National Counterterrorism Center
NCTC
Agency overview
Formed	2003
Preceding agency	Terrorist Threat Integration Center
Headquarters	McLean, Virginia
Agency executive	Matthew G. Olsen, Director
Parent agency	Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Website
nctc.gov

The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is a United States government organization responsible for national and international counterterrorism efforts. It is based in a modern complex in McLean, Virginia called Liberty Crossing,^[1] near Tysons Corner. NCTC advises the United States on terrorism.

The center is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and draws experts from the CIA, FBI, the Pentagon, and other agencies who try to ensure that clues about potential attacks are not missed.^[2]

History[link]

The precursor organization of NCTC, the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), established on May 1, 2003, was created by President George W. Bush by Executive Order 13354. President Bush announced the creation of TTIC in his 2003 State of the Union Address. TTIC was established in response to recommendations by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) that investigated the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Among other things, the 9/11 Commission concluded that "none of the measures adopted by the U.S. government before 9/11 disturbed or even delayed the progress of the al Qaeda plot."^[3]

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 renamed TTIC to NCTC and placed it under the United States Director of National Intelligence. It has access to various databases, including those from the NSA and the CIA, and is in charge of the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) database.^[4] It also operates the publicly-accessible Worldwide Incidents Tracking System database.

Activities[link]

The center analyzes terrorism intelligence (except purely domestic terrorism); stores terrorism information; supports U.S. counterterrorism activities using information technology (IT); and plans counter-terrorism activities as directed by the President of the United States, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council.

Goals[link]

Its goals include providing terrorism information to the intelligence community; provide detailed lists of terrorists, terrorist groups, and worldwide terrorist incidents; support the response to terrorist incidents in the U.S. and worldwide; write assessments and briefings for policymakers.

After the Christmas 2009 terrorist attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, the NCTC was tasked with ^[5] creating a process to "thoroughly and exhaustively" prioritize terrorism threat threads; identify follow-up action by intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security; and enhance the "Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment" database, to add names to watchlists.

Leadership[link]

Directors

• John O. Brennan (Acting) (2004–05)
• Vice Admiral (Ret.) John Scott Redd (2005–07)
• Michael E. Leiter (Acting) (2007–08)
• Michael E. Leiter (2008–2011)
• Matthew G. Olsen (2011 - present)

Principal Deputy Directors

• Arthur M. Cummings (2004–05)
• Kevin R. Brock (2005–07)
• Michael E. Leiter (2007–08)
• Geoff O'Connell (2008–2011)
• Andrew Liepman (2011- present)

Coordinates: 38°55′59″N 77°12′18″W / 38.933°N 77.205°W / 38.933; -77.205

See also[link]

• Director of Central Intelligence Directive
• Counterterrorist Center
• Photos of the NCTC and TTIC
• Information Sharing Environment

References[link]

1. ^ "A hidden world, growing beyond control". The Washington Post. http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/a-hidden-world-growing-beyond-control/. 
2. ^ Elliot, Phillip, "Obama says al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen apparently responsible for airliner bombing plot," Minneapolis Star Tribune, January 2, 2010, accessed January 2, 1010
3. ^ "Public Statement Release of 9/11 Commission Report The Hon. Thomas H. Kean and the Hon. Lee H. Hamilton". July 22, 2004. http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Statement.pdf. Retrieved 22 Feb 2010. 
4. ^ Karen DeYoung, After attempted airline bombing, effectiveness of intelligence reforms questioned, Washington Post, January 7, 2010
5. ^ Pelofsky, Jeremy (January 7, 2010). "Factbox: Actions Obama ordered after December 25 bomb plot". Reuters.com. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6065ZB20100107. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: National Counterterrorism Center

• NCTC Website
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence Website
• NCTC News Story on Appointment of Michael Leiter and retirement of Kevin Brock
• News about new NCTC on FBI website
• BBC News article with internal photograph

v t e Directors of the National Counterterrorism Center Brennan (acting) • Redd • Leiter • Olsen

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Counterterrorism Center was established in 1986, and is a division of the CIA's National Clandestine Service. It is not to be confused with the National Counterterrorism Center, which is a separate entity.

Foundation and early years[link]

The Counterterrorist Center was established in February 1986, under the CIA's Directorate of Operations, with Duane Clarridge as its first director. It was an "interdisciplinary" body; many of its personnel, and most its chiefs, were drawn from the CIA's Directorate of Operations, but others came from the Directorates of Intelligence and Science and Technology. Observing that terrorism knew no geographical boundaries, the CTC was designed to cut across the traditional region-based bodies of the CIA.

Discredited by the Iran-Contra scandal of 1986, the original aims later gave way to a more analytical role. This did not prevent the Center contemplating an "Eagle" drone aircraft project in 1986-7, which could have been used to spy on hostage-takers in Lebanon^{[citation needed]}. The idea was unrealistic in terms of the technical abilities of the time, but can be compared to the Predator drone eventually inaugurated in 2000.^[1]

Early members of the CTC included Vincent Cannistraro, Chief of Operations and Analysis from 1988–91, Robert Baer, from the Directorate of Operations, and Stanley Bedlington, a "senior analyst".^[2]

The 1990s[link]

In the early 1990s, the CTC had no more than a hundred personnel, divided into about a dozen branches. Besides branches specializing in Lebanon's Hezbollah, and secular groups like the Japanese Red Army, another concentrated on Sunni Islamist radicalism, primarily in Algeria.^[3]

In January 1996, the CTC opened the Bin Laden Issue Station to track Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, with Michael Scheuer, formerly in charge of the CTC's Islamic Extremist Branch, as its first head. The reasons were similar to those for the establishment of the CTC itself. The new Station, unlike the traditional country-based ones, was not geographically limited, and drew its personnel from across the U.S. intelligence community.

Geoffrey O'Connell was Director of the CTC from 1997 until Cofer Black became Director in June 1999, as part of a reshuffle by CIA chief George Tenet, who was embarking on a plan to deal with al-Qaeda. At the same time Tenet made one of his executives head of the unnamed section in charge of the Bin Laden Station.

Paul Pillar became chief of analysis in 1993, and by 1997, he was the Center's deputy director. But in summer 1999 he suffered a clash of styles with Cofer Black. Soon after, Pillar left the CTC.^[4] He was replaced as deputy director by Ben Bonk. Henry Crumpton was head of operations in the late 1990s,^[5] and came back after 9/11 as chief of a new Special Operations section.

In the late 1990s, the CIA began to set up Counterterrorist Intelligence Centers, in collaboration with the intelligence services of individual countries to deal with Islamist militants. The CTICs spread widely after the September 11, 2001 attacks, existing in more than two dozen countries by 2005. Officers from the host nations serving in the CTICs were vetted by the CIA, and usually supervised by the local CIA chief of station.^{[citation needed]}

"The Plan", 1999–2001[link]

In December 1998 CIA chief George Tenet "declared war" on Osama bin Laden.^[6] Early in 1999 Tenet he ordered the CTC to conduct a review of the CIA's operational strategy, with the aim of creating 'a new, comprehensive plan of attack' against al-Qaeda.^{[citation needed]} By mid-September, the result of this review, known simply as "The Plan", had been briefed to CIA operational level personnel, and to the NSA, the FBI, and other partners.^{[citation needed]}

Once Cofer Black had finalized his operational plan, Charles Allen, associate deputy director of Central Intelligence for Collection, created a dedicated al-Qaeda cell with officers from across the intelligence community. This cell met daily, focusing on penetrating the Afghan sanctuary, and ensuring that collection initiatives were synchronized with operational plans. Allen met with Tenet on a weekly basis to review initiatives.^{[citation needed]}

The CIA increasingly concentrated its diminished resources on counterterrorism, so that resources for this activity increased sharply, in contrast to the general trend. At least some of the Plan's more modest aspirations were translated into action. Intelligence collection efforts on bin Laden and al-Qaeda increased significantly from 1999.^[7]

The core 9/11 hijackers emerge[link]

Beginning in September 1999, the CTC picked up multiple signs that bin Laden had set in motion major terrorist attacks for the turn of the year. The CIA set in motion what Black later described as the "largest collection and disruption activity in the history of mankind". They focused on known al-Qaeda terrorists, and on senior personnel both inside and outside Afghanistan.^[8]

Amid this activity, in November–December 1999 Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, and Nawaf al-Hazmi visited Afghanistan, where they were selected by al-Qaeda for the 9/11 operation.^[9] In late 1999, the NSA picked up traces of an "operational cadre" consisting of al-Hazmi, his younger brother Salem, and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who were planning to go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in January 2000. A CTC officer sought permission to conduct surveillance on the men.^[10] At about this time the SOCOM-DIA data mining operation "Able Danger" also identified a potential al-Qaeda unit, consisting of the future leading 9/11 hijackers, and termed them the "Brooklyn cell". Altogether, the operation found five cells, including two of the three cells involved in the 9/11 attack.^[11]

The CIA erratically tracked al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar as they traveled to and attended the al-Qaeda summit in Kuala Lumpur in early January 2000. ...^[12][13]

The Predator drone, 2000–2001[link]

In autumn 2000, a series of flights over Afghanistan by Predator drones, under the joint control of the USAF and the CTC, produced probable sightings of bin Laden. CTC Director Black advocated arming Predators with missiles to try to launch a targeted killing of bin Laden, but there were legal and technical issues: under the new Bush administration in 2001, Black continued to lobby for Predators armed with adapted Hellfire anti-tank missiles. On Black's advice, Tenet raised the matter at the long-awaited Cabinet-level Principals Committee meeting on terrorism of September 4, 2001, and received authorisation to deploy the system.^{[citation needed]}

9/11 and after[link]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, some CTC staff were exempted from an order to evacuate the CIA headquarters building at Langley. They included the shift of the Global Response Center on the exposed sixth floor, which Black argued had was essential to keep operating during the crisis. Tenet finally agreed with Black that their lives would have to be put at risk.^[14]

The CTC obtained passenger lists from the planes used in the attack, and identified Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi,^[15] whose names they had first linked with terrorism in the winter of 1999–2000. Tenet later proposed inserting CIA teams into Afghanistan to assist local warlords in the fight against al-Qaeda.

The CIA geared up to take the lead in the attack on al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The NALT team, led by Gary Schroen, entered the country once more on September 26. A new branch was added to the CTC, named CTC Special Operations, or CTC/SO, headed by Henry Crumpton, with the aim of locating and destroying al-Qaeda resources. Execution of this mission was nowhere more evident than at Qala-i-Jangi, a 19th-century fortress on the outskirts of the northern Afghan town of Mazar-i-Sharif, when it fell to American allies.^[16]

See also[link]

• Counterterrorist Intelligence Center
• Robert Grenier (CIA)

References[link]

v t e Osama bin Laden Background Childhood, education, and personal life Militant activity Beliefs and ideology Criticism Location Khartoum compound Abbottabad compound Death reactions code name controversy conspiracy theories Family Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (father) Hamida al-Attas (mother) Najwa Ghanem (first wife) Abdallah bin Laden (son) Hamza bin Laden (son) Saad bin Laden (son) Omar bin Laden (son) Work al-Qaeda Wadi al Aqiq Messages to the World Fatawā 2004 video 19 January 2006 tape 7 September 2007 video 11 September 2007 video 20 September 2007 tape (more) In media In popular culture Growing Up bin Laden Holy War, Inc. Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? Interviews Related Allegations of support system in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden Bodyguard Issue Station September 11 attacks CIA – Osama bin Laden controversy False sightings

Michael Leiter
Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
In office November 10, 2007 Acting: November 10, 2007 – June 12, 2008 – July 8, 2011
President	George W. Bush Barack Obama
Preceded by	John Redd
Succeeded by	Matthew G. Olsen
Personal details
Born	Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Columbia University Harvard University

Michael E. Leiter was the Director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC),^[1] having served in the Bush Administration and been retained in the Obama Administration.^[2] A statement released by the White House^[3] announced his resignation, effective July 8, 2011.^[4] His successor, Matthew G. Olsen, was sworn in on August 16, 2011.^[5]

Education and military service[link]

Leiter grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, where he attended Dwight-Englewood School, from which he graduated in 1987.^[6] He received his B.A. from Columbia University in 1991. From 1991 until 1997, he served as a Naval Flight Officer and crewmember aboard EA-6B Prowlers in the U.S. Navy, participating in U.S., NATO, and UN operations in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq. He then earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude in 2000 and was the 113th President of the Harvard Law Review.^[7] Leiter also served as a Harvard Law School human rights fellow with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

Career[link]

After law school, Leiter served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States, and to Chief Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

From 2002 until 2005, he served with the Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. At the Justice Department, Leiter prosecuted a wide variety of federal crimes, including narcotics offenses, organized crime and racketeering, capital murder, and money laundering.

Leiter then served as the Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Director of the President's Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (the "Robb-Silberman Commission"). While with the Robb-Silberman Commission, Leiter focused on reforms of the U.S. Intelligence Community, in particular the development of what is now the National Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Immediately prior to joining NCTC, Leiter served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). In this role, Mr. Leiter assisted in the establishment of the ODNI and coordinated all internal and external operations for the ODNI, to include relationships with the White House, the Departments of Defense, State, Justice, and Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency, and Congress. He was also involved in the development of national intelligence centers, including NCTC and the National Counterproliferation Center, and their integration into the larger Intelligence Community. In addition, he served as an intelligence and policy advisor to the Director of National Intelligence and his Principal Deputy.

He became director of the NCTC in 2007, and was asked to stay on by the Obama administration in 2009. On June 9, 2011, President Obama praised and thanked Mike Leiter in a statement regarding his resignation; “Serving in two Administrations since 2007, Mike led the National Counterterrorism Center with dedication and unwavering determination during challenging and demanding times and our nation is grateful for his many contributions to our safety and security. Mike has been a trusted advisor to me and to the entire national security team, providing us with an in-depth understanding of terrorist activities that affect our Nation’s security. I am confident that Mike will be leaving the National Counterterrorism Center, the counterterrorism community, and the nation in a significantly stronger position to confront the terrorist threats we face.”^[8]

Controversy[link]

Under Leiter's service, the NCTC was publicly criticized for failing to identify the threat posed by a known extremist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who on Christmas Day 2009 succeeded in boarding a Delta airplane in Amsterdam rigged with an explosive device that failed to detonate over Detroit, Michigan. Abdulmutallab was wrestled down by a passenger amidst a smokey fire which put an end to the incident.

In an article printed by The New York Times on December 31, 2009,^[9] the agency, which was stood up specifically to coordinate counterterrorism information, was said to have failed to accomplish its mission, even where several valid leads were available and known among multiple intelligence agencies, including information directly communicated to the CIA by the Abdulmatallab's father who feared his son had been radicalized. Though Michael Leiter was not himself mentioned, the New York Times piece described the NCTC as the weak link in the series of significant intelligence operations.^[9]

On January 2, 2010, Leiter issued the following statement. "The failed attempt to destroy Northwest Flight 253 is the starkest of reminders of the insidious terrorist threats we face. While this attempt ended in failure we know with absolute certainty that Al-Qaeda and those who support its ideology continue to refine their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the Homeland. Our most sacred responsibility is to be focused on our mission—detecting and preventing terrorist attacks from happening on our soil and against U.S. interests. The American people expect and deserve nothing less."

James Gordon Meek of the New York Daily News issued a story on January 7 stating that Leiter remained on a ski holiday until "several days after Christmas" quoting two U.S. Officials. The article reported that "people have been grumbling that he didn't let a little terrorism interrupt his vacation". On balance, it was stated that "Leiter has long been well-regarded" and "President Obama, himself, stayed in Hawaii [on vacation] until January 4". There was no reference to Leiter conducting investigation or evaluation from his remote, vacation site.^[10]

The Daily News story by Meek was inaccurate and was updated in the Daily News the next day, ABC news Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper reported that Leiter was indeed at his post at the NCTC during the events of December 25, 2009. In the report, Denis McDonough, National Security Staff Chief of Staff, said that “Leiter was -- throughout the events of December 25, 2009 -- indeed at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Virginia, and intimately involved in all aspects of the nation’s response to the attempted terrorist attack -- to include coordinating intelligence, examining terrorist watch-listing, and briefing Members of Congress.” He Continued, "Director Leiter engaged in regular, repeated, and extended classified discussions with the White House, the President’s National Security Staff located in Hawaii, the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, various members of Congress and their staffs, and of course the National Counterterrorism Center.”^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• National Counterterrorism Center: Director Biography - Mr. Michael E. Leiter
• NCTC News Story on Appointment of Michael Leiter and retirement of Kevin Brock
• News about new NCTC on FBI website
• BBC News article with internal photograph
• Leiter says oversight of War on Terror activities should take place behind the scenes in the Harvard Law Record
• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122153001
• http://www.shnock.com/michael-leiter-9897/

v t e Directors of the National Counterterrorism Center Brennan (acting) • Redd • Leiter • Olsen

Glenn Beck
Beck speaking at the Values Voter Summit in 2011
Born	Glenn Edward Lee Beck[1] (1964-02-10) February 10, 1964 (age 48) Everett, Washington, U.S.
Residence	Fort Worth, Texas[2]
Nationality	American
Education	Sehome High School
Occupation	Radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host
Home town	Mount Vernon, Washington, U.S.
Salary	US$32 million (2009–10)[3][4]
Net worth	US$65 million (2011)
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)[5][6][7][8]
Spouse	Claire (1983–1994) Tania (m. 1999); 4 children total
Awards	Defender of Israel Award, Zionist Organization of America 2011[9]
Website
Glenn Beck's Official Website

Glenn Edward Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. He formerly hosted the Glenn Beck television program, which ran from January 2006 to October 2008 on HLN and from January 2009 to June 2011 on the Fox News Channel. Beck has authored six New York Times–bestselling books.^[3] Beck is the founder and CEO of Mercury Radio Arts, a multimedia production company through which he produces content for radio, television, publishing, the stage, and the Internet. It was announced on April 6, 2011, that Beck would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News later in the year but would team with Fox to "produce a slate of projects for FOX News Channel and FOX News' digital properties".^[10] Beck's last daily show on the network was June 30, 2011.^[11] In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter named Beck on its Digital Power Fifty list.^[12]

Beck's supporters praise him as a constitutional stalwart defending traditional American values,^[13] while his critics contend he promotes conspiracy theories and employs incendiary rhetoric for ratings.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Early years[link]

Glenn Edward Lee Beck was born in Everett, Washington, to William and Mary Beck, who lived in Mountlake Terrace, Washington at the time of their son's birth.^[15] The family later moved to Mount Vernon, Washington,^[16] where they owned and operated City Bakery in the downtown area.^[17] He is descended from German immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th century.^[18] Beck was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Mount Vernon.

Glenn and his older sister moved with their mother to Sumner, Washington, attending a Jesuit school^[19] in Puyallup. On May 15, 1979, while out on a small boat with a male companion, Beck's mother drowned just west of Tacoma, Washington, in the Puget Sound. The man who had taken her out in the boat also drowned. A Tacoma police report stated that Mary Beck "appeared to be a classic drowning victim", but a Coast Guard investigator speculated that she could have intentionally jumped overboard.^[19] Beck has described his mother's death as a suicide in interviews during television and radio broadcasts.^[19][20]

After their mother's death, Beck and his older sister moved to their father's home in Bellingham, Washington,^[21] where Beck graduated from Sehome High School in June 1982.^[22] Beck also regularly vacationed with his maternal grandparents, Ed and Clara Janssen, in Iowa.^[23] In the aftermath of his mother's death and subsequent suicide of his stepbrother, Beck has said he used "Dr. Jack Daniel's" to cope. At 18, following his high school graduation, Beck relocated to Provo, Utah, and worked at radio station KAYK. Feeling he "didn't fit in", Beck left Utah after six months,^[24] taking a job at Washington D.C.'s WPGC in February 1983.^[21]

Adulthood[link]

While working at WPGC, Beck met his first wife, Claire.^[26] In 1983, the couple married and had two daughters, Mary and Hannah. Mary developed cerebral palsy as a result of a series of strokes at birth in 1988.^[26] The couple divorced in 1994 amid Beck's struggles with substance abuse. A recovering alcoholic and drug addict,^[27] Beck has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.^[28][29]

By 1994, Beck was suicidal, and imagined shooting himself to the music of Kurt Cobain.^[28] He credits Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with helping him achieve sobriety. He said he stopped drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis in November 1994, the same month he attended his first AA meeting.^[28] Beck later said that he had gotten high every day for the previous 15 years, since the age of 16.^[21]

In 1996, while working for a New Haven area radio station, Beck took a theology class at Yale University, with a written recommendation from Senator Joe Lieberman, a Yale alumnus who was a fan of Beck's show at the time.^[30] Beck enrolled in an "Early Christology" course, but soon withdrew, marking the extent of his post-secondary education.^[28][31]

Beck then began a "spiritual quest" in which he "sought out answers in churches and bookstores".^[28] As he later recounted in his books and stage performances, Beck's first attempt at self-education involved six wide-ranging authors, comprising what Beck jokingly calls "the library of a serial killer": Alan Dershowitz, Pope John Paul II, Adolf Hitler, Billy Graham, Carl Sagan, and Friedrich Nietzsche.^[28][30] During this time, Beck's Mormon friend and former radio partner Pat Gray argued in favor of the "comprehensive worldview" offered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an offer that Beck rejected until a few years later.^[28]

In 1999, Beck married his second wife, Tania.^[28] After they went looking for a faith on a church tour together, they^[28] joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 1999, partly at the urging of his daughter Mary.^[32][33] Beck was baptized by his old friend, and current-day co-worker Pat Gray.^[28] Beck and his current wife have had two children together, Raphe (who is adopted) and Cheyenne. Until April 2011, the couple live in New Canaan, Connecticut, with the four children.^[34][35]

Beck announced in July 2010 that he had been diagnosed with macular dystrophy, saying "A couple of weeks ago I went to the doctor because of my eyes, I can't focus my eyes. He did all kinds of tests and he said, 'you have macular dystrophy ... you could go blind in the next year. Or, you might not.'" The disorder can make it difficult to read, drive or recognize faces.^[36]

In July 2011, Beck leased a house in the Fort Worth suburb of Westlake, Texas.^[2]

Career[link]

In 2002 Beck created the media platform Mercury Radio Arts^[30][37] as the umbrella over various broadcast, publishing, Internet, and live show entities.

Radio[link]

In 1983 he moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, to work at radio station KZFM.^[26] In mid-1985, Beck was hired away from KZFM to be the lead DJ for the morning-drive radio broadcast by WRKA in Louisville, Kentucky.^[26] His four-hour weekday show was called Captain Beck and the A-Team.^[38] Beck had a reputation as a "young up-and-comer". The show was not political and included the usual off-color antics of the genre: juvenile jokes, pranks, and impersonations.^[30] The show slipped to third in the market and Beck left abruptly in 1987 amid a dispute with WRKA management.^{[citation needed]}

Months later, Beck was hired by Phoenix Top-40 station KOY-FM, then known as Y-95. Beck was partnered with Arizona native Tim Hattrick to co-host a local "morning zoo" program.^[28] During his time at Y-95, Beck cultivated a rivalry with local pop radio station KZZP and that station's morning host Bruce Kelly. Through practical jokes and publicity stunts, Beck drew criticism from the staff at Y-95 when the rivalry culminated in Beck telephoning Kelly's wife on-the-air, mocking her recent miscarriage.^[26] In 1989, Beck resigned from Y-95 to accept a job in Houston at KRBE, known as Power 104. Beck was subsequently fired in 1990 due to poor ratings.^[26]

Beck then moved on to Baltimore, Maryland and the city's leading Top-40 station, WBSB, known as B104. There, he partnered with Pat Gray, a morning DJ. During his tenure at B104, Beck was arrested and jailed for speeding in his DeLorean.^[28] According to a former associate, Beck was "completely out of it" when a station manager went to bail him out.^[28] When Gray, then Beck were fired, the two men spent six months in Baltimore, planning their next move. In early 1992, Beck and Gray both moved to WKCI-FM (KC101), a Top-40 radio station in Hamden, Connecticut.^[28] In 1995, WKCI apologized after Beck and Gray mocked a Chinese-American caller on air who felt offended by a comedy segment by playing a gong sound effect and having executive producer Alf Gagineau mock a Chinese accent. That incident led to protests by activist groups.^[39] When Gray left the show to move to Salt Lake City, Beck continued with co-host Vinnie Penn. At the end of 1998, Beck was informed that his contract would not be renewed at the end of 1999.^[28]

The Glenn Beck Program first aired in 2000 on WFLA (AM) in Tampa, Florida, and took their afternoon time slot from eighteenth to first place within a year.^[40][41] In January 2002, Premiere Radio Networks launched the show nationwide on 47 stations. The show then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting from new flagship station WPHT. On November 5, 2007, The New York Times reported that Premiere Radio Networks was extending Beck's contract. By May 2008, it had reached over 280 terrestrial stations as well as XM Satellite. It was ranked 4th in the nation with over six and a half million listeners.^[42] Glenn Beck is number three in the ratings behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.^[43]

Television[link]

In January 2006, CNN's Headline News announced that Beck would host a nightly news-commentary show in their new prime-time block Headline Prime. The show, simply called Glenn Beck, aired weeknights. CNN Headline News described the show as "an unconventional look at the news of the day featuring his often amusing perspective".^[44] At the end of his tenure at CNN-HLN, Beck had the second largest audience behind Nancy Grace.^[45] In 2008, Beck won the Marconi Radio Award for Network Syndicated Personality of the Year.^[46]

In October 2008, it was announced that Beck would join the Fox News Channel, leaving CNN Headline News.^[47] After moving to the Fox News Channel, Beck hosted Glenn Beck, beginning in January 2009, as well as a weekend version.^[48] One of his first guests was Alaska Governor Sarah Palin^[49] He also has a regular segment every Friday on the Fox News Channel program The O'Reilly Factor titled "At Your Beck and Call".^[50] As of September 2009^[update] Beck's program drew more viewers than all three of the competing time-slot shows combined on CNN, MSNBC and HLN.^[51][52]

His show's high ratings have not come without controversy.^[47] The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reported that Beck's use of "distorted or inflammatory rhetoric" has complicated the channel's and their journalist's efforts to neutralize White House criticism that Fox is not really a news organization.^[47] Television analyst Andrew Tyndall echoed these sentiments, saying that Beck's incendiary style had created "a real crossroads for Fox News", stating "they're right on the cusp of losing their image as a news organization."^[47]

In April 2011, Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, Beck's production company, announced that Beck would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News in 2011.^[53] His last day at Fox was later announced as June 30.^[54][55] FNC and Beck announced that he would be teaming with Fox to produce a slate of projects for Fox News and its digital properties.^[10] Fox News head Roger Ailes later referenced Beck's entrepreneurialism and political movement activism, saying, "His [Beck's] goals were different from our goals ... I need people focused on a daily television show."^[56] Beck hosted his last daily show on Fox on June 30, 2011, where he recounted the accomplishments of the show and said, "This show has become a movement. It's not a TV show, and that's why it doesn’t belong on television anymore. It belongs in your homes. It belongs in your neighborhoods."^[11] In response to critics who said he was fired, Beck pointed out that his final show was airing live.^[11] Immediately after the show he did an interview on his new GBTV internet channel.^[11]

GBTV[link]

Glenn Beck's Fox News one-hour show ended June 30, 2011,^[57] and a new two-hour show began streaming his subscription-based internet TV network, GBTV, on September 12, 2011.^[58][59] Using a subscription model, it was estimated Beck is on track to generate $27 million in his first year of operation.^[60] This was later upgraded to $40 million by the Wall Street Journal when subscriptions topped 300,000. ^[61]

Books[link]

Beck has reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List in four separate categories as of 2010^[update]: Hardcover Non-Fiction,^[63][64] Paperback Non-Fiction,^[63] Hardcover Fiction,^[65] and Children's Picture Books.^[66]

Non-fiction

• The Real America: Messages from the Heart and Heartland. Simon and Schuster. 2003. ISBN 978-0-7434-9696-4. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743496965. ^[67]
• An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems. Simon and Schuster. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4391-6857-8. 
• America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades. 2008. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743598547.  (Audiobook)
• An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck, Deseret Book 2008 (Audiobook). ISBN 978-1-59038-944-7^[68]
• America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades, Simon & Schuster Audio 2009 (Audio CD). ISBN 978-0-7435-9854-5
• Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Simon & Schuster 2009. ISBN 978-1-4391-6857-8^[69][70][71]
• Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government, Simon & Schuster 2009. ISBN 978-1-4165-9501-4
• Idiots Unplugged, Simon & Schuster 2010 (Audio CD). ISBN 1-4423-3396-0
• Idiots Unplugged, 2010 (Audiobook)^[72]
• Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth, and Treasure, Simon & Schuster 2010. ISBN 1-4423-3457-6.^[73]
• The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life, Keith Ablow, co-author; Threshold Editions, 2011; ISBN 978-1-4516-2551-6.
• The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century, with Joshua Charles; Threshold Editions, 2011; ISBN 978-1-4516-5061-7.
• Being George Washington: The Indispensable Man, As You've Never Seen Him. Simon and Schuster. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4516-5931-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=WCHGmGTdnk8C&dq. 
• Cowards: What Politicians, Radicals, and the Media Refuse to Say. Simon and Schuster. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4516-9347-8. http://books.simonandschuster.com/Coward/Glenn-Beck/9781451693478. 

Fiction

• The Christmas Sweater, Simon & Schuster 2008. ISBN 978-1-4165-9485-7
• The Overton Window. Threshold Editions. June 2010. ISBN 978-1-4391-8430-1. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1439184305. ^[74][75]
• Beck, Glenn; Baart, Nicole (2011). The Snow Angel. Threshold Editions. ISBN 978-1-4391-8720-3. 

Children's

• The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 2009. ISBN 978-1-4169-9543-2
• Beck, Glenn; Schoebinger, Chris; Dorman, Brandon (illustrator) (2011). The Snow Angel. Aladdin Books. ISBN 978-1-4424-4448-5. 

Beck also authorized a comic book:

• Political Power: Glenn Beck, by Jerome Maida, Mark Sparacio (illus.); Bluewater Productions, 2011; ISN B004VGB4FO^[76]

Stage shows and speeches[link]

Since 2005, Beck has toured American cities twice a year, presenting a one-man stage show. His stage productions are a mix of stand-up comedy and inspirational speaking. In a critique of his live act, Salon Magazine's Steve Almond describes Beck as a "wildly imaginative performer, a man who weds the operatic impulses of the demagogue to the grim mutterings of the conspiracy theorist".^[77] A show from the Beck `08 Unelectable Tour was shown in around 350 movie theaters around the country.^[78]

In Beck's hometown of Mt. Vernon, Washington, supporters and detractors hold handmade signs on the day Beck was honored by the mayor.

The finale of 2009's Common Sense Comedy Tour was simulcast in over 440 theaters.^[79] The events have drawn 200,000 fans in recent years.^[80]

In March 2003, Beck ran a series of rallies, which he called Glenn Beck's Rally for America, in support of troops deployed for the upcoming Iraq War. On July 4, 2007, Beck served as host of the 2007 Toyota Tundra "Stadium of Fire" in Provo, Utah. The annual event at LaVell Edwards Stadium on the Brigham Young University campus is presented by America's Freedom Foundation.^[81] In May 2008, Beck gave the keynote speech at the NRA convention in Louisville, Kentucky.^[82]

In late August 2009, the mayor of Beck's hometown, Mount Vernon, Washington, announced that he would award Beck the Key to the City, designating September 26, 2009, as "Glenn Beck Day". Due to local opposition, the city council voted unanimously to disassociate itself from the award.^[83] The key presentation ceremony sold-out the 850 seat McIntyre Hall and an estimated 800 detractors and supporters demonstrated outside the building. Earlier that day, approximately 7,000 people attended the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's "Take the Field with Glenn Beck" at Seattle's Safeco Field.^[84]

In December 2009, Beck produced a one-night special film titled "The Christmas Sweater: A Return to Redemption".^[85] In January and February 2010, Beck teamed with fellow Fox News host Bill O'Reilly to tour several cities in a live stage show called "The Bold and Fresh Tour 2010". The January 29 show was recorded and broadcast to movie theaters throughout the country.^[86]

Philanthropy[link]

In 2011, Beck founded the non-profit organization Mercury One, designed to sustain itself through its entreneurship and without grants or donations.^[87] In early 2011, Beck began work toward developing a clothing line to be sold to benefit the charity and October 2011, Mercury One began selling the minuscule, upscale clothing line labeled 1791 exclusively at its website 1791.com. The line's maiden offering was manufactured by American Mojo of Lowell, Massachusetts.^[88]

Projects and rallies[link]

9-12 Project and Tea Party protests[link]

In March 2009 Beck put together a campaign, the 9-12 Project, that is named for nine principles and twelve values that he says embody the spirit of the American people on the day after the September 11 attacks.^[89] The Colorado 9-12 Project hosted a "Patriot Camp" for kids in grades 1–5, featuring programs on "our Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and the values and principles that are the cornerstones of our nation".

Restoring Honor rally[link]

The Restoring Honor rally was promoted by Beck and held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 2010. The rally — which purported to embrace religious faith and patriotism — was co-sponsored by the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, promoted by FreedomWorks, and supported by the Tea Party movement.^[90]

[edit] America's First Christmas

In December 2010, Beck went to Wilmington, Ohio, a town devastated by the late-2000s recession, to host live events to encourage his fans to go to the town to boost the local economy in a project called "America's First Christmas".^[91] He hosted an event and his radio and television shows from the local theater.^[92]

2011 international tour[link]

Beck headlined his "Restoring Courage" events in Jerusalem, Israel, in August 2011 in a campaign Beck said was designed to encourage people worldwide "to stand with the Jewish people".^[93][94] After Jerusalem, Beck visited Cape Town, South Africa, and was scheduled to visit Venezuela.^[95]

Political views[link]

Beck has described himself as a conservative with libertarian leanings.^[96] Among his core values Beck lists personal responsibility, private charity, the right to life, freedom of religion, limited government, and family as the cornerstone of society.^[97] Beck believes in low national debt, and has said "A conservative believes that debt creates unhealthy relationships. Everyone, from the government on down, should live within their means and strive for financial independence."^[98] He supports individual gun ownership rights and is against gun control legislation.^[99]

In an O'Reilly Factor interview in August 2010, when Beck was asked if he "believe(s) that gay marriage is a threat to [this] country in any way", he stated, "No I don't…I believe that Thomas Jefferson said: 'If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket what difference is it to me?'"^[100]

Beck believes that there is a lack of evidence that human activity is the main cause of global warming.^[101] He holds that there is a legitimate case that global warming has, at least in part, been caused by mankind, and has tried to do his part by buying a home with a "green" design.^[102] He also views the American Clean Energy and Security Act as a form of wealth redistribution, and has promoted a petition rejecting the Kyoto Protocol.^[103]

Opposition to progressivism[link]

During his 2010 keynote speech to Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Beck wrote the word "progressivism" on a chalkboard and declared, "This is the disease. This is the disease in America", adding "progressivism is the cancer in America and it is eating our Constitution!"^[104][105] According to Beck, the progressive ideas of men such as John Dewey, Herbert Croly, and Walter Lippmann, influenced the Presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; eventually becoming the foundation for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.^[104] Beck has said that such progressivism infects both main political parties and threatens to "destroy America as it was originally conceived".^[104] In Beck’s book Common Sense, he argues that "progressivism has less to do with the parties and more to do with individuals who seek to redefine, reshape, and rebuild America into a country where individual liberties and personal property mean nothing if they conflict with the plans and goals of the State."^[104]

A collection of progressives, whom Beck has referred to as "Crime Inc.", comprise what Beck contends is a clandestine conspiracy to take over and transform America.^{[107][108][109]} Some of these individuals include Cass Sunstein, Van Jones, Andy Stern, John Podesta, Wade Rathke, Joel Rogers and Francis Fox Piven.^[107][110] Other figures tied to Beck's "Crime Inc." accusation include Al Gore, Franklin Raines,^[111] Maurice Strong, George Soros,^[112] John Holdren and President Barack Obama.^[108] According to Beck, these individuals already have or are surreptitiously working in unison with an array of organizations and corporations such as Goldman Sachs, Fannie Mae, ACORN, Apollo Alliance, Tides Center, Chicago Climate Exchange, Generation Investment Management, Enterprise Community Partners, Petrobras, Center for American Progress, and the SEIU; to fulfill their progressive agenda.^[108][112] In his quest to root out these "progressives", Beck has compared himself to Israeli Nazi hunters, vowing on his radio show that "to the day I die I am going to be a progressive-hunter. I’m going to find these people that have done this to our country and expose them. I don’t care if they’re in nursing homes."^[30]

Liberal historian Sean Wilentz has denounced what he describes as Beck's progressive-themed conspiracy theories and "gross historical inaccuracies", countering that Beck is merely echoing the decades-old "right-wing extremism" of the John Birch Society.^[113] According to Wilentz, Beck's "version of history" places him in a long line of figures who have challenged mainstream political historians and presented an inaccurate opposing view as the truth, stating:

Glenn Beck is trying to give viewers a version of American history that is supposedly hidden. Supposedly, all we historians — left, right and center — have been doing for the past 100 years is to keep true American history from you. And that true American history is what Glenn Beck is teaching. It's a version of history that is beyond skewed. But of course, that's what Beck expects us to say. He lives in a kind of Alice in Wonderland world, where if people who actually know the history say what he's teaching is junk, he says, 'That's because you're trying to hide the truth.'^[113]

Conservative David Frum, the former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, has also alleged Beck's propensity for negationism, remarking that "Beck offers a story about the American past for people who are feeling right now very angry and alienated. It is different enough from the usual story in that he makes them feel like they’ve got access to secret knowledge."^[30]

Influences[link]

Political and historical[link]

An author with ideological influence on Beck is W. Cleon Skousen (1913–2006), a prolific conservative political writer, American Constitutionalist and faith-based political theorist.^[114][115] As an anti-communist supporter of the John Birch Society,^[116] and limited-government activist,^[117] Skousen, who was Mormon, wrote on a wide range of subjects: the Six-Day War, Mormon eschatology, New World Order conspiracies, even parenting.^[117] Skousen believed that American political, social, and economic elites were working with Communists to foist a world government on the United States.^[104] Beck praised Skousen's "words of wisdom" as "divinely inspired", referencing Skousen's The Naked Communist^[118] and especially The 5,000 Year Leap (originally published in 1981),^[117] which Beck said in 2007 had "changed his life".^[117] According to Skousen's nephew, Mark Skousen, Leap reflects Skousen's "passion for the United States Constitution", which he "felt was inspired by God and the reason behind America's success as a nation".^[119] The book is touted by Beck as "required reading" to understand the current American political landscape and become a "September twelfth person".^[117] Beck authored a foreword for the 2008 edition of Leap and Beck's on-air recommendations in 2009 propelled the book to number one in the government category on Amazon for several months.^[117] In 2010, Matthew Continetti of the conservative Weekly Standard criticized Beck's conspiratorial bent, terming him "a Skousenite".^[104] Additionally, Alexander Zaitchik, author of the 2010 book Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance, which features an entire chapter on "The Ghost of Cleon Skousen",^[120] refers to Skousen as "Beck's favorite author and biggest influence", while noting that he authored four of the 10 books on Beck's 9-12 Project required-reading list.^[121]

In his discussion of Beck and Skousen, Continetti said that one of Skousen's works "draws on Carroll Quigley’s Tragedy and Hope (1966), which argues that the history of the 20th century is the product of secret societies in conflict",^[104] noting that in Beck's novel The Overton Window, which Beck describes as "faction" (fiction based on fact), one of his characters states "Carroll Quigley laid open the plan in Tragedy and Hope, the only hope to avoid the tragedy of war was to bind together the economies of the world to foster global stability and peace."^[104]

Princeton University historian Sean Wilentz says that alongside Skousen, Robert W. Welch, Jr., founder of the John Birch Society, is a key ideological foundation of Beck's worldview.^[122] According to Wilentz: "[Beck] has brought neo-Birchite ideas to an audience beyond any that Welch or Skousen might have dreamed of."^[122]

Other books that Beck regularly cites on his programs are Amity Shlaes's The Forgotten Man, Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism, Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen's A Patriot's History of the United States, and Burton W. Folsom, Jr.'s New Deal or Raw Deal.^[104] Beck has also urged his listeners to read The Coming Insurrection, a book by a French Marxist group^[104] discussing what they see as the imminent collapse of capitalist culture,^[123] and The Creature from Jekyll Island, which argues that aspects of the U.S. Federal Reserve system assault economic civil liberties, by G. Edward Griffin.^[124]

On June 4, 2010, Beck endorsed Elizabeth Dilling's 1936 work The Red Network: A Who's Who and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots, remarking "this is a book, The Red Network, this came in from 1936. People — [Joseph] McCarthy was absolutely right ... This is, who were the communists in America."^[125] Beck was criticized by an array of people, including Menachem Z. Rosensaft and Joe Conason, who stated that Dilling was an outspoken anti-Semite and a Nazi sympathizer.^{[126][127][128]}

Religious[link]

Beck during his religiously-themed speech at the Restoring Honor rally on August 28, 2010.

Beck has credited God for saving him from drug and alcohol abuse, professional obscurity, and friendlessness.^[129] In 2006, Beck performed a short inspirational monologue in Salt Lake City, Utah,^[130] detailing how he was transformed by the "healing power of Jesus Christ", which was released as a CD two years later by Deseret Book, a publishing company owned by the LDS Church, entitled An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck.^[131]

Writer Joanna Brooks contends that Beck developed his "amalgation of anti-communism" and "connect-the-dots conspiracy theorizing" only after his entry into the "deeply insular world of Mormon thought and culture".^[114] Brooks theorizes that Beck's calls to fasting and prayer are rooted in Mormon collective fasts to address spiritual challenges, while Beck's "overt sentimentality" and penchant for weeping represent the hallmark of a "distinctly Mormon mode of masculinity" where "appropriately-timed displays of tender emotion are displays of power" and spirituality.^[114] Philip Barlow, the Arrington chair of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University, has said that Beck's belief that the U.S. Constitution was an "inspired document", his calls for limited government and for not exiling God from the public sphere, "have considerable sympathy in Mormonism".^[132] Beck has acknowledged that the Mormon "doctrine is different" from traditional Christianity, but said that this was what attracted him to it, stating that "for me some of the things in traditional doctrine just doesn't work."^[133]

Public reception[link]

In 2009, the Glenn Beck show was one of the highest rated news commentary programs on cable TV.^{[135][136][137][138]} For a Barbara Walters ABC special, Beck was selected as one of America’s "Top 10 Most Fascinating People" of 2009.^[139] In 2010, Beck was selected for the Times top 100 most influential people under the "Leaders" category.^[140]

Beck has referred to himself as an entertainer,^[141] a commentator rather than a reporter,^[142] and a "rodeo clown".^[141] He has said that he identifies with Howard Beale, a character portrayed by Peter Finch in the film Network: "When he came out of the rain and he was like, none of this makes any sense. I am that guy."^[143]

Beck at the Time 100 Gala, 2010

Time Magazine described Beck as "[t]he new populist superstar of Fox News" saying it is easier to see a set of attitudes rather than a specific ideology, noting his criticism of Wall Street, yet defending bonuses to AIG, as well as denouncing conspiracy theories about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) but warning against indoctrination of children by the AmeriCorps program.^[144] (Paul Krugman^[145] and Mark Potok,^[146] on the other hand, have been among those asserting that Beck helps spread "hate" by covering issues that stir up extremists.) What seems to unite Beck's disparate themes, Time argued, is a sense of siege.^[144] An earlier cover story in Time described Beck as "a gifted storyteller with a knack for stitching seemingly unrelated data points into possible conspiracies", proclaiming that he has "emerged as a virtuoso on the strings" of conservative discontent by mining "the timeless theme of the corrupt Them thwarting a virtuous Us".^[80]

Beck's shows have been described as a "mix of moral lessons, outrage and an apocalyptic view of the future ... capturing the feelings of an alienated class of Americans".^[141] One of Beck's Fox News Channel colleagues Shepard Smith, has jokingly called Beck's studio the "fear chamber", with Beck countering that he preferred the term "doom room".^[80]

Republican South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham criticized Beck as a "cynic" whose show was antithetical to "American values" at The Atlantic's 2009 First Draft of History conference, remarking "Only in America can you make that much money crying."^[147] The progressive watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's (FAIR) Activism Director Peter Hart argues that Beck red-baits political adversaries as well as promotes a paranoid view of progressive politics.^[148] Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post has remarked that "Love him or hate him, Beck is a talented, often funny broadcaster, a recovering alcoholic with an unabashedly emotional style."^[47]

Glenn Beck was honored by Liberty University during their 2010 Commencement exercises with an honorary Doctoral Degree. During his keynote address to the students, he stated "As a man who was never able to go to college — I’m the first in my family that went; I went for one semester; I couldn’t afford more than that — I am humbly honored."^[149] In June 2011, Beck announced he was to be the honored with the Zionist Organization of America's 2011 Defender of Israel Award.^[150]

Laura Miller writes in Salon.com that Beck is a contemporary example of "the paranoid style in American politics" described by historian Richard Hofstader:

"The Paranoid Style in American Politics" reads like a playbook for the career of Glenn Beck, right down to the paranoid's "quality of pedantry" and "heroic strivings for 'evidence'", embodied in Beck's chalkboard and piles of books. But Beck lacks an archenemy commensurate with his stratospheric ambitions, which makes him appear even more absurd to outsiders.^[151]

Particularly as a consequence of Beck's Restoring Honor rally in 2010, the fact that Beck is Mormon caused concern amongst some politically sympathetic Christian Evangelicals on theological grounds.^{[152][153][154][155]} Tom Tradup, vice president at Salem Radio Network, which serves more than 2,000 Christian-themed stations, expressed this sentiment after the rally, stating "Politically, everyone is with it, but theologically, when he says the country should turn back to God, the question is: Which God?"^[129] Subsequently, a September 2010 survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Religion News Service (RNS) found that of those Americans who hold a favorable opinion of Beck, only 45% believe he is the right person to lead a religious movement, with that number further declining to 37% when people are informed he is Mormon.^[156][157] Daniel Cox, Director of Research for PRRI, summed up this position by stating:

The disparity between Glenn Beck's favorability ratings and how people feel about him as a religious leader suggests that people are more drawn to him for political reasons than religious ones. Many of Beck's strongest supporters, such as Republicans and white Evangelicals, perceive real differences between their own faith and Beck's Mormon faith, and this may become a liability in his efforts to lead as a religious figure.^[156]

Pete Peterson of Pepperdine's Davenport Institute said that Beck's speech at the rally belonged to an American tradition of calls to personal renewal. Peterson wrote: "A Mormon surrounded onstage by priests, pastors, rabbis, and imams, Beck [gave] one of the more ecumenical jeremiads in history."^[158] Evangelical pastor Tony Campolo said in 2010 that conservative evangelicals respond to Beck's framing of conservative economic principles, saying that Beck's and ideological fellow travelers' "marriage between evangelicalism and patriotic nationalism is so strong that anybody who is raising questions about loyalty to the old, lassez-faire capitalist system is ex post facto unpatriotic, un-American, and by association non-Christian.” Newsweek religion reporter Lisa Miller, after quoting Campolo, opined, "It's ironic that Beck, a Mormon, would gain acceptance as a leader of a new Christian coalition. ... Beck's gift ... is to articulate God's special plan for America in such broad strokes that they trample no single creed or doctrine while they move millions with their message."^[159]

Critical biographies[link]

In June 2010, investigative reporter Alexander Zaitchik released a critical biography titled Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance, with a title mocking Beck's work, Common Sense.^[160] In an interview about the book, Zaitchik theorized that "Beck’s politics and his insatiable hunger for money and fame are not mutually exclusive", while stating: "Beck’s true religion is not Patriotism, Mormonism, or Conservatism. His true religion is cross-platform self-marketing ... According to Beck’s worldview, there’s no inherent contradiction between his sophisticated instinct for self-promotion, his propagandist rodeo clown act, his self-image as a media mogul, and his professed belief system. I think he actually believes that God wants him to make a ton of money and become this huge celebrity by fear mongering and generally doing whatever it takes in the media to promote right-wing causes."^[161]

In September 2010, Philadelphia Daily News reporter Will Bunch released The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama.^[162] One of Bunch's theses is that Beck is nothing more than a morning zoo deejay playing a fictional character as a money-making stunt.^[162] Writer Bob Cesca, in a review of Bunch's book, compares Beck to Steve Martin's faith-healer character in the 1992 film Leap of Faith, before describing the "derivative grab bag of other tried and tested personalities" that Bunch contends comprises Beck's persona:

His (Beck's) adenoidal 'Clydie Clyde' voice is based on morning zoo pioneer Scott Shannon's "Mr. Leonard" character. His history is borrowed from the widely debunked work of W. Cleon Skousen. His conspiracy theories are horked from Alex Jones and maybe Jack Van Impe. His anti-Obama, anti-socialist monologues are pure Joe McCarthy. His chalkboard is stolen from televangelist Gene Scott. His solemn, over-processed radio monologue delivery is a dead ringer for Eric Bogosian in Talk Radio. This is all well-worn stuff, but no one has drawn it all together and sculpted it for the purpose of conning an especially susceptible audience during turbulent racial and economic times.^[162]

In October 2010 a polemical biography by Dana Milbank was released: Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America.^[163]

Satire, spoof and parody[link]

Beck has been the subject of mockery and ridicule by a number of humorists. In response to Beck's animated delivery and views, he was parodied in an impersonation by Jason Sudeikis on Saturday Night Live.^[164] The Daily Show's Jon Stewart has spoofed Beck's 9-12 project with his own "11-3 project", consisting of "11 principles and 3 herbs and spices",^[165] impersonated Beck's chalk board-related presentation style for an entire show,^[166] and quipped about Beck "finally, a guy who says what people who aren't thinking are thinking".^[167] Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report satirized Beck's "war room" by creating his own "doom bunker".^[168] Through the character Eric Cartman, South Park parodied Beck's television program and his commentary style in the episode "Dances with Smurfs".^[169] The Onion, a satirical periodical and faux news site, ran an Onion News Network video "special report" where it lamented that the "victim in a fatal car accident was tragically not Glenn Beck".^[170] Meanwhile, the Current TV cartoon SuperNews! ran an animated cartoon feature titled "The Glenn Beck Apocalypse", where Beck is confronted by Jesus Christ who rebukes him as the equivalent of "Sarah Palin farting into a balloon".^[171] Political comedian and satirist Bill Maher has mocked Beck's followers as an "army of diabetic mallwalkers",^[172] while The Buffalo Beast, named Beck the most loathsome person in America in 2010, declaring "It's like someone found a manic, doom-prophesying hobo in a sandwich board, shaved him, shot him full of Zoloft and gave him a show."^[30] The October 31 Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, hosted by Comedy Central personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, was conceived as a parody of Beck's earlier Rally to Restore Honor,^[173] even though Stewart and Colbert said that they came up with the idea of holding a rally in March^[174] and Stewart had put down the deposit for the National Mall before Beck announced his rally.^[175]