Tom Colbert (born December 30, 1949) is a Justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Court's 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry and is the first African-American to serve on the court.

He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His educational background includes an Associate's degree from East Central University, a B.S. degree from Kentucky State University, an M.Ed. from Eastern Kentucky University, and a J.D. from the University of Oklahoma. In between his attendance at EKU and OU, he served in the Criminal Investigation Division of the United States Army. Following graduation from law school in 1982, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to accept the post of Assistant Dean of the Law School at Marquette University, serving until 1984. Returning to Oklahoma in the same year, he was appointed as an Assistant District Attorney in Oklahoma County, serving in that capacity until 1986. Over the next decade, he alternated between private practice and service as an attorney with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a Judge on the state Court of Civil Appeals from 1999 to 2004, and was the first African-American to serve in that post. He served as Chief Judge during his final year on the Court.

References[link]

• Oklahoma Supreme Court Biography

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Charles Murray (June 22, 1872 – July 29, 1941), was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 283 films between 1912 and 1938. He was born in Laurel, Indiana, and died in Los Angeles, California from pneumonia.

Selected filmography[link]

• Safe in Jail (1913)
• Murphy's I.O.U. (1913)
• Red Hicks Defies the World (1913)
• The Mothering Heart (1913)
• Professor Bean's Removal (1913)
• The Riot (1913)
• Two Old Tars (1913)
• Her Friend the Bandit (1914)
• Mabel's Married Life (1914)
• Love and Bullets (1914)
• The Masquerader (1914)
• His New Profession (1914)
• Killing Horace (1914)
• Fatty Again (1914)
• Rum and Wall Paper (1915)
• Hogan's Romance Upset (1915)
• Their Social Splash (1915)
• Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915)
• The Mine with the Iron Door (1924)
• The Girl in the Limousine (1924)
• Sundown (1924)
• Mike (1925)
• Wizard of Oz (1925)
• The Cohens and Kellys (1926)
• Mismates (1926)
• The Masked Woman (1927)
• The Gorilla (1927)
• The Stolen Jools (1931)
• The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble (1933)

External links[link]

• Charles Murray at the Internet Movie Database

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Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in 2010
Birth name	Stephen Tyrone Colbert[1]
Born	(1964-05-13) May 13, 1964 (age 48) Washington, D.C., United States
Medium	Theatre, television, film, books
Nationality	American
Years active	1984–present
Genres	Sketch comedy, news satire, improvisational comedy, character comedy, political satire, observational comedy, blue comedy
Subject(s)	American culture, American politics, American conservatism, The Christian Right, political punditry, popular culture, current events, mass media/news media, egomania, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, sexuality
Influences	Don Novello, Bill Cosby,[2] George Carlin,[3] Dean Martin,[4] Jon Stewart,[5] Steve Martin[6] Bill O'Reilly[7]
Influenced	Rob Corddry,[8] Ed Helms,[8] Aasif Mandvi[9]
Spouse	Evelyn McGee-Colbert (3 children)
Notable works and roles	Chuck Noblet in Strangers with Candy Stephen Colbert in The Daily Show and The Colbert Report Writer, I Am America (And So Can You!) Co-writer, America (The Book) Phil Ken Sebben and Myron Reducto in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law Professor Richard Impossible in The Venture Bros.
Signature
Website	ColbertNation.com
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program 2004, 2005, 2006 The Daily Show 2008 The Colbert Report 2010 The Colbert Report
Grammy Awards
Best Comedy Album 2010 A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!

Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( /koʊlˈbɛər/ or /ˈkoʊlbərt/;^[5] born May 13, 1964) is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.

Colbert originally studied to be an actor, but became interested in improvisational theatre when he met famed Second City director Del Close while attending Northwestern University. He first performed professionally as an understudy for Steve Carell at Second City Chicago; among his troupe mates were comedians Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris, with whom he developed the critically acclaimed sketch comedy series Exit 57.

Colbert also wrote and performed on the short-lived Dana Carvey Show before collaborating with Sedaris and Dinello again on the cult television series Strangers with Candy. He gained considerable attention for his role on the latter as closeted gay history teacher Chuck Noblet. It was his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's news-parody series The Daily Show, however, that first introduced him to a wide audience.

In 2005, he left The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to host a spin-off series, The Colbert Report. Following The Daily Show's news-parody concept, The Colbert Report is a parody of personality-driven political opinion shows such as The O'Reilly Factor. Since its debut, the series has established itself as one of Comedy Central's highest-rated series, earning Colbert three Emmy Award nominations and an invitation to perform as featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in 2006. Colbert was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2006.^[10] His book I Am America (And So Can You!) was No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Early life[link]

Colbert was born in Washington, D.C.^[11] and grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, on James Island, the youngest of 11 children in an Irish Catholic family.^[5][12][13] Colbert and his siblings, in order from oldest to youngest, are James ("Jimmy"), Edward ("Eddie"), Mary, William ("Billy"), Margo, Thomas ("Tommy"), Jay, Elizabeth ("Lulu"), Paul, Peter, and Stephen.

Many of his ancestors immigrated to North America from Ireland in the 1800s before and during the Great Famine.^[14][15]

His father, James William Colbert, Jr., was the vice president for academic affairs at the Medical University of South Carolina. His mother, Lorna Colbert (née Tuck), was a homemaker.^[14][16] In interviews, Colbert describes his parents as devout people who also strongly value intellectualism and taught their children that it was possible to question the Church and still be Catholic.^[17] The emphasis his family placed on intelligence and his observation of negative stereotypes of Southerners led Colbert to train himself to suppress his Southern accent while he was still quite young. As a child, he observed that Southerners were often depicted as being less intelligent than other characters on scripted television; to avoid that stereotype, he taught himself to imitate the speech of American news anchors.^[18][19]

Colbert sometimes comedically claims his surname is French, but his family is actually of Irish, English, and distant German descent.^[5][20] Originally, the name was pronounced /ˈkoʊlbərt/ in English; Stephen Colbert's father, James, wanted to pronounce the name /koʊlˈbɛər/, but maintained the /ˈkoʊlbərt/ pronunciation out of respect for his own father. However, James offered his children the option to pronounce the name whichever way they preferred.^[12] Stephen started using /koʊlˈbɛər/ later in life when he transferred to Northwestern University, taking advantage of the opportunity to reinvent himself in a new place where no one knew him.^[5] Stephen's brother Ed, an intellectual property attorney, retained /ˈkoʊlbərt/; this was shown in a February 12, 2009 appearance on The Colbert Report, when his youngest brother asked him, "/ˈkoʊlbərt/ or /koʊlˈbɛər/?" Ed responded "/ˈkoʊlbərt/", to which Stephen jokingly replied, "See you in Hell".^[21]

On September 11, 1974, when Colbert was ten years old, his father and two of his brothers, Peter and Paul, were killed in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 while it was attempting to land in Charlotte, North Carolina. They were en route to enroll the two boys at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut.^[13][22] Shortly thereafter, Lorna Colbert relocated the family downtown to the more urban environment of East Bay Street in Charleston. By his own account, Colbert found the transition difficult and did not easily make new friends in his new neighborhood.^[12] Colbert later described himself during this time as detached, lacking a sense of importance regarding the things with which other children concerned themselves.^[19][23] He developed a love of science fiction and fantasy novels, especially the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, of which he remains an avid fan. During his adolescence, he also developed an intense interest in fantasy role-playing games, especially Dungeons & Dragons,^[23][24] a pastime which he later characterized as an early experience in acting and improvisation.^[4]

Colbert attended Charleston's Episcopal Porter-Gaud School, where he participated in several school plays and contributed to the school newspaper but, by his own assessment, was not highly motivated academically.^[23] During his time as a teenager, he also briefly fronted a Rolling Stones cover band.^[25] When he was younger, he had hoped to study marine biology, but surgery intended to repair a severely perforated eardrum caused him inner ear damage. The damage was severe enough that he was unable to pursue a career that would involve scuba diving. The damage also left him deaf in his right ear.^[12][26] For a while, he was uncertain whether he would attend college,^[27] but ultimately he applied and was accepted to Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, where a friend had also enrolled. There he continued to participate in plays while studying mainly philosophy;^[2][23] he found the curriculum rigorous but was more focused than he had been in high school and was able to apply himself to his studies. Despite the lack of a significant theater community at Hampden-Sydney, Colbert's interest in acting escalated during this time. After two years, he transferred to Northwestern University as a Theater Major to study performance, emboldened by the realization that he loved performing even when no one was coming to shows.^[23]

Early career in comedy[link]

Stephen Colbert and his wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert at the 2006 Time 100

While at Northwestern, Colbert studied with the intent of becoming a dramatic actor; mostly he performed in experimental plays and was uninterested in comedy. He began performing improvisation while in college, both in the campus improv team No Fun Mud Piranhas^[28] and at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago as a part of Del Close's ImprovOlympic at a time when the project was focused on competitive, long form improvisation, rather than improvisational comedy. "I wasn't gonna do Second City", Colbert later recalled, "because those Annoyance people looked down on Second City because they thought it wasn't pure improv—there was a slightly snobby, mystical quality to the Annoyance people".^[4] After Colbert graduated in 1986, however, he was in need of a job, and a friend who was employed at Second City's box office offered him work answering phones and selling souvenirs.^[23] Colbert accepted, and discovered that Second City employees were entitled to take classes at their training center for free.^[4] Despite his earlier aversion to the comedy group, he signed up for improvisation classes, and enjoyed the experience greatly.

Shortly thereafter, he was hired to perform with Second City's touring company, initially as an understudy for Steve Carell. It was there he met Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello, with whom he often collaborated later in his career. By their retelling, the three comedians did not get along at first—Dinello thought Colbert was uptight, pretentious and cold, while Colbert thought of Dinello as "an illiterate thug"^[29]—but the trio became close friends while touring together, discovering that they shared a similar comic sensibility.^[23]

When Sedaris and Dinello were offered the opportunity to create a television series for HBO Downtown Productions, Colbert left The Second City and relocated to New York in order to work with them on the sketch comedy show Exit 57.^[23] The series debuted on Comedy Central in 1995 and aired through 1996. Despite only lasting for 12 episodes, the show received favorable reviews^[30][31] and was nominated for five CableACE Awards in 1995, in categories including best writing, performance, and comedy series.^[32]

Following the cancellation of Exit 57, Colbert worked for six months as a cast member and writer on The Dana Carvey Show, alongside former Second City cast mate Steve Carell, as well as Robert Smigel, Charlie Kaufman, Louis C.K., and Dino Stamatopoulos, among others. The series, described by one reviewer as "kamikaze satire" in "borderline-questionable taste", had sponsors pull out after its first episode aired, and was canceled after seven episodes.^[33] Colbert then worked briefly as a freelance writer for Saturday Night Live with Robert Smigel. Smigel also brought his animated sketch The Ambiguously Gay Duo to SNL from The Dana Carvey Show; Colbert provided the voice of Ace on both series, opposite Steve Carell as Gary. Needing money, he also worked as a script consultant for VH1 and MTV, before taking a job filming humorous correspondent segments for Good Morning America.^[23] Only two of the segments he proposed were ever produced, and only one aired, but the job led his agent to refer him to The Daily Show's then-producer, Madeline Smithberg, who hired Colbert on a trial basis in 1997.^[34]

Television career[link]

[edit] Strangers with Candy

During the same time frame, Colbert worked again with Sedaris and Dinello to develop a new comedy series for Comedy Central, Strangers with Candy. Comedy Central picked up the series in 1998 after Colbert had already begun working on The Daily Show. As a result he accepted a reduced role, filming only around twenty Daily Show segments a year while he worked on the new series.^[23]

Strangers with Candy was conceived of as a parody of after school specials, following the life of Jerri Blank, a 46-year-old dropout who returns to finish high school after 32 years of life on the street. Most noted by critics for its use of offensive humor, it concluded each episode by delivering to the audience a skewed, politically incorrect moral lesson.^[35] Colbert served as a main writer alongside Sedaris and Dinello, as well as portraying Jerri's strict but uninformed history teacher, Chuck Noblet, seen throughout the series dispensing inaccurate information to his classes. Colbert has likened this to the character he played on The Daily Show and later The Colbert Report, claiming that he has a very specific niche in portraying "poorly informed, high-status idiot" characters.^[13] Another running joke throughout the series was that Noblet, a closeted homosexual, was having a "secret" affair with fellow teacher Geoffrey Jellineck despite the fact that their relationship was apparent to everyone around them. This obliviousness also appears in Colbert's Daily Show and Colbert Report character.

Thirty episodes of Strangers with Candy were made, which aired on Comedy Central in 1999 and 2000. Though its ratings were not remarkable during its initial run, it has been characterized as a cult show with a small but dedicated audience.^[36] Colbert reprised his role for a film adaptation, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 and had a limited release in 2006. The film received mixed reviews. Colbert also co-wrote the screenplay with Sedaris and Dinello.^[37]

[edit] The Daily Show

Stephen Colbert joined the cast of Comedy Central's parody-news series The Daily Show in 1997, when the show was in its second season. Originally one of four correspondents who filmed segments from remote locations in the style of network news field reporters, Colbert was referred to as "the new guy" on-air for his first two years on the show, during which time Craig Kilborn served as host. When Kilborn left the show prior to the 1999 season, Jon Stewart took over hosting duties, also serving as a writer and co-executive producer. From this point, the series gradually began to take on a more political tone and increase in popularity, particularly in the latter part of the 2000 U.S. presidential election season. The roles of the show's correspondents were expanded to include more in-studio segments, as well as international reports which were almost always done in the studio with the aid of a greenscreen.^[23]

Unlike Stewart, who essentially hosts The Daily Show as himself,^[38] Colbert developed a correspondent character for his pieces on the series. Colbert has described his correspondent character as "a fool who has spent a lot of his life playing not the fool — one who is able to cover it at least well enough to deal with the subjects that he deals with".^[23] Colbert was frequently pitted against knowledgeable interview subjects, or against Stewart in scripted exchanges, with the resultant dialogue demonstrating the character's lack of knowledge of whatever subject he is discussing.^[7][23] Colbert also made generous use of humorous fallacies of logic in explaining his point of view on any topic. Other Daily Show correspondents have adopted a similar style; former correspondent Rob Corddry recalls that when he and Ed Helms first joined the show's cast in 2002, they "just imitated Stephen Colbert for a year or two".^[8] Correspondent Aasif Mandvi has stated "I just decided I was going to do my best Stephen Colbert impression".^[9]

Colbert has appeared in several recurring segments for The Daily Show, including "Even Stevphen" with Steve Carell,^[39] in which both characters were expected to debate a selected topic but instead would unleash their anger at one another. Colbert commonly hosted "This Week in God", a report on topics in the news pertaining to religion, presented with the help of the "God Machine". Colbert filed reports from the floor of the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention as a part of The Daily Show's award-winning coverage of the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Presidential elections; many from the latter were included as part of their The Daily Show: Indecision 2004 DVD release. In several episodes of The Daily Show, Colbert filled in as anchor in the absence of Jon Stewart, including the full week of March 3, 2002, when Stewart was scheduled to host Saturday Night Live. After Colbert left the show, Rob Corddry took over "This Week in God" segments, although a recorded sample of Colbert's voice is still used as the sound effect for the God Machine. Later episodes of The Daily Show have reused older Colbert segments under the label "Klassic Kolbert". Colbert won three Emmys as a writer of The Daily Show in 2004, 2005, and 2006.^[40]

[edit] The Colbert Report

Since October 17, 2005, Colbert has hosted his own television show, The Colbert Report, a Daily Show spin-off which parodies the conventions of television news broadcasting,^[18] particularly cable-personality political talk shows like The O'Reilly Factor and Glenn Beck.^[4][41] Colbert hosts the show in-character as a blustery right-wing pundit, generally considered to be an extension of his character on The Daily Show. Conceived by co-creators Stewart, Colbert, and Ben Karlin in part as an opportunity to explore "the character-driven news", the series focuses less on the day-to-day news style of the Daily Show, instead frequently concentrating on the foibles of the host-character himself.

The concept for The Report was first seen in a series of Daily Show segments which advertised the then-fictional series as a joke. It was later developed by Stewart's Busboy Productions and pitched to Comedy Central, which greenlighted the program; Comedy Central had already been searching for a way to extend the successful Daily Show franchise beyond a half hour.^[42] The series opened to strong ratings, averaging 1.2 million viewers nightly during its first week on the air. Comedy Central signed a long-term contract for The Colbert Report within its first month on the air, when it immediately established itself among the network's highest-rated shows.^[43][44]

Much of Colbert's personal life is reflected in his character on The Colbert Report. With the extended exposure of the character on the show, he often references his interest in and knowledge of Catholicism, science fiction, and The Lord of the Rings, as well as using real facts to create his character's history. His alternate persona was also raised in South Carolina, is the youngest of 11 siblings, and is married.^[45] The actual Colbert's career history in acting and comedy, however, is often downplayed.

Politics[link]

2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner[link]

On Saturday, April 29, 2006, Stephen Colbert was the featured entertainer for the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Standing a few yards from U.S. President George W. Bush^[46]—in front of an audience the Associated Press called a "Who's Who of power and celebrity"^[47]—Colbert delivered a searing routine targeting the president and the media.^[48] In his politically conservative character from The Colbert Report, Colbert satirized the George W. Bush Administration and the White House press corps with such lines as:

Colbert received a chilly response from the audience.^[50] His jokes were often met with silence and muttering, apart from the enthusiastic laughter of a few in the audience.^[51] The major media outlets paid little attention to it initially. Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism professor Todd Gitlin claimed that this was because Colbert's routine was as critical of the media as it was of Bush.^[52][53] Richard Cohen, also writing for The Washington Post, responded that the routine was not funny.^[54] The video of Colbert's performance became an internet and media sensation,^[55][56] while, in the week following the speech, ratings for The Colbert Report rose by 37% to average just under 1.5 million total viewers per episode.^[57] In Time magazine James Poniewozik called it "the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006".^[58] Writing six months later, New York Times columnist Frank Rich referred to Colbert's speech as a "cultural primary" and called it the "defining moment" of the 2006 midterm elections.^[59][60]

2008 Presidential bid[link]

Wikinews has related news: Colbert officially withdraws Presidential bid; Obama supporters pressured South Carolina

Under his fictional persona in The Colbert Report, Colbert dropped hints of a potential presidential run throughout 2007, with speculation intensifying following the release of his book, I Am America (And So Can You!), which was rumored to be a sign that he was indeed testing the waters for a future bid for the White House. On October 16, 2007, he announced his candidacy on his show, stating his intention to run both on the Republican and Democratic platforms, but only as a "favorite son" in his native South Carolina.^[61] He later abandoned plans to run as a Republican due to the $35,000 fee required to file for the South Carolina primary,^[62] however he continued to seek a place on the Democratic ballot and on October 28, 2007, campaigned in the South Carolina state capital of Columbia, where he was presented with the key to the city by Mayor Bob Coble.^[63]

After announcing his presidential ticket, he asked his viewers to cast their votes by donating to DonorsChoose.org, an online charity connecting individuals to classrooms in need.^[64] Colbert's promotion inspired $68,000 in donations to South Carolina classrooms, which benefited over 14,000 low-income students.^[65] Colbert teamed up with DonorsChoose.org again in 2008 by asking supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to do the same. As a lead-up to the Pennsylvania primary, he created a "straw poll that makes a difference", where people could donate to Pennsylvania classroom projects in honor of their favorite candidate.^[66] Colbert viewers donated $185,000 to projects reaching 43,000 students in Pennsylvania public schools.^[67]

On November 1, 2007, the South Carolina Democratic Party executive council voted 13–3 to refuse Colbert's application onto the ballot. "The general sense of the council was that he wasn't a serious candidate and that was why he wasn't selected to be on the ballot", stated John Werner, the party's director. In addition, he was declared "not viable",^[68] as he was only running in one state.^[69] Several days later he announced that he was dropping out of the race, saying that he did not wish to put the country through an agonizing Supreme Court battle.^[70] CNN has reported that Obama supporters pressured the South Carolina Democratic Executive Council to keep Colbert off the ballot. One anonymous member of the council told CNN that former State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum had placed pressure on them to refuse Colbert's application despite his steady rise in polls.^[71]

Though Colbert's real-life presidential campaign had ended, current Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada established in an interview on The Colbert Report that Colbert's campaign was still going strong in the fictional Marvel Universe, citing the cover art of a then-recent issue of The Amazing Spider-Man which featured a Colbert campaign billboard in the background. Background appearances of Colbert campaign ads continued to appear in Marvel Comics publications, as recently as August 2008's Secret Invasion #5 (which also features a cameo of an alien Skrull posing as Colbert). In October 2008, Colbert made an extended 8-page appearance webslinging with Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #573.^[72]

2010 Congressional testimony[link]

On September 24, 2010, Colbert testified in character before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Security. He was invited by committee chairwoman Zoe Lofgren to describe his experience participating in the United Farm Workers' "Take Our Jobs" program, where he spent a day working alongside migrant workers in upstate New York.^[73][74][75] At the end of his often-humorous testimony, Colbert broke character in responding to a question from Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA, and explained why he cares about the plight of migrant workers:

Democratic committee member John Conyers questioned whether it was appropriate for the comedian to appear before Congress and asked him to leave the hearing.^[77] Though Colbert offered to depart at the direction of the committee chairwoman, Rep. Lofgren requested that he stay at least until all opening testimony had been completed, whereupon Conyers withdrew his request.^[78]

Conservative pundits took aim at his Congress testimony not long after.^[79]

2010 Washington D.C. rallies[link]

In September 2010, following Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally, a campaign developed that called for Colbert to hold his own rally at the Lincoln Memorial.^[82] On the September 10, 2010 episode of the Daily Show^[83] and the Colbert Report Stewart and Colbert made preannouncements of a future event. On September 16, 2010, Stewart and Colbert announced competing rallies on the Washington, DC Mall on October 30, 2010, Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity", and Colbert's "March to Keep Fear Alive". Both were eventually merged into the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

Super PAC and 2012 Presidential campaign[link]

In May 2011, Colbert filed a request with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking for a media exemption for coverage of his political action committee, ColbertPAC, on The Colbert Report.^[84][85]

In June 2011, during a public meeting, the FEC voted 5-1 to grant The Colbert Report a limited media exemption. The exemption allows unlimited donations of airtime and show resources to promote the Colbert Super PAC without requiring disclosure to the FEC, but only for ads appearing on The Colbert Report. Following the hearing, Colbert formally filed paperwork for the creation of his Super PAC with the FEC secretary.^[86]

After the 2012 New Hampshire primary, a poll for the subsequent South Carolina primary taken by Public Policy Polling (of 1,112 likely GOP voters, Jan 5-7, 2012) was reported to place Stephen Colbert at 5%, one point ahead of Jon Huntsman polling at 4%, in spite of the fact that Colbert was not on the ballot. This poll showed Colbert to be closely behind Rick Perry's 7% and Ron Paul's 8% (with Romney at 27%, Gingrich 23% and Santorum at 18%). On the January 11 episode of the Colbert Report, Colbert asked his audience if he should run for President in South Carolina, to which he received strong applause. He then stated that he would be making a "Major Announcement" during the next day's show. On January 12, Colbert started his show by discussing his role in the Presidential campaign, then addressed the law preventing him from being a Presidential candidate while running his Super PAC. With the help of his lawyer Trevor Potter, he then signed over control of his Super PAC to Jon Stewart, with the organization title then being referred to as "The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC".^[87] Immediately after this legal block was out of the way, Colbert announced that "I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the President of the United States of South Carolina. I'm doin' it!" He reiterated in the interview portion of that show that "I'm still in the exploratory phase" of his Presidential campaign.

On the January 16, 2012 episode, Colbert encouraged his viewers to vote for Herman Cain in the South Carolina primary. As Cain was still on the ballot, despite having recently dropped out of the race, Colbert announced that he would consider any votes cast for Cain to be in direct support of his own possible candidacy.

Other work[link]

Stephen Colbert is co-author of the satirical text-and-picture novel Wigfield: The Can Do Town That Just May Not, which was published in 2003 by Hyperion Books. The novel was a collaboration between Colbert, Amy Sedaris, and Paul Dinello, and tells the story of a small town threatened by the impending destruction of a massive dam. The narrative is presented as a series of fictional interviews with the town's residents, accompanied by photos. The three authors toured performing an adaptation of Wigfield on stage the same year the book was released.^[88]

Stephen Colbert during an appearance at Florida State University

Colbert appeared in a small supporting role in the 2005 film adaptation of Bewitched. He has made guest appearances on the television series Curb Your Enthusiasm, Spin City, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent,^[89] and on the improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He voiced the characters of Reducto and Phil Ken Sebben in the Adult Swim's Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law but left the show in 2005 to work on The Colbert Report. His characters were both killed, though he returned to voice Phil for the series finale. Colbert also has provided voices for Cartoon Network's The Venture Bros., Comedy Central's Crank Yankers, and American Dad!, as well as for Canadian animated comedy series The Wrong Coast. He appeared as Homer Simpson's life coach, Colby Krause, in the Simpsons episode "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs".^[90][91]

Colbert at the launch of his show's book, I Am America (And So Can You!).

Colbert filled in for Sam Seder on the second episode of The Majority Report on Air America Radio, and has also done reports for The Al Franken Show. He appeared on a track on Wig in a Box, a tribute album for Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Colbert read the part of Leopold Bloom in Bloomsday on Broadway XXIV: Love Literature Language Lust: Leopold's Women Bloom on June 16, 2005 at Symphony Space in New York City.^[17] He appeared in a series of TV commercials for General Motors, as a not-too-bright investigator searching for the elusive (and non-existent in real life) "Mr. Goodwrench". He also portrayed the letter Z in Sesame Street: All-Star Alphabet, a 2005 video release.

Colbert is a producer of The 1 Second Film, the world's largest nonprofit collaborative art film. His video request that IMDb list his credit for The 1 Second Film ("it is as valid as most of my credits") enabled thousands of the film's producers to be listed in the massive movie database until they were removed in early 2007.^[92]

Colbert has released one book associated with The Colbert Report, I Am America (And So Can You!). It was released on October 7, 2007 by Grand Central Publishing. Grand Central Publishing is the successor to Warner Books, which published America (The Book), written by The Daily Show staff. The book contains similar political satire, but was written primarily by Colbert himself rather than as a collaboration with his Colbert Report writing staff.^[93]

On November 23, 2008, his Christmas special, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, aired on Comedy Central. It was released on DVD in November 2008.^[94]

In January 2010, Colbert was named the assistant sports psychologist for the US Olympic speed skating team at the 2010 Winter Olympics.^[95][96] He was also invited to be part of NBC's 2010 Winter Olympics coverage team by Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports.^[97] In April 2011, Colbert performed as Harry in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company, presented by the New York Philharmonic at the Lincoln Center.^[98] The show, featuring Neil Patrick Harris in the starring role, ran for four nights and was filmed for later showings in movie theaters, which began June 15.^[98] In May 2011, Colbert joined Charleston to Bermuda Race yachting race, as the captain of ship "the Spirit of Juno".^[99] He finished second, five miles behind leaders "Tucana".^[100]

Personal life[link]

Colbert with his sons, Peter and John, at the Tribeca Film Festival

Although, by his own account, he was not particularly political before joining the cast of The Daily Show, Colbert has described himself as a Democrat according to a 2004 interview.^[101][102] In an interview at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard Institute of Politics, he stated that he has "no problems with Republicans, just Republican policies".^[103] Colbert is a practicing Roman Catholic and a Sunday school teacher.^{[17][104][105][106]}

Colbert lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife, Evelyn McGee-Colbert, who appeared with him in an episode of Strangers with Candy as his mother. She also had an uncredited cameo as a nurse in the series pilot and a credited one (as his wife, Clair) in the film. McGee-Colbert actually met Jon Stewart, later a good friend of Colbert, before she met her husband in 1990. She is the daughter of prominent Charleston civil litigator Joseph McGee, of the firm Buist Moore Smythe McGee. The couple has three children: Madeleine, Peter, and John.^[107] Colbert prefers, however, that his children not watch his show, The Colbert Report, saying that "kids can't understand irony or sarcasm, and I don't want them to perceive me as insincere".^[19]

Awards and honors[link]

In 2000 Colbert and the other Daily Show writers were the recipients of three Emmy Awards as writers for The Daily Show and again in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 he was nominated for a Satellite Award for his performance on The Colbert Report and again in 2006.^[40]

He was also nominated for three Emmys for The Colbert Report in 2006, including Best Performance in a Variety, Musical Program or Special, which he lost to Barry Manilow. Manilow and Colbert would go on to jokingly sign and notarize a revolving biannual custody agreement for the Emmy on the Colbert Report episode aired on October 30, 2006. He lost the same category to Tony Bennett in 2007 and Don Rickles in 2008.

In January 2006, the American Dialect Society named truthiness, which Colbert coined on the premiere episode of The Colbert Report, as its 2005 Word of the Year. Colbert devoted time on five successive episodes to bemoaning the failure of the Associated Press to mention his role in popularizing the word truthiness in its news coverage of the Word of the Year.^[108][109] On December 9, 2006, Merriam-Webster also announced that it selected truthiness as its Word of the Year for 2006. Votes were accepted on their website, and according to poll results, truthiness won by a five-to-one margin.^[110]

Colbert at Knox College

In June 2006, after speaking at the school's commencement ceremony, Colbert received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from Knox College.^[111] Time named Stephen Colbert as one of the 100 most influential people in 2006 and^[10] in May 2006, New York magazine listed Colbert (and Jon Stewart) as one of its top dozen influential persons in media.^[112] Colbert was named Person of the Year by the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado on March 3, 2007^[113] and was also given the Speaker of the Year Award by The Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) on March 24, 2007 for his "drive to expose the rhetorical shortcomings of contemporary political discourse".^[114]

Colbert was named the 2nd Sexiest TV News Anchor in September 2006 by Maxim Online, next to Mélissa Theuriau of France and was the only man featured on the list.^[115] In November 2006, he was named a "sexy surprise" by People in the Sexiest Man Alive honors^[116] and in the December 2006 issue of GQ he was named one of GQ's "Men of the Year".^[117]

He was nominated for a TCA Award for The Colbert Report by the Television Critics Association in 2006 and also received two Peabody Awards for his work on The Daily Show: Indecision 2000 and Indecision 2004. In February 2007, Ben & Jerry's unveiled a new ice cream flavor in honor of Colbert, named Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream. Colbert waited until Easter to sample the ice cream because he "gave up sweets for Lent".^[118] Colbert will donate all proceeds to charity through the new Stephen Colbert AmeriCone Dream Fund, which will distribute the money to various causes.^[119]

After the Saginaw Spirit defeated the Oshawa Generals in Ontario Junior League Hockey, Oshawa Mayor John Gray declared March 20, 2007 (the mayor's own birthday) Stephen Colbert Day, honoring a previous bet with Stephen. At the event, Mayor Gray referred to the publicity the bet brought the city, remarking, "This is the way to lose a bet".^[120]

Colbert was honored for the Gutsiest Move on the Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards on June 13, 2007 for his performance at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.^[121] In August 2007, Virgin America named an airplane. "Air Colbert", in his honor.^[122] On October 28, 2007, Colbert received the key to the city of Columbia, South Carolina from Mayor Bob Coble.^[123]

On December 20, 2007 Colbert was named Celebrity of the Year by The Associated Press.^[124] On April 2, 2008 he received a Peabody Award for The Colbert Report, saying in response, "I proudly accept this award and begrudgingly forgive the Peabody Committee for taking three years to recognize greatness".^[125]

In 2008 Colbert won the Emmy award for writing again, this time as a writer for the Colbert Report. Colbert delivered the Class Day address to the graduating class of Princeton University on June 2, 2008, and accepted the Class of 2008 Understandable Vanity Award, consisting of a sketch of Colbert and a mirror.^[126] He also has been announced as the Person of the Year for the 12th annual Webby Awards.^[127]

In 2008, East Carolina University associate professor Jason Bond named a species of trapdoor spider Aptostichus stephencolberti in honor of Stephen Colbert.^[128] In January 2010, Colbert received the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for his album A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!. He also announced the nominees for Song of the Year while toting a pre-released Apple iPad.^[129] Colbert was the 2011 commencement speaker for Northwestern University, and received an honorary degree.^[130]

COLBERT Treadmill[link]

Wikinews has related news: Comedian Stephen Colbert wins NASA space station name contest

In 2009 NASA engineered a new treadmill for the International Space Station. It was brought to the ISS by the Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-128 mission in August 2009. The complex machine is now used eight hours daily by astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station in order to maintain their muscle mass and bone density while spending long periods of time in a zero gravity environment. While engineers at NASA were constructing this treadmill it was simply called T-2 for more than two years. However, on April 14, 2009 the treadmill became the most famous piece of exercise equipment in the world when NASA renamed it the "Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill", or COLBERT.^[131] NASA named the treadmill after Colbert,^[132] who took an interest during the Node 3 naming census for the ISS module, Tranquility.

Colbert urged his followers to post the name "Colbert", which upon completion of the census received the most entries totaling 230,539, some 40,000 votes more than the second-place choice, Serenity.^[133] The COLBERT is expected to last the life of the ISS and will have seen about 38,000 miles of running when the Space Station is retired in 2020 but was also built with 150,000 mile lifespan if needed till 2028 or longer. Colbert realized he was the recipient of an extremely rare honor when astronaut Suni Williams came on The Colbert Report to announce that NASA had named the treadmill after him. Despite being an acronym, the COLBERT is the only piece of NASA engineered equipment in space that is named after a living human being.^[134]

• 

  C.O.L.B.E.R.T logo being applied to the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill at NASA before Launch

• 

  Launch of Discovery Mission STS-128, which delivered the COLBERT to the ISS

• 

  Cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov exercises on COLBERT in the Harmony Node Of The International Space Station

• 

  The crew who delivered Stephen Colbert's honorary space treadmill

Filmography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Colbert, Dinello, Sedaris. Wigfield: The Can-Do Town That Just May Not (Hyperion, May 19, 2004) ISBN 0-7868-8696-X
• America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction (Warner Books, September 2004) ISBN 0-446-53268-1
• I Am America (And So Can You!) (Grand Central Publishing, October 9, 2007) ISBN 0-446-58050-3

Discography[link]

• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! in 2008
• Stephen Colbert with the Black Belles — Charlene II (I'm Over You) in 2011

References[link]

Further reading and external links[link]

Find more about Stephen Colbert on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

Books

• Rogak, Lisa (October 11, 2011). And Nothing but the Truthiness: The Rise (and Further Rise) of Stephen Colbert. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-61610-6. http://books.usatoday.com/book/lisa-rogak-and-nothing-but-the-truthiness-the-rise-and-further-rise-of-stephen-colbert/r553756. 

General

• The Colbert Report Official Site
• Stephen Colbert at the Internet Movie Database
• Stephen Colbert Producer Profile for The 1 Second Film
• Wikiality.com, a wiki dedicated to Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Works by or about Stephen Colbert in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Stephen Colbert: His Many Faces - slideshow by Life magazine

Audio/Video

• Stephen Colbert on National Public Radio in 2008
• Stephen Colbert on National Public Radio in 2005
• Stephen Colbert on Charlie Rose in 2006
• Colbert interview transcript, 60 Minutes. (April 30, 2006)
• Colbert in an open, hour-long interview and Q & A session arranged by Harvard's Institute of Politics. He speaks about the nature of his TV-show character and the interplay between wearing the mask and using it to make political points.
• Colbert Roasts President Bush—2006 White House Correspondents dinner at Google Videos (Adobe Flash video), (April 30, 1441/59811 Transcript). (April 29, 2006)
• A 2007 appearance at the Glamour magazine Women of the Year Awards to honor Nancy Pelosi.

Please expand this article. Some suggested sources are given hereafter. More information might be found in a section of the talk page. (February 2012)

How Many Stephen Colberts Are There?

v t e The Colbert Report People/characters Stephen Colbert (character) · Tek Jansen · Recurring characters · Writers Elements Better Know a District · Truthiness · Recurring segments Special series Indecision 2006: Midterm Midtacular · Indecision 2008 · Indecision 2010 · A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! · Who Made Huckabee? Episodes 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · The Best of The Colbert Report Related topics Cultural impact · Aptostichus stephencolberti · Colbert Super PAC · Correspondents' Dinner · The Daily Show · I Am America (And So Can You!) · I Am A Pole (And So Can You!) · Megyeri Bridge · Presidential campaign · Tranquility (ISS module) · C.O.L.B.E.R.T. · "Stephen, Stephen" · Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear · Golden Tweet Award · Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream Book:The Colbert Report · Category:The Colbert Report · Portal:Comedy

Tom Ridge
1st Secretary of Homeland Security
In office January 24, 2003 – February 1, 2005
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Michael Chertoff
1st United States Homeland Security Advisor
In office October 5, 2001 – January 24, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	John Gordon
43rd Governor of Pennsylvania
In office January 17, 1995 – October 5, 2001
Lieutenant	Mark Schweiker
Preceded by	Bob Casey
Succeeded by	Mark Schweiker
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 21st district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Don Bailey
Succeeded by	Phil English
Personal details
Born	(1945-08-26) August 26, 1945 (age 66) Munhall, Pennsylvania, United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Michele Ridge
Children	Lesley and Tommy
Alma mater	Harvard College (B.A.) Dickinson School of Law (J.D.)
Religion	Roman Catholic
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	staff sergeant
Unit	23rd Infantry Division
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Bronze Star National Defense Service Medal Vietnam Service Medal Vietnam Campaign Medal Vietnam Gallantry Cross Combat Infantryman Badge

Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives (1983–1995), the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania (1995–2001), Assistant to the President for Homeland Security (2001–2003), and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2003–2005). Since re-entering the private sector, Ridge has served on the boards of The Home Depot, The Hershey Company and Exelon Corporation and as a senior advisor to Deloitte & Touche, and TechRadium. Ridge is also the founder and CEO of Ridge Global, LLC, a Washington, D.C. based security consulting firm. Ridge spent time campaigning with Senator John McCain during his 2008 bid for the presidency and was believed by some to have been in the short list of potential running mates.^[1][2]

Early life[link]

Ridge was born in Munhall, Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh's Steel Valley, the oldest of three children. His parents were Laura (née Sudimack) and Thomas Regis Ridge, who was a traveling salesman and Navy veteran. Ridge's maternal grandparents were Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants^[3] from the former Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), and his paternal great-grandparents emigrated from Great Britain.^[4] Ridge was raised in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania. He was educated at St. Andrews Elementary School and Cathedral Preparatory School and did well both academically and in sports. He earned a scholarship to Harvard College, where he paid his way through with construction work, played intramural baseball and football,^[4] and graduated with honors in 1967.

After his first year at the Dickinson School of Law, he was drafted into the United States Army, where he served as an infantry staff sergeant in the 23rd Infantry Division^[5] during the Vietnam War. He earned the Bronze Star, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Later, he was offered a commission as an officer but turned it down when he learned that it would require an extra year of service.

A ruptured appendix cut short his tour and he returned home in 1970; service also aggravated a childhood ear infection. Since then Ridge has had a hearing aid in his left ear.

After returning to Pennsylvania, he completed his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the Dickinson School of Law, graduating in 1972, and entered private practice.

Public service in Pennsylvania[link]

He became Assistant District Attorney in Erie County, Pennsylvania in 1980 and prosecuted 86 cases in two years. In 1982 he successfully ran for a seat in Congress from northwestern Pennsylvania, and was re-elected six times. Ridge was notable as the first enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to the U.S. House. As of 2009^[update], Ridge has never lost an election for public office.

In 1994, despite being little-known outside of northwest Pennsylvania, Ridge ran for Governor. He won the election as a pro-choice Republican. He was reelected in 1998 with 57 percent of the vote in a four-way race. His share of the vote in that election was the highest for a Republican governor in Pennsylvania (where Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 500,000) in more than half a century.^[6] Ridge served as Governor until his resignation to become the Director of Homeland Security in 2001.

One of Ridge's more controversial actions as governor was his nomination of Dr. Peter J. Jannetta to be the State Secretary of Health. Jannetta was had previously been accused of committing perjury, with the State's Superior Court stating, "We have little difficulty in concluding that Dr. Jannetta's testimony at deposition was different than, or inconsistent with, the testimony at trial." Jannetta was not, however, ever convicted of perjury.^[7] Jannetta served as Health Secretary for 6 months.

During his time as governor, Ridge promoted "law and order" policies, supporting a three-strikes law and a faster death penalty process. A death penalty supporter,^[8] Ridge signed more than 224 execution warrants^[9] – five times the number signed over a 25-year period by the two previous governors – but only three voluntary executions were carried out. On social issues, he opposed gay marriage, and, in spite of being a Roman Catholic, is pro-choice on abortion issues.

Over Ridge's tenure, the Commonwealth's budget grew by two to three percent per fiscal year and combined tax reductions totaled over $2 billion. Ridge created and grew a "Rainy Day" Fund balance to over $1 billion to be utilized during an economic downturn or recession.

Ridge pushed for legislation permitting competition among electric utilities and enhanced federal and state support for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). He also separated the Commonwealth's environmental regulatory and conservation programs into two new agencies; the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Ridge proposed the creation of public charter schools in Pennsylvania and in establishing alternate schools for disruptive students. He launched new academic standards that established academic expectations for what students were expected to know in different grades. Ridge also proposed a school choice demonstration program.

Ridge oversaw a number of e-government projects including renewing drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations to viewing historical documents and library catalogs. The Commonwealth's portal won several national awards. One of the nation's first electronic grant systems was put into place at the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Ridge also created the Link-to-Learn initiative to increase the effective use of technology in public schools and universities.

In 2001, he was named runner up "Politician of the Year" by PoliticsPA.^[10] In a 2002 PoliticsPA Feature story designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, he was named the "Most Popular."^[11]

2000 Presidential election[link]

Ridge was a potential running mate for Bob Dole in 1996, and served as a close advisor to GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush, a close friend from their simultaneous tenures as governors, during the 2000 presidential campaign. In return, Bush named Ridge to his short list for possible running mates, along with New York Governor George Pataki, Michigan Governor John Engler, Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, former Missouri Senator John Danforth, and former American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole.^[12]

However, Bush selected the man who was in charge of leading his search for the vice presidential nominee, former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, to be his running mate.

Ridge was also reportedly ^{[says who?]} Colin Powell's choice to be Secretary of Defense in Bush's new cabinet. With his reputation as a former Congressman and a strong administrator as governor, in addition to his friendship with Bush and Powell, he was seen^{[by whom?]} as a frontrunner for the post. But he lost this presumptive appointment after much decrying by conservatives over his lack of defense experience, particularly by Republican primary candidate Gary Bauer, who decried Ridge as a "peacenik-type of congressman during the Reagan years" and Robert Novak who wrote of Ridge's lack of defense experience and his opposition to the Strategic Defense Initiative. There was also rumored to be^{[by whom?]} a lot of animosity regarding the nomination between Powell and Dick Cheney regarding Ridge. With all of this Ridge promptly took his name out of the running and Donald Rumsfeld was eventually named as defense secretary.

Homeland Security Advisor and Secretary[link]

Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft (May 11, 2004, Washington, D.C.)

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush created the Office of Homeland Security within the White House, and named Ridge to head it. The charge to the nation's new director of homeland security was to develop and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen the United States against terrorist threats or attacks. In the words of President George W. Bush, he had the strength, experience, personal commitment and authority to accomplish this critical mission. Ridge formally resigned as Pennsylvania's governor on October 5, 2001.

In January 2003 and after the passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Office of Homeland Security split into a Cabinet-level Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House Homeland Security Advisory Council. Ridge left the White House and became the first Secretary of Homeland Security. The Department's Mission "is to (A) prevent terrorist attacks within the United States; (B) reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism; and (C) minimize the damage, and assist in the recovery, from terrorist attacks that do occur within the United States" (From H.R. 5005-8 the Homeland Security Act of 2002). The newly created Department was the most comprehensive reorganization of the Federal government since the National Security Act of 1947. The Department of Homeland Security consolidates 22 agencies and 180,000 employees, unifying once-fragmented Federal functions in a single agency dedicated to protecting America from terrorism. Ridge worked with the employees from combined agencies to strengthen borders, provide for intelligence analysis and infrastructure protection, improve the use of science and technology to counter weapons of mass destruction, and to create a comprehensive response and recovery division.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]}

In January 2004, Ridge was named among others in a lawsuit filed by a Syrian-born Canadian Maher Arar who said he was tortured in Syria after being deported by American authorities.^[19]

On November 30, 2004, Ridge submitted his resignation to the President, saying, "After more than 22 consecutive years of public service, it is time to give personal and family matters a higher priority."^[20] In his book The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege...and How We Can Be Safe Again, Ridge says his resignation was due to an effort by senior Bush administration officials to raise the nation's terror alert level in the days before the 2004 presidential vote.^[21][22]

Controversies[link]

Support for the listed "terrorist" group People's Mujahedin of Iran[link]

Former Pennsylvania governor Edward Rendell included Ridge among a group of former U.S. officials who have been lobbying and building support for the "de-listing" of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK, also PMOI, MKO) from the U.S. State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.^[23] MEK has been accused of successful and unsuccessful attempts to kidnap or murder U.S. officials in the 1970s. They joined Saddam Hussein's military to fight against Iran in the U.S.-backed 8 year war between Iraq and Iran that produced 1.5 million casualties. They have also been accused of partnering with Israel's Mossad in the assassination of several of Iran's nuclear scientists.^[24] Ridge has been among those investigated for receiving tens of thousands of dollars for their lobbying efforts for the organization.^[23]

Involvement with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)[link]

It has been reported that Ridge was an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) member, and that this was behind a prison-building spree during his tenure as Governor of Pennsylvania.^[25] ALEC is a conservative-leaning organization which facilitates meetings between corporate representatives and, most commonly, Republican politicians to draft legislation that is favorable to the interests of member corporations.

Work in the private sector[link]

Ridge is the founder and CEO of Ridge Global, an advisory firm in Washington, D.C.^[26]

Ridge served on a state-appointed incident review panel which investigated the Virginia Tech massacre of April 2007.^[27]

In July 2010, companies seeking to use hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation engaged Ridge and his company at $75,000 a month to help them gain support.^[28]

Home Depot[link]

In February 2005, Tom Ridge was named to the board of Home Depot.^[29] Ridge's compensation was expected to be about $100,000 per annum for this position.^[30] Since April 2005, Ridge has also served on the board of Savi Technology,^[31] the primary technology provider for the wireless cargo-monitoring network for the United States Department of Defense.^[32]

Exelon Corporation[link]

In April, 2005, Ridge's appointment to the board of the Illinois/Pennsylvania/New Jersey electric utility was announced, with starting director compensation of $35,000 annual retainer plus a $1,500 meeting fee or per diem fee. Directors were also granted $60,000 in deferred stock units each year at that time.^[33]

In 2010, it was reported that Ridge had appeared on MSNBC Hardball With Chris Matthews promoting nuclear energy as part of a "green agenda [to] ... create jobs, create exports," without any revelation by him or the cable channel of his Exelon position. In the report, his cumulative Exelon-derived compensation was put at $530,659; and it was said that, as of March 2009, he held an estimated $248,299 in Exelon stock, according to SEC filings. Exelon was described as "the nation's largest nuclear power company."^[34]

Deloitte LLP[link]

In November 2006, Tom Ridge was announced as a Senior Advisor for Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.^[35][36]

The Hershey Company[link]

In November 2007, Ridge was named to serve on The Hershey Company's Executive Board. The Hershey Trust, the primary shareholder of Hershey, asked for a change in board composition after several years of poor stock performance. The board named Ridge to the board for his knowledge of economics.^[37]

TechRadium Inc[link]

Announced in January 2008, Tom Ridge will serve as a senior advisor to TechRadium, Inc., a Texas-based security technology company that provides its patented alert and notification system, IRIS (Immediate Response Information System), to a wide range of users including municipalities, public schools and universities, utilities, and military programs.^[38]

PURE Bioscience[link]

In September 2009, PURE Bioscience, creator of a patented antimicrobial, announced Ridge would serve on its Advisory Board along with former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson.^[39]

2008 Presidential election[link]

Tom Ridge served as a senior aide to Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain of Arizona,^[40] and was considered by some as a possible running mate for McCain.^[1][2]

Tom Ridge at rally for John McCain

Possible 2010 Senate candidacy[link]

According to Fox News, many Republicans hoped Ridge would run for the United States Senate against the newly turned Democrat Arlen Specter, who stated he would seek re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary. Already seeking the Republican nomination was former Representative Pat Toomey, who narrowly lost to Specter in the Republican primary in 2004. Some Republicans thought Ridge would have a better chance against Specter than would Toomey. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted between April 30, 2009 and May 3, 2009 placed Ridge within three points of Specter in a hypothetical matchup between the two men.^[41] Some Toomey supporters criticized the idea of a Ridge candidacy because, although Ridge was still registered to vote in Pennsylvania, he was actually living in Chevy Chase, Maryland.^[42]

On May 7, 2009, Ridge announced that he would not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010.^[43]

Memoirs[link]

Tom Ridge's book The Test of Our Times was published in September 2009.^[44] Written with Larry Bloom, it concerns Ridge's time as the head of the Department of Homeland Security. He explains the challenges and decision making processes of the newly formed department, and gives his own views as to the future of the security of the United States of America. The book further discusses

"the infighting he saw that frustrated his attempts to build a smooth-running department. Among the headlines promoted by publisher Thomas Dunne Books: Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was 'blindsided' by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over."^[22]

Ridge wrote in his memoir that then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft pressured him to raise the terror alert level, running up to the 2004 elections, because of a pre-election message critical of President Bush from Osama Bin Laden.^[21]

He now does after-dinner speeches around the world. In July 2010, a controversy surrounded Ridge's warning that countries would face the wrath of al-Qaeda and countries such as Ireland could be at risk of "terrorist" attacks.^[45]

2012 Presidential election[link]

Ridge originally endorsed former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman for president, in September 2011.^[46] Mitt Romney announced an endorsement from Ridge on March 14, 2012.^[47]