[66] The closet in the master bedroom was converted into a beauty parlor and dressing room, and the West bedroom was made into a small gymnasium.[69]
The first lady secured the assistance of renowned interior designer Ted Graber, popular with affluent West Coast social figures, to redecorate the family living quarters.[70] A Chinese-pattern, handpainted wallpaper was added to the master bedroom.[71] Family furniture was placed in the president's private study.[70] The first lady and her designer retrieved a number of White House antiques, which had been in storage, and placed them throughout the mansion.[70]
The extensive redecoration was paid for by private donations.[8][70] Many significant and long-lasting changes occurred as a result of the renovation and refurbishment, of which Nancy Reagan said, "This house belongs to all Americans, and I want it to be something of which they can be proud."[70] The renovations received some criticisms for being funded by tax-deductible donations, meaning some of it eventually did indirectly come from the tax-paying public.[72]
Fashion[link]
Another of Nancy Reagan's trademarks was her interest in fashion. While her husband was still president-elect, press reports speculated about Nancy's social life and interest in fashion.[73][74][75] In many press accounts, Nancy's sense of style was favorably compared to that of previous First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.[76] Friends and those close to her remarked that, while fashionable like Kennedy, she would be different than other first ladies; close friend Harriet Deutsch was quoted as saying, "Nancy has her own imprint."[74]
Nancy Reagan's wardrobe consisted of dresses, gowns, and suits made by luxury designers, including James Galanos, Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta. Her white, hand-beaded, one shoulder Galanos 1981 inaugural gown was estimated to cost $10,000[77] while the overall price of her inaugural wardrobe was said to cost $25,000.[78] She favored the color red, calling it "a picker-upper", and wore it accordingly.[77] Her wardrobe included red so often that the fire-engine shade became known as "Reagan red".[79] She employed two private hairdressers who would style her hair on a regular basis in the White House.[80]
Fashion designers were pleased with the emphasis Nancy Reagan placed on clothing.[78] Adolfo said the first lady embodied an "elegant, affluent, well-bred, chic American look",[78] while Bill Blass commented, "I don't think there's been anyone in the White House since Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who has her flair."[78] William Fine, president of cosmetic company Frances Denney, noted that she "stays in style, but she doesn't become trendy."[78]
Though her elegant fashions and wardrobe were hailed as a "glamorous paragon of chic",[78] they were also controversial subjects. In 1982, she revealed that she had accepted thousands of dollars in clothing, jewelry, and other gifts, but defended her actions by stating that she had borrowed the clothes and that they would either be returned or donated to museums,[77][81] and that she was promoting the American fashion industry.[82] Facing criticism, she soon said she would no longer accept such loans.[82] While often buying her clothes, she continued to borrow and sometimes keep designer clothes throughout her time as first lady, which came to light in 1988.[83] None of this had been included on financial disclosure forms;[83] the non-reporting of loans under $10,000 in liability was in violation of a voluntary agreement the White House had made in 1982, while not reporting more valuable loans or clothes not returned was a possible violation of the Ethics in Government Act.[83][84][85] Nancy expressed through her press secretary "regrets that she failed to heed counsel's advice" on disclosing them.[85]
Despite the controversy, many designers who allowed her to borrow clothing noted that the arrangement was good for their businesses[83] as well as for the American fashion industry overall.[86] In 1989, Nancy was honored at the annual gala awards dinner of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, during which she received the council's lifetime achievement award.[87] Barbara Walters said of her, "She has served every day for eight long years the word 'style.'"[87]
Elegance and formality[link]
Approximately a year into her husband's first term, Nancy Reagan explored the idea of ordering new state china service for the White House.[88] A full china service had not been purchased since the Truman administration in the 1940s, as only a partial service was ordered in the Johnson administration.[88] She was quoted as saying, "The White House really badly, badly needs china."[88] Working with Lenox, the primary porcelain manufacturer in America, the first lady chose a design scheme of a red with etched gold band, bordering the scarlet and cream colored ivory plates with a raised presidential seal etched in gold in the center.[88] The full service comprised 4,370 pieces, with 19 pieces per individual set.[88] The service totaled $209,508.[89] Although it was paid for by private donations, some from the private Knapp Foundation, the purchase generated quite a controversy, for it was ordered at a time when the nation was undergoing an economic recession.[90]
The new china, White House renovations, expensive clothing, and her attendance at the wedding of Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales,[91] gave her an aura of being "out of touch" with the American people during an economic recession.[8] This and her taste for splendor inspired the derogatory nickname "Queen Nancy".[8] While Jacqueline Kennedy had also faced some press criticism for her spending habits, Reagan's treatment was much more consistent and negative.[76] In an attempt to deflect the criticism, she self-deprecatingly donned a baglady costume at the 1982 Gridiron Dinner and sang "Second-Hand Clothes", mimicking the song "Second-Hand Rose".[92] The skit helped to restore her reputation.[93]
Nancy Reagan reflected on the criticisms in her 1989 autobiography, My Turn. Reagan describes lunching with former Democratic National Committee chairman Robert Strauss, wherein Strauss said to her, "When you first came to town, Nancy, I didn't like you at all. But after I got to know you, I changed my mind and said, 'She's some broad!'" Nancy responded, "Bob, based on the press reports I read then, I wouldn't have liked me either!"[94]
After the presidencies of Gerald Ford (who favored the Michigan fight song over "Hail to the Chief") and Jimmy Carter (who dramatically reduced the formality of presidential functions), Nancy brought a Kennedy-esque glamour back into the White House.[77][95] She hosted 56 state dinners over eight years, compared to six by George and Laura Bush.[96] She remarked that hosting the dinners is "the easiest thing in the world. You don't have to do anything. Just have a good time and do a little business. And that's the way Washington works."[96] In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev became the first Soviet leader to visit Washington, D.C. since Nikita Khrushchev in 1959, and Nancy Reagan was in charge of planning and hosting the important and highly anticipated state dinner.[97] After the meal, Nancy recruited pianist Van Cliburn to sing a rendition of "Moscow Nights" for the Soviet delegation, to which Mikhail and Raisa broke out into song.[98] Former Secretary of State George Shultz commented on the evening, saying "We felt the ice of the Cold War crumbling."[99] Nancy concluded, "It was a perfect ending for one of the great evenings of my husband's presidency."[100]
Just Say No[link]
Main article: Just Say No
Nancy Reagan launched the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign in 1982, which was her primary project and major initiative as first lady.[8] Nancy first became aware of the need to educate young people about drugs during a 1980 campaign stop in Daytop Village, New York.[101] She remarked in 1981 that "Understanding what drugs can do to your children, understanding peer pressure and understanding why they turn to drugs is... the first step in solving the problem."[101] Her campaign focused on drug education and informing the youth of the danger of drug abuse.[101]
In 1982, Nancy Reagan was asked by a schoolgirl what to do when offered drugs; Nancy responded "Just say no".[102][103] The phrase proliferated in the popular culture of the 1980s and was eventually adopted as the name of club organizations and school anti-drug programs.[8] Reagan became actively involved by traveling more than 250,000 miles (400,000 km) throughout the United States and several nations, visiting drug abuse prevention programs and drug rehabilitation centers. She also appeared on television talk shows, recorded public service announcements, and wrote guest articles.[8] She appeared in an episode of the hit television drama Dynasty to underscore support for the anti-drug campaign. As she continued to promote "Just Say No", she appeared in an episode of the popular 1980s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes[104] and in a 1985 rock music video, "Stop the Madness".[105] When asked about her campaign, the first lady remarked, "If you can save just one child, it's worth it."[106]
In 1985, Nancy expanded the campaign to an international level by inviting the First Ladies of various nations to the White House for a conference on drug abuse.[8] On October 27, 1986, President Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill into law, which granted $1.7 billion in funding to fight the crisis and ensured a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses.[107] Although the bill was criticized by some, Nancy Reagan considered it a personal victory.[8] In 1988, she became the first First Lady invited to address the United Nations General Assembly, where she spoke on international drug interdiction and trafficking laws.[8]
Critics of Reagan's efforts questioned their purpose[108] and argued that the program did not go far enough in addressing many social issues, including unemployment, poverty, and family dissolution;[108] Nancy's approach to promoting drug awareness was labeled as simplistic by liberal critics.[65] Nonetheless, a number of "Just Say No" clubs and organizations remain in operation around the country, and they aim to educate children and teenagers about the effects of drugs.[101]
Her husband's protector[link]
Nancy Reagan assumed the role of unofficial "protector" for her husband after the attempted assassination on his life in 1981.[109] On March 30 of that year, President Reagan and three others were shot as they left the Washington Hilton Hotel. Nancy was alerted and arrived at George Washington University Hospital, where the President was hospitalized. She recalled having seen "emergency rooms before, but I had never seen one like this—with my husband in it."[110] She was escorted into a waiting room, and when granted access to see her husband, he quipped to her, "Honey, I forgot to duck", borrowing the defeated boxer Jack Dempsey's jest to his wife.[111]
An early example of her protective nature occurred when Senator Strom Thurmond entered the President's hospital room that day in March, passing the Secret Service detail by claiming he was the President's "close friend", presumably to acquire media attention.[112] Nancy was outraged and demanded he leave.[43] While the president recuperated in the hospital, the first lady slept with one of his shirts to be comforted by the scent.[43] When Reagan was released from the hospital on April 12, she escorted him back to the White House.
Press accounts framed Nancy as her husband's "chief protector", an extension of their general initial framing of her as a helpmate and a Cold War domestic ideal.[113]
Influence in the White House[link]
Nancy stated in her memoirs, "I felt panicky every time [Ronald] left the White House"[114] following the assassination attempt, and made it her concern to know her husband's schedule: the events he would be attending, and with whom.[8] Eventually, this protectiveness led to her consulting an astrologer, Joan Quigley, who offered insight on which days were "good", "neutral", or should be avoided, which influenced her husband's White House schedule.[115] Days were color-coded according to the astrologer's advice to discern precisely which days and times would be optimal for the president's safety and success.[8] The White House Chief of Staff, Donald Regan, grew frustrated with this regimen, which created friction between him and the First Lady. This escalated with the revelation of the Iran-Contra affair, an administration scandal, in which the First Lady felt Regan was damaging the president.[116] She thought he should resign, and expressed this to her husband although he did not share her view. Regan wanted President Reagan to address the Iran-Contra matter in early 1987 by means of a press conference, though Nancy refused to allow Reagan to overexert himself due to a recent prostate surgery and astrological warnings.[117] Regan became so angry with Nancy that he hung up on her during a 1987 telephone conversation. According to former ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson, when the President heard of this treatment, he demanded—and eventually received—Regan's resignation.[118] In his 1988 memoirs, Regan wrote about Nancy's consultations with the astrologer, the first public mention of them, which resulted in embarrassment for the First Lady.[119] Nancy later wrote, "Astrology was simply one of the ways I coped with the fear I felt after my husband almost died... Was astrology one of the reasons [further attempts did not occur]? I don't really believe it was, but I don't really believe it wasn't."[120]
Nancy Reagan wielded a powerful influence over President Reagan.[121] Again stemming from the assassination attempt, she strictly controlled access to the president and even occasionally attempted to influence her husband's decision making.[121][122]
Beginning in 1985, Nancy strongly encouraged her husband to hold "summit" conferences with Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev, and suggested they form a personal relationship beforehand.[8] Both Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev had developed a productive relationship through their summit negotiations. The relationship between Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev was anything but the friendly, diplomatic one between their husbands; Nancy found Raisa hard to converse with and their relationship was described as "frosty".[123] The two women usually had tea, and discussed differences between the USSR and the United States. Visiting the U.S. for the first time in 1987, Raisa irked Reagan with lectures on subjects ranging from architecture to socialism, reportedly prompting the American President's wife to quip, "Who does that dame think she is?"[124]
Press framing of Nancy changed from that of just helpmate and protector to someone with hidden power.[125] As the image of her as a political interloper grew, she sought to explicitly deny that she was the power behind the throne.[125] At the end of her time as First Lady, however, she said that her husband had not been well-served by his staff.[125][126] She acknowledged her role in reaction in influencing him on personnel decisions, saying "In no way do I apologize for it."[126] She wrote in her memoirs, "I don't think I was as bad, or as extreme in my power or my weakness, as I was depicted,"[127] but went on, "[H]owever the first lady fits in, she has a unique and important role to play in looking after her husband. And it's only natural that she'll let him know what she thinks. I always did that for Ronnie, and I always will."[128]
Breast cancer[link]
In October 1987, a mammogram detected a lesion in Nancy Reagan's left breast and she was subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer. She chose to undergo a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy[129] and the breast was removed on October 17, 1987. Ten days after the operation, her mother, Edith Luckett Davis, died in Phoenix, Arizona, leading Nancy to dub the period "a terrible month".[130]
After the surgery, more women across the country had mammograms, an example of the influence the First Lady possesses.[131]
Later life[link]
Though Nancy was a controversial First Lady, 56 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of her when her husband left office on January 20, 1989, with 18 percent having an unfavorable opinion and the balance not giving an opinion.[132] Compared to fellow First Ladies when their husbands left office, Reagan's approval was higher than those of Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Rodham Clinton, however she was less popular than Barbara Bush and her disapproval rating was double that of Carter's.[132]
Upon leaving the White House, the couple returned to California, where they purchased a home in the wealthy East Gate Old Bel Air neighborhood of Bel Air, Los Angeles,[133][134] dividing their time between Bel Air and the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California; Ronald and Nancy regularly attended Bel Air Presbyterian Church as well.[135] After leaving Washington, Nancy made numerous public appearances, many on behalf of her husband. She continues to reside at the Bel Air home, where she lived with her husband until his death on June 5, 2004.[136]
Early post-White House activities[link]
In late 1989, the former First Lady established the Nancy Reagan Foundation, which aimed to continue to educate people about the dangers of substance abuse.[137] The Foundation teamed with the BEST Foundation For A Drug-Free Tomorrow in 1994, and developed the Nancy Reagan Afterschool Program. She continued to travel around the nation, speaking out against drug and alcohol abuse. After President Reagan revealed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, she made herself his primary caregiver and became actively involved with the National Alzheimer's Association and its affiliate, the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute in Chicago, Illinois.[8]
| “ | Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him.[121] | ” |
|
—Nancy Reagan, May 2004 |
||
Also in 1989 she published My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan, which gives an account of her life in the White House, speaking openly about her influence within the Reagan administration and discussing the myths and controversies that surrounded the couple.[138] In 1991, the controversial author Kitty Kelley wrote an unauthorized and largely uncited biography about Nancy Reagan, repeating accounts of a poor relationship with her children and introducing rumors of alleged sexual relations with singer Frank Sinatra. A wide range of sources commented that Kelley's largely unsupported claims are most likely false.[139][140][141][142]
In 1989 the Internal Revenue Service began investigating the Reagans for whether they owed additional tax on the gifts and loans of high-fashion clothes and jewelry to Nancy during their time in the White House[143] (recipients benefiting from the display of such items recognize taxable income even if they are returned).[143] In 1992 the IRS determined the Reagans had failed to include some $3 million worth of fashion items between 1983 and 1988 on their tax returns;[144] they were billed for a large amount of back taxes and interest, which was subsequently paid.[144]
Nancy Reagan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush on July 9, 2002.[145] President Reagan received his own Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 1993. Nancy and her husband were jointly awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on May 16, 2002 at the Capitol, and were only the third President and First Lady to receive it; she accepted the medal on behalf of both of them.[146]
Ronald Reagan's funeral[link]
Further information: Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan died in their Bel Air home on June 5, 2004.[136] During the seven-day state funeral, Nancy, accompanied by her children and military escort, led the nation in mourning[147] by keeping a strong composure,[148] traveling from her home to the Reagan Library for a memorial service, then to Washington, D.C., where her husband's body lay in state for 34 hours prior to a national funeral service in the Washington National Cathedral.[149] She returned to the library in California for a sunset memorial service and interment, where, overcome with emotion, she lost her composure, crying in public for the first time during the week.[148][150] After accepting the folded flag, she kissed the casket and mouthed "I love you" before leaving.[151] Journalist Wolf Blitzer said of Reagan during the week, "She's a very, very strong woman, even though she looks frail."[152]
She had directed the detailed planning of the funeral,[148] including ordering all the major events and asking former President George H. W. Bush as well as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to speak during the National Cathedral Service.[148] She paid very close attention to the details, something she had always done in her husband's life. Betsy Bloomingdale, one of Reagan's closest friends, stated, "She looks a little frail. But she is very strong inside. She is. She has the strength. She is doing her last thing for Ronnie. And she is going to get it right."[148] The funeral marked Reagan's first major public appearance since delivering a speech to the 1996 Republican National Convention on her husband's behalf.[148]
The funeral had a great impact on Reagan's public image. Following substantial criticism during her tenure as first lady, she was seen somewhat as a national heroine, praised by many for supporting and caring for her husband while he suffered from Alzheimer's disease.[121] U.S. News & World Report opined, "after a decade in the shadows, a different, softer Nancy Reagan emerged."[153]
Life after Ronald[link]
Reagan has remained active in politics, particularly relating to stem cell research. Beginning in 2004, she favored what many consider to be the Democratic Party's position, and urged President George W. Bush to support federally funded embryonic stem cell research in the hope that this science could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease.[154] Although she failed to change the president's position, she did support his campaign for a second term.[155]
In 2005, Reagan was honored at a gala dinner at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. where guests included Dick Cheney, Harry Reid and Condoleezza Rice.[156] It was her first major public appearance since the funeral. Asked what her future plans were, Reagan shook her head and responded, "I don't know. I'll know when I'll know. But the [Reagan] library is Ronnie, so that's where I spend my time."[156]
In 2007, she attended the national funeral service for Gerald Ford in the Washington National Cathedral. Nancy Reagan hosted two 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debates at the Reagan Presidential Library, the first in May 2007 and the second in January 2008. While she did not participate in the discussions, she sat in the front row and listened as the men vying to become the nation's 44th president claimed to be a rightful successor to her husband.[157][158][159] Though some speculation arose as to whether Reagan might support New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a presidential bid,[160][161] nothing came of it. She formally endorsed Senator John McCain, then the presumptive Republican party nominee, for president on March 25.[162]
She attended the funeral of Lady Bird Johnson in Austin, Texas on July 14, 2007[163] and three days later accepted the highest Polish distinction, the Order of the White Eagle, on behalf of Ronald Reagan at the Reagan Library. The Reagan Library opened the temporary exhibit "Nancy Reagan: A First Lady's Style", which displayed over eighty designer dresses belonging to the first lady.[164][165]
Nancy Reagan's health and well-being became a prominent concern in 2008. In February she suffered a fall at her Bel Air home and was taken to St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Doctors reported that she did not break a hip as feared and she was released from the hospital two days later.[166] News commentators noted that Reagan's step had slowed significantly, as the following month she walked in very slow strides with John McCain.[167] NBC's Brian Williams, who attended a dinner with Reagan in mid-2008, recalled, "Mrs. Reagan's vision isn't what it always was so she was taking very halting steps as a lot of folks her age do... [I]t is so important for folks in her age bracket and in her bracket of life to remain upright and captain of their own ship. She very much is captain of her own ship."[167] As for her mental ability, Williams remarked, "She's as sharp as ever and enjoys a robust life with her friends in California, but [falling] is always a danger of course. She's a very stoic, hardy person full of joy and excitement for life... She is not without opinions on politics and political types these days... She is, as most of her friends described her, a pistol."[167]
In October 2008, Reagan was admitted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after falling at home. Doctors determined that the 87-year-old had fractured her pelvis and sacrum and could recuperate at home with a regimen of physical therapy.[168] As a result of her mishap, medical articles were published containing information on how to prevent falls.[169][170] In January 2009, Reagan was said to be "improving every day and starting to get out more and more."[171]
In March 2009 she praised President Barack Obama for reversing the ban on federally funded embryonic stem cell research.[172] She traveled to Washington, D.C. in June 2009 to unveil a statue of her late husband in the Capitol Rotunda.[173] She was also on hand as President Obama signed the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act and lunched privately with Michelle Obama.[174] Nancy revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that Michelle Obama had telephoned her for advice on living and entertaining in the White House.[175] Following the August 2009 death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, she said she was "terribly saddened ... Given our political differences, people are sometimes surprised how close Ronnie and I have been to the Kennedy family. ... I will miss him."[176]
Filmography[link]
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She also made a number of television appearances from 1953 through 1962, as a guest star in dramatic shows or installments of anthology series.[34] Her first appearance with Ronald Reagan came in one of the latter, Ford Theatre, during a 1953 episode titled "First Born".
Footnotes[link]
- ^ a b Edith Luckett at Internet Movie Database
- ^ a b Edith Luckett at Internet Broadway Database
- ^ a b c d e "Nancy Reagan > Her Life & Times". Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Archived from the original on October 24, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061024063625/http://www.reaganlibrary.com/reagan/nancy/nancy_bio.asp. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ^ When Nancy Davis signed with MGM, she gave her birth date as July 6, 1923, shaving two years off her age, a common practice in Hollywood (see Cannon, Governor Reagan, p. 75). This caused subsequent confusion as some sources would continue to use the incorrect birth year.
- ^ Powling, Anne; John O'Connor, Geoff Barton (1997). New Oxford English. Oxford University Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-19-831192-3.
- ^ Some sources and websites erroneously list her as either being born in Flushing or being raised in Manhattan.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 66
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "First Lady Biography: Nancy Reagan". National First Ladies Library. http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=41. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
- ^ Wills (1987), p. 182
- ^ Gonzalez, David (1991-04-12). "Talk and More Talk About Nancy (That One!) in Flushing". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DE123CF931A25757C0A967958260. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ^ a b Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 67
- ^ "The 'just say no' first lady". MSNBC. February 18, 2004. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4297405. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 71
- ^ a b c d e f Weymouth, Lally (1980-10-26). "The Biggest Role of Nancy's Life" (fee required). The New York Times Magazine. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70F1FF9395C17728DDDAF0A94D8415B8084F1D3. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 74
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 82
- ^ "Lute Song". Internet Broadway Database. http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=1771. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 85
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 88
- ^ a b Metzger, Robert Paul (1989), pp. 31–32
- ^ "Biography for Nancy Davis". Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. 2007. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?participantId=45332%7C115968&afiPersonalNameId=null. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ a b c d Cannon, Lou (2003), pp. 75–76
- ^ a b c "Nancy Reagan > Her Films". Ronald Reagan Foundation. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070812232914/http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/nancy/films.asp. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ A. H. Weiler (credited as "A. W.") (1950-05-19). "Another View of Psychiatrist's Task". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70F1FF83E5D147B93CBA8178ED85F448585F9. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ Bosley Crowther (1950-06-30). "'The Next Voice You Hear ...', Dore Schary Production, Opens at Music Hall". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FB0B14F93D5C127A93C2AA178DD85F448585F9. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 91
- ^ Bosley Crowther (1951-06-11). "'Night Into Morning,' Starring Ray Milland as a Bereaved Professor, at Loew's State". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA081EFA3855177B93C3A8178DD85F458585F9. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ Richard L. Coe (1951-06-09). "'Night Into Morning' Is Almost Excellent" (Registration required). The Washington Post. http://proquest.umi.com/pdf/fa58d77382f20db57572666f678f207a/1202604554/share2/pqimage/hnirs3/20080209191917226/27518/out.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ a b c Metzger, Robert Paul (1989), p. 33
- ^ Wills (1987), p. 184.
- ^ Bosley Crowther (1954-01-21). "' Donovan's Brain,' Science-Fiction Thriller, Has Premiere at the Criterion Theatre". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00A12FC3A5A117A93C3AB178AD85F408585F9. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
- ^ Erickson, Glenn (2003). "Hellcats of the Navy, review one". Kleinman.com Inc. http://www.toptenreviews.com/scripts/eframe/url.htm?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dvdtalk.com%2Fdvdsavant%2Fs808hell.html. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ Harper, Erick (2003). "Hellcats Of The Navy, review two". DVDVerdict. http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/hellcatsnavy.php. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ a b "Nancy Davis". The Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004864/. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
- ^ "Screen Actors Guild Presidents". Screen Actors Guild. http://www.sag.org/ronald-reagan. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ a b Lambert, Pat (1997-01-27). "To The Top". People. http://www.albertbrooks.com/1997/01/to-the-top/. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ a b c d e Cannon, Lou (2003), pp. 77–78
- ^ "Noteworthy places in Reagan's life". The Baltimore Sun. 2004-06-05. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/golf/sns-ap-reagan-places,0,1844441.story?page=2. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ "First Ladies: Nancy Reagan". The White House. http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/nr40.html. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 296
- ^ a b c d "End of a Love Story". BBC News. June 5, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/265714.stm. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
- ^ a b Berry, Deborah Barfield (June 6, 2004). "By Reagan's Side, but her own person". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usnanc063835985jun06,0,3872519.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
- ^ a b c Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 284
- ^ "Reagan Love Story". NBC News. June 9, 2004. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4201869/. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- ^ "Up Next for Nancy Reagan: tending her Ronnie's flame". St. Petersburg Times. June 13, 2004. http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/13/Worldandnation/Up_next_for_Nancy_Rea.shtml. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ Wolf, Julie (2000). "The Reagan Children". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/peopleevents/pande05.html. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ Couric, Katie (November 14, 2004). "Reagan daughter shares her story". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6478080/. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ "Road To A Reconciliation". CBS. March 27, 2009. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/27/sunday/main4898395.shtml?source=RSS&attr=_4898395. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), pp. 148–149
- ^ a b c Cannon, Lou (2003), p. 233
- ^ a b Reagan, Nancy (1989), pp. 135–137
- ^ a b Charlie LeDuff (2004-11-19). "Forget the White House, Schwarzenegger Needs Digs Now". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/19/national/19mansion.html. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ Robert_Windeler (1967-11-17). "Reagan Panel Fills Arts Chief's Post After It Ousted Aide". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F1071FF93D5E1A718DDDAE0994D9415B878AF1D3. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ Lynn Lilliston (1968-12-13). "A Model First Lady". Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/527764082.html?dids=527764082:527764082&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+13%2C+1968&author=LYNN+LILLISTON&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+%281886-Current+File%29&edition=&startpage=F1&desc=TIMES+WOMAN+OF+THE+YEAR. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ Cook, Lynn and Janet LaDue (2007), pp. 110–111
- ^ a b "Foster Grandparent's Program". Scholastic. http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4649. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ Anthony, C.S. (2003), p. 135
- ^ Samantha Jonas (2004-06-05). "Bio: Nancy Reagan". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,63814,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ Timberg, Robert (1999). John McCain: An American Odyssey. Touchstone Books. ISBN 0-684-86794-X. pp. 119–121
- ^ Benze, James G. (2005), p. 32
- ^ a b c Loizeau, P.M. (2004), p. 64
- ^ a b c Benze, James G., Jr. (2005), p. 33
- ^ Loizeau, P.M. (2004), p. 65
- ^ Loizeau, P.M. (2004), p. 69
- ^ a b Wolf, Julie.. "The American Experience: Nancy Reagan". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/peopleevents/pande03.html. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ^ a b Deaver, Michael (2004), p. 78
- ^ "Nancy Reagan". The White House Historical Association. http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_timelines/timelines_first-ladies-40.html. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ "Brady Press Briefing Room". The White House Museum. http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/press-briefing-room.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ "West Bedroom". The White House Museum. http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor2/west-bedroom.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ a b c d e Nemy, Enid (June 12, 2000). "Ted Graber, 80, Decorator for Reagans, Dies". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/12/us/ted-graber-80-decorator-for-reagans-dies.html. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
- ^ "Master Bedroom". The White House Museum. http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor2/master-bedroom.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ Loizeau, P.M. (2005), p. 93
- ^ Jacobs, Jody (November 9, 1980). "Nancy Reagan: "She'll Bring Style"". The Toledo Blade (Google News Archives). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HREVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MQMEAAAAIBAJ&dq=nancy%20reagan%20fashion&pg=7183%2C413166. Retrieved 2009-07-22. [dead link]
- ^ a b Nemy, Enid (November 11, 1980). "Nancy Reagan's White House: what's ahead?". The New York Times published in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Google News Archives). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=v08NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yG0DAAAAIBAJ&dq=nancy%20reagan%20fashion&pg=7004%2C1576501. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ Proven, Grace (December 23, 1980). "Fashion Designers Look Ahead to '81". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Google News Archives). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XlANAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yW0DAAAAIBAJ&dq=nancy%20reagan%20fashion&pg=5805%2C4581550. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ a b Burns, Lisa (2008), p. 148
- ^ a b c d West, Kevin (October 2007). "Nancy's Closet". W. http://www.wmagazine.com/society/2007/10/nancy_reagan. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
- ^ a b c d e f Bennetts, Leslie (January 25, 1981). "Nancy Reagan's inaugural wardrobe gives notice of new White House opulence". The New York Times published in the St. Petersburg Times (Google News Archives). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GPALAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JloDAAAAIBAJ&dq=nancy%20reagan%20fashion&pg=6776%2C893022. Retrieved 2009-07-22. [dead link]
- ^ Stevens, Dana (February 6, 2008). "Color Me Nancy Reagan Red". Slate.com. http://img.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2008/02/06/color-me-nancy-reagan-red.aspx. Retrieved 2012-01-27. [dead link]
- ^ King, Wayne and Warren Weaver, Jr. (August 23, 1986). "Washington Talk: Briefing; A Do Ado". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE0D81338F930A1575BC0A960948260. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
- ^ "For Mrs. Reagan, Gifts Mean High Fashion At No Cost" (fee required). Associated Press for The New York Times. 1982-01-16. http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F60716FA3A5C0C758DDDA80894DA484D81. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ a b Hedrick Smith (1982-02-17). "Nancy Reagan Gives Up Dress Designer Loans" (fee required). The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30912F9395F0C748DDDAB0894DA484D81. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ a b c d Ed Magnuson (1988-10-24). "Why Mrs. Reagan Still Looks Like a Million". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968774-1,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ Kurtz, Howard (1989-12-05). "IRS Looking Into Gifts To Reagans; Borrowed Designer Dresses Subject of Tax Inquiry" (fee required). The Washington Post. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1226713.html. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
- ^ a b Steven V. Roberts (1988-10-18). "First Lady Expresses 'Regrets' on Wardrobe". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DA1E3AF93BA25753C1A96E948260. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ John Robinson (1988-10-19). "Nancy Reagan's Dress Blues: Borrowing Clothes From Top Designers May Be Chic, But Is It Proper?" (fee required). The Boston Globe. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8084313.html. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- ^ a b Hochswender, Woody (January 10, 1989). "Fashion; Amid the Rustle of Finery, Fashion Celebrates Its Own". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/10/style/fashion-amid-the-rustle-of-finery-fashion-celebrates-its-own.html. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ a b c d e Santini, Maureen (September 12, 1981). "Nancy Reagan's White House china: $209,508". Associated Press, published in The St. Petersburg Times (Google News Archives). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=p_INAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FnsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6521%2C2662729. Retrieved 2009-07-23. [dead link]
- ^ "Lenox: White House". Lenox, Inc. http://www.lenox.com/index.cfm?ss=services&cat=about&lp=whitehouse. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
- ^ Klapthor, Margaret Brown (1999), p. 184
- ^ Downie, Leonard Jr. (1981-07-30). "Britain Celebrates, Charles Takes a Bride". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/diana/background/wedding1.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ Page, Susan (2004-06-13). "Husband's Past will shape Nancy Reagan". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-06-13-nancy-reagan_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ Neuman, Johanna and David Willman (August 19, 2007). "Michael K. Deaver: 1938 – 2007 – Image guru set the stage for Reagan". The Los Angeles Times: p. 5. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/19/local/me-deaver19?pg=4. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 56
- ^ Moore, Boothe (January 18, 2009). "Can she stay 'everywoman'?". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/01/18/features/ig-michelle18. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ a b Usborne, David (June 2, 2009). "Nancy Reagan: I still see Ronnie in my bedroom". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nancy-reagan-i-still-see-ronnie-in-my-bedroom-1694535.html. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ Schifando and Joseph (2007), p. 165
- ^ Schifando and Joseph (2007), pp. 169–172
- ^ Schifando and Joseph (2007), p. 175
- ^ Schifando and Joseph (2007), p. 173
- ^ a b c d "Mrs. Reagan's Crusade". Ronald Reagan Foundation. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070812171917/http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/nancy/just_say_no.asp. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ "Remarks at the Nancy Reagan Drug Abuse Center Benefit Dinner in Los Angeles, California". Ronald Reagan Foundation. 1989-01-04. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1989/010489a.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-03. "...in Oakland where a schoolchild in an audience Nancy was addressing stood up and asked what she and her friends should say when someone offered them drugs. And Nancy said, "Just say no." And within a few months thousands of Just Say No clubs had sprung up in schools around the country."
- ^ Loizeau, Pierre-Marie. Nancy Reagan: The Woman Behind the Man (1984). Nova Publishers, pp. 104–105
- ^ "'Diff'rent Strokes': The Reporter (1983)". The Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0560083/. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ Brian L. Dyak (Executive Producer), William N. Utz (Executive Producer) (1985-12-11). Stop the Madness (Music Video). Hollywood, California and The White House, Washington, D.C.: E.I.C.. Event occurs at 3:15.
- ^ Tribute to Nancy Reagan (Motion picture). Motion Picture Association, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. May 2005. Event occurs at 3:08. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZM0ioS1g58. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
- ^ "Thirty Years of America's Drug War". pbs.org. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/cron/. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
- ^ a b Elliott, Jeff (May 1993). "Just say nonsense – Nancy Reagan's drug education programs". Washington Monthly. p. 3. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_n5_v25/ai_13786316/pg_3. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ Hancock, David (June 5, 2004). "His Fierce Protector: Nancy". CBS. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/05/national/main621274.shtml. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 5
- ^ Noonan, Peggy. "Character Above All: Ronald Reagan essay". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/character/essays/reagan.html. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
- ^ "Final Edited Transcript: Interview with Max Friedersdorf" (PDF). Miller Center of Public Affairs. October 24–25, 2002. p. 60. http://web1.millercenter.org/poh/transcripts/ohp_2002_1024_friedersdorf.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-20. "Mrs. Reagan was all upset, of course. He said that Senator [Strom] Thurmond had come over to the hospital and had talked his way in, past the lobby, up to the President's room—he's in intensive care, tubes coming out of his nose and his throat, tubes in his arms and everything—and said that Strom Thurmond had talked his way past the secret service into his room and Mrs. Reagan was outraged, distraught. She couldn't believe her eyes. He said, 'You know, those guys are crazy. They come over here trying to get a picture in front of the hospital and trying to talk to the President when he may be on his deathbed."
- ^ Burns, Lisa (2008), pp. 130, 138–139
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 21
- ^ Ivins, Molly (March 18, 1990). "Stars and Strife". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDF1030F93BA25750C0A966958260. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ Anthony, C.S. (1991), p. 396
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- ^ Thomas, Rhys (Writer/Producer); Donaldson, Sam (interviewee) (2005). The Presidents (Documentary). A&E Television. http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=332481&SESSID=f2a244e1cd4c0b65302355b66b99fe7b&v=history.
- ^ Kurtz, Howard (2007-05-02). "Ronald Reagan, In His Own Words". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050102070.html. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 44, p. 47
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- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 62
- ^ Celestine Bohlen (December 8, 1988). "The Gorbachev Visit; Another Obstacle Falls: Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev Get Chummy". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE6DD1039F93BA35751C1A96E948260. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
- ^ Chua-Eoan, Howard G. (June 6, 1988). "My Wife Is a Very Independent Lady". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967592-1,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
- ^ a b c Burns, Lisa (2008), pp. 139–140
- ^ a b "Nancy Reagan Criticizes Aides to President". The New York Times. Reuters. 1988-11-13. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/13/us/nancy-reagan-criticizes-aides-to-president.html. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. vii
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 65
- ^ Altman, Lawrence K (October 18, 1987). "Surgeons Remove Cancerous Breast of Nancy Reagan". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9B0DE2DA123DF93BA25753C1A961948260. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 285
- ^ "Perspectives in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Trends in Screening Mammograms for Women 50 Years of Age and Older — Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1987". Department of Health and Human Services. March 10, 1989. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001360.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ a b "A Look Back At The Polls". CBS Interactive Inc. June 7, 2004. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/07/opinion/polls/main621632.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
- ^ Beyette, Beverly; Cuniberti, Betty (December 4, 1988). "The Reagan Re-Entry: After Years in the Capital Fishbowl, the First Couple Hope to Find a Little Calm in a Much Changed L.A.". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-04/news/vw-1262_1_nancy-reagan/8.
- ^ Stevens, Pam (January 21, 2001). "Reagan paid back his friends for house they bought for him". CNN. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/26/reagan.house/index.html. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ Netburn, Deborah (December 24, 2006). "Agenting for God". Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/1185261551.html?dids=1185261551:1185261551&FMT=ABS. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ a b "Ronald Reagan dies at 93". CNN. 2004-06-05. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/05/reagan.health/. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
- ^ "Nancy Reagan: Her Life and Times". Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071112053844/http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/nancy/nancy_bio.asp. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
- ^ "My Turn Review". A-1 Women's Discount Bookstore. http://www.a1wdb.com/cgi-bin/women/11521.html. Retrieved 2007-03-28. [dead link]
- ^ Kiely, Kathy (2004-09-13). "Critical book on Bushes sparks firestorm". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-13-kelley-bush-book_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-24. "In 1991, The New York Times published a front-page story on Kelley's biography of Nancy Reagan — and then apologized for repeating some of its salacious charges without attempting to verify them."
- ^ Crowley, Michael (September 15, 2004). "Kitty Kelley: Colonoscopist to the Stars". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2106746/. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- ^ Usborne, David (December 15, 2006). "Fact or fiction? The incredible world of Kitty Kelley". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fact-or-fiction-the-incredible-world-of-kitty-kelley-428539.html. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- ^ Kurtz, Howard (September 8, 2004). "Media View Kitty Kelley's Bush Book With Caution". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3665-2004Sep7.html. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- ^ a b Hershey, Robert D. (December 6, 1989). "Gifts and Loans to Nancy Reagan Stir I.R.S. Interest in High Fashion". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6D9113CF935A35751C1A96F948260. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ a b Castro, Janice (January 27, 1992). "Nancy with the Golden Threads". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974751,00.html. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "President Bush Honors Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award" (Press release). The White House. July 9, 2002. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/07/20020709-8.html. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
- ^ "Congressional Gold Medal History". United States House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/goldMedal.html. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ "Nancy Reagan". Scholastic Library Publishing, Inc.. 2006. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080313110642/http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=atb999b159&templatename=/article/article.html. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ a b c d e f Nogourney, Adam and Bernard Wienrob (June 12, 2004). "The 40th President: The President's Widow; For a Frail Mrs. Reagan, A Week of Great Resolve". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0DF1330F931A25755C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
- ^ "Outline of Funeral Events in honor of Ronald Wilson Reagan" (Press release). The Office of Ronald Reagan. June 6, 2004. Archived from the original on April 19, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080419070229/http://www.ronaldreaganmemorial.com/pressrelease_st5.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
- ^ "A Nation bids Reagan Farewell". CBS. June 12, 2004. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/05/national/main621238.shtml. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
- ^ "Reagan Laid to Rest". Fox News. 2004-06-12. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,122528,00.html. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
- ^ "Reagan's Casket Arrives in Washington" (Transcript). CNN. aired June 9, 2004. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0406/09/se.03.html. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
- ^ Cannon, Angie (June 21, 2004). "A warm public embrace for the new Nancy". US News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/reagan/articles/21nancy.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ Erika Check (2004). "Bush pressured as Nancy Reagan pleads for stem-cell research". Nature 429 (6988): 116. DOI:10.1038/429116a. PMID 15141173.
- ^ "Former first lady Nancy Reagan supports Bush's re-election". USA Today. August 4, 2004. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-08-03-nancy-reagan-bush_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ a b Roberts, Roxanne (May 12, 2005). "Just Say Yes: Nancy Reagan Welcomed Back at Tribute". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/12/AR2005051200490_pf.html. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
- ^ Nagourney, Adam; Santora, Marc (May 4, 2007). "’08 Republicans Differ on Defining Party’s Future". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/us/politics/04repubs.html?hp. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
- ^ "Romney Blasts McCain over Iraq War Charge". Fox News. 2008-01-30. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080201084303/http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/30/romney-mccain-out-of-step-with-conservative-mainstream/. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ Phillips, Kate (2008-01-31). "One Word: Reagan". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/one-word-reagan/. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "Bloomberg Hosts Event with Nancy Reagan". Associated Press. ABC. 2007-11-13. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3860870. Retrieved 2008-01-20. [dead link]
- ^ Rauh, Grace. (2007-11-12). "Bloomberg Turns to Reagan". The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/bloomberg-turns-to-reagan/66254/. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
- ^ "Nancy Reagan gives McCain seal of approval". Associated Press. Fox News. 2008-03-25. Archived from the original on March 30, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080330060245/http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/25/nancy-reagan-to-endorse-mccain/. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
- ^ Alex Johnson (May 4, 2007). "Republicans walk tightrope over war in Iraq". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18466314/. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
- ^ Corcoran, Monica (2007-11-08). "The Nancy Years". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/nov/11/image/ig-reaganstyle11. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
- ^ Bakalis, Anna (2007-11-09). "Style exhibit chronicles Nancy Reagan's life". The Ventura County Star. http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/nov/09/nancy-reagan-a-first-ladys-style-at-reagan-her/. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
- ^ "Nancy Reagan Released From Hospital". MSNBC. February 19, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23241883/. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- ^ a b c Williams, Brian (interviewee) (2008-10-15). Nancy Reagan suffers broken pelvis (Television production). MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/271999154#27199154. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ Whitcomb, Dan (2008-10-17). "Former first lady Nancy Reagan out of hospital". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE49G7S420081017. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ^ Rarback, Sheah (November 4, 2008). "Steps to take for strong bones". The Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/story/754530.html. Retrieved 2008-12-06. [dead link]
- ^ "Physical Therapy Will Play Key Role In Nancy Reagan's Recovery From Recent Fall". News Today. October 27, 2008. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/126942.php. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ "Nancy Reagan Health Update: 'Shes Improving Every Day'". Entertainment Tonight. January 15, 2009. http://www.etonline.com/news/69715_Nancy_Reagan_Health_Update_She_s_Improving_Every_Day/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
- ^ Gordon, Craig (2009-03-09). "Nancy Reagan praises Obama". The Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19787.html. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ^ Simon, Richard (June 4, 2009). "Reagan returns to Washington, D.C., in bronze". The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-reagan-statue4-2009jun04,0,2615911.story. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ Cooper, Helene (June 2, 2009). "Nancy Reagan and Obama Kiss and Make Up". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/nancy-reagan-and-obama-kiss-and-make-up/?hp. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Nancy Reagan Speaks Out About Obamas, the Bushes, and Her Husband". Vanity Fair. June 1, 2009. http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2009/06/nancy-reagan-speaks-out-about-obamas-the-bushes-and-her-husband.html. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Nancy Reagan Statement on Ted Kennedy's Death" (Press release). Time. 2009-08-26. http://thepage.time.com/nancy-reagan-statement-on-ted-kennedys-death/. Retrieved 2010-03-23. [dead link]
- ^ Thomas M. Pryor (1957-08-03). "Universal Plans 7 Films in Month". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40E1FF83F55137A93C1A91783D85F438585F9. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
- ^ "Of Local Origin". The New York Times. 1958-01-31. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70611F93D5F117B93C3AA178AD85F4C8585F9. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
References[link]
- Anthony, Carl Sferrazza (2003). America's Most Influential First Ladies. The Oliver Press. ISBN 1-881508-69-2.
- Anthony, Carl Sferrazza (1991). First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power; 1961–1990 (Volume II). New York: William Morrow and Co.
- Benze, James G., Jr. (2005). Nancy Reagan: On the White House Stage. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-1401-X.
- Beschloss, Michael (2007). Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-85705-7.
- Burns, Lisa M. (2008). First Ladies and the Fourth Estate: Press Framing of Presidential Wives. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-87580-391-3.
- Cannon, Lou (2003). Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power. Public Affairs. ISBN 1-58648-030-8.
- Cook, Lynn; Janet LaDue (2007). The First Ladies of California. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 1-4257-2965-7.
- Deaver, Michael K. (2004). Nancy: A Portrait of My Years with Nancy Reagan. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-06-078095-9.
- Klapthor, Margaret Brown (1999). Official White House China: 1789 to the Present. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3993-2.
- Loizeau, Pierre-Marie (2004). Nancy Reagan: The Woman Behind the Man. Nova Publishers. ISBN 1-59033-759-X.
- Loizeau, Pierre-Marie (2005). Nancy Reagan in Perspective. Nova Publishers. ISBN 978-0742529700.
- Metzger, Robert Paul (1989). Reagan, American Icon. Bucknell University, Center Gallery. ISBN 0-916279-05-7.
- Reagan, Nancy (2002). I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan. United States: Random House. ISBN 0-375-76051-2.
- Reagan, Nancy; William Novak (1989). My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-56368-9.
- Reagan, Nancy (1980). Nancy: The Autobiography of America's First Lady. United States: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-688-03533-4.
- Reagan, Nancy (1982). To Love a Child. United States: Bobbs-Merrill. ISBN 0-672-52711-1.
- Schifando, Peter; J. Jonathan Joseph (2007). Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-06-135012-2.
- Wertheimer, Molly Meijer (2004). [Inventing A Voice: The Rhetoric Of American First Ladies Of The Twentieth Century Nancy Reagan in Perspective]. ISBN 978-0742529700. Inventing A Voice: The Rhetoric Of American First Ladies Of The Twentieth Century.
- Wills, Garry (1987). Reagan's America: Innocents at Home. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-18286-4.
External links[link]
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Nancy Reagan |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nancy Reagan |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan |
- First Lady profile at WhiteHouse.gov
- Profile at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Nancy Davis at the Internet Movie Database
- Nancy Davis at the Internet Broadway Database
- Nancy Reagan collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Works by or about Nancy Reagan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rosalynn Carter |
First Lady of the United States 1981–1989 |
Succeeded by Barbara Bush |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Ambassadors to the United States (in order of tenure); otherwise Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General of the United Nations |
United States order of precedence Widowed Former First Lady |
Succeeded by Ministers of foreign powers; otherwise Antonin Scalia Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reagan, Nancy Davis |
| Alternative names | Robbins, Anne Frances (birth name) |
| Short description | Former first lady of the United States |
| Date of birth | July 6, 1921 |
| Place of birth | New York, United States |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
"Reagan" redirects here. For other uses, see Reagan (disambiguation).
| Ronald Reagan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 40th President of the United States | |
| In office January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 |
|
| Vice President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Jimmy Carter |
| Succeeded by | George H. W. Bush |
| 33rd Governor of California | |
| In office January 2, 1967 – January 6, 1975 |
|
| Lieutenant | Robert Finch Edwin Reinecke John Harmer |
| Preceded by | Pat Brown |
| Succeeded by | Jerry Brown |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-02-06)February 6, 1911 Tampico, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | June 5, 2004(2004-06-05) (aged 93) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California, U.S. 34°15′35.5896″N 118°49′11.301″W / 34.259886°N 118.81980583°W / 34.259886; -118.81980583 |
| Political party | Republican (1962–2004) |
| Other political affiliations |
Democratic (Before 1962) |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Wyman (1940–1949) Nancy Davis (1952–2004) |
| Children | Maureen Christine Michael Patti Ron |
| Alma mater | Eureka College |
| Religion | Disciples of Christ later Presbyterian |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army United States Army Air Forces |
| Years of service | 1937–45 |
| Rank | Captain |
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( /ˈrɒnəld ˈwɪlsən ˈreɪɡən/; February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981 to 1989. Prior to that, he was the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and a radio, film and television actor.
Born in Tampico, Illinois and raised in Dixon, Reagan was educated at Eureka College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology. After his graduation, Reagan moved first to Iowa to work as a radio broadcaster and then in to Los Angeles in 1937 where he began a career as an actor, first in films and later television. Some of his most notable films include Knute Rockne, All American, Kings Row, and Bedtime for Bonzo. Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and later as a spokesman for General Electric (GE); his start in politics occurred during his work for GE. Originally a member of the Democratic Party, his positions began shifting rightward in the late 1950s, and he switched to the Republican Party in 1962. After delivering a rousing speech in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, he was persuaded to seek the California governorship, winning two years later and again in 1970. He was defeated in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 as well as 1976, but won both the nomination and general election in 1980, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.
As president, Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics", advocated reducing tax rates to spur economic growth, controlling the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulation of the economy, and reducing government spending. In his first term he survived an assassination attempt, took a hard line against labor unions, and ordered an invasion of Grenada. He was reelected in a landslide in 1984, proclaiming that it was "Morning in America." His second term was primarily marked by foreign matters, such as the ending of the Cold War, the 1986 bombing of Libya, and the revelation of the Iran-Contra affair. Publicly describing the Soviet Union as an "evil empire,"[1] he supported anti-communist movements worldwide and spent his first term forgoing the strategy of détente by ordering a massive military buildup in an arms race with the USSR. Reagan negotiated with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, culminating in the INF Treaty and the decrease of both countries' nuclear arsenals.
Reagan left office in 1989. In 1994, the former president disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier in the year; he died ten years later at the age of 93. He ranks highly in public opinion polls of U.S. Presidents and is credited for generating an ideological renaissance on the American political right.
Contents
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Early life[link]
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in an apartment on the second floor of a commercial building in Tampico, Illinois on February 6, 1911, to Jack Reagan and Nelle Wilson Reagan.[2] Reagan's father was a salesman and a storyteller, the grandson of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Tipperary[3] while his mother had Scots and English ancestors.[4] Reagan had one sibling, his older brother, Neil (1908–1996), who became an advertising executive.[5] As a boy, Reagan's father nicknamed his son "Dutch", due to his "fat little Dutchman"-like appearance, and his "Dutchboy" haircut;[6] the nickname stuck with him throughout his youth.[6] Reagan's family briefly lived in several towns and cities in Illinois, including Monmouth, Galesburg and Chicago, until 1919, when they returned to Tampico and lived above the H.C. Pitney Variety Store.[2] After his election as president, residing in the upstairs White House private quarters, Reagan would quip that he was "living above the store again".[7]
According to Paul Kengor, author of God and Ronald Reagan, Reagan had a particularly strong faith in the goodness of people, which stemmed from the optimistic faith of his mother, Nelle,[8] and the Disciples of Christ faith,[8] which he was baptized into in 1922.[9] For the time, Reagan was unusual in his opposition to racial discrimination, and recalled a time in Dixon when the local inn would not allow black people to stay there. Reagan brought them back to his house, where his mother invited them to stay the night and have breakfast the next morning.[10]
Following the closure of the Pitney Store in late 1920, the Reagans moved to Dixon;[11] the midwestern "small universe" had a lasting impression on Reagan.[12] He attended Dixon High School,[13] where he developed interests in acting, sports, and storytelling.[14] His first job was as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park, near Dixon, in 1927. Reagan performed 77 rescues as a lifeguard, noting that he notched a mark on a wooden log for every life he saved.[14] Reagan attended Eureka College, where he became a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a cheerleader,[15] and majored in economics and sociology. He developed a reputation as a jack of all trades, excelling in campus politics, sports and theater. He was a member of the football team, captain of the swim team and was elected student body president. As student president, Reagan led a student revolt against the college president after he tried to cut back the faculty.[16]
Entertainment career[link]
Further information: Ronald Reagan filmography
Radio and film[link]
After graduating from Eureka in 1932, Reagan drove himself to Iowa, where he auditioned for a job at many small-town radio stations.[17] The University of Iowa hired him to broadcast home football games for the Hawkeyes. He was paid $10 per game.[17] Soon after, a staff announcer's job opened at radio station WOC in Davenport, and Reagan was hired, now earning $100 per month.[17] Aided by his persuasive voice,[17] he moved to WHO radio in Des Moines as an announcer for Chicago Cubs baseball games.[18] His specialty was creating play-by-play accounts of games that the station received by wire.[17]
While traveling with the Cubs in California, Reagan took a screen test in 1937 that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers studios.[19] He spent the first few years of his Hollywood career in the "B film" unit, where, Reagan joked, the producers "didn't want them good, they wanted them Thursday".[17] While sometimes overshadowed by other actors, Reagan's screen performances did receive many good reviews.[17]
His first screen credit was the starring role in the 1937 movie Love Is on the Air, and by the end of 1939 he had already appeared in 19 films,[20] including Dark Victory. Before the film Santa Fe Trail in 1940, he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American; from it, he acquired the lifelong nickname "the Gipper".[21] In 1941 exhibitors voted him the fifth most popular star from the younger generation in Hollywood.[22]
Reagan's favorite acting role was as a double amputee in 1942's Kings Row,[23] in which he recites the line, "Where's the rest of me?", later used as the title of his 1965 autobiography. Many film critics considered Kings Row to be his best movie,[24] though the film was condemned by New York Times critic Bosley Crowther.[25][26]
Although, Reagan called Kings Row the film that "made me a star",[27] he was unable to capitalize on his success because he was ordered to active duty with the U.S. Army at San Francisco two months after its release, and never regained "star" status in motion pictures.[27] In the post-war era, after being separated from almost four years of World War II stateside service with the 1st Motion Picture Unit in December 1945, Reagan co-starred in such films as, The Voice of the Turtle, John Loves Mary, The Hasty Heart, Bedtime for Bonzo, Cattle Queen of Montana, Tennessee's Partner, Hellcats of the Navy and The Killers (his final film) in a 1964 remake.[28] Throughout his film career, his mother often answered much of his fan mail.[29]
Military service[link]
After completing fourteen home-study Army Extension Courses, Reagan enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve[30] on April 29, 1937, as a private assigned to Troop B, 322nd Cavalry at Des Moines, Iowa.[31] He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps of the Cavalry on May 25, 1937.[32]
Reagan was ordered to active duty for the first time on April 18, 1942. Due to his nearsightedness, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas.[33] His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at Fort Mason, California, as a liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office.[34] Upon the approval of the Army Air Force (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the Cavalry to the AAF on May 15, 1942, and was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the First Motion Picture Unit (officially, the "18th AAF Base Unit") in Culver City, California.[34] On January 14, 1943 he was promoted to First Lieutenant and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is The Army at Burbank, California.[34] He returned to the First Motion Picture Unit after completing this duty and was promoted to Captain on July 22, 1943.[31]
In January 1944, Captain Reagan was ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the opening of the sixth War Loan Drive. He was re-assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit on November 14, 1944, where he remained until the end of World War II.[31] He was recommended for promotion to Major on February 2, 1945, but this recommendation was disapproved on July 17 of that year.[35] He returned to Fort MacArthur, California, where he was separated from active duty on December 9, 1945.[35] By the end of the war, his units had produced some 400 training films for the AAF.[31]
Reagan never left the United States during the war, though he kept a film reel, obtained while in the service, depicting the liberation of Auschwitz, as he believed that someday doubts would arise as to whether the Holocaust had occurred.[36] It has been alleged that he was overheard telling Israeli foreign minister Yitzhak Shamir in 1983 that he had filmed that footage himself and helped liberate Auschwitz,[36][37] though this purported conversation was disputed by Secretary of State George Shultz.[38]
SAG president and television[link]
Reagan was first elected to the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild in 1941, serving as an alternate. Following World War II, he resumed service and became 3rd vice-president in 1946.[39] The adoption of conflict-of-interest bylaws in 1947 led the SAG president and six board members to resign; Reagan was nominated in a special election for the position of president and subsequently elected.[39] He was subsequently chosen by the membership to serve seven additional one-year terms, from 1947 to 1952 and in 1959.[39] Reagan led SAG through eventful years that were marked by labor-management disputes, the Taft-Hartley Act, House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era.[39]
Amid the Red Scare in the late 1940s, Reagan provided the FBI with names of actors whom he believed to be communist sympathizers within the motion picture industry.[40] Reagan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on the subject as well.[41] A fervent anti-communist, he reaffirmed his commitment to democratic principles, stating, "I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment."[41]
Though an early critic of television, Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and decided to join the medium.[17] He was hired as the host of General Electric Theater, a series of weekly dramas that became very popular.[17] His contract required him to tour GE plants sixteen weeks out of the year, often demanding of him fourteen speeches per day.[17] He earned approximately $125,000 per year (about $1.07 million in 2010 dollars) in this role. His final work as a professional actor was as host and performer from 1964 to 1965 on the television series Death Valley Days.[28][better source needed] Reagan and Nancy Davis appeared together several times, including an episode of GE Theater in 1958 called A Turkey for the President.[42][better source needed]
Marriages and children[link]
In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the film Brother Rat with actress Jane Wyman (1917–2007). They were engaged at the Chicago Theatre,[43] and married on January 26, 1940, at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather church in Glendale, California.[44] Together they had two biological children, Maureen (1941–2001) and Christine (who was born in 1947 but only lived one day), and adopted a third, Michael (born 1945).[45] Following arguments about Reagan's political ambitions, Wyman filed for divorce in 1948,[46] citing a distraction due to her husband's Screen Actors Guild union duties; the divorce was finalized in 1949.[21] He is the only US president to have been divorced.[47]
Reagan met actress Nancy Davis (born 1921)[48] in 1949 after she contacted him in his capacity as president of the Screen Actors Guild to help her with issues regarding her name appearing on a communist blacklist in Hollywood (she had been mistaken for another Nancy Davis). She described their meeting by saying, "I don't know if it was exactly love at first sight, but it was pretty close."[49] They were engaged at Chasen's restaurant in Los Angeles and were married on March 4, 1952, at the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley.[50] Actor William Holden served as best man at the ceremony. They had two children: Patti (born October 21, 1952) and Ron (born May 20, 1958).
Observers described the Reagans' relationship as close, authentic and intimate.[51] During his presidency they were reported to frequently display their affection for one another; one press secretary said, "They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting."[49][52] He often called her "Mommy" she called him "Ronnie".[52] He once wrote to her, "Whatever I treasure and enjoy ... all would be without meaning if I didn't have you."[53] When he was in the hospital in 1981, she slept with one of his shirts to be comforted by his scent.[54] In a letter to U.S. citizens written in 1994, Reagan wrote "I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.... I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience,"[49] and in 1998, while Reagan was stricken by Alzheimer's, Nancy told Vanity Fair, "Our relationship is very special. We were very much in love and still are. When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did. I can't imagine life without him."[49]
Early political career[link]
Reagan began his political career as a liberal Democrat, admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and an active supporter of New Deal policies. In the early 1950s, as his relationship with Republican actress Nancy Davis grew,[55][56] he shifted to the right and, while remaining a Democrat, endorsed the presidential candidacies of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 as well as Richard Nixon in 1960.[57] The last time Reagan actively supported a Democratic candidate was in 1950 when he helped Helen Gahagan Douglas in her unsuccessful Senate campaign against Richard Nixon.[58] After being hired in 1954 to host the General Electric Theater, a TV drama series,[59] Reagan soon began to embrace the conservative views of the sponsoring company's officials.[59][60] His many GE speeches—which he wrote himself—were non-partisan but carried a conservative, pro-business message; he was influenced by Lemuel Boulware, a senior GE executive. Boulware, known for his tough stance against unions and his innovative strategies to win over workers, championed the core tenets of modern American conservatism: free markets, anticommunism, lower taxes, and limited government.[61] Eventually, the ratings for Reagan's show fell off and GE dropped Reagan in 1962.[62] In August of that year Reagan formally switched to the Republican Party, stating, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me."[63]
In the early 1960s Reagan opposed certain civil rights legislation, saying that "if an individual wants to discriminate against Negroes or others in selling or renting his house, it is his right to do so."[64] In his rationale, he cited his opposition to government intrusion into personal freedoms, as opposed to racism; he strongly denied having racist motives and later reversed his opposition to voting rights and fair housing laws.[65] When legislation that would become Medicare was introduced in 1961, Reagan created a recording for the American Medical Association warning that such legislation would mean the end of freedom in America. Reagan said that if his listeners did not write letters to prevent it, "we will awake to find that we have socialism. And if you don't do this, and if I don't do it, one of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."[66][67][68] He also joined the National Rifle Association and would become a lifetime member.[69]
Reagan endorsed the campaign of conservative presidential contender Barry Goldwater in 1964. Speaking for Goldwater, Reagan stressed his belief in the importance of smaller government. He revealed his ideological motivation in a famed speech delivered on October 27, 1964: "The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing."[70] He also said, "You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream – the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order – or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism."[70][71] This "A Time for Choosing" speech raised $1 million for Goldwater's campaign[17] and is considered the event that launched Reagan's political career.[72]
Governor of California, 1967–1975[link]
Main article: Governorship of Ronald Reagan
California Republicans were impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma after his "Time for Choosing" speech,[73] and nominated him for Governor of California in 1966. In Reagan's campaign, he emphasized two main themes: "to send the welfare bums back to work", and, in reference to burgeoning anti-war and anti-establishment student protests at the University of California at Berkeley, "to clean up the mess at Berkeley".[74] He was elected, defeating two-term governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, and was sworn in on January 2, 1967. In his first term, he froze government hiring and approved tax hikes to balance the budget.[75]
Shortly after the beginning of his term, Reagan tested the presidential waters in 1968 as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement, hoping to cut into Nixon's Southern support[76] and be a compromise candidate[77] if neither Nixon nor second-place Nelson Rockefeller received enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the Republican convention. However, by the time of the convention Nixon had 692 delegate votes, 25 more than he needed to secure the nomination, followed by Rockefeller with Reagan in third place.[76]
Reagan was involved in high-profile conflicts with the protest movements of the era. On May 15, 1969, during the People's Park protests at UC Berkeley, Reagan sent the California Highway Patrol and other officers to quell the protests, in an incident that became known as "Bloody Thursday", resulting in the death of student James Rector and the blinding of carpenter Alan Blanchard.[78][79] Reagan then called out 2,200 state National Guard troops to occupy the city of Berkeley for two weeks in order to crack down on the protesters.[78] A year after "Bloody Thursday", Reagan responded to questions about campus protest movements saying, "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with. No more appeasement."[80] When the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst in Berkeley and demanded the distribution of food to the poor, Reagan joked, "It's just too bad we can't have an epidemic of botulism."[81]
Early in 1967, the national debate on abortion was beginning. Democratic California state senator Anthony Beilenson introduced the "Therapeutic Abortion Act," in an effort to reduce the number of "back-room abortions" performed in California.[78] The State Legislature sent the bill to Reagan's desk where, after many days of indecision, he signed it.[82] About two million abortions would be performed as a result, most because of a provision in the bill allowing abortions for the well-being of the mother.[82] Reagan had been in office for only four months when he signed the bill, and stated that had he been more experienced as governor, it would not have been signed. After he recognized what he called the "consequences" of the bill, he announced that he was pro-life.[82] He maintained that position later in his political career, writing extensively about abortion.[83]
Despite an unsuccessful attempt to recall him in 1968,[84] Reagan was re-elected in 1970, defeating "Big Daddy" Jesse Unruh. He chose not to seek a third term in the following election cycle. One of Reagan's greatest frustrations in office concerned capital punishment, which he strongly supported.[23] His efforts to enforce the state's laws in this area were thwarted when the Supreme Court of California issued its People v. Anderson decision, which invalidated all death sentences issued in California prior to 1972, though the decision was later overturned by a constitutional amendment. The only execution during Reagan's governorship was on April 12, 1967, when Aaron Mitchell's sentence was carried out by the state in San Quentin's gas chamber.[85]
In 1969, Reagan, as Governor, signed the Family Law Act which was the first no fault divorce legislation in the United States.[86]
Reagan's terms as governor helped to shape the policies he would pursue in his later political career as president. By campaigning on a platform of sending "the welfare bums back to work", he spoke out against the idea of the welfare state. He also strongly advocated the Republican ideal of less government regulation of the economy, including that of undue federal taxation.[87]
Reagan did not seek re-election to a third term as governor in 1974 and was succeeded by Democratic California Secretary of State Jerry Brown on January 6, 1975.
1976 presidential campaign[link]
In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan soon established himself as the conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union which became key components of his political base, while President Ford was considered a more moderate Republican.[88]
Reagan's campaign relied on a strategy crafted by campaign manager John Sears of winning a few primaries early to damage the inevitability of Ford's likely nomination. Reagan won North Carolina, Texas, and California, but the strategy failed, as[89] he ended up losing New Hampshire, Florida, and his native Illinois.[90] The Texas campaign lent renewed hope to Reagan, when he swept all ninety-six delegates chosen in the May 1 primary, with four more awaiting at the state convention. Much of the credit for that victory came from the work of three co-chairmen, including Ernest Angelo, the mayor of Midland, and Ray Barnhart of Houston, whom President Reagan tapped in 1981 as director of the Federal Highway Administration.[91]
However, as the GOP convention neared, Ford appeared close to victory. Acknowledging his party's moderate wing, Reagan chose moderate Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate if nominated. Nonetheless, Ford prevailed with 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070.[90] Ford would go on to lose the 1976 Presidential election to the Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Reagan's concession speech emphasized the dangers of nuclear war and the threat posed by the Soviet Union. Though he lost the nomination, he received 307 write-in votes in New Hampshire, 388 votes as an Independent on Wyoming's ballot, and a single electoral vote from a faithless elector in the November election from the state of Washington,[92] which Ford had won over Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter.
1980 presidential campaign[link]
Main articles: Ronald Reagan presidential campaign, 1980 and United States presidential election, 1980
The 1980 presidential campaign between Reagan and incumbent President Jimmy Carter was conducted during domestic concerns and the ongoing Iran hostage crisis. His campaign stressed some of his fundamental principles: lower taxes to stimulate the economy,[93] less government interference in people's lives,[94] states' rights,[95] a strong national defense,[94] and restoring the U.S. Dollar to a gold standard.[96][97]
Reagan launched his campaign by declaring "I believe in states' rights," in Philadelphia, Mississippi, known at the time for the murder of three civil rights workers who had been trying to register African-Americans to vote during the civil rights movement.[98][99][100] After receiving the Republican nomination, Reagan selected one of his primary opponents, George H.W. Bush, to be his running mate. His showing in the October televised debate boosted his campaign. Reagan won the election, carrying 44 states with 489 electoral votes to 49 electoral votes for Carter (representing six states and Washington, D.C.). Reagan received 50.7% of the popular vote while Carter took 41%, and Independent John B. Anderson (a liberal Republican) received 6.7%.[101] Republicans captured the Senate for the first time since 1952, and gained 34 House seats, but the Democrats retained a majority.
During the presidential campaign, questions were raised by reporters on Reagan's stance on the Briggs Initiative, also known as Proposition 6, a ballot initiative in Reagan's home state of California where he was governor, which would have banned gays, lesbians, and supporters of LGBT rights from working in public schools in California. His opposition to the initiative was instrumental in its landslide defeat by Californian voters. Reagan published an editorial in which he stated "homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles..." and that prevailing scientific opinion was that a child's sexual orientation cannot be influenced by someone else.[102]
Presidency, 1981–1989[link]
Main articles: Electoral history of Ronald Reagan, Domestic policy of the Ronald Reagan administration, Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration, Presidency of Ronald Reagan, and Reagan Doctrine
During his Presidency, Reagan pursued policies that reflected his personal belief in individual freedom, brought changes domestically, both to the U.S. economy and expanded military, and contributed to the end of the Cold War.[103] Termed the Reagan Revolution, his presidency would reinvigorate American morale[104][105] and reduce the people's reliance upon government.[103] As president, Reagan kept a series of diaries in which he commented on daily occurrences of his presidency and his views on the issues of the day. The diaries were published in May 2007 in the bestselling book, The Reagan Diaries.[106]
First term, 1981–1985[link]
To date, Reagan is the oldest man elected to the office of the presidency (at 69). In his first inaugural address on January 20, 1981, which Reagan himself wrote,[107] he addressed the country's economic malaise arguing: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem."
The Reagan Presidency began in a dramatic manner; as Reagan was giving his inaugural address, 52 U.S. hostages, held by Iran for 444 days were set free.[108]
Assassination attempt[link]
Main article: Reagan assassination attempt
On March 30, 1981, only 69 days into the new administration, Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy were struck by gunfire from would-be assassin John Hinckley, Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. Although "close to death" during surgery,[109] Reagan recovered and was released from the hospital on April 11, becoming the first serving U.S. President to survive being shot in an assassination attempt.[110] The attempt had great influence on Reagan's popularity; polls indicated his approval rating to be around 73%.[111] Reagan believed that God had spared his life so that he might go on to fulfill a greater purpose.[112]
Air traffic controllers' strike[link]
Main article: Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968)
In summer 1981 PATCO, the union of federal air traffic controllers went on strike, violating a federal law prohibiting government unions from striking.[113] Declaring the situation an emergency as described in the 1947 Taft Hartley Act, Reagan stated that if the air traffic controllers "do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated."[114] They did not return and on August 5, Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored his order, and used supervisors and military controllers to handle the nation's commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained.[115] As a leading reference work on public administration concluded, "The firing of PATCO employees not only demonstrated a clear resolve by the president to take control of the bureaucracy, but it also sent a clear message to the private sector that unions no longer needed to be feared."[116]
"Reaganomics" and the economy[link]
Main article: Reaganomics
During Jimmy Carter's last year in office (1980), inflation averaged 12.5%, compared with 4.4% during Reagan's last year in office (1988).[117] During Reagan's administration, the unemployment rate declined from 7.5% to 5.4%, with the rate reaching highs of 10.8% in 1982 and 10.4% in 1983, averaging 7.5% over the eight years.[118][119]
Reagan implemented policies based on supply-side economics and advocated a classical liberal and laissez-faire philosophy,[120] seeking to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts.[121][122] He also supported returning the U.S. to some sort of gold standard, and successfully urged Congress to establish the U.S. Gold Commission to study how one could be implemented. Citing the economic theories of Arthur Laffer, Reagan promoted the proposed tax cuts as potentially stimulating the economy enough to expand the tax base, offsetting the revenue loss due to reduced rates of taxation, a theory that entered political discussion as the Laffer curve. Reaganomics was the subject of debate with supporters pointing to improvements in certain key economic indicators as evidence of success, and critics pointing to large increases in federal budget deficits and the national debt. His policy of "peace through strength" (also described as "firm but fair") resulted in a record peacetime defense buildup including a 40% real increase in defense spending between 1981 and 1985.[123]
During Reagan's presidency, federal income tax rates were lowered significantly with the signing of the bipartisan Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981[124] which lowered the top marginal tax bracket from 70% to 50% and the lowest bracket from 14% to 11%, however other tax increases passed by Congress and signed by Reagan, ensured that tax revenues over his two terms were 18.2% of GDP as compared to 18.1% over the 40 year period 1970-2010.[125] Then, in 1982 the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 was signed into law, initiating one of the nation's first public/private partnerships and a major part of the president's job creation program. Reagan's Assistant Secretary of Labor and Chief of Staff, Al Angrisani, was a primary architect of the bill. The Tax Reform Act of 1986, another bipartisan effort championed by Reagan, further reduced the top rate to 28%, raised the bottom bracket from 11% to 15%, and, cut the number of tax brackets to 4.
Conversely, Congress passed and Reagan signed into law tax increases of some nature in every year from 1981 to 1987 to continue funding such government programs as Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), Social Security, and the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (DEFRA).[126][127] Despite the fact that TEFRA was the "largest peacetime tax increase in American history," Reagan is better known for his tax cuts and lower-taxes philosophy.[127][128][129][130] Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth recovered strongly after the early 1980s recession ended in 1982, and grew during his eight years in office at an annual rate of 3.85% per year.[131] Unemployment peaked at 10.8% monthly rate in December 1982—higher than any time since the Great Depression—then dropped during the rest of Reagan's presidency.[132] Sixteen million new jobs were created, while inflation significantly decreased.[133] The net effect of all Reagan-era tax bills was a 1% decrease in government revenues when compared to Treasury Department revenue estimates from the Administration's first post-enactment January budgets.[134] However, federal Income Tax receipts increased from 1980 to 1989, rising from $308.7 billion to $549 billion.[135]
During the Reagan Administration, federal receipts grew at an average rate of 8.2% (2.5% attributed to higher Social Security receipts), and federal outlays grew at an annual rate of 7.1%.[136][137] Reagan also revised the tax code with the bipartisan Tax Reform Act of 1986.[138]
Reagan's policies proposed that economic growth would occur when marginal tax rates were low enough to spur investment,[139] which would then lead to increased economic growth, higher employment and wages. Critics labeled this "trickle-down economics"—the belief that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will create a "trickle-down" effect to the poor.[140] Questions arose whether Reagan's policies benefited the wealthy more than those living in poverty,[141] and many poor and minority citizens viewed Reagan as indifferent to their struggles.[141] These views were exacerbated by the fact that Reagan's economic regimen included freezing the minimum wage at $3.35 an hour, slashing federal assistance to local governments by 60%, cutting the budget for public housing and Section 8 rent subsidies in half, and eliminating the antipoverty Community Development Block Grant program.[142] The widening gap between the rich and poor had already begun during the 1970s before Reagan's economic policies took effect.[143] Along with Reagan's 1981 cut in the top regular tax rate on unearned income, he reduced the maximum capital gains rate to only 20% – its lowest level since the Hoover administration.[144] Reagan later set tax rates on capital gains at the same level as the rates on ordinary income like salaries and wages, with both topping out at 28%.[145] President Reagan, has remained popular as an antitax hero despite raising taxes eleven times over the course of his presidency, all in the name of fiscal responsibility.[146] According to Paul Krugman, "Over all, the 1982 tax increase undid about a third of the 1981 cut; as a share of G.D.P., the increase was substantially larger than Mr. Clinton's 1993 tax increase."[147] According to historian and domestic policy adviser Bruce Bartlett, Reagan's tax increases over the course of his presidency took back half of the 1981 tax cut.[148]
Further following his less-government intervention views, Reagan cut the budgets of non-military[149] programs[150] including Medicaid, food stamps, federal education programs[149] and the EPA.[151] While he protected entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare,[152] his administration attempted to purge many people with disabilities from the Social Security disability rolls.[153]
The administration's stance toward the Savings and Loan industry contributed to the Savings and loan crisis.[154] It is also suggested, by a minority of Reaganomics critics, that the policies partially influenced the stock market crash of 1987,[155] but there is no consensus regarding a single source for the crash.[156] In order to cover newly spawned federal budget deficits, the United States borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, raising the national debt from $997 billion to $2.85 trillion.[157] Reagan described the new debt as the "greatest disappointment" of his presidency.[133]
He reappointed Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and in 1987 he appointed monetarist Alan Greenspan to succeed him. Reagan ended the price controls on domestic oil which had contributed to energy crises in the early 1970s.[158][159] The price of oil subsequently dropped, and the 1980s did not see the fuel shortages that the 1970s had.[160] Reagan also fulfilled a 1980 campaign promise to repeal the Windfall profit tax in 1988, which had previously increased dependence on foreign oil.[161] Some economists, such as Nobel Prize winners Milton Friedman and Robert A. Mundell, argue that Reagan's tax policies invigorated America's economy and contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s.[162] Other economists, such as Nobel Prize winner Robert Solow, argue that the deficits were a major reason why Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush, reneged on a campaign promise and raised taxes.[162]
During Reagan's presidency, a program was initiated within the US intelligence community to ensure America's economic strength. The program, Project Socrates, developed and demonstrated the means required for the US to generate and lead the next evolutionary leap in technology acquisition and utilization for a competitive advantage—automated innovation. To ensure that the US acquired the maximum benefit from automated innovation, President Reagan, during his second term, had an executive order drafted to create a new Federal agency to implement the Project Socrates results on a nation-wide basis. However, President Reagan's term came to end before the executive order could be coordinated and signed, and the incoming Bush administration, labeling Project Socrates as "industrial policy", had it terminated.[163][164]
Lebanon and Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada), 1983[link]
Main articles: Beirut barracks bombing and Invasion of Grenada
American peacekeeping forces in Beirut, a part of a multinational force during the Lebanese Civil War who had been earlier deployed by Reagan, were attacked on October 23, 1983. The Beirut barracks bombing resulted in the deaths of 241 American servicemen and the wounding of more than 60 others by a suicide truck bomber. Reagan sent a White House team to the site four days later, led by his Vice President, George H.W. Bush. Reagan called the attack "despicable", pledged to keep a military force in Lebanon, and planned to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, training ground for Hezbollah fighters,[165][166] but the mission was later aborted. On February 7, 1984, President Reagan ordered the Marines to begin withdrawal from Lebanon. In April 1984, as his keynote address to the 20,000 attendees of the Rev. Jerry Falwell's "Baptist Fundamentalism '84" convention in Washington, D.C., he read a first hand account of the bombing, written by Navy Chaplain (Rabbi) Arnold Resnicoff, who had been asked to write the report by Bush and his team.[167] Osama bin Laden would later cite Reagan's withdrawal of forces as a sign of American weakness.[168]
On October 25, 1983, only two days later, Reagan ordered U.S. forces to invade Grenada, code named Operation Urgent Fury, where a 1979 coup d'état had established an independent non-aligned Marxist-Leninist government. A formal appeal from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) led to the intervention of U.S. forces; President Reagan also cited an allegedly regional threat posed by a Soviet-Cuban military build-up in the Caribbean and concern for the safety of several hundred American medical students at St. George's University as adequate reasons to invade. Operation Urgent Fury was the first major military operation conducted by U.S. forces since the Vietnam War, several days of fighting commenced, resulting in a U.S. victory,[169] with 19 American fatalities and 116 wounded American soldiers.[170] In mid-December, after a new government was appointed by the Governor-General, U.S. forces withdrew.[169]
Escalation of the Cold War[link]
See also: Cold War and Cold War (1979–1985)
Reagan escalated the Cold War, accelerating a reversal from the policy of détente which began in 1979 following the Soviet war in Afghanistan.[171] Reagan ordered a massive buildup of the United States Armed Forces[123] and implemented new policies towards the Soviet Union: reviving the B-1 Lancer program that had been canceled by the Carter administration, and producing the MX missile.[172] In response to Soviet deployment of the SS-20, Reagan oversaw NATO's deployment of the Pershing missile in West Germany.[173]
Together with the United Kingdom's prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Reagan denounced the Soviet Union in ideological terms.[175] In a famous address on June 8, 1982 to the British Parliament in the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster, Reagan said, "the forward march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history."[176][177] On March 3, 1983, he predicted that communism would collapse, stating, "Communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written."[178] In a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983, Reagan called the Soviet Union "an evil empire".[179]
After Soviet fighters downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007 near Moneron Island on September 1, 1983, carrying 269 people, including Georgia congressman Larry McDonald, Reagan labeled the act a "massacre" and declared that the Soviets had turned "against the world and the moral precepts which guide human relations among people everywhere".[180] The Reagan administration responded to the incident by suspending all Soviet passenger air service to the United States, and dropped several agreements being negotiated with the Soviets, wounding them financially.[180] As result of the shootdown, and the cause of KAL 007's going astray thought to be inadequacies related to its navigational system, Reagan announced on September 16, 1983 that the Global Positioning System would be made available for civilian use, free of charge, once completed in order to avert similar navigational errors in future.[181][182]
Under a policy that came to be known as the Reagan Doctrine, Reagan and his administration also provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist resistance movements in an effort to "rollback" Soviet-backed communist governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.[183] Reagan deployed the CIA's Special Activities Division to Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were instrumental in training, equipping and leading Mujaheddin forces against the Soviet Army.[184][185] President Reagan's Covert Action program has been given credit for assisting in ending the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan,[186] though the US funded armaments introduced then would later pose a threat to US troops in the 2000s (decade) war in Afghanistan.[187] However, in a break from the Carter policy of arming Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act. Reagan also agreed with the communist government in China to reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan.[188]
In March 1983, Reagan introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative, a defense project[189] that would have used ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles.[190] Reagan believed that this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible,[189][191] but disbelief that the technology could ever work led opponents to dub SDI "Star Wars" and argue that the technological objective was unattainable.[189] The Soviets became concerned about the possible effects SDI would have;[192] leader Yuri Andropov said it would put "the entire world in jeopardy".[193] For those reasons, David Gergen, former aide to President Reagan, believes that in retrospect, SDI hastened the end of the Cold War.[194]
Critics labeled Reagan's foreign policies as aggressive, imperialistic, and chided them as "warmongering," though they were supported by leading American conservatives who argued that they were necessary to protect U.S. security interests.[192] A reformer, Mikhail Gorbachev, would later rise to power in the Soviet Union in 1985, implementing new policies for openness and reform that were called glasnost and perestroika.
1984 presidential campaign[link]
Main article: United States presidential election, 1984
Reagan accepted the Republican nomination in Dallas, Texas, on a wave of positive feeling. He proclaimed that it was "morning again in America,"[17] regarding the recovering economy and the dominating performance by the U.S. athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics, among other things. He became the first American president to open an Olympic Games held in the United States.[195]
Reagan's opponent in the 1984 presidential election was former Vice President Walter Mondale. With questions about Reagan's age, and a weak performance in the first presidential debate, his ability to perform the duties of president for another term was questioned. His apparent confused and forgetful behavior was evident to his supporters; they had previously known him clever and witty. Rumors began to circulate that he had Alzheimer's disease.[196][197] Reagan rebounded in the second debate, and confronted questions about his age, quipping, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," which generated applause and laughter, even from Mondale himself.[198]
That November, Reagan was re-elected, winning 49 of 50 states.[199] The president's overwhelming victory saw Mondale carry only his home state of Minnesota (by 3800 votes) and the District of Columbia. Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes, the most of any candidate in United States history,[200] and received 58.8% of the popular vote to Mondale's 40.6%.[199]
Second term, 1985–1989[link]
Reagan was sworn in as president for the second time on January 20, 1985, in a private ceremony at the White House. Because January 20 fell on a Sunday, a public celebration was not held but took place in the Capitol Rotunda the following day. January 21 was one of the coldest days on record in Washington, D.C.; due to poor weather, inaugural celebrations were held inside the Capitol. In the coming weeks he shook up his staff somewhat, moving White House Chief of Staff James Baker to Secretary of the Treasury and naming Treasury Secretary Donald Regan, a former Merrill Lynch officer, Chief of Staff.[201][201]
In 1985, Reagan visited a German military cemetery in Bitburg to lay a wreath with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It was determined that the cemetery held the graves of forty-nine members of the Waffen-SS. Reagan issued a statement that called the Nazi soldiers buried in that cemetery as themselves "victims," a designation which ignited a stir over whether Reagan had equated the SS men to victims of the Holocaust; Pat Buchanan, Reagan's Director of Communications, argued that the president did not equate the SS members with the actual Holocaust.[202] Now strongly urged to cancel the visit,[203] the president responded that it would be wrong to back down on a promise he had made to Chancellor Kohl. He ultimately attended the ceremony where two military generals laid a wreath.[204]
The disintegration of the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986, proved a pivotal moment in Reagan's presidency. All seven astronauts aboard were killed.[205] On the night of the disaster, Reagan delivered a speech, written by Peggy Noonan, in which he said:
The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave... We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God.'[206]
War on Drugs[link]
Main article: War on Drugs
Midway into his second term, Reagan declared more militant policies in the War on Drugs. He said that "drugs were menacing our society" and promised to fight for drug-free schools and workplaces, expanded drug treatment, stronger law enforcement and drug interdiction efforts, and greater public awareness.[207][208]
In 1986, Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill that budgeted $1.7 billion to fund the War on Drugs and specified a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses.[209] The bill was criticized for promoting significant racial disparities in the prison population[209] and critics also charged that the policies did little to reduce the availability of drugs on the street, while resulting in a great financial burden for America.[210] Defenders of the effort point to success in reducing rates of adolescent drug use.[211][212] First Lady Nancy Reagan made the War on Drugs her main priority by founding the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign, which aimed to discourage children and teenagers from engaging in recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying "no". Mrs. Reagan traveled to 65 cities in 33 states, raising awareness about the dangers of drugs including alcohol.[213]
Libya bombing[link]
Main article: 1986 Bombing of Libya
Relations between Libya and the U.S. under President Reagan were continually contentious, beginning with the Gulf of Sidra incident in 1981; by 1982, Gaddafi was considered by the CIA to be, along with USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev and Cuban leader Fidel Castro,[214] part of a group known as the "unholy trinity"[214] and was also labeled as "our international public enemy number one" by a CIA official.[214] These tensions were later revived in early April 1986, when a bomb exploded in a Berlin discothèque, resulting in the injury of 63 American military personnel and death of one serviceman.[215] Stating that there was "irrefutable proof" that Libya had directed the "terrorist bombing", Reagan authorized the use of force against the country.[215] In the late evening of April 15, 1986, the U.S. launched a series of air strikes on ground targets in Libya.[215][216] The UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher allowed the US Air Force to use Britain's air bases to launch the attack, on the justification that the UK was supporting America's right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.[216] The attack was designed to halt Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's "ability to export terrorism", offering him "incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior".[215] The president addressed the nation from the Oval Office after the attacks had commenced, stating, "When our citizens are attacked or abused anywhere in the world on the direct orders of hostile regimes, we will respond so long as I'm in this office."[216] As early as 1981, Reagan had referred to Gaddafi as "the mad dog of the Middle East"[217] and considered him to be public enemy number one.[218]
Immigration[link]
Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. The act made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants, required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status, and granted amnesty to approximately three million illegal immigrants who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1982, and had lived in the country continuously. Critics argue that the employer sanctions were without teeth and failed to stem illegal immigration.[219] Upon signing the act at a ceremony held beside the newly refurbished Statue of Liberty, Reagan said, "The legalization provisions in this act will go far to improve the lives of a class of individuals who now must hide in the shadows, without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society. Very soon many of these men and women will be able to step into the sunlight and, ultimately, if they choose, they may become Americans."[220] Reagan also said, "The employer sanctions program is the keystone and major element. It will remove the incentive for illegal immigration by eliminating the job opportunities which draw illegal aliens here."[220]
Iran-Contra affair[link]
In 1986, a scandal shook the administration stemming from the use of proceeds from covert arms sales to Iran to fund the Contras in Nicaragua, which had been specifically outlawed by an act of Congress.[221][222] The Iran-Contra affair became the largest political scandal in the United States during the 1980s.[223] The International Court of Justice, whose jurisdiction to decide the case was disputed,[224] ruled that the U.S. had violated international law in Nicaragua due to its obligations not to intervene in the affairs of other states.[225]
President Reagan professed ignorance of the plot's existence. He appointed two Republicans and one Democrat (John Tower, Brent Scowcroft and Edmund Muskie, known as the "Tower Commission") to investigate the scandal. The commission could not find direct evidence that Reagan had prior knowledge of the program, but criticized him heavily for his disengagement from managing his staff, making the diversion of funds possible.[226] A separate report by Congress concluded that "If the president did not know what his national security advisers were doing, he should have."[226] Reagan's popularity declined from 67% to 46% in less than a week, the greatest and quickest decline ever for a president.[227] The scandal resulted in fourteen indictments within Reagan's staff, and eleven convictions.[228]
Many Central Americans criticize Reagan for his support of the Contras, calling him an anti-communist zealot, blinded to human rights abuses, while others say he "saved Central America".[229] Daniel Ortega, Sandinistan and president of Nicaragua, said that he hoped God would forgive Reagan for his "dirty war against Nicaragua".[229] In 1986 the USA was found guilty by the International Court of Justice (World Court) of war crimes against Nicaragua.[230]
End of the Cold War[link]
See also: Cold War (1985–1991)
By the early 1980s, many people in the US perceived that the USSR military capabilities were gaining on that of the United States. Previously, the U.S. had relied on the qualitative superiority of its weapons to essentially frighten the Soviets, but the gap had been narrowed.[231] Although the Soviet Union did not accelerate military spending after President Reagan's military buildup,[232] their large military expenses, in combination with collectivized agriculture and inefficient planned manufacturing, were a heavy burden for the Soviet economy.[233] At the same time, Saudi Arabia increased oil production,[234] which resulted in a drop of oil prices in 1985 to one-third of the previous level; oil was the main source of Soviet export revenues.[233] These factors gradually brought the Soviet economy to a stagnant state during Gorbachev's tenure.[233]
Reagan recognized the change in the direction of the Soviet leadership with Mikhail Gorbachev, and shifted to diplomacy, with a view to encourage the Soviet leader to pursue substantial arms agreements.[235] Reagan's personal mission was to achieve "a world free of nuclear weapons", which he regarded as "totally irrational, totally inhumane, good for nothing but killing, possibly destructive of life on earth and civilization".[236][237][238] He was able to start discussions on nuclear disarmament with General Secretary Gorbachev.[238] Gorbachev and Reagan held four summit conferences between 1985 and 1988: the first in Geneva, Switzerland, the second in Reykjavík, Iceland, the third in Washington, D.C., and the fourth in Moscow.[239] Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of Communism.[240]
Speaking at the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev to go further, saying:
| “ | "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" | ” |
Prior to Gorbachev visiting Washington, D.C., for the third summit in 1987, the Soviet leader announced his intention to pursue significant arms agreements.[241] The timing of the announcement led Western diplomats to contend that Gorbachev was offering major concessions to the U.S. on the levels of conventional forces, nuclear weapons, and policy in Eastern Europe.[241] He and Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at the White House, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons.[242] The two leaders laid the framework for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I; Reagan insisted that the name of the treaty be changed from Strategic Arms Limitation Talks to Strategic Arms Reduction Talks.[237]
When Reagan visited Moscow for the fourth summit in 1988, he was viewed as a celebrity by the Soviets. A journalist asked the president if he still considered the Soviet Union the evil empire. "No", he replied, "I was talking about another time, another era."[243] At Gorbachev's request, Reagan gave a speech on free markets at the Moscow State University.[244] In his autobiography, An American Life, Reagan expressed his optimism about the new direction that they charted and his warm feelings for Gorbachev.[245] In November 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down, the Cold War was officially declared over at the Malta Summit on December 3, 1989[246] and two years later, the Soviet Union collapsed.
Health[link]
Early in his presidency, Reagan started wearing a custom, technologically advanced hearing aid, first in his right ear[247] and later in his left as well.[248] His decision to go public in 1983 regarding his wearing the small, audio-amplifying device boosted their sales.[249]
On July 13, 1985, Reagan underwent surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital to remove cancerous polyps from his colon. He relinquished presidential power to the Vice President for eight hours in a similar procedure as outlined in the 25th Amendment, which he specifically avoided invoking.[250] The surgery lasted just under three hours and was successful.[251] Reagan resumed the powers of the presidency later that day.[252] In August of that year, he underwent an operation to remove skin cancer cells from his nose.[253] In October, additional skin cancer cells were detected on his nose and removed.[254]
In January 1987, Reagan underwent surgery for an enlarged prostate which caused further worries about his health. No cancerous growths were found, however, and he was not sedated during the operation.[255] In July of that year, aged 76, he underwent a third skin cancer operation on his nose.[256]
Judiciary[link]
Main articles: Ronald Reagan Supreme Court candidates and Ronald Reagan judicial appointments
During his 1980 campaign, Reagan pledged that, if given the opportunity, he would appoint the first female Supreme Court Justice.[257] That opportunity came in his first year in office when he nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Potter Stewart. In his second term, Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to succeed Warren Burger as Chief Justice, and named Antonin Scalia to fill the vacant seat. Reagan nominated conservative jurist Robert Bork to the high court in 1987. Senator Ted Kennedy, a Democrat of Massachusetts, strongly condemned Bork, and great controversy ensued.[258] Bork's nomination was rejected 58–42.[259] Reagan then nominated Douglas Ginsburg, but Ginsburg withdrew his name from consideration after coming under fire for his cannabis use.[260] Anthony Kennedy was eventually confirmed in his place.[261] Along with his three Supreme Court appointments, Reagan appointed 83 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, and 290 judges to the United States district courts.
Reagan also nominated Vaughn R. Walker, who would later be revealed to be the earliest known gay federal judge,[262] to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. However, the nomination stalled in the Senate, and Walker was not confirmed until he was renominated by Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush.[263]
Post-presidential years, 1989–2004[link]
After leaving office in 1989, the Reagans purchased a home in Bel Air, Los Angeles in addition to the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara. They regularly attended Bel Air Presbyterian Church[264] and occasionally made appearances on behalf of the Republican Party; Reagan delivered a well-received speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention.[265] Previously on November 4, 1991, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was dedicated and opened to the public. At the dedication ceremonies, five presidents were in attendance, as well as six first ladies, marking the first time five presidents were gathered in the same location.[266] Reagan continued publicly to speak in favor of a line-item veto; the Brady Bill;[267] a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget; and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone from serving more than two terms as president.[268] In 1992 Reagan established the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award with the newly formed Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.[269] His final public speech was on February 3, 1994 during a tribute to him in Washington, D.C., and his last major public appearance was at the funeral of Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994.
Alzheimer's disease[link]
Announcement and reaction[link]
In August 1994, at the age of 83, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease,[270] an incurable neurological disorder which destroys brain cells and ultimately causes death.[270][271] In November he informed the nation through a handwritten letter,[270] writing in part:
I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease... At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done... I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.[272]
After his diagnosis, letters of support from well-wishers poured into his California home,[273] but there was also speculation over how long Reagan had demonstrated symptoms of mental degeneration.[274] In her memoirs, former CBS White House correspondent Lesley Stahl recounts her final meeting with the president, in 1986: "Reagan didn't seem to know who I was. ... Oh, my, he's gonzo, I thought. I have to go out on the lawn tonight and tell my countrymen that the president of the United States is a doddering space cadet." But then, at the end, he regained his alertness. As she described it, "I had come that close to reporting that Reagan was senile."[275] However, Dr. Lawrence K. Altman, a physician employed as a reporter for The New York Times, noted that "the line between mere forgetfulness and the beginning of Alzheimer's can be fuzzy"[276] and all four of Reagan's White House doctors said that they saw no evidence of Alzheimer's while he was president.[276] Dr. John E. Hutton, Reagan's primary physician from 1984 to 1989, said the president "absolutely" did not "show any signs of dementia or Alzheimer's."[276] Reagan did experience occasional memory lapses, though, especially with names.[276] Once, while meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, he repeatedly referred to Vice President Bush as "Prime Minister Bush."[277] Reagan's doctors, however, note that he only began exhibiting overt symptoms of the illness in late 1992[278] or 1993,[276] several years after he had left office. His former Chief of Staff James Baker considered "ludicrous" the idea of Reagan sleeping during cabinet meetings.[279] Other staff members, former aides, and friends said they saw no indication of Alzheimer's while he was President.[276]
Complicating the picture, Reagan suffered an episode of head trauma in July 1989, five years prior to his diagnosis. After being thrown from a horse in Mexico, a subdural hematoma was found and surgically treated later in the year.[270][271] Nancy Reagan asserts that her husband's 1989 fall hastened the onset of Alzheimer's disease,[271] citing what doctors told her,[271] although acute brain injury has not been conclusively proven to accelerate Alzheimer's or dementia.[280][281] Reagan's one-time physician Dr. Daniel Ruge has said it is possible, but not certain, that the horse accident affected the course of Reagan's memory.[278]
Progression[link]
As the years went on, the disease slowly destroyed Reagan's mental capacity.[276] He was only able to recognize a few people, including his wife, Nancy.[276] He remained active, however; he took walks through parks near his home and on beaches, played golf regularly, and until 1999 he often went to his office in nearby Century City.[276]
Reagan suffered a fall at his Bel Air home on January 13, 2001, resulting in a broken hip.[282] The fracture was repaired the following day[283] and the 89 year old Reagan returned home later that week, although he faced difficult physical therapy at home.[284] On February 6, 2001, Reagan reached the age of 90, becoming the third former president to do so (the other two being John Adams and Herbert Hoover, with Gerald Ford later reaching 90).[285] Reagan's public appearances became much less frequent with the progression of the disease, and as a result, his family decided that he would live in quiet semi-isolation with his wife Nancy. Nancy Reagan told CNN's Larry King in 2001 that very few visitors were allowed to see her husband because she felt that "Ronnie would want people to remember him as he was."[286] Following her husband's diagnosis and death, Mrs. Reagan became a stem-cell research advocate, urging Congress and President George W. Bush to support federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, something Bush opposed. In 2009, she praised President Barack Obama for lifting restrictions on such research.[287] Mrs. Reagan has said that she believes that it could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's.[288]
Death[link]
Main article: Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan
Reagan died of pneumonia, brought on by Alzheimer's disease[289] at his home in Bel Air, California on the afternoon of June 5, 2004.[290] A short time after his death, Nancy Reagan released a statement saying: "My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has died after 10 years of Alzheimer's disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers."[290] President George W. Bush declared June 11 a National Day of Mourning,[291] and international tributes came in from around the world.[292] Reagan's body was taken to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California later in the day, where well-wishers paid tribute by laying flowers and American flags in the grass.[293] On June 7, his body was removed and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where a brief family funeral was held conducted by Pastor Michael Wenning. His body lay in repose in the Library lobby until June 9; over 100,000 people viewed the coffin.[294]
On June 9, Reagan's body was flown to Washington, D.C. where he became the tenth United States president to lie in state; in thirty-four hours, 104,684 people filed past the coffin.[295]
On June 11, a state funeral was conducted in the Washington National Cathedral, and presided over by President George W. Bush. Eulogies were given by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,[296] former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and both Presidents Bush. Also in attendance were Mikhail Gorbachev, and many world leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and interim presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq.
After the funeral, the Reagan entourage was flown back to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, where another service was held, and President Reagan was interred.[297] At the time of his death, Reagan was the longest-lived president in U.S. history, having lived 93 years and 120 days (2 years, 8 months, and 23 days longer than John Adams, whose record he surpassed). He is now the second longest-lived president, just 45 days fewer than Gerald Ford. He was the first United States president to die in the 21st century, and his was the first state funeral in the United States since that of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973.
His burial site is inscribed with the words he delivered at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: "I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life."[298]
Legacy[link]
Since Reagan left office in 1989, substantial debate has occurred among scholars, historians, and the general public surrounding his legacy. Supporters have pointed to a more efficient and prosperous economy as a result of Reaganomics,[299] foreign policy triumphs including a peaceful end to the Cold War after Reagan's eight years in office,[300] and a restoration of American pride and morale.[105] Critics contend that Reagan's economic policies resulted in huge budget deficits,[133] a wider gap in wealth, and an increase in homelessness[142] and that the Iran-Contra affair lowered American credibility.[301] Despite the ongoing debates, Reagan has ranked among the most popular of all modern U.S. presidents in public opinion polls.[302]
Opinions of Reagan's legacy among the country's leading policy makers and journalists differ as well. Edwin Feulner, President of The Heritage Foundation, said that Reagan "helped create a safer, freer world" and said of his economic policies: "He took an America suffering from 'malaise'... and made its citizens believe again in their destiny."[303] However, Mark Weisbrot, co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, contended that Reagan's "economic policies were mostly a failure"[304] while Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post opined that Reagan was "a far more controversial figure in his time than the largely gushing obits on television would suggest."[305]
Despite the continuing debate surrounding his legacy, many conservative and liberal scholars agree that Reagan has been the most influential president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, leaving his imprint on American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics. Since he left office, historians have reached a consensus,[306] as summarized by British historian M. J. Heale, who finds that scholars now concur that Reagan rehabilitated conservatism, turned the nation to the right, practiced a considerably pragmatic conservatism that balanced ideology and the constraints of politics, revived faith in the presidency and in American self-respect, and contributed to victory in the Cold War.[307]
Cold War[link]
The Cold War was a major political and economic endeavor for over four decades, but the confrontation between the two superpowers had decreased dramatically by the end of Reagan's presidency.[308] The significance of Reagan's role in ending the Cold War has spurred contentious and opinionated debate.[309][310][311] That Reagan had some role in contributing to the downfall of the Soviet Union is collectively agreed, but the extent of this role is continuously debated,[235] with many believing that Reagan's defense policies, hard line rhetoric against the Soviet Union and Communism, as well as summits with General Secretary Gorbachev played a significant part in ending the War.[141][235]
He was notable amongst post–World War II presidents as being convinced that the Soviet Union could be defeated rather than simply negotiated with,[235] a conviction that was vindicated by Gennadi Gerasimov, the Foreign Ministry spokesman under Gorbachev, who said that Star Wars was "very successful blackmail. ... The Soviet economy couldn't endure such competition."[312] Reagan's strong rhetoric toward the nation had mixed effects; Jeffery W. Knopf, PhD observes that being labeled "evil" probably made no difference to the Soviets but gave encouragement to the East-European citizens opposed to communism.[235] That Reagan had little or no effect in ending the Cold War is argued with equal weight; that Communism's internal weakness had become apparent, and the Soviet Union would have collapsed in the end regardless of who was in power.[235] President Harry Truman's policy of containment is also regarded as a force behind the fall of the U.S.S.R., and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan undermined the Soviet system itself.[310]
General Secretary Gorbachev said of his former rival's Cold War role: "[He was] a man who was instrumental in bringing about the end of the Cold War,"[313] and deemed him "a great President."[313] Gorbachev does not acknowledge a win or loss in the war, but rather a peaceful end; he said he was not intimidated by Reagan's harsh rhetoric.[314] Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said of Reagan, "he warned that the Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for military power... but he also sensed it was being eaten away by systemic failures impossible to reform."[315] She later said, "Ronald Reagan had a higher claim than any other leader to have won the Cold War for liberty and he did it without a shot being fired."[316] Said Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada: "He enters history as a strong and dramatic player [in the Cold War]."[317] Former President Lech Wałęsa of Poland acknowledged, "Reagan was one of the world leaders who made a major contribution to communism's collapse."[318]
Domestic and political legacy[link]
Ronald Reagan reshaped the Republican party, led the modern conservative movement, and altered the political dynamic of the United States.[319] More men voted Republican under Reagan, and Reagan tapped into religious voters.[319] The so-called "Reagan Democrats" were a result of his presidency.[319]
After leaving office, Reagan became an iconic influence within the Republican party.[320] His policies and beliefs have been frequently invoked by Republican presidential candidates since 1989.[17] The 2008 Republican presidential candidates were no exception, for they aimed to liken themselves to him during the primary debates, even imitating his campaign strategies.[321] Republican nominee John McCain frequently stated that he came to office as "a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution".[322] Lastly, Reagan's most famous statement that "Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem", has become the unofficial slogan for the rise of conservative commentators like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh; as well as the emergence of the Tea Party Movement.[142]
Cultural and political image[link]
According to columnist Chuck Raasch, "Reagan transformed the American presidency in ways that only a few have been able to."[323] He redefined the political agenda of the times, advocating lower taxes, a conservative economic philosophy, and a stronger military.[324] His role in the Cold War further enhanced his image as a different kind of leader.[325][326] Reagan's "avuncular style, optimism, and plain-folks demeanor" also helped him turn "government-bashing into an art form."[142]
| Date | Event | Approval (%) | Disapproval (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 30, 1981 | Shot by Hinckley | 73 | 19 |
| January 22, 1983 | High unemployment | 42 | 54 |
| April 26, 1986 | Libya bombing | 70 | 26 |
| February 26, 1987 | Iran-Contra affair | 44 | 51 |
| January 20, 1989 | End of presidency | 64 | |
| n/a | Career Average | 57 | 39 |
| July 30, 2001 | (Retrospective)[302] | 64 | 27 |
As a sitting president, Reagan did not have the highest approval ratings,[327] but his popularity has increased since 1989. Gallup polls in 2001 and 2007 ranked him number one or number two when correspondents were asked for the greatest president in history, and third of post–World War II presidents in a 2007 Rasmussen Reports poll, fifth in an ABC 2000 poll, ninth in another 2007 Rasmussen poll, and eighth in a late 2008 poll by United Kingdom newspaper The Times.[328][329][330] In a Siena College survey of over 200 historians, however, Reagan ranked sixteenth out of 42.[331][332] While the debate about Reagan's legacy is ongoing, the 2009 Annual C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leaders ranked Reagan the 10th greatest president. The survey of leading historians rated Reagan number 11 in 2000.[333]
In 2011, the Institute for the Study of the Americas released the first ever U.K. academic survey to rate U.S. presidents. This poll of U.K. specialists in U.S. history and politics placed Reagan as the 8th greatest U.S. president.[334]
Reagan's ability to connect with the American people[335] earned him the laudatory moniker "The Great Communicator".[336] Of it, Reagan said, "I won the nickname the great communicator. But I never thought it was my style that made a difference—it was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things."[337] His age and soft-spoken speech gave him a warm grandfatherly image.[338][339][340]
Reagan also earned the nickname "the Teflon President," in that public perceptions of him were not tarnished by the controversies that arose during his administration.[341] According to Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, who coined the phrase, and reporter Howard Kurtz, the epithet referred to Reagan's ability to "do almost anything wrong[341] and not get blamed for it."[335][342]
Public reaction to Reagan was always mixed; the oldest president was supported by young voters, and began an alliance that shifted many of them to the Republican party.[343] Reagan did not fare well with minority groups, especially African-Americans.[200] This was largely due to his opposition to affirmative action policies.[344] However, his support of Israel throughout his presidency earned him support from many Jews, and he became the first Republican ever to win the Jewish vote.[345] He emphasized family values in his campaigns and during his presidency, although he was the first president to have been divorced.[346] The combination of Reagan's speaking style, unabashed patriotism, negotiation skills, as well as his savvy use of the media, played an important role in defining the 1980s and his future legacy.[347]
Reagan was known to joke frequently during his lifetime, displayed humor throughout his presidency,[348] and was famous for his storytelling.[349] His numerous jokes and one-liners have been labeled "classic quips" and "legendary".[350] Among the most notable of his jokes was one regarding the Cold War. As a sound check prior to his weekly radio address in August 1984, Reagan made the following joke as a way to test the microphone: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."[351] Former aide David Gergen commented, "It was that humor... that I think endeared people to Reagan."[194]
Honors[link]
Further information: List of honors named for Ronald Reagan
Reagan received a number of awards in his pre- and post-presidential years. Following his election as president, Reagan received a lifetime gold membership in the Screen Actors Guild, was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame[352] and received the United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award.[353]
In 1989, Reagan was made an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, one of the highest British orders (this entitled him to the use of the post-nominal letters "GCB" but, by not being the citizen of a Commonwealth realm, not to be known as "Sir Ronald Reagan"); only two American presidents have received this honor, Reagan and George H.W. Bush.[354] Reagan was also named an honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford. Japan awarded him the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1989; he was the second American president to receive the order and the first to have it given to him for personal reasons (Dwight D. Eisenhower received it as a commemoration of U.S.-Japanese relations).[355]
On January 18, 1993, Reagan's former Vice-President and sitting President George H. W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that the United States can bestow.[356] Reagan was also awarded the Republican Senatorial Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed by Republican members of the Senate.[357]
On Reagan's 87th birthday, in 1998, Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport by a bill signed into law by President Bill Clinton. That year, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center was dedicated in Washington, D.C.[358] He was among 18 included in Gallup's List of Widely Admired People of the 20th century, from a poll conducted of the American people in 1999; two years later, USS Ronald Reagan was christened by Nancy Reagan and the United States Navy. It is one of few Navy ships christened in honor of a living person and the first aircraft carrier to be named in honor of a living former president.[359]
Congress authorized the creation of the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site in Dixon, Illinois in 2002, pending federal purchase of the property.[360] On May 16 of that year, Nancy Reagan accepted the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress, on behalf of the president and herself.[361]
Following Reagan's death, the United States Postal Service issued a President Ronald Reagan commemorative postage stamp in 2005.[362] Later in the year, CNN, along with the editors of Time magazine, named him the "most fascinating person" of the network's first 25 years;[363] Time listed Reagan one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century as well.[364] The Discovery Channel asked its viewers to vote for The Greatest American in an unscientific poll on June 26, 2005; Reagan received the honorary title.[365]
In 2006, Reagan was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts.[366] Every year since 2002, California Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have proclaimed February 6 "Ronald Reagan Day" in the state of California in honor of their most famous predecessor.[367] In 2010, Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 944, authored by Senator George Runner, to make every February 6 Ronald Reagan Day in California.[368]
In 2007, Polish President Lech Kaczyński posthumously conferred on Reagan the highest Polish distinction, the Order of the White Eagle, saying that Reagan had inspired the Polish people to work for change and helped to unseat the repressive communist regime; Kaczyński said it "would not have been possible if it was not for the tough-mindedness, determination, and feeling of mission of President Ronald Reagan".[369] Reagan backed the nation of Poland throughout his presidency, supporting the anti-communist Solidarity movement, along with Pope John Paul II.[370]
On June 3, 2009, Nancy Reagan unveiled a statue of her late husband in the United States Capitol rotunda. The statue represents the state of California in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Following Reagan's death, both major American political parties agreed to erect a statue of Reagan in the place of that of Thomas Starr King.[371] The day before, President Obama signed the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act into law, establishing a commission to plan activities to mark the upcoming centenary of Reagan's birth.[372]
Independence Day 2011 saw the unveiling of another statue to Reagan this time in the British capital of London, outside the American Embassy, Grosvenor Square. The unveiling was supposed to be attended by Reagan's wife Nancy, but she did not attend; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took her place and read a statement on her behalf; further to the former First Lady's absence President Reagan's friend and the British Prime Minister during Reagan's presidency Baroness Thatcher was also unable to attend due to frail health.[373]
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Citations[link]
- ^ Gingrich, Newt (Spring/Summer 2008). "The Evil Empire". American Heritage. http://www.americanheritage.com/content/evil-empire. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
- ^ a b Ward, Michael. "Main Street Historic District", National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, April 1, 1982, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved July 27, 2007.
- ^ Terry Golway, Ronald Reagan's America (2008) p. 1
- ^ Kengor, p. 4
- ^ Lynette Holloway (December 13, 1996). "Neil Reagan, 88, Ad Executive And Jovial Brother of President". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/13/us/neil-reagan-88-ad-executive-and-jovial-brother-of-president.html. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
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- ^ Feulner, Edwin J., PhD (June 9, 2004). "The Legacy of Ronald Reagan". The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed060904b.cfm. Retrieved August 23, 2007.
- ^ Weisbrot, Mark (June 7, 2004). "Ronald Reagan's Legacy". Common Dreams News Center. http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0607-09.htm. Retrieved August 23, 2007.
- ^ Kurtz, Howard (June 7, 2004). "Reagan: The Retake". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21671-2004Jun7.html. Retrieved August 25, 2005.
- ^ David Henry in Journal of American History December 2009 v. 96#3 p. 934
- ^ Heale, M.J. in Cheryl Hudson and Gareth Davies, eds. Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: Perceptions, Policies, Legacies (2008) Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 0-230-60302-5 p. 250
- ^ "Reagan's legacy". The San Diego Union Tribune. June 6, 2004. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040606/news_lz1x6legacy.html. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
- ^ D'Souza, Dinesh (June 6, 2004). "Russian Revolution". National Review. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071211150646/http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/dsouza200406061619.asp. Retrieved January 6, 2008.
- ^ a b Chapman, Roger (June 14, 2004). "Reagan's Role in Ending the Cold War Is Being Exaggerated". George Mason University. http://hnn.us/articles/5569.html. Retrieved January 6, 2008.
- ^ Chang, Felix (February 11, 2011). "Reagan Turns One Hundred: Foreign Policy Lessons". The National Interest. http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/ronnie-turns-one-hundred-4829. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
- ^ Richard Ned Lebow and Janice Gross Stein: Reagan and the Russians The Atlantic, February 1994.
- ^ a b Heintz, Jim (June 7, 2004). "Gorbachev mourns loss of honest rival" (Reprint). Associated Press. Oakland Tribune. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-6986165.html. Retrieved January 6, 2008.
- ^ Kaiser, Robert G (June 11, 2004). "Gorbachev: 'We All Lost Cold War'". The Washington Post: p. A01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32927-2004Jun10.html. Retrieved January 6, 2008.
- ^ "Full Text: Thatcher Eulogy to Reagan". BBC News Online. June 11, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3797947.stm. Retrieved January 6, 2008.
- ^ "Reagan and Thatcher; political soul mates". msnbc.com. June 5, 2004. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5145739/. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- ^ Clayton, Ian (June 5, 2004). "America's Movie Star President". CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/reagan_ronald/. Retrieved January 6, 2008.
- ^ "Ronald Reagan: Tributes". BBC News Online. June 6, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3780501.stm. Retrieved February 10, 2008.
- ^ a b c Loughlin, Sean (July 6, 2004). "Reagan cast a wide shadow in politics". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/06/legacy.politics/index.html. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
- ^ "Two-term president Reagan remains Republican icon" (Reprint). AFP. June 2004. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmafp/is_200406/ai_kepm482068. Retrieved January 26, 2008. [dead link]
- ^ Broder, John M (January 20, 2008). "The Gipper Gap: In Search of Reagan". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/weekinreview/20broder.html. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ Issenberg, Sasha (February 8, 2008). "McCain touts conservative record". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/08/mccain_touts_conservative_record/. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
- ^ Raasch, Chuck (June 10, 2004). "Reagan transformed presidency into iconic place in American culture". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/raasch/2004-06-10-raasch_x.htm. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
- ^ "Ronald Reagan". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080510130141/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761560259_2/ronald_reagan.html. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
- ^ "Toward the Summit; Previous Reagan-Gorbachev Summits". The New York Times. May 28, 1988. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/29/world/toward-the-summit-previous-reagan-gorbachev-summits.html. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
- ^ "1987: Superpowers to reverse arms race". BBC News Online. December 8, 1987, 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/8/newsid_3283000/3283817.stm. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
- ^ "How the Presidents Stack Up". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html?printVersion=true. Retrieved September 7, 2007.
- ^ "Reagan Tops Presidential Poll". CBS. February 19, 2001. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/02/19/politics/main273106.shtml. Retrieved September 7, 2007.
- ^ "Presidents and History". Polling Report. http://www.pollingreport.com/wh-hstry.htm. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
- ^ "Post-War Presidents: JFK, Ike, Reagan Most Popular". Rasmussen Reports. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071011174301/http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/post_war_presidents_jfk_ike_reagan_most_popular. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
- ^ "Presidential Survey". http://lw.siena.edu/sri/results/2002/02AugPresidentsSurvey.htm. Retrieved August 28, 2007.
- ^ Hines, Nico (October 31, 2008). "The top ten – The Times US presidential rankings". The Times (UK). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5048771.ece. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
- ^ C-SPAN (February 16, 2009). "C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leaders". http://legacy.c-span.org/PresidentialSurvey/presidential-leadership-survey.aspx. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
- ^ "USPC Survey". Americas.sas.ac.uk. http://americas.sas.ac.uk/research/survey/index.html. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ a b Schroeder, Patricia (June 6, 2004). "Nothing stuck to 'Teflon President'". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-06-06-schroeder_x.htm. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- ^ "'The Great Communicator' strikes chord with public". CNN. 2001. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/reagan.years/communicator/. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- ^ "Reagan: The great communicator". BBC News Online. June 5, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/265509.stm. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ "Mourning in America: Ronald Reagan Dies at 93". Foxnews. June 5, 2004. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,121883,00.html. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ "The Reagan Diaries". The High Hat. http://www.thehighhat.com/Marginalia/009/nugent_reagan.html. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ "Sunday Culture: Charlie Wilson's War?". theseminal. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080212063902/http://www.theseminal.com/2007/12/30/sunday-culture-charlie-wilsons-war/. Retrieved December 4, 2009. >
- ^ a b Kurtz, Howard (June 7, 2004). "15 Years Later, the Remaking of a President". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20802-2004Jun6.html. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
- ^ Sprengelmeyer, M.E. (June 9, 2004). "'Teflon' moniker didn't have intended effect on Reagan". Howard Scripps News Service. Archived from the original on January 24, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080124192405/http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=REAGAN-SCHROEDER-06-09-04&cat=WW. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- ^ Dionne, E.J. (October 31, 1988). "Political Memo; G.O.P. Makes Reagan Lure Of Young a Long-Term Asset". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/31/us/political-memo-gop-makes-reagan-lure-of-young-a-long-term-asset.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
- ^ Affirmative Action. U-s-history.com. Retrieved on October 18, 2010.
- ^ Geffen, David. "Reagan, Ronald Wilson". Jewish Virtual Library. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0017_0_16521.html. Retrieved July 8, 2009.
- ^ Hendrix, Anastasia (June 6, 2004). "Trouble at home for family values advocate". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/06/06/MNG7771M4A1.DTL. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
- ^ Morning in America: how Ronald .... Google Books. 2005. ISBN 978-0-691-09645-2. http://books.google.com/?id=oVzvhP5J5dQC&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
- ^ Marinucci, Carla and Carolyn Lochhead (June 12, 2004). "Last Goodbye: Ex-president eulogized in D.C. before final ride into California sunset; Laid to Rest: Ceremony ends weeklong outpouring of grief". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/06/12/MNGOB7598N1.DTL. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
- ^ "Ronald Reagan, Master Storyteller". CBS. June 6, 2004. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/07/48hours/main621459.shtml. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
- ^ McCuddy, Bill (June 6, 2004). "Remembering Reagan's Humor". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,121908,00.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
- ^ "Remembering President Reagan For His Humor-A Classic Radio Gaffe". About. http://radio.about.com/od/funradiothingstodo/a/aa060503a.htm. Retrieved January 22, 2007.
- ^ "Zig Ziglar Bio". Zig Ziglar. http://www.ziglar.com/aboutus_zig_ziglar_bio.html. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
- ^ "Association of Graduates USMA: Sylvanus Thayer Award Recipients". Association of Graduates, West Point, New York. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070703122530/http://www.aogusma.org/aog/awards/TA/awardees.htm. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
- ^ "Order of the Bath". The Official website of the British Monarchy. Archived from the original on April 26, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070426184003/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4883.asp. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
- ^ Weisman, Steven R (October 24, 1989). "Reagan Given Top Award by Japanese". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/24/world/reagan-given-top-award-by-japanese.html. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ "Remarks on presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to President Ronald Reagan-President George Bush-Transcript". The White House: Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. January 18, 1993. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2889/is_n2_v29/ai_13975210. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
- ^ "Julio E. Bonfante". LeBonfante International Investors Group. Archived from the original on January 30, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080130170642/http://www.lebonfante.com/principals1.html. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ "Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center". U.S. General Services Administration. http://www.itcdc.com. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
- ^ "USS Ronald Reagan Commemorates Former President's 90th Birthday". CNN. July 12, 2003. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/04/sm.06.html. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
- ^ "Public Law 107-137" (PDF). United States Government Printing Office. February 6, 2002. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ137.107.pdf. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
- ^ "Congressional Gold Medal Recipients 1776 to present". Office of the Clerk, US House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/goldMedal.html. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
- ^ "Postmaster General, Nancy Reagan unveil Ronald Reagan stamp image, stamp available next year" (Press release). USPS. November 9, 2004. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/postmaster-general-nancy-reagan-unveil-ronald-reagan-stamp-image-stamp-available-next-year-75312827.html. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
- ^ "Top 25: Fascinating People". CNN. June 19, 2005. http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/02/cnn25.top.fascinating/index.html. Retrieved June 19, 2005.
- ^ "Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century". Time. 2003. http://www.time.com/time/time100/index_2000_time100.html. Retrieved March 7, 2007.
- ^ "Greatest American". Discovery Channel. http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/greatestamerican/greatestamerican.html. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
- ^ Geiger, Kimberly (August 1, 2006). "California: State to establish a Hall of Fame; Disney, Reagan and Alice Walker among 1st inductees". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/01/BAGFLK8OKG1.DTL. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ "Governor Davis Proclaims February 6, 2002 "Ronald Reagan Day" in California". Office of the Governor, State of California. February 5, 2002. http://governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_htmldisplay.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0603947949.1234151628@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccccadegfmdjifmcfngcfkmdffidfnf.0&sCatTitle=Previous+Administration%2fProclamation&sFilePath=/govsite/proclamation/20020206_proc_ronaldreaganday.html&sTitle=Ronald+Reagan+Day+&iOID=29384.
- ^ "Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation Honoring President Ronald Reagan". Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. July 19, 2010. http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/15616/. [dead link]
- ^ "President Kaczyński Presents Order of the White Eagle to Late President Ronald Reagan". United States Department of State. July 18, 2007. http://poland.usembassy.gov/events_2007/president-kaczynski-presents-order-of-the-white-eagle-to-late-president-ronald-reagan--18-july-2007.html. Retrieved February 10, 2008. [dead link]
- ^ Bernstein, Carl (February 24, 1992). "The Holy Alliance". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974931,00.html?iid=chix-sphere. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
- ^ "Reagan statue unveiled in Capitol Rotunda". Associated Press. msnbc.com. June 3, 2009. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31087271/. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ "Obama creates Reagan centennial commission". Associated Press. msnbc.com. June 2, 2009. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31070972/ns/politics-white_house/. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ "Ronald Reagan statue unveiled at US Embassy in London". BBC News Online. July 4, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14009137. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
References[link]
- Beschloss, Michael (2008). Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How they Changed America 1789–1989. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-5744-8.
- Bumgarner, John R. (1994). The Health of the Presidents: The 41 United States Presidents Through 1993 from a Physician's Point of View. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company. ISBN 0-89950-956-8.
- Cannon, Lou (1991, 2000). President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 1-891620-91-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=vkUbP1G1hmkC.
- Cannon, Lou; Beschloss, Michael (2001). Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio: A History Illustrated from the Collection of the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum. PublicAffairs. ISBN 1-891620-84-3.
- Cannon, Lou (2003). Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-284-8.
- Hayward, Steven F. (2009). The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980–1989. ISBN 0-307-45369-3.
- Kengor, Paul (2005). God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-057142-X.
- Morris, Edmund (1999). Dutch, A memoir of Ronald Reagan. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-55508-2.
- Pemberton, William E. (1998). Exit With Honor: The Life and Presidency of Ronald Reagan. ISBN 0-7656-0096-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=pvQtMzEa890C&printsec=frontcover.
- Reagan, Nancy (2002). I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-76051-2.
- Reagan, Ronald (2003). Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, Martin Anderson. ed. Reagan: A Life in Letters. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-1967-8.
- Reagan, Ronald (2003). An American Life. New York: Free Press, A Division of Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7434-0025-9.
- Reeves, Richard (2005). President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-3022-1.
- Sullivan, John'O (2006). The President, the Pope, the Prime Minister. Regnery Publishing.
- Troy, Gil (2009). The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction.
- Wills, Garry (1987). Reagan's America: Innocents at Home. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-18286-4.
Further reading[link]
Further information: Ronald Reagan bibliography
External links[link]
| Find more about Ronald Reagan on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
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Official sites[link]
- Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) at WhiteHouse.gov
- Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
- Ronald Reagan's major speeches
- Ronald Reagan at Eureka College
Media[link]
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Ronald Reagan audio archives at NPR
- Oral History Transcripts on the Reagan administration from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
- Speech on role of chaplains in the military, based on 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Text version; Video version
- Speech on the 1983 Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007
- Reagan's quip about bombing Russia (help·info)
News coverage[link]
- Ronald Reagan collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Ronald Reagan from The Washington Post
- Ronald Reagan at Time magazine
- Ronald Reagan at CNN
- Ronald Reagan – BBC biography
- Ronald Reagan collected news and commentary at The Guardian
- An hour with William F. Buckley, Jr. about Ronald Reagan on Charlie Rose
- An hour remembrance of Ronald Reagan on Charlie Rose
- A conversation about Ronald Reagan's legacy on Charlie Rose
- Radio breaking news coverage of assassination attempt on President Reagan on March 30, 1981
Timeline[link]
Essays and historiographies[link]
- Extensive essay on Ronald Reagan and essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
- Introduction of Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s, a detailed account of Reagan's impact on the United States
Site directories[link]
- Ronald Reagan in the Newseum archive of front page images from 2004-06-06.
- Ronald Reagan at the Internet Movie Database
- Ronald Reagan at AllRovi
- Works by or about Ronald Reagan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reagan, Ronald Wilson |
| Alternative names | Ronald Reagan |
| Short description | American actor and politician, 33rd Governor of California, 40th President of the United States |
| Date of birth | 1911-02-06 |
| Place of birth | Tampico, Illinois, U.S. |
| Date of death | 2004-06-05 |
| Place of death | Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the television host. For similarly named persons, see Lawrence King (disambiguation).
| Larry King | |
|---|---|
.jpg) King in September 2010 |
|
| Born | Lawrence Harvey Zeiger (1933-11-19) November 19, 1933 (age 78) Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Television/Radio personality |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse | Freda Miller (1952-1953; annulled) Annette Kaye (1961; divorced) Alene Akins (1961-1963; divorced) Mickey Stuphin (1963-1967; divorced) Alene Akins (1967-1972; divorced) Sharon Lepore (1976-1983; divorced) Julie Alexander (1989-1992; divorced) Shawn Southwick (1997–present) |
Larry King (born November 19, 1933) is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards. He began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s and became prominent as an all-night national radio broadcaster starting in 1978. From 1985-2010, he hosted the nightly interview TV program Larry King Live on CNN.
Contents |
Early life[link]
King was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York City, to an Austrian immigrant Edward Zeiger, a restaurant owner and defense plant worker, and his wife Jennie Gitlitz, a garment worker, who emigrated from Belarus.[1][2][3] King grew up in a religiously observant Jewish home,[4] but in adulthood became an agnostic.[5]
King's father died at 44 of heart disease,[6] and his mother had to go on welfare to support her two sons. His father's death greatly affected King, and he lost interest in school. After graduating from high school, he worked to help support his mother. From an early age, however, he had wanted to go into radio.[7] King is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Career[link]
Miami radio and television[link]
A CBS staff announcer, whom King met by chance, told him to go to Florida, a growing media market where openings still existed for inexperienced broadcasters. King rode a train to Miami. After initial setbacks, King persisted and got his first job in radio. The manager of a small station, WAHR (now WMBM) in Miami Beach, hired him to clean up and perform miscellaneous tasks.[8] When one of their announcers quit, they put King on the air. His first broadcast was on May 1, 1957, when he worked as the disc jockey from 9 a.m. to noon.[9] He also did two afternoon newscasts and a sportscast. He was paid $55 a week. He acquired the name Larry King when the general manager Marshall Simmonds said that Zeiger was too ethnic and difficult to remember, so Larry chose the surname King, which he got from an ad in The Miami Herald for King's Wholesale Liquor, minutes before air.[10] He started interviewing on a midmorning show for WIOD, at Pumpernik's Restaurant in Miami Beach.[11] He would interview anyone who walked in. His first interview was with a waiter at the restaurant.[12] Two days later, singer Bobby Darin, in Miami for a concert later that day, walked into Pumpernik's as a result of coming across King's show on his radio; Darin became King's first celebrity interview guest.[13]
His Miami radio show launched him to local stardom. A few years later, in May 1960, he hosted Miami Undercover, airing Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m. on WPST-TV Channel 10 (now WPLG).[14] On the show, he moderated debates on important issues of the time. King credits his success on local TV to the assistance of another showbiz legend, comedian Jackie Gleason, whose national TV variety show was being filmed in Miami Beach during this period. "That show really took off because Gleason came to Miami," King said in a 1996 interview he gave when inducted into the Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. "He did that show and stayed all night with me. We stayed till five in the morning. He didn't like the set, so we broke into the general manager's office and changed the set. Gleason changed the set, he changed the lighting, and he became like a mentor of mine."[15] Jackie Gleason was instrumental in getting Larry a hard-to-get on air interview with Frank Sinatra during this time.
During this period, WIOD gave King further exposure as a color commentator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, during their 1970 season and most of their 1971 season.[16] However, he was dismissed by both WIOD and television station WTVJ as a late-night radio host and sports commentator as of December 20, 1971, when he was arrested after being accused of grand larceny by a former business partner.[17] Other staffers covered the Dolphins' games into their 24–3 loss to Dallas in Super Bowl VI. King also lost his weekly column at the Miami Beach Sun newspaper. The charges were dropped on March 10, 1972, and King spent the next several years in reviving his career, including a stint as the color announcer in Louisiana for the Shreveport Steamer of the World Football League in 1974–75 on KWKH. Eventually, King was rehired by WIOD in Miami. For several years during the 1970s in South Florida, he hosted a sports talk-show called "Sports-a-la-King" that featured guests and callers.
National radio[link]
In 1978, he went national, inheriting the nightly talk show slot on the Mutual Broadcasting System, broadcast coast-to-coast, that had been "Long John" Nebel's until his death, and had been pioneered by Herb Jepko.[18] One reason King got the Mutual job is that he had once been an announcer at WGMA-AM in Hollywood, Florida, which was then owned by C. Edward Little. Little went on to become president of Mutual and was the one who hired King when Nebel died. King's Mutual show developed a devoted audience.[citation needed]
It was broadcast live Monday through Friday from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time. King would interview a guest for the first 90 minutes, with callers asking questions that continued the interview for another 90 minutes. At 3 a.m., he would allow callers to discuss any topic they pleased with him, until the end of the program, when he expressed his own political opinions. That segment was called "Open Phone America". Some of the regular callers used the pseudonyms "The Portland Laugher", "The Miami Derelict", "The Todd Cruz Caller", "The Scandal Scooper", "Mr. Radio" and "The Water Is Warm Caller". "Mr. Radio" made over 200 calls to King during Open Phone America. The show was successful, starting with relatively few affiliates and eventually growing to more than 500. It ran until 1994.[citation needed]
For its final year, the show was moved to afternoons, but, because most talk radio stations at the time had an established policy of local origination in the time-slot (3 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time) that Mutual offered the show, a very low percentage of King's overnight affiliates agreed to carry his daytime show and it was unable to generate the same audience size.[citation needed] The afternoon show was eventually given to David Brenner and radio affiliates were given the option of carrying the audio of King's new CNN evening television program. The Westwood One radio simulcast of the CNN show continued until December 31, 2009.
CNN[link]
Main article: Larry King Live
He started his Larry King Live CNN show in June 1985, hosting a broad range of guests from controversial figures of UFO conspiracy theories and alleged psychics,[19] to prominent politicians and leading figures in the entertainment industry, often doing their first or only interview on breaking news stories on his show.
Unlike many interviewers, King has a direct, non-confrontational approach. His reputation for asking easy, open-ended questions has made him attractive to important figures who want to state their position while avoiding being challenged on contentious topics.[20] His interview style is characteristically frank, but with occasional bursts of irreverence and humor. His approach attracts some guests who would not otherwise appear. King, who is known for his general lack of pre-interview preparation, once bragged that he never read the books of authors before they made their appearances on his program.
In a show dedicated to the surviving Beatles, King asked George Harrison's widow about the song "Something", which was written about George Harrison's first wife. He seemed surprised when she did not know very much about the song.
Throughout his career King has interviewed many of the leading figures of his time. CNN claimed during his final episode that he had performed 60,000 interviews in his career.
King also wrote a regular newspaper column in USA Today for almost 20 years, from shortly after that newspaper's origin in 1982 until September 2001.[21] The column consisted of short "plugs, superlatives and dropped names" but was dropped when the newspaper redesigned its "Life" section.[22] The column was resurrected in blog form in November 2008[23] and on Twitter in April 2009.[24]
Departure[link]
On June 29, 2010, King announced that after 25 years, he would be stepping down from his nightly job hosting Larry King Live. However, he stated that he would remain with CNN to host occasional specials.[25] The announcement came in the wake of speculation that CNN had approached Piers Morgan, the British television personality and journalist, as King's primetime replacement,[26] which was confirmed in September.[27][28]
The final edition of Larry King Live aired on December 16, 2010.[29] The show concluded with his last thoughts and a thank you to his audience for watching and supporting him over the years.[30]
On February 17, 2012 CNN announced that he would no longer host specials.[31]
Other ventures[link]
King was the moderator of the 6th KAZENERGY Eurasian Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan, an annual forum for Kazakhstan's energy sector occurring in October 2011.[32][33][34]
Charitable works[link]
As a result of heart attacks, he established the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, an organization to which David Letterman, through his American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming, has also contributed. King gave $1 million to George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs for scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.[citation needed] King serves as a member of the Board of Directors on the Police Athletic League of New York City, a nonprofit youth development agency serving inner-city children and teenagers.[citation needed]
On September 3, 2005, following Hurricane Katrina, King aired "How You Can Help", a three-hour special designed to provide a forum and information clearinghouse for viewers to understand and join nationwide and global relief efforts. On January 18, 2010, in the wake the 2010 Haiti earthquake, King aired "Haiti: How You Can Help", a special two-hour edition designed to show viewers how to take action and be a part of the global outreach. Following the Deepwater Horizon explosion, King aired "Disaster in the Gulf: How You Can Help", a special two-hour edition designed to show viewers how to take action in the clean-up efforts on the Gulf Coast.
On August 30, 2010, King served as the host of Chabad's 30th annual "To Life" telethon, in Los Angeles.
Controversial positions[link]
On September 10, 1990, while on The Joan Rivers Show, Rivers asked King which contestant in the Miss America pageant was "the ugliest". King responded, "Miss Pennsylvania. She was one of the 10 finalists and she did a great ventriloquist bit [...] The dummy was prettier."[35] King was a judge for the September 8, 1990 pageant. King later sent Miss Pennsylvania, Marla Wynne, a dozen long-stemmed roses and a telegram apologizing for saying she was the ugliest contestant in the pageant that year.[36]
In 1997, King was one of 34 celebrities to sign an open letter to then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, published as a newspaper advertisement in the International Herald Tribune, which protested the treatment of Scientologists in Germany, comparing it to the Nazis' oppression of Jews in the 1930s.[37] Other signatories included Dustin Hoffman and Goldie Hawn.[37]
Personal life[link]
King has been married eight times, to seven different women.[38] He married high-school sweetheart Freda Miller in 1951 at age 18.[39] The union ended the following year at the behest of their parents, who reportedly had the marriage annulled.[39] King was later briefly married to Annette Kaye[39] who gave birth to his son, Larry Jr., in November 1961. King did not meet Larry Jr. until the son was in his thirties.[40] Larry Jr. and his wife, Shannon, have three children.[38]
In 1961, King married his third wife, Alene Akins, a Playboy bunny at one of the magazine's eponymous nightclubs. The couple had son Andy in 1962, and divorced the following year.[39] In 1963, King married his fourth wife, Mary Francis "Mickey" Stuphin, who divorced King.[39] He remarried Akins, with whom he had a second child, Chaia, in 1969.[39] The couple divorced a second time in 1972.[39] In 1997, Dove Books published a book written by King and Chaia, Daddy Day, Daughter Day. Aimed at young children, it tells each of their accounts of his divorce from Akins.
On September 25, 1976, King married his fifth wife, math teacher and production assistant Sharon Lepore. The couple divorced in 1983.[41]
King met businesswoman Julie Alexander in summer 1989, and proposed to her on the couple's first date, on August 1, 1989.[42] Alexander became King's sixth wife on October 7, 1989, when the two were married in Washington, D.C.[43] The couple lived in different cities, however, with Alexander in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and King in Washington, D.C., where he worked. The couple separated in 1990 and divorced in 1992.[43] He became engaged to actress Deanna Lund in 1995, after five weeks of dating, but they never married.[44]
He married his seventh wife, Shawn Southwick, born in 1959[45][46] as Shawn Oro Engemann,[45] a former singer and TV host,[47] in King's Los Angeles, California, hospital room three days before King underwent heart surgery to clear a clogged blood vessel.[46] The couple have two children: Chance, born March 1999,[citation needed] and Cannon, born May 2000.[citation needed] He is stepfather to Danny Southwick.[citation needed] On King and Southwick's 10th anniversary in September 2007, Southwick boasted she was "the only [wife] to have lasted into the two digits".[47] On April 14, 2010, both Larry and Shawn King filed for divorce.[46][48] but have since stopped the proceedings, claiming "We love our children, we love each other, we love being a family. That is all that matters to us".[49]
On February 24, 1987, King suffered a major heart attack and then had quintuple-bypass surgery.[citation needed] Since then, King has written two books about living with heart disease. Mr. King, You're Having a Heart Attack: How a Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery Changed My Life (1989, ISBN 0-440-50039-7) was written with New York's Newsday science editor B. D. Colen. Taking On Heart Disease: Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed over the Nation's #1 Killer and How You Can, Too (2004, ISBN 1-57954-820-2) features the experience of various celebrities with cardiovascular disease including Peggy Fleming and Regis Philbin.
In July 2009, King appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, where he told host O'Brien about his wishes to be cryonically preserved upon death,[50] as he had revealed in his book My Remarkable Journey.[51] In December 2011, preceding a CNN Special on the topic, the Kings had a special dinner with friends Conan O'Brien, Tyra Banks, Shaquille O'Neal, Seth MacFarlane, Jack Dorsey, Quincy Jones and Russell Brand where his intent to do so was reiterated, among other topics that were discussed.[52]
On February 12, 2010, Larry King revealed that he had undergone surgery five weeks earlier to place stents in his coronary artery to remove plaque from his heart. During the segment on Larry King Live which discussed Bill Clinton's similar procedure, King said he was "feeling great" and had been in hospital for just one day.[citation needed]
Awards[link]
King has received many broadcasting awards. He won the Peabody Award for Excellence in broadcasting for both his radio (1982) and television (1992) shows. He has also won 10 CableACE awards for Best Interviewer and for Best Talk Show Series.
In 1989, King was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame,[citation needed] and in 1996 to the Broadcasters' Hall of Fame.[7] In 2002, the industry magazine Talkers named King both the fourth-greatest radio talk show host of all time and the top television talk show host of all time.[53]
in June 1998, King received an Honorary Degree from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, for his life achievements.
King was given the Golden Mike Award for Lifetime Achievement in January 2009, by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California.
King is an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Beverly Hills. He is also a recipient of the President's Award honoring his impact on media from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2006.
King is the first recipient of the Arizona State University Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence,[54] presented April 11, 2007, via satellite by Downs himself.[55] Downs sported red suspenders for the event and turned the tables on King by asking "very tough questions" about King's best, worst and most influential interviews during King's 50 years in broadcasting.[citation needed]
References[link]
- ^ "Larry King profile at FilmReference.com". filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/7/Larry-King.html. Retrieved 2008-02-15
- ^ "jweekly.com". jweekly.com. 2008-04-18. http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/34806/celebrities. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ^ Gaby Wenig (November 14, 2003). "Q & A With Larry King". http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=11356. Retrieved 2008-02-15
- ^ Wenig, Gaby (2003-11-13). "Q & A With Larry King | Arts". Jewish Journal. http://www.jewishjournal.com/arts/article/q_and_a_with_larry_king_20031114. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ^ "CNN.com". CNN. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1004/20/lkl.01.html.
- ^ Larry King, A Heart Healthy Life to Enjoy. The Larry King Cardiac Foundation. Accessed on May 5, 2007.
- ^ a b "Broadcaster's Hall of Fame biography". Achievement.org. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/kin0bio-1. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ^ "Larry King Biography". WhyFame. http://www.whyfame.com/celebrities/television/larry_king_60696.php. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Caitlin A. Johnson (11 February 2009). "Larry King Celebrates 50 Years On Air". CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/28/earlyshow/leisure/books/main2523708.shtml. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Christina and Jordana (5 July 2010). "Goodbye Larry King". Schema Magaine. http://www.schemamag.ca/archive2/2010/07/goodbye_larry_king_1.php. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ John Pekkanen (10 March 1980). "While Most of America Sleeps, Larry King Talks to Six Million People All Through the Night". People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20075993,00.html. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Legendary Talk Show Host Larry King Joins the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co.". Brooklyn Water Bagel Co.. http://www.brooklynwaterbagels.com/larry_king.php. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Larry King (5 May 2009). "Excerpt: How I Became Larry King". CNN. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-05-05/entertainment/larry.king.book.radio_1_larry-king-show-theme-song-larry-zeiger?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Jon Bershad (30 June 2010). "From The Mediaite Vault: Larry King Takes On Gangsters (And Loses) In 1961". Mediaite. http://www.mediaite.com/tv/from-the-mediaite-vault-larry-king-takes-on-gangsters-and-loses-in-1961/. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "The Interview King". Academy of Achievement. June 29, 1996. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/kin0int-1. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
- ^ "Larry King - Talk Show Host". dLife. http://www.dlife.com/diabetes/famous_people/writers_reporters_editors/larry_king. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Larry King". The Smoking Gun. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/celebrity/television/larry-king. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Larry King". TCM. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/102334%7C0/Larry-King/. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ One notable guest is Sylvia Browne, who in 2005 told the Newsweek magazine that King, a believer in the paranormal, asks her to do private psychic readings. Setoodeh, Ramin (January 14, 2005). "Predictions: Jacko Convicted, But Blake Gets Off". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2007-02-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20070211211432/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6826824/site/newsweek/. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ Barry, Ellen (December 1, 2010). "Blunt and Blustery, Putin Responds to State Department Cables on Russia". New York Times (New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/world/europe/02putin.html. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
- ^ King, Larry (September 23, 2001). "A New York boy pays tribute, bids farewell". USA Today (Gannett Company). http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/lking.htm. Retrieved October 19, 2009
- ^ Barringer, Felicity (September 5, 2001). "Larry King's Weekly Column For USA Today to Be Dropped". New York Times (New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/05/business/larry-king-s-weekly-column-for-usa-today-to-be-dropped.html. Retrieved October 19, 2009
- ^ King, Larry (November 24, 2008). "King's Things: It's My Two Cents". CNN. http://larrykinglive.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/24/kings-thingsmy-two-cents/. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
- ^ King, Larry. "King's Things". Twitter. http://twitter.com/KingsThings. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
- ^ "Larry King to end long-running US TV chat show". BBC News. June 30, 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10457092.stm. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
- ^ "CNN denies Larry King will be replaced". The Spy Report (Media Spy). June 16, 2010. http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/06/16/us-cnn-denies-larry-king-will-be-replaced/. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
- ^ "Piers Morgan signs on as Larry King replacement". The Spy Report (Media Spy). September 9, 2010. http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/09/09/us-piers-morgan-signs-on-as-larry-king-replacement. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
- ^ Duke, Alan; Braiker, Brian (June 30, 2010). "Piers Morgan to join CNN with prime-time hour in Larry King slot". ABC News. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/08/morgan.replaces.king/index.html. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
- ^ "Larry King signs off from CNN talk show". The Spy Report (Media Spy). December 17, 2010. http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/12/17/us-larry-king-signs-off-from-cnn-talk-show/. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
- ^ "Photos: Larry King’s Final CNN "Larry King Live" Broadcast Party". iknowjack.radio.com. http://iknowjack.radio.com/2010/12/17/photos-larry-kings-final-cnn-larry-king-live-broadcast-party/.
- ^ "CNN officially severs ties with Larry King". The Los Angeles Times. 15 February 2012. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2012/02/cnn-officially-severs-ties-with-larry-king.html. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ (English) "KAZENERGY Eurasian Forum." Expo-kz.kz. Accessed September 2011.
- ^ "The main topic of the VI KAZENERGY Eurasian Forum is: 'Kazakhstan: 20 Years of Sustainable Growth, New Horizons For Investments and Cooperation'." Corporate Social Responsibility in Kazakhstan. Accessed September 2011.
- ^ "The main topic of the VI KAZENERGY Eurasian Forum is: 'Kazakhstan: 20 Years of Sustainable Growth, New Horizons For Investments and Cooperation'." Rogtecmagazine.com. Accessed September 2011.
- ^ NEWSMAKERS:`Ugliest' beauty offered equal time, The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, September 12, 1990
- ^ The People Column, Roanoke Times, September 15, 1990
- ^ a b Drozdiak, William (1997-01-14). U.S. Celebrities Defend Scientology in Germany, The Washington Post, p. A11
- ^ a b Starr, Michael (May 21, 2009). "Larry King Introduces the World to his Son Larry King Jr.". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/05212009/tv/meet_larry_king_jr__170253.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Larry King divorces Shawn Southwick: Meet the TV icon's slew of ex-wives", New York Daily News, April 16, 2010, slide show p. 4 of 25
- ^ "Transcript: Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees". CNN. 2009-05-21. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0905/21/acd.01.html. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ Daily News, slide show, ibid., pp. 5–6 of 25
- ^ Cedar Rapids Gazette, August 23, 1989
- ^ a b Daily News, slide show, ibid., pp. 7–8 of 25
- ^ Daily News, slide show, ibid., p. 10 of 25
- ^ a b Daily News, slide show, ibid., p. 11 of 25
- ^ a b c "CNN Host Larry King, 7th Wife File for Divorce", Associated Press via The New York Times, April 14, 2010
- ^ a b Rush & Molloy (2008-06-30). "The skinny on Larry King's wife". New York: Nydailynews.com. http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/06/30/2008-06-30_the_skinny_on_larry_kings_wife.html. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ^ Lee, Ken (2010-04-14). "Larry King Files for Divorce - Breakups, Larry King". People.com. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20360969,00.html. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ^ "Larry King, 7th wife call off divorce, reunite - Entertainment - Celebrities - TODAYshow.com". Today.msnbc.msn.com. 2010-06-09. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37096069/ns/today-entertainment//. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ^ O'Brien, Conan (2009-07-09). "Larry King Part 2". The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/larry-king-part-2-070909/1134219/. Retrieved 2009-08-21. [dead link]
- ^ King, Larry (May 19, 2009). My Remarkable Journey. Weinstein Books. ISBN 1-60286-086-6.
- ^ "Larry King: I want to be frozen - CNN.com". CNN. December 2, 2011. http://us.cnn.com/2011/12/02/showbiz/larry-king-i-want-to-be-frozen/index.html?hpt=hp_c2.
- ^ The 25 Greatest Radio and Television Talk Show Hosts of All Time. Talkers Magazine. September 2002. http://www.talkers.com/greatest/. Retrieved 2008-02-15
- ^ Hugh Downs honors Larry King with award for communication excellence. Time. April 3, 2007. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988441,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-15
- ^ (– Scholar search) Hugh Downs. Arizona State university: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. http://asu.edu/clas/communication/about/hughdowns. Retrieved 2008-02-15 [dead link]
External links[link]
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- CNN profile
- Larry King Cardiac Foundation - Foundation to fund treatments cardiac patients with little or no insurance
- Clark lawsuit
- Larry King at the Internet Movie Database
- Larry King Live - Transcripts of all interviews since 2000
- Larry King interviewed by Gianluca D'Agostino
- Larry King Archive of American Television video interview
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||||||||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | King, Larry |
| Alternative names | Zeiger, Lawrence Harvey |
| Short description | American television and radio host |
| Date of birth | November 19, 1933 |
| Place of birth | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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| Barack Obama | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 44th President of the United States | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 20, 2009 |
|
| Vice President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | George W. Bush |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Barack Hussein Obama II[1] (1961-08-04) August 4, 1961 (age 50) Honolulu, Hawaii, United States[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Michelle Robinson (m. 1992) |
| Children | Malia (b.1998) Sasha (b.2001) |
| Residence | The White House |
| Alma mater | Occidental College Columbia University (B.A.) Harvard Law School (J.D.) |
| Profession | Community organizer Attorney Author Constitutional law professor United States Senator President of the United States |
| Religion | Christian,[2] former member of United Church of Christ[3][4] |
| Signature |  |
| Website | WhiteHouse.gov |
 |
This article is part of a series on Barack Obama |
|---|---|
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009, when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. Barack Obama is the first African-American president of the United States, as well as the first born in Hawaii.
His policy decisions have addressed a global financial crisis and have included changes in tax policies, legislation to reform the United States health care industry, foreign policy initiatives and the phasing out of detention of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. He attended the G-20 London summit and later visited U.S. troops in Iraq. On the tour of various European countries following the G-20 summit, he announced in Prague that he intended to negotiate substantial reduction in the world's nuclear arsenals, en route to their eventual extinction. In October 2009, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
Contents
|
Transition period[link]
Main article: Presidential transition of Barack Obama
The presidential transition period began following Obama's election to the presidency on November 4, 2008. The Obama-Biden Transition Project was co-chaired by John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse. During the transition period, Obama announced his nominations for his Cabinet and administration. Shortly after the election on November 4, Obama chose Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois as White House Chief of Staff.[5]
Cabinet nominations included former Democratic primary opponents Hillary Rodham Clinton for Secretary of State and Bill Richardson for Secretary of Commerce (although the latter withdrew on January 4, 2009). Obama appointed Eric Holder as his Attorney General, the first African-American appointed to that position. He also nominated Timothy F. Geithner to serve as Secretary of the Treasury.[6] On December 1, Obama announced that he had asked Robert Gates to remain as Secretary of Defense, making Gates the first Defense head to carry over from a president of a different party.[7] He nominated former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan Rice to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, which he restored to a Cabinet-level position.[8]
During his transition, he maintained a website Change.gov, on which he wrote blogs to readers and uploaded video addresses by many of the members of his new cabinet.[9] He announced strict rules for federal lobbyists, restricting them from financially contributing to his administration and forcing them to stop lobbying while working for him.[10] The website also allowed individuals to share stories and visions with each other and the transition team in what was called the Citizen's Briefing Book, which was given to Obama shortly after his inauguration.[11] Most of the information from Change.gov was transferred to the official White House website whitehouse.gov just after Obama's inauguration.[12]
Inauguration[link]
Main article: Inauguration of Barack Obama
Barack Obama was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. He officially assumed the presidency at 12:00 noon, EST,[13] and completed the oath of office at 12:05 PM, EST. He delivered his inaugural address immediately following his oath. After his speech, he went to the President's Room in the House Wing of the Capitol and signed three documents: a commemorative proclamation, a list of Cabinet appointments, and a list of sub-Cabinet appointments, before attending a luncheon with congressional and administration leaders and invited guests.[14] To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of former President Abraham Lincoln, the same Bible that was used for Lincoln's inauguration was used in Obama's inauguration.[15]
In administering the oath, Chief Justice John G. Roberts misplaced the word "faithfully" and erroneously replaced the phrase "President of the United States" with "President to the United States" before restating the phrase correctly; since Obama initially repeated the incorrect form, some scholars argued the President should take the oath again.[16] On January 21, Roberts readministered the oath to Obama in a private ceremony in the White House Map Room, making him the seventh U.S. president to retake the oath; White House Counsel Greg Craig said Obama took the oath from Roberts a second time out of an "abundance of caution".[17]
First 100 days[link]
Main article: First 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency
Expectations[link]
Obama's 100th day in office was April 29, 2009. In his first post-election interview with 60 Minutes, Obama said that he has been studying Franklin Roosevelt's first 100 days,[18] while adding, "The first hundred days is going to be important, but it's probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference."[19]
Obama's first 100 days were highly anticipated ever since he became the presumptive nominee.[20] Several news outlets created web pages dedicated to covering the subject.[21] Commentators weighed in on challenges and priorities within domestic, foreign, economic, and environmental policy.[22][23][24][25] CNN lists a number of economic issues that "Obama and his team will have to tackle in their first 100 days", foremost among which is passing and implementing a recovery package to deal with the financial crisis.[24] Clive Stafford Smith, a British human rights lawyer, expressed hopes that the new president will close Guantanamo Bay detention camp in his first 100 days in office.[23] After aides of the president announced his intention to give a major foreign policy speech in the capital of an Islamic country, there were speculations in Jakarta that he might return to his former home city within the first 100 days.[26]
The New York Times devoted a five-part series, which was spread out over two weeks, to anticipatory analysis of Obama's first hundred days. Each day, the analysis of a political expert was followed by freely edited blog postings from readers. The writers compared Obama's prospects with the situations of Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 16, Jean Edward Smith),[27] John F. Kennedy (January 19, Richard Reeves),[28] Lyndon B. Johnson (January 23, Robert Dallek),[29] Ronald Reagan (January 27, Lou Cannon),[30] and Richard Nixon.
Legislation and executive orders[link]
Within minutes of taking the Oath of Office on January 20, Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, issued an order suspending last-minute federal regulations pushed through by outgoing President George W. Bush, planning to review everything still pending.[31] Due to the economic crisis, the President enacted a pay freeze for Senior White House Staff making more than $100,000 per year,[32] as well as announcing stricter guidelines regarding lobbyists in an effort to raise the ethical standards of the White House.[33] He asked for a waiver to his own new rules, however, for the appointments of William Lynn to the position of Deputy Defense Secretary, Jocelyn Frye to the position of director of policy and projects in the Office of the First Lady, and Cecilia Muñoz to the position of director of intergovernmental affairs in the executive office of the president, leading to some criticism of hypocrisy and violation of his pledge for governmental openness.[34][35]
In his first week in office, Obama signed Executive Order 13492 suspending all the ongoing proceedings of Guantanamo military commission and ordering the detention facility to be shut down within the year.[36][37][38] He also signed Executive Order 13491 - Ensuring Lawful Interrogations requiring the Army Field Manual to be used as a guide for terror interrogations, banning torture and other coercive techniques, such as waterboarding.[39] Obama also issued an executive order entitled "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel", setting stricter limitations on incoming executive branch employees and placing tighter restrictions on lobbying in the White House.[40] Obama signed two Presidential Memoranda concerning energy independence, ordering the Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel efficiency standards before 2011 models are released and allowing states to raise their emissions standards above the national standard.[41] He also ended the Mexico City Policy, which banned federal grants to international groups that provide abortion services or counseling.[42][43]
In his first week he also established a policy of producing a weekly Saturday morning video address available on whitehouse.gov and YouTube,[44][45][46] much like those released during his transition period.[47][48] The first address had been viewed by 600,000 YouTube viewers by the next afternoon.[49]
The first piece of legislation Obama signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 on January 29, which revised the statute of limitations for filing pay discrimination lawsuits. Lilly Ledbetter joined Obama and his wife, Michelle, as he signed the bill, fulfilling his campaign pledge to nullify Ledbetter v. Goodyear.[50] On February 3, he signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIP), expanding health care from 7 million children under the plan to 11 million.[51]
 President Obama signs the ARRA into law on February 17, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. Vice President Joe Biden stands behind him.
 Obama addresses a joint session of Congress, with Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was a focal point of Barack Obama's February 24, 2009 Address Before a Joint Session of Congress.
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After much debate, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed by both the House and Senate on February 13, 2009. Originally intended to be a bipartisan bill, the passage of the bill was largely along party lines. No Republicans voted for it in the House, and three moderate Republicans voted for it in the Senate (Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania).[52] The bill combined tax breaks with spending on infrastructure projects, extension of welfare benefits, and education.[53][54] The final cost of the bill was $787 billion, and almost $1.2 trillion with debt service included.[55] Obama signed the Act into law on February 17, 2009, in Denver, Colorado.[56]
On March 9, 2009, Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research,[57] and in doing so, called into question some of George W. Bush's signing statements. Obama stated that he too would employ signing statements if he deems upon review that a portion of a bill is unconstitutional,[58][59] and he has issued several signing statements.[60]
Early in his presidency, Obama signed a law raising the tobacco tax 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes.[61] The tax is to be "used to finance a major expansion of health insurance for children", and "help some [smokers] to quit and persuade young people not to start".[61]
In October 2011, Obama instituted the We Can't Wait program, which involved using executive orders, administrative rulemaking, and recess appointments to institute policies without the support of Congress.[62] The initiative was developed in response to Congress's unwillingness to pass economic legislation proposed by Obama, and conflicts in Congress during the 2011 debt ceiling crisis.[63]
Approval ratings and opinion[link]
2009[link]
After his transition period, Obama entered office with an approval rating of 82%.[64] At the end of his first week, 68% of respondents in a Gallup poll approved of how Obama was handling his job, the second highest approval rating for a President shortly after being elected since World War II.[65] Throughout early February polls showed scattered approval ratings: 62% (CBS News),[66] 64% (USA Today/Gallup), 66% (Gallup), and 76% in an outlier poll (CNN/Opinion Research).[67][68] Gallup reported the congressional address in late February boosted his approval from a term-low of 59% to 67%.[69]
Throughout autumn 2009, Rasmussen estimated Obama's approval as fluctuating between 45% and 52% and his disapproval between 48% and 54%;[70] as of November 11, Pew Research estimated Obama's approval between 51% and 55% and his disapproval between 33% and 37% since July.[71]
Handling of the economy[link]
Rasmussen reported in mid-February 2009, that 55% of voters gave Obama good or excellent marks on his handling of the economy.[72] In early March, a The Wall Street Journal survey of 49 economists gave Obama an average grade of 59 out of 100, with 42% of the respondents surveyed giving the administration's economic policies a grade below 60 percent. In comparison, only 30% of those same economists considered the response of governments around the world to the global recession to have been adequate.[73] In April, a Gallup poll showed trust in Obama's economic policy with 71% saying they had "a fair amount" or "a great deal" of confidence in Obama's handling of the economy, higher than for Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner, or leaders of Congress.[74] Another Gallup poll in June showed 55% of Americans approved Obama's overall handling of the economy, but 48% and 51% disapproved of his handling of the federal budget deficit and controlling federal spending, respectively.[75] A CBS News poll taken August 27–31 showed 53% of those polled approved of his handling of the economy.[76] A Rasmussen poll taken on November 12 found 45% of Americans rating Obama's handling of the economy as poor and 39% rating him as doing a good or excellent job. They found 72% of Democrats rated his handling of the economy as good or excellent, while only 10% of Republicans and 27% of voters not affiliated with either party agreed.[77]
2010[link]
On March 25, 2010, following his signing of landmark health care reform legislation into law, Obama's polling was revealed by Bloomberg to be 50%, with higher marks for relations with other countries (58%) and his running of the war in Afghanistan (54%). "Obama's approval rating is roughly equal to what Bill Clinton had at this point in his presidency, according to data maintained by Gallup (and) higher than the 45 percent Ronald Reagan recorded in April 1982" and more favorable than Democrats or Republicans office in 2010. They found Obama's approval rating was at 85% among Democrats, compared with 46% among independents and 11% among Republicans.[78]
Fox News released the results of two polls on April 8–9, 2010. The first showed a drop in Obama's approval rating to 43%, with 48% disapproving. In that poll, Democrats approved of Obama's performance 80–12%, while independents disapproved 49–38%.[79] The other poll, which concentrated on the economy, showed disapproval of Obama's handling of the economy by a 53–42% margin, with 62% saying they were dissatisfied with the handling of the federal deficit.[80] According to a Gallup Poll released April 10, 2010, President Obama had a 45% approval rating, with 48% disapproving.[81] In a poll from Rasmussen Reports, released April 10, 2010, 47% approved of the President's performance, while 53% disapproved.[82][83]
2011[link]
Obama's approval rating jumped to a high following the death of Osama Bin Laden on May 2, 2011. A GfK poll conducted May 5, 2011 found his approval rating to be 60%. During the debt ceiling debate in August 2011, Obama's approval rating dropped to the low-40s.[84]
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Major legislation[link]
2009[link]
- January 29: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
- February 4: Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act
- February 11: DTV Delay Act
- February 17: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
- March 30: Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009
- April 21: Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
- May 20: Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act
- May 20: Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009
- May 22: Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009
- June 22: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
- August 6: Cash For Clunkers Extension Act
- October 22: Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act
- October 28: Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
- October 30: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act
- November 6: Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009
2010[link]
- January 27: Emergency Aid to American Survivors of Haiti Earthquake Act
- March 4: Travel Promotion Act
- March 18: Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act)
- March 23: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
- March 30: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
- May 5: Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010
- May 17: Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act
- July 1: Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act
- July 21: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
- July 22: Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010
- July 22: Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010
- August 10: SPEECH Act
- September 27: Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010
- December 9: Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010
- December 13: Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
- December 17: Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010
- December 22: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
2011[link]
- January 2: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 847)
- January 4: Food Safety and Modernization Act, Pub.L. 111-353, H.R. 2751
- August 2: Budget Control Act of 2011
- October 21: United States-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implemention Act
- October 21: United States-Panama Free Trade Agreement Implemention Act
- October 21: United States-South Korea Free Trade Agreement Implemention Act
Personnel[link]
Cabinet appointees[link]
Main articles: First 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency#Administration and Cabinet and Confirmations of Barack Obama's Cabinet
 |
||
| The Obama Cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Name | Term |
| President | Barack Obama | 2009–present |
| Vice President | Joe Biden | 2009–present |
| Secretary of State | Hillary Clinton | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Treasury | Timothy Geithner | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Defense | Robert Gates* | 2006–2011 |
| Leon Panetta | 2011–present | |
| Attorney General | Eric Holder | 2009–present |
| Secretary of the Interior | Ken Salazar | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Agriculture | Tom Vilsack | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Commerce | Gary Locke | 2009–2011 |
| John Bryson | 2011–present | |
| Secretary of Labor | Hilda Solis | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Health and Human Services |
Kathleen Sebelius | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Education | Arne Duncan | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Housing and Urban Development |
Shaun Donovan | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Transportation | Ray LaHood | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Energy | Steven Chu | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Veterans Affairs | Eric Shinseki | 2009–present |
| Secretary of Homeland Security | Janet Napolitano | 2009–present |
| Chief of Staff | Rahm Emanuel | 2009–2010 |
| William Daley | 2011–2012 | |
| Jacob Lew | 2012–present | |
| Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency |
Lisa Jackson | 2009–present |
| Director of the Office of Management and Budget |
Peter Orszag | 2009–2010 |
| Jacob Lew | 2010–2012 | |
| Jeffrey Zients** | 2012–present | |
| Ambassador to the United Nations | Susan Rice | 2009–present |
| United States Trade Representative | Ron Kirk | 2009–present |
| *Retained from previous administration **Acting |
||
Twenty-two members of the Obama administration are either in the United States Cabinet (15) or are in positions considered to be Cabinet-level (7). The members of the Cabinet are the heads of the fifteen major departments (State, Defense, Justice, etc.), and the seven cabinet-level positions are the Vice President, White House Chief of Staff, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador to the United Nations, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.[85][86] Since Robert Gates was a member of the previous administration, his letter of resignation (a formality at the end of a President's term) was simply not accepted, and he did not need confirmation.[87] On January 19, 2009, Senate Democratic leaders requested fifteen of the twenty positions to be ratified by unanimous consent,[88] and seven gained unanimous confirmation by voice vote the next day: Ken Salazar, Steven Chu, Arne Duncan, Peter Orszag, Eric Shinseki, Tom Vilsack, and Janet Napolitano.[87][89] On January 21, Obama presided over the swearing in of the seven unanimous nominees.[90] Later that day, the Senate confirmed Hillary Clinton by a 94–2 vote. On January 22, several more confirmations were approved unanimously: Susan E. Rice, Ray LaHood, Lisa P. Jackson, and Shaun Donovan.[91] On January 26, the Senate confirmed Geithner by a 60–34 margin.[92][93]
At the conclusion of Obama's first week as President, Hilda Solis, Tom Daschle, Ron Kirk, and Eric Holder had yet to be confirmed, and there had been no second appointment for Secretary of Commerce.[93] Holder was confirmed by a vote of 75–21 on February 2,[94] and on February 3, Obama announced Senator Judd Gregg as his second nomination for Secretary of Commerce.[95] Daschle withdrew later that day amid controversy over his failure to pay income taxes and potential conflicts of interest related to the speaking fees he accepted from health care interests.[96] Solis was later confirmed by a vote of 80-17 on February 24,[97] and Ron Kirk was confirmed on March 18 by a 92-5 vote in the Senate.[98]
Gregg, who was the leading Republican negotiator and author of the TARP program in the Senate, after publication that he had a multi-million dollar investment in the Bank of America, on February 12, withdrew his nomination as Secretary of Commerce, citing "irresolvable conflicts" with President Obama and his staff over how to conduct the 2010 census and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[99][100] Former Washington governor Gary Locke was nominated on February 26[101] as Obama's third choice for Commerce Secretary and confirmed on March 24 by voice vote.[102]
On March 2, Obama introduced Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as his second choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services. He also introduced Nancy-Ann DeParle as head of the new White House Office of Health Reform, which he suggested would work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services.[103][104] At the end of March, Sebelius was the only remaining Cabinet member yet to be confirmed.[102]
Six high-ranking cabinet nominees in the Obama administration had their confirmations delayed or rejected among reports that they did not pay all of their taxes, including Tom Daschle, Obama's original nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.[105] Though Geithner was confirmed, and Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, thought Daschle would have been confirmed, Daschle withdrew his nomination on February 3.[96] Obama had nominated Nancy Killefer for the position of Chief Performance Officer, but Killefer also withdrew on February 3, citing unspecified problems with District of Columbia unemployment tax.[106] A senior administration official said that Killefer's tax issues dealt with household help.[106] Hilda Solis, Obama's nominee for Secretary of Labor, faced delayed confirmation hearings due to tax lien concerns pertaining to her husband's auto repair business,[107] but she was later confirmed on February 24.[97] While pundits puzzled over U.S. Trade Representative-designate Ron Kirk's failure to be confirmed by March 2009, it was reported on March 2 that Kirk owed over $10,000 in back taxes. Kirk agreed to pay them in exchange for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus's aid in speeding up the confirmation process;[108] he was later confirmed on March 18.[98] On March 31, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, revealed in a letter to the Senate Finance Committee that her Certified Public Accountant found errors in her tax returns for years 2005-2007. She, along with her husband, paid more than $7,000 in back taxes, along with $878 in interest.[109]
Notable non-Cabinet positions[link]
Appointees serve at the pleasure of the President and were nominated by Barack Obama except as noted.
- Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Sheila Bair1 (2009–2011)
- Special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Richard Holbrooke (2009–2010)
- Marc Grossman (2011–present)
- Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
- Retired General James L. Jones (2009–2011)
- Thomas E. Donilon (2011–present)
- Special envoy to the Middle East
- George J. Mitchell (2009–2011)
- David Hale (2011–present)
- Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Robert Mueller2 (2009–present)
- Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Leon Panetta (2009–2011)
- Michael Morell (Acting-2011)
- David Petraeus (2011–present)
- Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
- Christina Romer (2009–2010)
- Austan Goolsbee (2010–2011)
- Alan Krueger (2011–present)
- Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
- Mary Schapiro (2009–present)
- Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of National Economic Council
- Lawrence Summers (2009–2010)
- Gene Sperling (2011–present)
- Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board
- Paul Volcker (2009–2011)
- Replaced by Council on Jobs and Competitiveness in 2011
- Chairperson of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
- Jeffrey R. Immelt (2011–present)
1Appointed by George W. Bush in 2006 to a five-year term
2Appointed by George W. Bush in 2001 to a ten-year term
Judicial nominees[link]
Main articles: Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates and List of federal judges appointed by Barack Obama
United States Supreme Court[link]
Obama appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
Further information: List of nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States
Other courts[link]
Outside of the Supreme Court, by October 2009, Obama had nominated fewer than two dozen judges to fill judicial vacancies, of which there were close to 100. This has prompted some Democrats to criticize the pace of Obama's judicial appointments as too slow.[110] In December 2009, Senator Patrick Leahy criticized Republicans for stalling those judicial nominations that had been made, noting that the Senate confirmed more district and circuit court nominees during the first year of the George W. Bush administration than it had approved by that point during the Barack Obama presidency.[111]
As of July 2010, Obama's nominees to the district and circuit courts had been confirmed at a rate of only 43.5 percent, compared to 87.2 percent during Bill Clinton's administration and 91.3 percent for George W. Bush. The Center for American Progress, which compiled the data, commented:
Judicial confirmations slowed to a trickle on the day President Barack Obama took office. Filibusters, anonymous holds, and other obstructionary tactics have become the rule. Uncontroversial nominees wait months for a floor vote, and even district court nominees—low-ranking judges whose confirmations have never been controversial in the past—are routinely filibustered into oblivion. Nominations grind to a halt in many cases even after the Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously endorsed a nominee. [112]
Policies[link]
Economy[link]
Upon entering office, Obama planned to center his attention on handling the global financial crisis.[113] Even before his inauguration he lobbied Congress to pass an economic stimulus bill,[114] which became the top priority during his first month in office.[115] As President, Obama made a high profile trip to Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. to dialog with Congressional Republicans and advocate for the bill.[116] On February 17, 2009, Obama signed into law a $787 billion plan that included spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives, and direct assistance to individuals.[117] The tax provisions of the law reduced taxes for 98 percent of taxpayers, bringing tax rates to their lowest levels in 60 years.[118]
As part of the 2010 budget proposal, the Obama administration has proposed additional measures to attempt to stabilize the economy, including a $2–3 trillion measure aimed at stabilizing the financial system and freeing up credit. The program includes up to $1 trillion to buy toxic bank assets, an additional $1 trillion to expand a federal consumer loan program, and the $350 billion left in the Troubled Assets Relief Program. The plan also includes $50 billion intended to slow the wave of mortgage foreclosures.[117] The 2011 budget includes a three-year freeze on discretionary spending, proposes several program cancellations, and raises taxes on high income earners to bring down deficits during the economic recovery.[119]
In a July 2009 interview with ABC News, Biden was asked about the sustained increase of the U.S. unemployment rate from May 2007 to October 2009[120] despite the administration's multi-year economic stimulus package passed five months earlier. He responded "The truth is, we and everyone else, misread the economy. The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there ... the truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited."[121][122] The White House indicates that 2 million jobs were created or saved due to the stimulus package in 2009[123] and self reporting by recipients of the grants, loans, and contracts portion of the package report that the package saved or created 608,317 jobs in the final three months of 2009.[124]
The unemployment rate rose in 2009, reaching a peak in October at 10.1% and averaging 10.0% in the fourth quarter.[125] Following a decrease to 9.7% in the first quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate fell to 9.6% in the second quarter, where it remained for the rest of the year.[125] Between February and December 2010, employment rose by 0.8%, which was less than the average of 1.9% experienced during comparable periods in the past four employment recoveries.[126] GDP growth returned in the third quarter of 2009, expanding at a 1.6% pace, followed by a 5.0% increase in the fourth quarter.[127] Growth continued in 2010, posting an increase of 3.7% in the first quarter, with lesser gains throughout the rest of the year.[127] Overall, the economy expanded at a rate of 2.9% in 2010.[128]
During November–December 2010, Obama and a lame duck session of the 111th Congress focused on a dispute about the temporary Bush tax cuts, which were due to expire at the end of the year. Obama wanted to extend the tax cuts for taxpayers making less than $250,000 a year. Congressional Republicans agreed but also wanted to extend the tax cuts for those making over that amount, and refused to support any bill that did not do so.[129] All the Republicans in the Senate also joined in saying that, until the tax dispute was resolved, they would filibuster to prevent consideration of any other legislation, except for bills to fund the U.S. government.[130][131] On 7 December, Obama strongly defended a compromise agreement he had reached with the Republican congressional leadership that included a two-year extension of all the tax cuts, a 13-month extension of unemployment insurance, a one-year reduction in the FICA payroll tax, and other measures.[132] On December 10, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) led a filibuster against the compromise tax proposal, which lasted over eight hours.[133] Obama persuaded many wary Democrats to support the bill,[134] but not all; of the 148 votes against the bill in the House, 112 were cast by Democrats and only 36 by Republicans.[135] The $858 billion Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which The Washington Post called "the most significant tax bill in nearly a decade",[136] passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress and was signed into law by Obama on December 17, 2010.[134]
Ethics[link]
Lobbying reform[link]
Early in his presidential campaign, Obama stated that "they [lobbyists] won't find a job in my White House", but softened his stance later in the campaign.[137] On January 21, 2009, Obama issued an executive order for all future appointees to his administration, which stated, no appointee who was a registered lobbyist within the two years before his appointment could participate on matters in which he lobbied for a period of two years after the date of appointment.[40] Three formal waivers were initially issued in early 2009, out of 800 executive appointments:[138][139] to William J. Lynn III, a lobbyist for Raytheon, to hold the position of Deputy Secretary of Defense;[34] to Jocelyn Frye, former general counsel at the National Partnership for Women and Families, to serve as Director of Policy and Projects in the Office of the First Lady; and to Cecilia Muñoz, former senior vice president for the National Council of La Raza,[138] to serve as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Executive Office of the President.[139] As of March 21, 2009, at least thirty officials appointed by Obama had been lobbyists in the past five years.[137] Ten additional waivers were announced in September 2009.[140]
Not all recent former lobbyists require waivers; those without waivers write letters of recusal stating issues from which they must refrain because of their previous jobs.[138] USA Today reported that 21 members of the Obama administration have at some time been registered as federal lobbyists, although most have not within the previous two years.[141] Lobbyists in the administration include William Corr, an anti-tobacco lobbyist, as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services[142] and Tom Vilsack, who lobbied in 2007, for a national teachers union, as Secretary of Agriculture.[141] Also, the Secretary of Labor nominee, Hilda Solis, formerly served as a board member of American Rights at Work, which lobbied Congress on two bills Solis co-sponsored,[143] and Mark Patterson, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's chief of staff, is a former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs.[141]
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington have criticized the administration, claiming that Obama is retreating from his own ethics rules barring lobbyists from working on the issues about which they lobbied during the previous two years by issuing waivers. According to Melanie Sloan, the group's executive director, "It makes it appear that they are saying one thing and doing another."[141]
Transparency[link]
The Obama administration has said that all executive orders, non-emergency legislation, and proclamations will be posted to the official White House website, whitehouse.gov, allowing the public to review and comment for five days before the President signs the legislation.[144] The pledge was twice broken during Obama's first month in office when he signed SCHIP legislation and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act with less than the full five days of "sunlight before signing". The administration has said that they are still "working through implementation procedures and some initial issues with the congressional calendar".[145][146]
During his first week in office, Obama announced plans to post a video address each week on the site,[44] and on YouTube,[45] informing the public of government actions each week. During his speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Obama stated, "I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy."[147]
On January 21, 2009, by executive order, Obama revoked Executive Order 13233, which had limited access to the records of former United States Presidents.[148] Obama issued instructions to all agencies and departments in his administration to "adopt a presumption in favor" of Freedom of Information Act requests.[149] In April 2009, the United States Department of Justice released four legal memos from the Bush administration to comply voluntarily with a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.[150] The memos were written by John Yoo[151] and signed by Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury, then Principal Assistant Attorneys General to the Department of Justice, and addressed to John A. Rizzo, general counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency.[152] The memos describe in detail controversial interrogation methods the CIA used on prisoners suspected of terrorism.[153][154] Obama became personally involved in the decision to release the memos, which was opposed by former CIA directors Michael Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet and John Deutch.[152] Former Vice President Dick Cheney criticized Obama for not releasing more memos; Cheney claimed that unreleased memos detail successes of CIA interrogations.[155]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act requires all recipients of the funds provided by the act to publish a plan for using the funds, along with purpose, cost, rationale, net job creation, and contact information about the plan to a website Recovery.gov so that the public can review and comment. Inspectors General from each department or executive agency will then review, as appropriate, any concerns raised by the public. Any findings of an Inspector General must be relayed immediately to the head of each department and published on Recovery.gov.[156]
On June 16, 2009, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration in order to get information about the visits of coal company executives. Anne Weismann, the chief counsel for CREW, stated "The Obama administration has now taken exactly the same position as the Bush administration... I don't see how you can keep people from knowing who visits the White House and adhere to a policy of openness and transparency." On June 16, MSNBC reported that its more comprehensive request for visitor logs since Obama's January 20 inauguration had been denied.[157] The administration announced that White House visitor logs will be made available to the public on an ongoing basis, with certain limitations, for visits occurring after September 15, 2009.[158] Beginning on January 29, 2010, the White House did begin to release the names of its visitor records.[159] Since that time, names of visitors (which includes not only tourists, but also names of union leaders, Wall Street executives, lobbyists, party chairs, philanthropists and celebrities), have been released. The names are released in huge batches up to 75,000 names at a time.[160] Names are released 90–120 days after having visited the White House. The complete list of names is available online by accessing the official White House website.[161]
Obama stated during the 2008 Presidential campaign that he would have negotiations for health care reform televised on C-SPAN, citing transparency as being the leverage needed to ensure that people stay involved in the process taking place in Washington. This did not fully happen and Politifact gives President Obama a "Promise Broken" rating on this issue.[162] After White House press secretary Robert Gibbs initially avoided addressing the issue,[163] President Obama himself acknowledged that he met with Democratic leaders behind closed doors to discuss how best to garner enough votes in order to merge the two (House and Senate) passed versions of the health care bill. Doing this violated the letter of the pledge, although Obama maintains that negotiations in several congressional committees were open, televised hearings. Obama also cited an independent ethics watchdog group describe his administration as the most transparent in recent history.[164]
The Obama administration has been characterized[165] as much more aggressive than the Bush and other previous administrations in their response to whistleblowing and leaks to the press. Three people have been prosecuted under the rarely used Espionage Act of 1917. They include Thomas Andrews Drake, a former National Security Agency (NSA) employee who was critical of the NSA's Trailblazer Project,[166][167][168] Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a State Department contractor who allegedly had a conversation about North Korea with James Rosen of Fox News,[169][170] and Jeffrey Sterling, who allegedly was a source for James Risen's book State of War. Risen has also been subpoenaed to reveal his sources, another rare action by the government.[171]
Foreign policy[link]
Main articles: Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration and List of presidential trips made by Barack Obama
In his inaugural address, Obama suggested that he plans to begin the process of withdrawing from Iraq and continuing to focus on the war in Afghanistan. He also mentioned lessening the nuclear threat through "working tirelessly with old friends and former foes". He spoke about America's determination to combat terrorism, proclaiming America's spirit is "stronger and cannot be broken — you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you." To the Muslim world, Obama extended an invite to "a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect". He also said the USA would "extend a hand" to those "who cling to power through corruption and deceit" if they "are willing to unclench" their fists.[172] Shortly after his inauguration President Obama first called President Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Calls were also made to President Mubarak of Egypt, Prime Minister Olmert of Israel and King Abdullah of Jordan.[173] Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named George Mitchell as Special Envoy for Middle East peace and Richard Holbrooke as special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan on January 23, 2009.[174] At the same time, Obama called on Israel to open the borders of Gaza, detailing early plans on his administration's peace plans for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[175]
On February 18, 2009, Obama announced that the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan would be bolstered by 17,000 new troops by summer.[176] The announcement followed the recommendation of several experts including Defense Secretary Robert Gates that additional troops be deployed to the war-torn nation.[177][178]
Obama declared his plan for ending the Iraq War on February 27, 2009, in a speech at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, before an audience of Marines stationed there. According to the president, combat troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by August 2010, leaving a contingent of up to 50,000 servicemen and servicewomen to continue training, advisory, and counterterrorism operations until as late as the end of 2011.[179][180]
Other characteristics of the Obama administration on foreign policy include a tough stance on tax havens,[181] continuing military operation in Pakistan,[182] and avowed focus on diplomacy to prevent nuclear proliferation in Iran[183] and North Korea.[184]
On April 1, 2009, Obama and China's President, Hu Jintao, announced the establishment of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue and agreed to work together to build a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive U.S.-China relationship for the 21st century.[185]
In that same month, Obama requested that Congress approve $83.4 billion of supplemental military funding, mostly for the war in Iraq and to increase troop levels in Afghanistan. The request also includes $2.2 billion to increase the size of the US military, $350 million to upgrade security along the US-Mexico border, and $400 million in counterinsurgency aid for Pakistan.[186]
In May 2009, it was reported that Obama plans to expand the military by 20,000 employees.[187]
On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt.[188] The wide ranging speech called for a "new beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States.[189][190] The speech received both praise and criticism from leaders in the region.[191][192][193][194][195] In March 2010, Secretary of State Clinton criticized the Israeli government for approving expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem.[196]
On April 8, 2010, Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the latest Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a "major" nuclear arms control agreement that reduces the nuclear weapons stockpiles of both countries.[197]
In March 2011, international reaction to Muammar Gaddafi's military crackdown on rebel forces and civilians in Libya culminated in a United Nations resolution to enforce a no fly zone in Libya. Obama authorized U.S. forces to participate in international air attacks on Libyan air defenses using Tomahawk cruise missiles to establish the protective zone.[198]
Guantánamo Bay detention camp[link]
On his first day in office, Obama requested a 120-day suspension of all trials for alleged terrorists held at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, so the new administration could "review the military commissions process, generally, and the cases pending before military commissions as of 2011[update], specifically".[199] Another order established a task force to lead a review of detention policies, procedures and individual cases. Obama addressed the State Department that "the United States will not torture" and drafted an executive order to close Guantánamo within a year.[200] On January 22, 2009, Obama signed an executive order ensuring safe, lawful, and humane treatment of individuals detained in armed conflicts. This order restricts interrogators to methods listed and authorized by an Army Field Manual.[201] A detainee released since Obama took office claimed in an interview with Agence France-Presse that conditions at Guantánamo had worsened, stating guards wanted to "take their last revenge" before the facility is closed.[202] On March 13, 2009, the administration announced that it would no longer refer to prisoners at Guantánamo Bay as enemy combatants, but it also asserted that the president has the authority to detain terrorism suspects there without criminal charges.[203]
The case review of detainee files by administration officials and prosecutors was made more difficult than expected as the Bush administration had failed to establish a coherent repository of the evidence and intelligence on each prisoner. By September 2009, prosecutors recommended to the Justice Department which detainees are eligible for trial, and the Justice Department and the Pentagon worked together to determine which of several now-scheduled trials will go forward in military tribunals and which in civilian courts. While 216 international terrorists are already held in maximum security prisons in the U.S., Congress was denying the administration funds to shut down the camp and adapt existing facilities elsewhere, arguing that the decision was "too dangerous to rush".[204] In November, Obama stated that the U.S. would miss the January 2010 date for closing the Guantánamo Bay prison as he had ordered, acknowledging that he "knew this was going to be hard". Obama did not set a specific new deadline for closing the camp, citing that the delay was due to politics and lack of congressional cooperation.[205] The state of Illinois has offered to sell to the federal government the Thomson Correctional Center, a new but largely unused prison, for the purpose of housing detainees. Federal officials testified at a December 23 hearing that if the state commission approves the sale for that purpose, it could take more than six months to ready the facility.[206]
Killing of Osama bin Laden[link]
Main article: Death of Osama bin Laden
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Starting with information received in July 2010, intelligence developed by the CIA over the next several months determined what they believed to be the location of Osama bin Laden in a large compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a suburban area 35 miles from Islamabad.[207] CIA head Leon Panetta reported this intelligence to Obama in March 2011.[207] Meeting with his national security advisers over the course of the next six weeks, Obama rejected a plan to bomb the compound, and authorized a "surgical raid" to be conducted by United States Navy SEALs.[207] The operation took place on May 1, 2011, resulting in the death of bin Laden and the seizure of papers and computer drives and disks from the compound.[208][209] Bin Laden's body was identified through DNA testing,[210] and buried at sea several hours later.[211] Within minutes of Obama's announcement from Washington, DC, late in the evening on May 1, there were spontaneous celebrations around the country as crowds gathered outside the White House, and at New York City's Ground Zero and Times Square.[208][212] Reaction to the announcement was positive across party lines, including from predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton,[213] and from many countries around the world.[214]
Overseas Contingency Operation[link]
Obama discontinued use of the term "War on Terror" and instead uses the term "Overseas Contingency Operation". However, Obama has stated that the U.S. is at war with Al-Qaeda, saying "Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred."[215]
In April 2010, the Obama administration authorized the targeted killing of the radical Muslim cleric and American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, who was believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them.[216]
Gun control[link]
During the presidential campaign, Obama announced that he favors measures that respect Second Amendment rights, while at the same time keeping guns away from children and criminals.[217][218] On February 25, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama administration would seek a new assault weapons ban across the United States, saying that it would have a positive impact on the drug-related violence in Mexico.[219] After the statement drew criticism from the NRA and some House Democrats, the Administration reportedly ordered the Justice Department to end public discussion of the issue.[220] Obama has signed into law two bills containing amendments reducing restrictions on gun owners, one which permits guns to be transported in checked baggage on Amtrak trains[221] and another which allows carrying loaded firearms in national parks located in states allowing concealed carry.[222][223]
See also: Operation Fast and Furious
Science and technology[link]
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Wikinews has related news: NSA to participate in U.S. cybersecurity |
Cybersecurity[link]
Obama initiated a 60-day review of cybersecurity[224] by Melissa Hathaway, a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, appointed Acting Senior Director for Cyberspace.[225][226]
The New York Times reported in 2009, that the NSA is intercepting communications of American citizens including a Congressman, although the Justice Department believed that the NSA had corrected its errors.[227] United States Attorney General Eric Holder resumed the wiretapping according to his understanding of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 that Congress passed in July 2008, but without explaining what had occurred.[228]
Environment[link]
On January 27, 2009, Obama issued two presidential memoranda concerning energy policy. One directed the Department of Transportation to raise fuel efficiency standards incrementally to 35 miles per US gallon (15 km/L) by 2020, and the other directed the Environmental Protection Agency to allow individual states to set stricter tailpipe emissions regulations than the federal standard.[41][229]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides $54 billion in funds to double domestic renewable energy production, renovate federal buildings making them more energy-efficient, improve the nation's electricity grid, repair public housing, and weatherize modest-income homes.[230]
On February 10, 2009, Obama overturned a Bush administration policy that had opened up a five-year period of offshore drilling for oil and gas near both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has been quoted as saying, "To establish an orderly process that allows us to make wise decisions based on sound information, we need to set aside" the plan "and create our own timeline".[231]
On May 19, 2009, Obama announced a plan to increase the Corporate Average Fuel Economy national standards for gasoline mileage, by creating a single new national standard that will create a car and light truck fleet in the United States that is almost 40 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016, than it is today, with an average of 35.5 miles per gallon.[232] Environmental advocates and industry officials welcomed the new program, but for different reasons. Environmentalists called it a long-overdue tightening of emissions and fuel economy standards after decades of government delay and industry opposition. Auto industry officials said it would provide the single national efficiency standard they have long desired, a reasonable timetable to meet it and the certainty they need to proceed with product development plans.[232]
On March 30, 2010, Obama partially reinstated Bush administration proposals to open certain offshore areas along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling. The proposals had earlier been set aside by President Obama after they were challenged in court on environmental grounds.[233]
On May 27, 2010, Obama extended a moratorium on offshore drilling permits after the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill which is considered to be the worst oil spill in U.S. history.[234][235] Although BP took responsibility for the disaster and its ongoing after effects, Obama began a federal investigation along with forming a bipartisan commission to review the incident and methods to avoid it in the future.[236][237][238] Obama visited the Gulf Coast on May 2 and May 28 and expressed his frustration on the June 8 NBC Today Show, by saying "I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick."[239] Obama's response to the disaster drew confusion and criticism within segments of the media and public.[240]
NASA[link]
Main article: Space policy of the Barack Obama administration
Obama set up the Augustine panel to review the Constellation program in 2009, and announced in February 2010, that he was cutting the program from the 2011 United States federal budget, describing it as "over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation."[241][242][243][244][245] After the decision drew criticism in the United States, a new "Flexible path to Mars" plan was unveiled at a space conference in April 2010.[246][247][248] It included new technology programs, increased R&D spending, a focus on the International Space Station and contracting out flying crew to space to commercial providers.[249] The new plan also increased NASA's 2011 budget to $19 billion from $18.3 billion in 2010.[246]
In July 2009, Obama appointed Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, to be administrator of NASA.[250]
Stem cell research[link]
On March 9, 2009, Obama repealed a Bush-era policy that prevented federal tax dollars from being used to fund research on new lines of embryonic stem cells. Such research has been a matter of debate between those who emphasize the therapeutic potential of such research and those who suggest that elements of this research breach ethical limitations. Obama stated that "In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values...In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research — and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly."[251]
Social policy[link]
On January 23, 2009, Obama rescinded the Mexico City Policy, a measure from the Reagan and Bush eras that required any non-governmental organization receiving U.S. Government funding to refrain from performing or promoting abortion services in other countries.[252]
On June 17, 2009, Obama authorized the extension of some benefits (but not health insurance or pension benefits) to same-sex partners of federal employees.[253] Obama has chosen to leave larger changes, such as the repeal of Don't ask, don't tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, to Congress.[254][255]
On October 19, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a directive to federal prosecutors in states with medical marijuana laws not to investigate or prosecute cases of marijuana use or production done in compliance with those laws.[256]
On December 16, 2009, President Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, which repealed a 21-year-old ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs.[257]
On December 22, 2010, Obama signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, a bill that provides for repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy of 1993, that has prevented gay and lesbian people from serving openly in the United States Armed Forces.[258] Repealing "Don't ask, don't tell" had been a key campaign promise that Obama had made during the 2008 presidential campaign.[259][260]
Health care reform[link]
See also: Health care reform in the United States
Once the stimulus bill was enacted, health care reform became Obama's top domestic priority. On July 14, 2009, House Democratic leaders introduced a 1,000 page plan for overhauling the US health care system, which Obama wanted Congress to approve by the end of the year.[261]
The U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the ten-year cost to the federal government of the major insurance-related provisions of the bill at approximately $1.0 trillion.[262] In mid-July 2009, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the CBO, testified that the proposals under consideration would significantly increase federal spending and did not include the "fundamental changes" needed to control the rapid growth in health care spending.[263][264] However after reviewing the final version of the bill introduced after 14 months of debate the CBO estimated that it would reduce federal budget deficits by $143 billion over 10 years and by more than a trillion in the next decade.[265]
After much public debate during the Congressional summer recess of 2009, Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 9 where he addressed concerns over his administration's proposals.[266] In March 2010, Obama gave several speeches across the country to argue for the passage of health care reform.[267][268] On March 21, 2010, after Obama announced an executive order reinforcing the current law against spending federal funds for elective abortion services, the House, by a vote of 219 to 212, passed the version of the bill previously passed on December 24, 2009, by a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. The bill, which includes over 200 Republican amendments, was passed without a single Republican vote. On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the bill into law. Immediately following the bill's passage, the House voted in favor of a reconciliation measure to make significant changes and corrections to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was passed by both houses with two minor alterations on March 25, 2010, and signed into law on March 30, 2010.[269][270]
Education reform[link]
On March 30, 2010, Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which ended the role of private banks in lending out federally-insured student loans.[271] By directly lending to students, the government is projected to save taxpayers $68 billion dollars over the next several years.[272] Federally-insured student loans will instead be distributed by the Department of Education.[273] The law also increased the amount of Pell Grant awards given each year, doubling its current funding.[274][275] Starting in 2014, the law permits borrowers to cap the amount they spend on student loans each year to ten percent of their discretionary income and have their balance forgiven if they have faithfully paid the balance of their loan over 20 years.[274][276] Additionally, the law seeks to make it easier for parents to qualify for Grad PLUS loans, and spends billions on poor and minority schools and $2 billion for community colleges.[272][273]
Gates arrest controversy[link]
Further information: Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy
From left to right: Gates, Crowley, and President Obama.
Photo taken before Vice President Biden's arrival.
On July 16, 2009, prominent African American Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home by a local white police officer, Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, for disorderly conduct. Gates, who was locked out of his house, had attempted to break into his own property, thus causing the initial alarm from a neighbor who called 9-1-1. The incident sparked national controversy over whether Gates's civil rights had been violated by Crowley. On July 21, the Cambridge Police Department dropped charges against Gates. On July 22, President Barack Obama, commented on the incident over national and international television, criticized the arrest, and stated the police acted "stupidly" in handling the incident. National law enforcement organizations and members objected to Obama's comments and criticized his handling of the issue. In the aftermath, Obama stated that he regretted his comments exacerbating the situation, and hoped that the situation could become a "teachable moment". To reduce tensions, on July 24, Obama invited both parties to the White House to discuss the issue over beers, and on July 30, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden joined Crowley and Gates in a private, cordial meeting in a courtyard near the White House Rose Garden; this became known colloquially as the "Beer Summit".[277]
Wall Street reform[link]
On July 21, 2010, Obama signed Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, considered to be the largest financial system overhaul since the New Deal. The law recognizes complex financial derivatives and makes rules to protect consumers from unfair practices in loans and credit cards by establishing a new consumer protection agency. At the signing ceremony in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington D.C. Obama proclaimed, "There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period." Obama also mentioned that "These reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history." At the ceremony were Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the two committee chairmen who sponsored the bill.[278]
2010 midterm elections[link]
Due in large part to voter frustration over high unemployment and a stalled economy, Republicans won control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections. On reflection after the election, Obama blamed himself, in part, for the many Democrats who went down to defeat knowing that they had risked their careers to support his agenda of economic stimulus legislation and a landmark health care bill.[279] Democrats narrowly retained the Senate majority and will continue to control it through the 112th Congress.[280]
Obama called the elections "humbling" and a "shellacking".[281] He said that the results came because not enough Americans had felt the effects of the economic recovery.[282]
2012 re-election campaign[link]
On April 4, 2011, President Obama announced that he would seek re-election in the 2012 presidential election. The campaign will be based in Chicago and is being run by many former members of the White House staff and members of the successful 2008 campaign.[283]
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Johnson, Connie (October 20, 2009). "U.S. eases stance on medical marijuana. Attorney general says prosecuting such cases 'will not be a priority'". The Washington Post: p. A1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101903638.html. Retrieved July 19, 2010. - ^ Egelko, Bob (December 18, 2009). "U.S. ends funding ban for needle exchanges". San Francisco Chronicle: p. A126. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/18/MNKM1B5S7L.DTL. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
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External links[link]
*"President Barack Obama: The Man and His Journey"
- "Obama's People" (photography: Nadav Kander)
- The Official White House YouTube page
- "President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address". The White House.
- "Wrapping Up Open for Questions". The White House.
- "President Obama's State of the Union Address" C-SPAN.
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 |
This article, from "Characters" on down, is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (January 2010) |
| Jack Benny | |
|---|---|
 Jack Benny in 1958 |
|
| Birth name | Benjamin Kubelsky[1] |
| Born | (1894-02-14)February 14, 1894 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Died | December 26, 1974(1974-12-26) (aged 80) Beverly Hills, California United States |
| Show | The Jack Benny Program |
| Network | NBC, CBS |
| Style | Comedian |
| Country | United States |
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American comedian, vaudevillian, radio, television, and film actor, and also a notable violinist. Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny played the role of the comic penny-pinching miser, insisting on remaining 39 years old on stage despite his actual age, and often playing the violin badly.
Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "Well!" His radio and television programs, tremendously popular from the 1930s to the 1960s, were a foundational influence on the situation comedy genre. Dean Martin, on the celebrity roast for Johnny Carson in November 1973, introduced Benny as "the Satchel Paige of the world of comedy".
Contents |
Biography[link]
Early life[link]
Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky on February 14, 1894, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in neighboring Waukegan, Illinois.[2] He was the son of Meyer Kubelsky and Emma Sachs Kubelsky. Meyer was a Jewish saloon owner, later to become a haberdasher, who had emigrated to America from Poland.[3][4][5][6][7] Emma had emigrated from Lithuania. Benny began studying the violin, an instrument that would become his trademark, when he was just six, with his parents' hopes that he would be a great classical violinist. He loved the violin, but hated practice. By age 14, he was playing in local dance bands as well as in his high school orchestra. Benny was a dreamer and a poor student and he was expelled from high school. He did equally badly in business school and at his father's trade. At age 17, he began playing the instrument in local vaudeville theaters for $7.50 a week.[8] He was joined by Ned Miller, a young composer and singer, on the vaudeville circuit.[9] They became life-long friends and Miller eventually joined the cast of The Jack Benny Program in the 1960s.
In 1911, Benny was playing in the same theater as the young Marx Brothers, whose mother Minnie was so enchanted with Benny's musicianship that she invited him to be their permanent accompanist. The plan was foiled by Benny's parents, who refused to let their son, then 17, go on the road, but it was the beginning of his long friendship with Zeppo Marx. Benny's future wife Mary Livingstone was a distant cousin of the Marx Brothers.
The following year, Benny formed a vaudeville musical duo with pianist Cora Salisbury, a buxom 45-year-old widow who needed a partner for her act. This provoked famous violinist Jan Kubelik, who thought that the young vaudeville entertainer with a similar name (Kubelsky) would damage his reputation. Under pressure from Kubelik's lawyer, Benjamin Kubelsky agreed to change his name to Ben K. Benny (sometimes spelled Bennie). When Salisbury left the act, Benny found a new pianist, Lyman Woods, and renamed the act "From Grand Opera to Ragtime". They worked together for five years and slowly added comedy elements to the show. They even reached the Palace Theater, the "Mecca of Vaudeville", but bombed. Benny left show business briefly in 1917 to join the U.S. Navy during World War I, and he often entertained the troops with his violin playing. One evening, his violin performance was booed by the troops, so with prompting from fellow sailor and actor Pat O'Brien, he ad-libbed his way out of the jam and left them laughing. He got more comedy spots in the revues and was a big hit, and earned himself a reputation as a comedian as well as a musician.
Shortly after the war, Benny started a one-man act, "Ben K. Benny: Fiddle Funology".[8] But then he heard from another lawyer, this time that of Ben Bernie, another patter-and-fiddle performer who also threatened to sue. So Benny adopted the common sailor's nickname Jack. By 1921, the fiddle became more of a prop and the low-key comedy took over.
Benny had several romantic encounters, including one with a dancer, Mary Kelly, whose devoutly Catholic family forced her to turn down Benny's proposal because he was Jewish. Benny was introduced to Mary Kelly by Gracie Allen. Some years after their split, Kelly resurfaced as a dowdy fat girl and Jack gave her a part in an act of three girls: one homely, one fat and one who couldn't sing. This lasted until, at Mary Livingstone's request, Mary Kelly was let go.
In 1922, Jack accompanied Zeppo Marx to a Passover seder where he met Sadye (Sadie) Marks, whom he married in 1927 after meeting again on a double-date. She was working in the hosiery section of the Hollywood Boulevard branch of the May Company and Benny would court her there.[8] Called on to fill in for the "dumb girl" part in one of Benny's routines, Sadie proved a natural comedienne and a big hit. Adopting Mary Livingstone as her stage name, Sadie became Benny's collaborator throughout most of his career. They later adopted a daughter, Joan.
In 1929, Benny's agent Sam Lyons convinced MGM's Irving Thalberg to catch Benny's act at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Benny was signed to a five-year contract and his first film role was in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. His next movie, Chasing Rainbows, was a flop and after several months, Benny was released from his contract and returned to Broadway in Earl Carroll's Vanities. At first dubious about the viability of radio, Benny was eager to break into the new medium. In 1932, after a four-week nightclub run, he was invited onto Ed Sullivan's radio program, uttering his first radio spiel "This is Jack Benny talking. There will be a slight pause while you say, 'Who cares?'..."[8]
Radio[link]
History[link]
Benny had been only a minor vaudeville performer, but he became a national figure with The Jack Benny Program, a weekly radio show that ran from 1932 to 1948 on NBC and from 1949 to 1955 on CBS. It was consistently among the most highly rated programs during most of that run.[10][11]
On April 6, 1932, the NBC Commercial Program Department arranged for an audition of Jack Benny for Ayer and its client Canada Dry, after which its head, Bertha Brainard made an assessment of this new comic: "We think Mr. Benny is excellent for radio, and while the audition was unassisted as far as orchestra was concerned, we believe he would make a great bet for an air program." With Canada Dry Ginger Ale as a sponsor, Benny came to radio on The Canada Dry Program, beginning May 2, 1932, on the NBC Blue Network and continuing there for six months until October 26, moving the show to CBS on October 30. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933. The commercial ran twice a week from 9:30 to 10:00, it ran for almost a year.[12]
Arriving at NBC on March 17, Benny did The Chevrolet Program until April 1, 1934. He continued with sponsor General Tire through the end of the season. In October, 1934, General Foods, the makers of Jell-O and Grape-Nuts, became the sponsor most identified with Jack, for the next ten years. American Tobacco's Lucky Strike was his longest-lasting radio sponsor, from October, 1944, through the end of his original radio series.
The show switched networks to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley's notorious "raid" of NBC talent in 1948–49. There it stayed for the remainder of its radio run, which ended on May 22, 1955. CBS aired repeats of old radio episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny.
Characters[link]
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File:Jack Benny Cast.jpg
Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, and Eddie Anderson (Rochester) in a group portrait.
Benny's comic persona changed in the course of his career. At some time he developed the tightwad/cheapskate persona.[13] This stage character was just about everything the actual Jack Benny was not: cheap, petty, vain, and self-congratulatory. His comic rendering of these traits became the linchpin to the Benny show's success. Benny set himself up as the comedic foil, allowing his supporting characters to draw laughs at the expense of his character's flaws. By allowing such a character to be seen as human and vulnerable, in an era where few male characters were allowed such obvious vulnerability, Benny made what might have been a despicable character into a lovable Everyman character. Benny said on several occasions: "I don't care who gets the laughs on my show, as long as the show is funny." Jack felt he got the credit or blame either way, not the actor saying the lines, so it had better be funny.
The supporting characters who amplified that vulnerability only too gladly included wife Mary Livingstone as his wisecracking and not especially deferential female friend (not quite his girlfriend, since Benny would often try to date movie stars like Barbara Stanwyck, and occasionally had stage girlfriends such as "Gladys Zybisco"); rotund announcer Don Wilson (who also served as announcer for Fanny Brice's hit, Baby Snooks); bandleader Phil Harris as a jive-talking, wine-and-women type whose repartee was rather risqué for its time; boy tenor Dennis Day, who was cast as a sheltered, naïve youth who still got the better of his boss as often as not (this character was originated by Kenny Baker who was replaced by Day); and Eddie Anderson as valet-chauffeur Rochester van Jones. Singer Larry Stevens was Dennis Day's replacement from 11-5-44 to 3-10-46 while Day was in the Navy.
Rochester was allowed to one-up his vain, skinflint boss. In more ways than one, with his mock-befuddled one-liners and his sharp retorts, he broke a comedic racial barrier. Unlike many black supporting characters of the time, Rochester was depicted and treated as a regular member of Benny's fictional household. Benny, in character, tended if anything to treat Rochester more like an equal partner than as a hired domestic, even though gags about Rochester's flimsy salary were a regular part of the show.
Rochester seemed to see right through his boss's vanities and knew how to prick them without overdoing it, often with his famous line "Oh, Boss, come now!" Benny deserves credit for allowing this character and the actor who played him (it is difficult, if not impossible, to picture any other performer giving Rochester what Anderson gave him) to transcend the era's racial stereotype and for not discouraging his near-equal popularity. A New Year's Eve episode, in particular, shows the love each performer had for the other, quietly toasting each other with champagne. That this attention to Rochester's race was no accident became clearer during World War II, when Benny would frequently pay tribute to the diversity of Americans who had been drafted into service.
After the war, once the depths of Nazi race hatred had been revealed, Benny made a conscious effort to remove the most stereotypical aspects of Rochester's character. In 1948, it became apparent to Benny how much the times had changed when a 1941 script for "The Jack Benny Program" was re-used for one week's show. The script included mention of several African-American stereotypes (i.e. a reference to Rochester carrying a razor), and prompted a number of listeners, who didn't know the script was an old one, to send in angry letters protesting the stereotypes. Thereafter, Benny insisted that his writers should make sure that no racial jokes or references should be heard on his show. Benny also often gave key guest-star appearances to African-American performers such as Louis Armstrong and The Ink Spots.
File:Jack Benny group photo.jpg
Group photograph of Eddie Anderson, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Mary Livingstone, Jack Benny, Don Wilson, and Mel Blanc.
The rest of Benny's cast included character actors and comedians:
- Sheldon Leonard (later a hugely successful television producer and creator) as a tight-lipped racetrack tout
- Joseph Kearns (best remembered as cantankerous Mr. Wilson on the television version of Dennis the Menace) as Ed, the superannuated guard to Jack's money vault
- Verna Felton as Dennis Day's mother
- Frank Nelson, usually as an oily desk clerk or floorwalker, always greeting Benny with an eager Yeeeeeeesss?;
- singer/bandleader Bob Crosby (who succeeded Phil Harris in the early 1950s);
- Artie Auerbach as the Yiddish-accented Mr. Kitzel ("hoo, hoo, hoo!");
- Bea Benaderet, as Gertrude the switchboard operator;
- Mel Blanc, who provided several characters' voices, including the railroad station announcer who said, "Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cu... camonga!". This running gag became so well known (including use in several Bugs Bunny cartoons (which Mel Blanc also voiced)) that it eventually led to a statue of Benny in Cucamonga. Blanc also was featured with Benny in the classic Si-Sy routine and on radio as the sound of Benny's Maxwell automobile. Blanc is perhaps best remembered as Benny's perpetually frustrated violin teacher, Professor LeBlanc, who was as likely to throw his own and Benny's instrument into the fireplace as he was to have a nervous breakdown before he was out the door.
Other musical contributions came starting in 1946 from the singing quartet the Sportsmen (members: Bill Days, Max Smith, Marty Sperzel and Gurney Bell) singing the middle Lucky Strike commercial. In the early days of the program, the supporting characters were often vaudevillian ethnic stereotypes whose humor was grounded in dialects. As the years went by, the humor of these figures became more character-based.
Benny's method of bringing a character into a skit, by announcing his name, also became a well-known Benny shtick: "Oh, Dennis ..." or "Oh, Rochester ..." typically answered by, "Yes, Mr. Benny (Boss)?"
Situations[link]
File:Bennystatue.jpg
This statue of Jack Benny in Rancho Cucamonga, located inside the Epicenter Stadium at Jack Benny Way and Rochester Avenue, commemorates the program's famed running gag: "Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cu-ca-monga!"
The Jack Benny Program evolved from a variety show blending sketch comedy and musical interludes into the situation comedy form we know even now, crafting particular situations and scenarios from the fictionalization of Benny the radio star. Any situation from hosting a party to income tax time to a night on the town was good for a Benny show, and somehow the writers and star would find the right ways and places to insert musical interludes from Phil Harris and Dennis Day. With Day, invariably, it would be a brief sketch that ended with Benny ordering Day to sing the song he planned to do on that week's show.
One extremely popular scenario that became an annual tradition on The Jack Benny Program was the "Christmas Shopping" episode, in which Benny would head to a local department store. Each year, Benny would buy a ridiculously cheap Christmas gift for Don Wilson from a store clerk played by Mel Blanc. Benny would then have second (then third, and even fourth) thoughts about his gift choice, driving Blanc (or, in two other cases, his wife and his psychiatrist, as well) to hilarious insanity by exchanging the gift, pestering about the Christmas card or wrapping paper countless times throughout the episode: in many cases, the clerk would commit suicide, or attempt and fail to commit suicide ("Look what you done! You made me so nervous, I missed!") as a result.
In the 1946 Christmas episode, for example, Benny buys shoelaces for Don, and then is unable to make up his mind whether to give Wilson shoelaces with plastic tips or shoelaces with metal tips. After Benny exchanges the shoelaces repeatedly, Mel Blanc is heard screaming insanely, "Plastic tips! Metal tips! I can't stand it anymore!" A variation in 1948 concerned Benny buying an expensive wallet for Don, but repeatedly changing the greeting card inserted—prompting Blanc to shout: "I haven't run into anyone like you in 20 years! Oh, why did the governor have to give me that pardon!?" – until Benny realizes that he should have gotten Don a wallet for $1.98, whereupon the put-upon clerk immediately responds by committing suicide. Over the years, in these Christmas episodes, Benny bought and repeatedly exchanged cuff links, golf tees, a box of dates, a paint set (water colors or oils), and even a gopher trap.
In 1936, after a few years broadcasting from New York, Benny moved the show to Los Angeles, allowing him to bring in guests from among his show business friends — such as Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, Judy Garland, Barbara Stanwyck, Bing Crosby, Burns and Allen (George Burns was Benny's closest friend), and many others. Burns and Allen and Orson Welles guest hosted several episodes in March and April 1943 when Benny was seriously ill with pneumonia, while Ronald Colman and his wife Benita Hume appeared frequently in the 1940s as Benny's long-suffering neighbors.
On the broadcast of January 8, 1950, journalist Drew Pearson was the subject of a joke gone wrong. Announcer Don Wilson was to say he heard Jack bought a new suit on Drew Pearson, but said Pearson's name wrong; Don said "Drear Pewson". Later on in the show, comedic actor Frank Nelson was asked by Benny if he was the doorman. Changing the script (by suggestion of the writers), Nelson said, "Well who do you think I am ... Drear Pewson?" The audience laughed for almost 30 seconds.
Sponsors[link]
In the early days of radio (and in the early television era, often as not), the airtime was owned by the sponsor, and Benny made a point of incorporating the commercials into the body of the show. Sometimes the sponsors were the butt of jokes, though Benny did not deploy this device as frequently as his friend and "rival" Fred Allen did at the time, or as his cast member Phil Harris later did on his own successful radio sitcom. Nevertheless, for many years Benny insisted in contract negotiations that his writers pen the sponsor's commercial in the middle of the program (leaving the sponsor to provide the opening and closing spots) and the resulting ads were cleverly and wittily worked into the storyline of the show. For example, on one program, Don Wilson accidentally misread Lucky Strike's slogan ("Be happy, go Lucky") as "Be Lucky, go happy", prompting a story arc over several weeks that had Wilson unable to attend the show due to being severely traumatized by the error.
In fact, the radio show was generally not announced as The Jack Benny Program. Instead, the primary name of the show tied to the sponsor. Benny's first sponsor was Canada Dry Ginger Ale from 1932 to 1933. Benny's sponsors included Chevrolet from 1933 to 1934, General Tire in 1934, and Jell-O from 1934 to 1942. The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny was so successful in selling Jell-O, in fact, that General Foods could not manufacture it fast enough when sugar shortages arose in the early years of World War II, and the company had to stop advertising the popular dessert mix. General Foods switched the Benny program from Jell-O to Grape-Nuts from 1942 to 1944, and it became, naturally, The Grape Nuts Program Starring Jack Benny. Benny's longest-running sponsor, however, was the American Tobacco Company's Lucky Strike cigarettes, from 1944 to 1955, when the show was usually announced as The Lucky Strike Program starring Jack Benny.
Writers[link]
Benny was notable for employing a small group of writers, most of whom stayed with him for many years. This was very much in contrast to other successful radio or television comedians, such as Bob Hope, who would change writers frequently. Historical accounts (like those by longtime Benny writer Milt Josefsberg) indicate that Benny's role was essentially that of both head writer and director of his radio programs, though he was not credited in either capacity. In contrast to Fred Allen, who initially personally wrote all of his own radio scripts (and continued to extensively rewrite scripts produced in later years by a writing staff), Jack Benny was often described by his writers as a consummate comedy editor rather than a writer per se. He would often debate the precise wording of jokes, and always sought to ensure the preservation of the integrity of the show's characters above easy gags.[citation needed]
Jack Benny has a reputation for being a master of timing. Since his days at the radio, he often explored the limits of timing for comedic purposes, like pausing a disproportionate amount of time before answering a question.[13][14]
Theme music[link]
During his early radio shows, there was no recurring theme, the program instead opening each week with a different then-current popular song. Throughout the Jello and Grapenuts years, announcer Don Wilson would announce the name of the show, some of the cast, and then state "The orchestra opens the program with [name of song]." The orchestra number would continue softly as background for Don Wilson's opening commercial.
Starting in the Lucky Strike era, Benny adopted a medley of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "Love in Bloom" as his theme music, opening every show. "Love in Bloom" later became the theme of his television show as well. His radio shows often ended with the orchestra playing "Hooray for Hollywood". The TV show ended with one of two bouncy instrumentals written for the show by his musical arranger and conductor, Mahlon Merrick.
Benny would sometimes joke about the propriety of "Love in Bloom" as his theme song. On a segment often played in Tonight Show retrospectives, Benny talks with Johnny Carson about this. Benny says he has no objections to the song in and of itself, only as his theme. Proving his point, he begins reciting the lyrics slowly and deliberately: "Can it be the trees. That fill the breeze. With rare and magic perfume. Now what the hell has that got to do with me?"
"Your money or your life"[link]
In an episode that was broadcast March 28, 1948, Benny borrowed neighbor Ronald Colman's Oscar, and was returning home when he was accosted by a mugger (voiced by comedian Eddie Marr). After asking for a match to light a cigarette, the mugger demands, "Don't make a move, this is a stickup. Now, come on. Your money or your life." Benny paused, and the studio audience—knowing his skinflint character—laughed. The robber then repeated his demand: "Look, bud! I said your money or your life!" Benny snapped back, without a break, "I'm thinking it over!" This time, the audience laughed louder and longer than they had during the pause.
The punchline came to Benny staff writers John Tackaberry and Milt Josefsberg almost by accident. Writer George Balzer described the scene to author Jordan R. Young, for The Laugh Crafters, a 1999 book of interviews with veteran radio and television comedy writers:
- ... they had come to a point where they had the line, "Your money or your life." And that stopped them... Milt is pacing up and down, trying to get a follow... And he gets a little peeved at Tack, and he says, "For God's sakes, Tack, say something." Tack, maybe he was half asleep—in defense of himself, says, "I'm thinking it over." And Milt says, "Wait a minute. That's it." And that's the line that went in the script... By the way, that was not the biggest laugh that Jack ever got. It has the reputation of getting the biggest laugh. But that's not true.
The actual length of the laugh the joke got was five seconds when originally delivered and seven seconds when the gag was reprised on a follow-up show. In fact, the joke is probably not so memorable for the length of the laugh it provoked, but because it became the definitive "Jack Benny joke"—the joke that best illustrated Benny's "stingy man" persona. The punchline—"I'm thinking it over!"—simply would not have worked with any other comedian but Benny.
The actual longest laugh known to collectors of The Jack Benny Program lasted in excess of 32 seconds. The International Jack Benny Fan Club[15] reports that, at the close of the program broadcast on December 13, 1936, sponsored by Jell-O, guest Andy Devine says that it is the "last number of the eleventh program in the new Jelly series." The audience, who loved any sort of accidental flub in the live program, is still laughing after 32 seconds, at which point the network cut off the program to prevent it from running overtime.
According to Jack himself, Mary Livingstone got the biggest laugh he ever heard on the show, on the April 25, 1948 broadcast. The punchline was the result of the following exchange between Don Wilson and noted opera singer Dorothy Kirsten:
- Don Wilson: Oh, Miss Kirsten, I wanted to tell you that I saw you in "Madame Butterfly" Wednesday afternoon, and I thought your performance was simply magnificent.
- Dorothy Kirsten: Well, thanks, awfully. It's awfully nice and kind of you, Mr. Wilson. But, uh, who could help singing Puccini? It's so expressive. And particularly in the last act, starting with the allegro vivacissimo.
- Don Wilson: Well, now, that's being very modest, Miss Kirsten. But not every singer has the necessary bel canto and flexibility or range to cope with the high tessitura of the first act.
- Dorothy Kirsten: Thank you, Mr. Wilson. And don't you think that in the aria, "Un bel dì vedremo", that the strings played the con molto passione exceptionally fine and with great sostenuto?
- Jack Benny: Well, I thought—
- Mary Livingstone (to Jack): Oh, shut up!
According to Jack, the huge laugh resulted from the long buildup, and the audience's knowledge that Jack, with his pompous persona, would have to break into the conversation at some point.
A nearly identical exchange occurred over a year earlier, among renowned violinist Isaac Stern, actor Ronald Colman, Jack Benny, and Mary Livingstone. The quartet's back-and-forth, which centered on Stern's recent public performance of a Mendelssohn piece, was heard on an episode first broadcast on February 16, 1947. The resulting laughter lasted some 18 seconds, after which Jack retorted, "Mary, that's no way to talk to Mr. Stern."
Later in life, when performing as a stand-up comedian in Las Vegas, Jack had just begun to tell an old joke about the salesman, the farmer and the farmer's daughter: "So the salesman and the farmer's daughter come to the front door, and the farmer opens the door." At this point, Sammy Davis, Jr. walks onstage behind Jack, the audience screams, and Sammy proceeds to speak and sing and dance about 25 minutes or so, while Jack continues to stand at center stage, quietly watching the spectacle. When Davis finally walks offstage and the audience's applause dies down, Jack continues to watch Davis offstage for a few moments, then as the audience is finally quiet continues: "... So the farmer said—" And that's about as far as that joke got, because the audience laughed for minutes afterward.
The Benny-Allen "feud"[link]
In 1937 Benny began his famous radio "feud" with rival Fred Allen. Allen kicked the "feud" off on his own show, after child violinist Stewart Canin gave a performance credible enough that Allen wisecracked about "a certain alleged violinist" who should by comparison be ashamed of himself. Benny, who either listened to the Allen show or was told about the crack, answered in kind on his own show. And the two comedians were off and running.
For a decade, the two went at it back and forth, so convincingly that fans of either show could have been forgiven for believing they had become blood enemies. In fact, the two men were good friends and each other's greatest admirers. Benny and Allen often appeared on each other's show during the thick of the "feud"; numerous surviving episodes of both comedians' radio shows feature each other, in both acknowledged guest spots and occasional cameos. Benny in his eventual memoir (Sunday Nights at Seven) and Allen in his Treadmill to Oblivion later revealed that each comedian's writing staff often met together to plot future takes on the mock feud. If Allen zapped Benny with a satirisation of Benny's show ("The Pinch Penny Program"), Benny shot back with a parody of Allen's early favourite, Town Hall Tonight. Benny's parody? "Clown Hall Tonight." And their playful sniping ("Benny was born ignorant, and he's been losing ground ever since") was also advanced in the films Love Thy Neighbor and It's in the Bag!.
Perhaps the climax of the "feud" came during Fred Allen's parody of popular quiz-and-prize show Queen for a Day, which was barely a year old when Allen decided to have a crack at it on The Fred Allen Show—an episode that has survived for today's listeners to appreciate. Calling the sketch "King for a Day", Allen played the host and Benny a contestant who sneaked onto the show using the alias Myron Proudfoot. Benny answered the prize-winning question correctly and Allen crowned him "king" and showered him with a passel of almost meaningless prizes. Allen proudly announced, "Tomorrow night, in your ermine robe, you will be whisked by bicycle to Orange, New Jersey, where you will be the judge in a chicken-cleaning contest," to which Benny joyously declared, "I'm king for a day!" At this point a professional pressing-iron was wheeled on stage, to press Benny's suit properly. It didn't matter that Benny was still in the suit. Allen instructed his aides to remove Benny's suit, one item at a time, ending with his trousers, each garment's removal provoking louder laughter from the studio audience. As his trousers began to come off, Benny howled, "Allen, you haven't seen the end of me!" At once Allen shot back, "It won't be long now!"
The laughter was so loud and chaotic at the chain of events that the Allen show announcer, Kenny Delmar, was cut off the air while trying to read a final commercial and the show's credits. (Allen was notorious for running overtime often enough, largely thanks to his ad-libbing talent, and he overran the clock again this time.)
Benny was profoundly shaken by Allen's sudden death of a heart attack in 1956. In a statement released on the day after Allen's death, Benny said, "People have often asked me if Fred Allen and I were really friends in real life. My answer is always the same. You couldn't have such a long-running and successful feud as we did, without having a deep and sincere friendship at the heart of it."
The CBS talent raid[link]
On the advice of MCA's Lew Wasserman, Jack Benny formed a holding company, "Amusement Enterprises" (a tax break major entertainers usually enjoyed in those years), which allowed him to bundle his entire program and personnel into a single commodity. The company also gave Benny the opportunity to produce and package other radio programs (including his 1947 summer replacement series starring Jack Paar), and invest in other entertainment ventures, including the production of a 1949 feature film, The Lucky Stiff, starring Dorothy Lamour, and as a key financial backer of the 1948 Broadway version of Mister Roberts, starring Henry Fonda. While Benny was top of the proverbial heap on NBC, CBS czar William S. Paley cast a hungry eye upon the comedian. Paley apparently had good reason to believe Benny could be had. In the summer of 1948, he successfully negotiated a deal with Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, buying their holding company, which owned the Amos 'n' Andy radio show (and the rights to those characters), moving the entire "package" from NBC to CBS that fall: he then learned that NBC balked at buying a "Jack Benny" package deal when "Jack Benny" was not the star's real name. Paley reached out to Benny and offered him a deal that would allow that package-buy.
But Paley, according to CBS historian Robert Metz, also learned that Benny chafed under NBC's almost indifferent attitude toward the talent that attracted the listeners. NBC, under the leadership of David Sarnoff, seemed at the time to think that listeners were listening to NBC because of NBC itself. To Paley, according to Metz, that was foolish thinking at best: Paley believed listeners were listening because of the talent, not because of which platform hosted them. When Paley said as much to Benny, the comedian agreed. Because Paley took a personal interest in the Benny negotiations, as opposed to Sarnoff who had never met his top-rated star, Benny was convinced to make the jump. He convinced a number of his fellow NBC performers (notably Burns and Allen, Edgar Bergen, Red Skelton and Kate Smith) to join him.
To sweeten the deal for a very nervous sponsor, Paley also agreed to make up the difference to American Tobacco if Benny's Hooper rating (the radio version of today's Nielsen ratings) on CBS fell to a certain level below his best NBC Hooper rating. Benny's CBS debut on January 2, 1949 bested his top NBC rating by several points while also pumping up the ratings of the show that followed, Amos 'n' Andy. NBC, with its smash Sunday night lineup now broken up, offered lucrative new deals to two of those Sunday night hits, The Fred Allen Show and The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show. Benny's bandleader and his singing actress wife now starred in their own hit sitcom, meaning Harris was featured on shows for two different networks.
Benny and Sarnoff eventually met several years later and became good friends. Benny said that if he had had this kind of relationship with Sarnoff earlier, when he was Sarnoff's number-one radio star, he never would have left NBC.
Television[link]
Benny first appeared on television in a brief appearance on the inaugural broadcast of Los Angeles station KTTV (Channel 11) on January 1, 1949. KTTV was the Los Angeles CBS Television outlet at the time.[citation needed]
The television version of The Jack Benny Program ran from October 28, 1950 to 1965. Initially scheduled as a series of five "specials" during the 1950–1951 season, the show appeared every six weeks for the 1951–1952 season, every four weeks for the 1952–1953 season and every three weeks in 1953–1954. For the 1953–1954 season, half the episodes were live and half were filmed during the summer, to allow Benny to continue doing his radio show. From the fall of 1954 to 1960, it appeared every other week, and from 1960 to 1965 it was seen weekly.
In September 1954, CBS premiered Chrysler's Shower of Stars co-hosted by Jack Benny and William Lundigan. It enjoyed a successful run from 1954 until 1958. Both television shows often overlapped the radio show. In fact, the radio show alluded frequently to its television counterparts. Often as not, Benny would sign off the radio show in such circumstances with the line "Well, good night, folks. I'll see you on television."
When Benny moved to television, audiences learned that his verbal talent was matched by his controlled repertory of dead-pan facial expressions and gesture. The program was similar to the radio show (several of the radio scripts were recycled for television, as was somewhat common with other radio shows that moved to television), but with the addition of visual gags. Lucky Strike was the sponsor. Benny did his opening and closing monologues before a live audience, which he regarded as essential to timing of the material. As in other TV comedy shows, canned laughter was sometimes added to "sweeten" the soundtrack, as when the studio audience missed some close-up comedy because of cameras or microphones in their way. The television viewers learned to live without Mary Livingstone, who was afflicted by a striking case of stage fright. Livingstone appeared rarely if at all on the television show (for the last few years of the radio show, she pre-recorded her lines and Jack and Mary's daughter, Joan, stood in for the live broadcast as the pre-recordings were played), and finally retired from show business permanently in 1958, as her friend Gracie Allen had done.
Benny's television program relied more on guest stars and less on his regulars than his radio program. In fact, the only radio cast members who appeared regularly on the television program as well were Don Wilson and Eddie Anderson. Day appeared sporadically, and Harris had left the radio program in 1952, although he did make a guest appearance on the television show (Bob Crosby, Phil's "replacement", frequently appeared on television through 1956). A frequent guest was the Canadian born singer-violinist Gisele Mackenzie.
Benny was able to attract guests who rarely, if ever, appeared on television. In 1953, both Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart made their television debuts on Benny's program.[16][17]
Canadian singer Gisele MacKenzie, who toured with Benny in the early 1950s, guest starred seven times on The Jack Benny Program. Benny was so impressed with MacKenzie's talents that he served as co-executive producer and guest starred on her 1957–1958 NBC variety show, The Gisele MacKenzie Show.[18]
In 1964, Walt Disney was a guest, primarily to promote his production of Mary Poppins. Benny persuaded Disney to give him over 100 free admission tickets to Disneyland for his friends, but later in the show Disney apparently sent his pet tiger after Benny as revenge, at which point Benny opened his umbrella and soared above the stage like Mary Poppins.[19]
In due course the ratings game finally got to Benny, too. CBS dropped the show in 1964, citing Benny's lack of appeal to the younger demographic the network began courting, and he went to NBC, his original network, in the fall, only to be out-rated by CBS's Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. The network dropped Benny at the end of the season. He continued to make occasional specials into the 1970s. His last television appearance was in 1974, on a The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast for Lucille Ball. The videotaped show was telecast just a few weeks after his death.
In his unpublished autobiography, I Always Had Shoes (portions of which were later incorporated by Jack's daughter, Joan, into her memoir of her parents, Sunday Nights at Seven), Benny said that he, not NBC, made the decision to end his TV series in 1965. He said that while the ratings were still very good (he cited a figure of some 18 million viewers per week, although he qualified that figure by saying he never believed the ratings services were doing anything more than guessing, no matter what they promised), advertisers were complaining that commercial time on his show was costing nearly twice as much as what they paid for most other shows, and he had grown tired of what was called the "rate race". Thus, after some three decades on radio and television in a weekly program, Jack Benny went out on top. In fairness, Benny himself shared Fred Allen's ambivalence about television, though not quite to Allen's extent. "By my second year in television, I saw that the camera was a man-eating monster...It gave a performer close-up exposure that, week after week, threatened his existence as an interesting entertainer."[8]
In a joint appearance with Phil Silvers on Dick Cavett's show, Benny recalled that he had advised Silvers not to appear on television. However, Silvers ignored Benny's advice and proceeded to win several Emmy awards as Sergeant Bilko on the popular series The Phil Silvers Show, while Benny claimed he never won any of the television honors.
Filmography[link]
Movies[link]
Benny also acted in movies, including the Academy Award-winning The Hollywood Revue of 1929, Broadway Melody of 1936 (as a benign nemesis for Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor), George Washington Slept Here (1942), and notably, Charley's Aunt and To Be or Not to Be. He and Livingstone also appeared in Ed Sullivan's Mr. Broadway (1933) as themselves. Benny often parodied contemporary movies and movie genres on the radio program, and the 1940 film Buck Benny Rides Again features all the main radio characters in a funny Western parody adapted from program skits. The failure of one Benny vehicle, The Horn Blows at Midnight, became a running gag on his radio and television programs, although contemporary viewers may not find the film as disappointing as the jokes suggest.
Benny may have had an unbilled cameo role in Casablanca (claimed by a contemporary newspaper advertisement[20] and reportedly in the Casablanca press book[21]). When asked in his column "Movie Answer Man", critic Roger Ebert first replied, "It looks something like him. That's all I can say."[21] In response to a follow-up question in his next column, he stated, "I think you're right."[22]
Benny also was caricatured in several Warner Brothers cartoons including Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur (1939, as Casper the Caveman), I Love to Singa, Slap Happy Pappy, and Goofy Groceries (1936, 1940, and 1941 respectively, as Jack Bunny[23]), Malibu Beach Party (1940, as himself),[24] and The Mouse that Jack Built (1959). The last of these is probably the most memorable: Robert McKimson engaged Benny and his actual cast (Mary Livingstone, Eddie Anderson, and Don Wilson) to do the voices for the mouse versions of their characters, with Mel Blanc—the usual Warner Brothers cartoon voicemeister—reprising his old vocal turn as the always-aging Maxwell, always a phat-phat-bang! away from collapse. In the cartoon, Benny and Livingstone agree to spend their anniversary at the Kit-Kat Club, which they discover the hard way is inside the mouth of a live cat. Before the cat can devour the mice, Benny himself awakens from his dream, then shakes his head, smiles wryly, and mutters, "Imagine, me and Mary as little mice." Then, he glances toward the cat lying on a throw rug in a corner and sees his and Livingstone's cartoon alter egos scampering out of the cat's mouth. The cartoon ends with a classic Benny look of befuddlement. It was rumored that Benny requested that, in lieu of monetary compensation, he receive a copy of the finished film.
Running gags[link]
Benny teamed with Fred Allen for the best-remembered running gag in classic radio history, in terms of character dialogue. But Benny alone sustained a classic repertoire of running gags in his own right, including a skinflint radio and television persona; a perpetual listed age of 39; and ineptitude at violin playing, most frequently demonstrated by futile attempts to perform Rodolphe Kreutzer's Etude No. 2 in C major.
A skit heard numerous times on radio, and seen many times on television, had Mel Blanc as a Mexican in a sombrero and serape sitting on a bench. Jack Benny sits down and begins a conversation. To each question asked by Benny, Blanc replies Si. When Benny asks his name, Blanc replies Sy, which would prompt the exchange, Sy?, Si. And when Benny asks where Blanc is going, Blanc replies, "to see his sister", Sue (Sue?, Si.), who of course sews for a living (Sew?, Si.).
A running gag in Benny's private life concerned George Burns. To Benny's eternal frustration, he could never get Burns to laugh. Burns, on the other hand, could crack Benny up with the least effort. An example of this occurred at a party when Benny pulled out a match to light a cigar. Burns announced to all, "Jack Benny will now perform the famous match trick!" Benny had no idea what Burns was talking about, so he proceeded to light up. Burns observed, "Oh, a new ending!" and Benny collapsed in helpless laughter.
Benny even had a sound-based running gag of his own: his famous basement vault alarm, allegedly installed by Spike Jones, ringing off with a shattering cacophony of whistles, sirens, bells, and blasts, before ending invariably with the sound of a foghorn. The alarm rang off even when Benny opened his safe with the correct combination. The vault also featured a guard named Ed (voiced by Joseph Kearns) who had been on post down below before, apparently, the end of the Civil War, the end of the Revolutionary War, the founding of Los Angeles, on Jack's 38th birthday, and even the beginning of humanity. In one appearance, Ed asked Benny, "By the way, Mr. Benny...what's it like on the outside?" Benny responded, "...winter is nearly here, and the leaves are falling." Ed responded, "Hey, that must be exciting," to which Benny replied (in a stunningly risqué joke for the period), "Oh, no—people are wearing clothes now." In one episode of the Benny radio show, Ed the Guard actually agreed when Jack invited him to take a break and come back to the surface world, only to discover that modern conveniences and transportation, which hadn't been around the last time he'd been to the surface, terrorized and confused him. (Poor Ed thought a crosstown bus was "a red and yellow dragon".) Finally, Ed decides to return to his post fathoms below and stay there. The basement vault gag was also used in the cartoon The Mouse that Jack Built and an episode[25] of The Lucy Show.
A separate sound gag involved a song Benny had written, "When You Say I Beg Your Pardon, Then I'll Come Back to You". Its inane lyrics and insipid melody guaranteed that it would never be published or recorded, but Benny continued to try to con, extort, or otherwise inveigle some of his musical guests (including The Smothers Brothers and Peter, Paul and Mary) to perform it. None ever made it all the way through.
In keeping with his "stingy" schtick, on one of his television specials he remarked that, to his way of looking at things, a "special" is when the price of coffee is marked down.
The explanation usually given for the "stuck on 39" running joke is that he had celebrated his birthday on-air when he turned 39, and decided to do the same the following year, because "there's nothing funny about 40". Upon his death, having celebrated his 39th birthday 41 times, some newspapers continued the joke with headlines such as "Jack Benny Dies – At 39?"[citation needed]
Another popular running gag concerned the social habits of Benny's on-air orchestra, who were consistently portrayed as a bunch of drunken ne'er-do-wells. Led first by Phil Harris and later by Bob Crosby, the orchestra, and in particular band member Frank Remley, were jokingly portrayed as often being too drunk to play properly, using an overturned bass drum to play cards on just minutes before a show, and so enamored by liquor that the sight of a glass of milk would make them sick. Remley was portrayed in various unflattering situations, such as being thrown into a garbage can by a road sweeper who had found him passed out in the street at 4 am, and on a wanted poster at the Beverly Hills police station.
One Christmas program had Crosby agonizing over what to get Remley:
Benny: "Well, why don't you get him a cordial; like a bottle of Drambuie?" Crosby: "That's a nice thought, Jack, but Drambuie's an after-dinner drink." Benny: "So?" Crosby: "So Remley never quite makes it 'til after dinner."
Crosby also got consistent laughs by frequently joking about his more famous brother Bing's vast wealth.
The Maxwell[link]
Starting on the radio show, a running joke was that Benny drove a Maxwell automobile, a brand that went out of business in 1925. Benny's old car was so worn out that it would barely run, but the miserly Benny insisted he could get a few more miles out of it. When a sound effects man missed a cue for the automobile engine, Mel Blanc quickly improvised a vocal imitation of a sputtering car engine that was so funny it became a regular feature of the show. By 1943, Jack Benny's Maxwell had become such a well known aspect of popular culture that it was referenced in the Spike Jones record "The Sound Effects Man".
When the Jack Benny Program began appearing on television in 1950, a 1916 Maxwell Model 25 Tourer became one of the production's standard props. Benny's Maxwell later became a 1923 Tourer. In addition to on the program, Benny would often make public appearances in Maxwells. He appeared behind the wheel of one in the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and drove a Maxwell onto the stage in one of his last television specials. Benny and his archaic auto were featured in a series of television and print ads for Texaco from the 1950s through the 1970s. A series of gags were built around the premise that Benny appreciated the value of "Sky Chief" brand gasoline in keeping his car running smoothly, but was too cheap to buy more than one gallon at a time.
Final years[link]
After his broadcasting career ended, Benny performed live as a stand up comedian and returned to films in 1963 with a cameo appearance in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Benny was preparing to star in the film version of Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys when his health failed. In fact, he prevailed upon his longtime best friend, George Burns, to take his place on a nightclub tour while preparing for the film. (Burns ultimately had to replace Benny in the film as well and went on to win an Academy Award for his performance).
Benny made one of his final television appearances in the fall of 1972 on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson when Carson celebrated his 10th anniversary. (An audio recording featuring highlights of Benny's appearance is featured on the album Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From The Tonight Show released in 1973.) During this appearance, he stated that he loved the violin so much, "if God came to me and said 'Jack, starting tomorrow I will make you one of the world's great violinists, but no more will you ever be able to tell a joke', I really believe that I would accept that." He also related something Isaac Stern once told him: "You know, Jack, when you walk out in front of a symphony orchestra in white tie and tails and your violin, you actually look like one of the world's great violinists. It's a damned shame you have to play!" Jokes aside, Benny was a serious, dedicated violinist who could play aside Stern and not embarrass himself.[26]
Death[link]
In October 1974, Benny canceled a performance in Dallas after suffering a dizzy spell, coupled with numbness in his arms. Despite a battery of tests, Benny's ailment could not be determined. When he complained of stomach pains in early December, a first test showed nothing, but a subsequent one showed he had inoperable pancreatic cancer. Choosing to spend his final days at home, he was visited by close friends including George Burns, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson and John Rowles. He died on December 26, 1974. George Burns, Benny's best friend for more than fifty years, attempted to deliver a eulogy. He broke down shortly after he began and was unable to continue. Bob Hope also delivered a eulogy in which he stated, "This is the only time Jack's timing was all wrong. He left us much too soon." Two days after his death, he was interred in a crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. Benny's will arranged for flowers, specifically a single long-stemmed red rose, to be delivered to his widow, Mary Livingstone, every day for the rest of her life. Livingstone died nine years later on June 30, 1983.
In trying to explain his successful life, Benny summed it up by stating "Everything good that happened to me happened by accident. I was not filled with ambition nor fired by a drive toward a clear-cut goal. I never knew exactly where I was going."[8]
Upon his death, his family donated to UCLA his personal, professional, and business papers, as well as a collection of his television shows. The university established the Jack Benny Award in his honor in 1977 to recognize outstanding people in the field of comedy. Johnny Carson was the first award recipient.[27] Benny also donated a Stradivarius violin purchased in 1957 to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.[28][29] Benny had commented, "If it isn't a $30,000 Strad, I'm out $120."[30]
Honors[link]
Jack Benny has one star each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for TV, film, and radio.
Posthumous tributes[link]
When the price of a standard first-class U.S. postal stamp was increased to 39 cents in 2006, fans petitioned for a Jack Benny stamp to honor his stage persona's perpetual age. The U.S. Postal Service had issued a stamp depicting Jack Benny in 1991, as part of a booklet of stamps honoring comedians; however, the stamp was issued at the then-current rate of 29 cents.[31]
Jack Benny Middle School in Waukegan, Illinois, is named after the famous comedian. Its motto matches his famous statement as "Home of the '39ers".
See also[link]
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References[link]
- ^ Mikkelson, Barbara. "Posthumous Roses" Snopes.com; February 13, 2010
- ^ Benny, Joan; Benny, Jack (1996) Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story Warner Books p. 6 "There are a few things you should know in advance. In the first place, I was not born in Waukegan. I was born at the Mercy Hospital in Chicago..."
- ^ Jack Benny appearance on The Lawrence Welk Show, episode 1025: "Academy Awards" (1971)
- ^ Dunning, Jack. Tune in yesterday: the ultimate encyclopedia of old-time radio, 1925–1976. p. 315.
- ^ Benny, Mary Livingstone, Hilliard Marks, & Marcia Borie. Jack Benny New York: Doubleday, 1978. pp. 8–10
- ^ United States 1900 Census
- ^ The Jack Benny Times, September – December 2008, Volume XXIII Numbers 5–6, Page 9., The International Jack Benny Fan Club.
- ^ a b c d e f Jack Benny and Joan Benny, Sunday Nights At Seven: The Jack Benny Story, Warner Books, ISBN 0-446-51546-9, 1990, p. 11
- ^ Fein, Irving, Jack Benny: An Intimate Biography, Putnam, ISBN 978-0-671-80917-1, OCLC 3694842, 1976
- ^ Vintage Library.com
- ^ Garrett, Eddie (2005). I Saw Stars in the 40's and 50's. ISBN 1-4120-5838-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=TDbGVZj5qzgC&pg=PA26&dq=jack+benny+%22most+popular+radio+show%22&lr=&ei=VNdNSYTGKoiUzAS5z6G0CA. "In a short time, Benny became the most popular radio show in America in the 1930's and 1940's"
- ^ Hilmes, M. (1997). Radio voices American broadcasting, 1922–1952. Minnesota Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- ^ a b Berger, Arthur Asa (2001) Jewish jesters: a study in American popular comedy p. 41
- ^ Norman R. Shapiro - (2009) Labiche & co: fourteen one-acts by a French comic master p. 475
- ^ "The Longest Laugh". Jackbenny.org. http://www.jackbenny.org/biography/other/longest_laugh.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ McMahon, Ed & David Fisher. When Television Was Young: Live, Spontaneous, and In Living Black and White. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007. p. 103.
- ^ Becker, Christine. It's the Pictures That Got Small: Hollywood Film Stars in 1950s Television. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan UP, 2008. p. 35.
- ^ Stanley, Alessandra. "Gisele MacKenzie Show". The New York Times. http://tv.nytimes.com/show/155939/Gisele-MacKenzie-Show/overview. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ video on youtube.com Jack ends TV episode as Mary Poppins
- ^ "Special Contest / Find Jack Benny in "Casablanca"". The Evening Independent. February 4, 1943. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19430204&id=DRoOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=f30DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5078,4032886.
- ^ a b Roger Ebert (December 9, 2009). "Movie Answer Man". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091209/ANSWERMAN/912099991. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
- ^ Roger Ebert (December 23, 2009). "Movie Answer Man". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091223/ANSWERMAN/912239981. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
- ^ I Love to Singa. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akAEIW3rmvQ#t=04m24s. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
- ^ Malibu Beach Party. 1940. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH6AWh64lOc.
- ^ Lucy Gets Jack Benny's Account (1967)
- ^ Violinists: Jack Benny and Isaac Stern and Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy (27th September 1961). "Carnegie Hall Salutes Jack Benny". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKGSU_ByWyM&t=04m27s. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- ^ Brent Lang, Apatow to Receive Jack Benny Award, TheWrap.com, Map 19, 2010
- ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qKwwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pPoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5498,7923419&dq=benny+stradivarius+philharmonic&hl=en
- ^ Watkins, Nancy (February 13, 2005). "Now cut that out!". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7chOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kEkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4277,2931739&dq=benny+stradivarius&hl=en
- ^ Stamp Title: 29c Jack Benny. Comedians Issue 1991 Issue Year: 1991 Date of Issue: 29th August, 1991 Face Value: 29c Stanley Gibbons Catalogue No: 2607 Scott Catalogue No: 2564 Printer: The Bureau of Engraving and Printing Issue Copies: 139,995,600 Designer(s):Al Hirshfeld Theme(s):Cartoon/Animation Description:29c Jack Benny. Comedians Issue 1991
Further reading[link]
- The New York Times, April 16, 1953, p. 43, "Jack Benny plans more work on TV"
- The New York Times, March 16, 1960, p. 75, "Canned laughter: Comedians are crying on the inside about CBS rule that public know of its use"
- Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone Benny, Hilliard Marks with Marcia Borie, Doubleday & Company, 1978, 322 p.
- Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story, Jack Benny and Joan Benny, Warner Books, 1990, 302 p.
- CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye, by Robert Metz, New American Library, 1978.
- The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and TV's Golden Age, by Jordan R. Young; Past Times Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-940410-37-0
- Well! Reflections on the Life and Career of Jack Benny, edited by Michael Leannah, BearManor Media, 2007.
- Jack Benny v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 25 T.C. 197 (1955).
- Hilmes, M. (1997). Radio voices American broadcasting, 1922–1952. Minnesota Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Further reading[link]
- Benny, Jack; Benny, Joan. (1990) Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story. Warner Books.
- Josefsberg, Milt. (1977) The Jack Benny Show. New Rochelle: Arlington House. ISBN 0-87000-347-X
- Leannah, Michael, editor. (2007) Well! Reflections on the Life and Career of Jack Benny. BearManor Media. Contributing authors: Frank Bresee, Clair Schulz, Kay Linaker, Janine Marr, Pam Munter, Mark Higgins, B. J. Borsody, Charles A. Beckett, Jordan R. Young, Philip G. Harwood, Noell Wolfgram Evans, Jack Benny, Michael Leannah, Steve Newvine, Ron Sayles, Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, Marc Reed, Derek Tague, Michael J. Hayde, Steve Thompson, Michael Mildredson.
External links[link]
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- Audio
- Video
- Jack Benny Hour (1965 NBC hour-long special) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- Jack Benny at the Internet Movie Database
- Jack Benny at the Internet Broadway Database
- Jack Benny at TVGuide.com
- Jack Benny at AllRovi
- The Jack Benny Program at TV.com
- Jack Benny at the National Radio Hall of Fame
- Jack Benny Fred Allen Feud
- Jack Benny Audio History
- International Jack Benny Fan Club
- In-depth interview with Laura Leff, Founder and President of the International Jack Benny Fan Club (2011)
- Online audio and video of Jack Benny
- Copies of Jack Benny's Radio and TV scripts, with handwritten edits
- Free 2 minute download of Humphrey Bogart on the Jack Benny Show
- Jack Benny Middle School
- Jack Benny Center for the Cultural Arts
- "The Friars Club"
- Jack Benny papers at the University of Wyoming—American Heritage Center
- FBI file on Jack Benny
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Benny, Jack |
| Alternative names | Kubelsky, Benjamin |
| Short description | comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, television, and film actor |
| Date of birth | February 14, 1894 |
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois |
| Date of death | December 26, 1974 |
| Place of death | Beverly Hills, California |
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