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[
"Paul Watson",
"Early and personal life",
"Where was paul born?",
"Paul Watson was born in Toronto",
"when was he born?",
"I don't know.",
"who were his parents?",
"Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen,"
] | C_92b9e56b3db24c86932abccd2b624bea_1 | did he have any siblings? | 4 | Did Paul Watson have any siblings? | Paul Watson | According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver. According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 35,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deck hand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016. CANNOTANSWER | two sisters and three brothers. | Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. The tactics used by Sea Shepherd have attracted opposition, with the group accused of eco-terrorism by both the Japanese government and Greenpeace. Watson is a citizen of Canada and the United States.
The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969. He was a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1972. Because Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, he was ousted from the board in 1977. That same year, he formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group was the subject of a reality show named Whale Wars.
He promotes veganism, population reduction and a biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, worldview.
Watson's activities have led to legal action from authorities in countries including the United States, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica and Japan. He was detained in Germany on an extradition request by Costa Rica in May 2012. An Interpol red notice was issued on September 14, 2012, at the request of Japan and Costa Rica.
After staying at sea for 15 months following his escape from Germany, where he was released on bail, he returned to Los Angeles in late October 2013, going through customs and "was not arrested". He appeared before a US appeals court on November 6, 2013, stating that neither he nor the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society violated a 2012 order requiring them to leave whaling vessels alone. Although the United States is a signatory member of Interpol, Watson has not been detained for extradition to Japan or Costa Rica. He is living in Vermont, writing books. He was residing in Paris as of July 1, 2014 but has since returned to the USA.
In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Early and personal life
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver.
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 30,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deckhand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. In 1972 he shipped out of San Francisco on the 35,000 ton bulk Swedish carrier Jarl R. Trapp and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade
Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016 and a second son, Murtagh, on August 6, 2021. He ran for parliament in Canada's federal elections twice.
Activism
Early years
In October 1969, Watson joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing at Amchitka Island. The group which formed as a result of that protest was the Don't Make a Wave Committee, which evolved into the group known today as Greenpeace. In the early 1970s, Watson was also active with the Vancouver Liberation Front and the Vancouver Yippies. Watson sailed as a crew member aboard the Greenpeace Too! ship in 1971 and skippered the Greenpeace boat Astral in 1972. Paul Watson continued as a crew member, skipper, and officer aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s.
According to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other sources, Watson was a founding member of Greenpeace, but the organization denies this stating he "was an influential early member but not, as he sometimes claims, a founder." Greenpeace claims that Watson joined Greenpeace on its Amchitka expedition, which they claim to be their second expedition, but Paul Watson claims that this was Greenpeace's first meeting.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The first Sea Shepherd vessel, the Sea Shepherd, was purchased in December 1978 with assistance from the Fund for Animals and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Sea Shepherd soon established itself as one of the more controversial environmental groups, known for provocative direct action tactics. These tactics have included throwing objects onto the decks of whaling ships, the use of "prop foulers" in an attempt to sabotage the ships, boarding whaling vessels, and the scuttling of two ships in an Icelandic harbor. In January 2013, Watson relinquished captaincy of the Steve Irwin. The organization and its activities to halt whaling are the focus of a reality TV series, Whale Wars, airing on Animal Planet.
In 2010, Watson personally received more than $120,000 from Sea Shepherd.
Because of mounting legal complications, Watson has stepped down as head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2013, to abide by an injunction barring him from proximity with Japanese whaling ships. After the resolution of legal issues involving the Japanese Institute for Cetacean Research, Watson returned as President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Commander of the Sea Shepherd fleet.
Other environmental activities
Watson was a field correspondent for Defenders of Wildlife from 1976 to 1980 and a field representative for the Fund for Animals from 1978 to 1981. Watson also was a co-founder of Friends of the Wolf and Earthforce Environmental Society.
During the 1980s, Watson declared his support for Earth First! and cultivated friendships with David Foreman and Edward Abbey. He proclaimed Sea Shepherd to be the "navy" of Earth First! According to The New Yorker, Watson revived the 19th-century practice of tree spiking.
Watson worked with the Green Party of British Columbia in Vancouver in the 1980s and 90s. He ran for mayor in 1996, placing fourth.
In April 2003, Watson was elected to the board of directors of the Sierra Club for a three-year term. In 2006, he did not seek re-election. He resigned from the board a month before his term ended, in protest against the organization's sponsorship of a "Why I Hunt" essay contest.
In January 2008, Paul Watson was named by The Guardian as one of its "50 people who could save the planet" for the work of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Writings on activism
Watson published Earthforce!, a guide to strategy for environmental activists in 1993. In it, he specifically endorsed the tactics of "monkeywrenching" previously described by Dave Foreman and Edward Abbey. According to Foreman in Eco-Defense—The Field Guide to Monkey-Wrenching— these are tactics of sabotage, covert activity, and direct action. Watson says he incorporated his own personal experience in writing the book.
In Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy, Watson expressed disdain for the truthfulness of mainstream media:
The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was "old news." A headline comment on Monday's newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Watson was explicit about what he perceived to be the lack of truthfulness in mass media: "If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, then simply follow the example of an American President and do as Ronald Reagan did—make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation." In a subsequent book, Ocean Warrior, Watson expanded on this view, saying: "Survival in a media culture meant developing the skills to understand and manipulate media to achieve strategic objectives."
In 2007 Watson explained his view of needed population control and the future for humans given their role in the Holocene extinction, which he refers to as the "Holocenic hominid collective suicide event":
Today, escalating human populations have vastly exceeded global carrying capacity and now produce massive quantities of solid, liquid, and gaseous waste [...] No human community should be larger than 20,000 people and separated from other communities by wilderness areas [...] We need to radically and intelligently reduce human populations to fewer than one billion [...] Curing a body of cancer requires radical and invasive therapy, and therefore, curing the biosphere of the human virus will also require a radical and invasive approach [...] Who should have children? Those who are responsible and completely dedicated to the responsibility which is actually a very small percentage of humans.
Controversy
Separation from Greenpeace
Paul Watson continued as a crew member, officer, and skipper (in 1972) aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. He considers himself a founding member of Greenpeace and Greenpeace International, a claim Greenpeace disputes despite being pointed out in the documentary, How to Change the World which shows that Watson was indeed one of the original founding members of Greenpeace. Watson has since accused Greenpeace of rewriting their history.
In 1977, Watson was expelled from the Greenpeace's board of directors by a vote of 11 to 1 (Watson himself cast the single vote against it). The group felt his strong, "front and center" personality and frequently voiced opposition to Greenpeace's interpretation of "nonviolence" were too divisive. Watson subsequently left the group. The group has since labeled his actions at the time as those of a "mutineer" within their ranks. That same year, he founded his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
During an interview in 1978 with CBC Radio, Watson spoke out against Greenpeace (as well as other organizations) and their role and motives for the anti-sealing campaigns. Watson accused these organizations of campaigning against the Canadian seal hunt because it is an easy way to raise money and it is a profit maker for the organizations.
Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities.
Charges and prosecutions
Watson was sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined $8,000 for his actions during a Canadian seal hunt protest in 1980, after being convicted of assaulting a fisheries officer. Watson served his sentence at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, St. John's, NL. He was also found guilty under the Seal Protection Act for painting harp seal pups with red dye to devalue their pelts. Watson was arrested in 1993 in Canada on charges stemming from actions against Cuban and Spanish fishing boats off the coast of Newfoundland. In 1997, Watson was convicted in absentia and sentenced to serve 120 days in jail by a court in Lofoten, Norway on charges of attempting to sink the small scale Norwegian fishing and whaling vessel Nybrænna on December 26, 1992. Dutch authorities refused to hand him over to Norwegian authorities although he did spend 80 days in detention in the Netherlands pending a ruling on extradition before being released.
There have not been any successful attempts at prosecuting Watson for his activities with Sea Shepherd since the trial in Newfoundland. Watson defends his actions as falling within international law, in particular Sea Shepherd's right to enforce maritime regulations against illegal whalers and sealers.
Sea Shepherd activists Rod Coronado and David Howitt went to Iceland in 1986 and scuttled two whaling ships in port at Reykjavík and also damaged a whale meat processing factory. Watson took responsibility for the operation, abiding by published Sea Shepherd principles. He went to Iceland saying, "I am responsible for all activities undertaken in the name of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I give the orders." He was deported without being charged and is considered a persona non grata by Iceland
In April 2010 the Japanese Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant for Watson "...on suspicion of ordering sabotage activities against Japan's whaling fleet", and Interpol has listed him as wanted at the request of Japan. The red notice has the charges issued by Japan as, "Breaking into the Vessel, Damage to Property, Forcible Obstruction of Business, Injury". In March 2012 Interpol issued a "written statement to all 190 member countries making it clear that it would not publish a Red Notice" for the detention of Watson, but reversed that position in September 2012. In both statements Interpol stated that a "Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant" that it is "a request for any country to identify or locate an individual with a view to their provisional arrest and extradition in accordance with the country's national laws".
In May 2012 Watson was detained by German authorities at the Frankfurt Airport because of a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation at sea in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd said that the other vessel was illegally shark finning in Guatemalan waters. Crew members of the other ship accused Sea Shepherd of trying to kill them. Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations with the Interpol alert stating the charge as, "peligro de naufragio" (danger of shipwreck). The conflict took place during filming for the documentary Sharkwater and the charges were dropped by prosecutors after video of the incident made by the documentary film makers was shown. On May 21, Watson was released on bail of €250,000 but required to report to police in Frankfurt on a daily basis. In June, Costa Rica formally requested Watson's extradition from Germany. On July 19, 2012, Japan applied for an extradition order and Watson left Germany, resulting in a German court ordering his immediate re-arrest. It is understood the statute of limitations on his Costa Rican charges was set to expire in June 2013.
On August 7, 2012 Interpol renewed the Red Notice for Watson on the charges of "causing a danger of drowning or of an air disaster" laid by Costa Rica. It was reported that Watson would come out of hiding to join Sea Shepherd in the 2012–13 campaign against Japanese whaling. Watson rejoined the crew of the Steve Irwin in the South Pacific in late November 2012. In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Sierra Club immigration stance
In 1999, Watson ran unsuccessfully for election to the national Sierra Club Board of Directors, with the backing of the anti-immigration faction Sierrans for US Population Stabilization (SUSPS). After his election to the board in 2003, Watson supported an unsuccessful slate of candidates supporting strict immigration controls as an element of a population stabilization policy. This effort was denounced by another candidate in the election, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, as a "hostile takeover" attempt by "radical anti-immigrant activists." Watson responded by saying that the only change he was seeking in the organization's immigration stance was to restore the position it had held before its 1996 "neutrality policy." Watson left the Sierra Club board in 2006.
Anti-sealing activities
In April 2008, Watson stated that, while the deaths of three Canadian seal hunters (a fourth one is still missing) in a marine accident involving a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and a fishing boat during the 2008 Canadian Commercial Seal Hunt were a tragedy, he felt that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals is an even greater tragedy. Canadian Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn accused Watson of trivializing the memory of the lost sealers. Watson replied that Hearn was trying to distract attention from his government's incompetence as the boat the men were on capsized while under tow by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, while his political ambitions continued to support and subsidize an industry that had no place in the 21st century. In 1978, Watson expressed opposition to seal hunt protest organization, suggesting in an interview with CBC's Barbara Frum that saving seals is a cheap and easy fundraiser and that seals do not deserve special status over other species. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams was quoted as saying, "I think what a lot of people don't realize is that this man is a terrorist."
Australian visa issues
In October 2009, Watson, who carries a US passport, complained to media outlets about having his request for an Australian visa denied. He states that the Australian government was attempting to sabotage the upcoming 2010 Sea Shepherd campaign by denying him entry into the country. Watson and several other shipmates were also unable to join the Steve Irwin on its promotional tour of Australia until they were able to provide documentation from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway, exonerating them from previously claimed acts of violence, specifically claims by Sea Shepherd of intentionally sinking a ship in Norway. In January 2013, Paul Watson was presented with an Aboriginal passport by the Krautungalung people of the Gunnai Nation.
Alleged shooting
On March 17, 2008, Paul Watson said that he was shot by the Japanese crew or coast guard personnel during the Operation Migaloo anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Ocean. The incident is documented during the season finale of season 1 of the Whale Wars TV reality show, and the first six episodes are covered as a buildup to what is portrayed as the major incident during the campaign. The Japanese respond by throwing stun grenades, one crew member is injured from a grenade detonating close behind him and another injured trying to escape the explosions. Watson is then shown reaching inside his jacket and body armour and remarking "I've been hit." Back inside the bridge of the Steve Irwin, a metal fragment is found inside the vest.
The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research disputes Sea Shepherd's statements. The Institute and Coast Guard said that they used seven stun grenades designed to temporarily debilitate a target by rendering them blind and deaf for a period of time. The Japanese government also alleged that the whalers launched "noise balls", described as "loud explosive deterrent devices". Neither of the two conflicting accounts have been independently verified. The Australian Foreign Affairs Department had condemned "actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury". Two media releases were made on the same day from the office. One said that the Australian Embassy in Tokyo had been informed by the Japanese that the whalers had "fired warning shots" while the updated version used the phrase "'warning balls' – also known as 'flashbangs' – had been fired".
Accusations of terrorism
Watson has been called an eco-terrorist by the Japanese government for his direct action tactics against whalers, and it repeated its position after conflicts during the 2009–10 whaling season.
At an animal rights convention in 2002, Paul Watson was also quoted as saying, "There's nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win. Then you write the history". In 2010, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck also discussed the comment, criticizing Watson's views. Watson responded to Beck's comments on the official Sea Shepherd website by stating that he had said that but that it was taken out of context, quoting Gerald Seymour's "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter".
Comments following 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
Watson was criticized for his poem published immediately following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami which suggested the disaster was Neptune's anger. Watson responded to critics with a commentary on the Sea Shepherd website expressing "deepest concern and sympathy for the people of Japan who are suffering through one of the worst natural disasters in the history of civilization".
Criticism of New Zealand
In 2013, three Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships docked in New Zealand, and were searched by New Zealand authorities to see if Watson was aboard. He was not, having transferred to another ship in international waters, aware New Zealand was required to notify Interpol if he entered the country. Watson criticised the search, accusing New Zealand of siding with Japan on the issue of whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Reactions to activism and leadership
Watson has stated that he does not consider himself a 'protester', but an 'interventionist', as he considers protesting as too submissive. He often takes the attitude that he represents (or stands in for) law enforcement which is either unwilling or unable to enforce existing laws.
His leadership style has variously been called arrogant, as well as pushing himself too much "front and center", which was cited as one of the reasons for expulsion from Greenpeace. The atmosphere aboard his vessels has been compared to an "anarchy run by God".
The former member of Sea Shepherd and captain of the Pete Bethune described Watson as "morally bankrupt" who would order the intentional sinking of his own ships like the Ady Gil as a means to "garner sympathy with the public and to create better TV". Watson denied this, saying "No one ordered him to scuttle it. Pete Bethune was captain of the Ady Gil; all decisions on the Ady Gil were his."
Awards
Paul Watson received the Jules Verne Award on October 10, 2012. He was the second person after Captain Jacques Cousteau to be honored with a Jules Verne Award dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. On June 28, 2010 Paul received the Asociación de Amigos del Museo de Anclas Philippe Cousteau: Defense of Marine Life Award, in recognition of his merits achieved by the work done in defense of marine life. In 2002, Paul was inducted into the US Animal Rights Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to animal liberation. Paul received the George H. W. Bush Daily Points of Light Award in 1999 and in 2000, he was named one of Time Magazine's Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century. On May 23, 2019, Paul Watson received an official commendation by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont stating that the "State of Connecticut conveyed both honor and recognition to Captain Paul Watson." In 2007 Watson received the Amazon Peace Prize presented by the Vice President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno.
Media portrayals
A biographical documentary on Paul Watson's early life and background entitled Pirate for the Sea was produced by Ron Colby in 2008.
The 2008 documentary At the Edge of the World chronicled the efforts of Watson and 45 volunteers to hinder the Japanese whaling fleet in the waters around Antarctica. In 2010, long time friend and filmmaker Peter Brown released the documentary Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist, a satirical look back at the last 30 years of actions. The documentary Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson from 2011 features interviews and footage with early Greenpeace members Rex Weyler and Patrick Moore.
Watson, Whale Wars, and the Japanese whaling industry were satirized in the South Park episode "Whale Whores". In its fictional Larry King show, Watson himself was called "An unorganized incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause" and "A smug, narcoleptic liar with no credibility".
Watson responded to the South Park episode by stating; "My understanding is that the Japanese Prime Minister was not amused and the whalers and dolphin killers are enraged at the way they were portrayed," Watson said. "That's music to my ears. If the humorless whale killers and the bank rollers of the dolphin killers did not like the show, then that's all I need to applaud it."
Watson was portrayed (along with whale biologist, Nan Hauser), during a 60 Minutes episode that aired in 2013, as contributing to the return of the Humpback whale populations in the South Pacific.
In 2019 a biopic film called, Watson directed by one of the producers of An Inconvenient Truth, Lesley Chilcott, was released and also aired on Animal Planet on December 22, 2019.
List of works
Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals (1981) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy (1993) ()
Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas (1994) ()
Seal Wars: Twenty-Five Years on the Front Lines With the Harp Seals (2002) ()
Contributor to Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberations of Animals (2004) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy 2nd Edition (2012)
The War That Saved the Whales (2019)
Songs from the Southern Ocean (2020)
The Haunted Mariner (2020)
Dealing with Climate Change and Stress (2020)
Orcapedia (2020)
Desperate Mythologies: Theology, Ecology and the General Insanity of Humanity (2020)
Death of a Whale (2021)
URGENT! Save Our Ocean to Survive Climate Change (2021)
See also
List of conservationists
List of vegans
References
Further reading
Earth Warrior: Overboard With Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, by David B. Morris (1995) ()
Eco-Warriors, by Rik Scarce (2006) ()
Capitaine Paul Watson, entretien avec un pirate, by Lamya Essemlali, Paul Watson (2012)
External links
Paul Watson's page on the Sea Shepherd official website
1950 births
Canadian animal rights activists
Canadian environmentalists
Fugitives wanted by Germany
Green Party of British Columbia politicians
Green thinkers
Living people
People associated with Greenpeace
People from St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Activists from Toronto
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Sierra Club directors
Sustainability advocates
Veganism activists
Yippies | true | [
"An only child is a person who does not have any siblings, neither biological nor adopted.\n\nOnly Child may also refer to:\n\n Only Child (novel), a novel by Jack Ketchum\n Only Child, a 2020 album by Sasha Sloan",
"John August Kusche (1869 – 1934) was a renowned botanist and entomologist, and he discovered many new species of moths and butterflies. The plant of the aster family, Erigeron kuschei is named in his honor.\n\nNotable discoveries \n\nIn 1928, Kusche donated to the Bishop Museum 164 species of Lepidoptera he collected on Kauai between 1919 and 1920. Of those, 55 species had not previously been recorded on Kauai and 6 were new to science, namely Agrotis stenospila, Euxoa charmocrita, Plusia violacea, Nesamiptis senicula, Nesamiptis proterortha and Scotorythra crocorrhoa.\n\nThe Essig Museum of Entomology lists 26 species collected by Kusche from California, Baja California, Arizona, Alaska and on the Solomon Islands.\n\nEarly life \nHis father's name was Johann Karl Wilhelm Kusche, he remarried in 1883 to Johanna Susanna Niesar. He had three siblings from his father (Herman, Ernst and Pauline) and four half siblings from her second marriage (Bertha, Wilhelm, Heinrich and Reinhold. There were two other children from this marriage, which died young and whom were not recorded). His family were farmers, while he lived with them, in Kreuzburg, Germany.\n\nHis siblings quickly accustomed themselves to their new mother, however August, the eldest, did not get on easily with her. He attended a gardening school there in Kreuzburg. He left at a relatively young age after unintentionally setting a forest fire. \"One day on a walk through Kreuzburg forest, he unintentionally caused a huge forest fire. Fearing jail, he fled from home and somehow made it to America.\"\n\nHe wrote letters back to his family, urging them to come to America. His father eventually did, sometime shortly after February 1893. His father started a homestead in Brownsville, Texas. Yellow fever broke out and his father caught it. He managed to survive, while many did not, leaving him a sick old man in his mid-fifties. He wrote to August, who was then living it Prescott, Arizona, asking for money. August wrote back, saying \"Dear father, if you are out of money, see to it that you go back to Germany as soon as possible. Without any money here, you are lost,\" \n\nAugust didn't have any money either, and had been hoping to borrow money from his father. If he had wanted to visit him, then he would have had to make the trip on foot.\n\nWhen August arrived in America, he got a job as a gardener on a Pennsylvania farm. He had an affair with a Swiss woman, which resulted in a child. August denied being the child's father, but married her anyway. He went west, on horseback, and had his horse stolen by Native Americans. He ended up in San Francisco. His family joined him there. By this time he had three sons and a daughter.\n\nAfter his children grew up, he began traveling and collecting moths and butterflies.\n\nLater life \nHe traveled to the South Seas where he collected moths and butterflies. There he caught a terrible fever that very nearly killed him. He was picked up by a government ship in New Guinea, and was unconscious until he awoke in a San Francisco hospital. After that time he had hearing loss and lost all of his teeth. His doctor told him not to take any more trips to Alaska, and this apparently helped his condition.\n\nIn 1924 he lived in San Diego. He had taken a trip to Alaska just before this date. He worked as a gardener in California for nine years (1915–1924) where he died of stomach cancer.\n\nReferences \n\n19th-century German botanists\n1869 births\n1934 deaths\n20th-century American botanists\nGerman emigrants to the United States"
] |
[
"Paul Watson",
"Early and personal life",
"Where was paul born?",
"Paul Watson was born in Toronto",
"when was he born?",
"I don't know.",
"who were his parents?",
"Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen,",
"did he have any siblings?",
"two sisters and three brothers."
] | C_92b9e56b3db24c86932abccd2b624bea_1 | where did he go to school? | 5 | Where did Paul Watson go to school? | Paul Watson | According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver. According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 35,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deck hand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. The tactics used by Sea Shepherd have attracted opposition, with the group accused of eco-terrorism by both the Japanese government and Greenpeace. Watson is a citizen of Canada and the United States.
The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969. He was a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1972. Because Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, he was ousted from the board in 1977. That same year, he formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group was the subject of a reality show named Whale Wars.
He promotes veganism, population reduction and a biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, worldview.
Watson's activities have led to legal action from authorities in countries including the United States, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica and Japan. He was detained in Germany on an extradition request by Costa Rica in May 2012. An Interpol red notice was issued on September 14, 2012, at the request of Japan and Costa Rica.
After staying at sea for 15 months following his escape from Germany, where he was released on bail, he returned to Los Angeles in late October 2013, going through customs and "was not arrested". He appeared before a US appeals court on November 6, 2013, stating that neither he nor the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society violated a 2012 order requiring them to leave whaling vessels alone. Although the United States is a signatory member of Interpol, Watson has not been detained for extradition to Japan or Costa Rica. He is living in Vermont, writing books. He was residing in Paris as of July 1, 2014 but has since returned to the USA.
In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Early and personal life
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver.
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 30,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deckhand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. In 1972 he shipped out of San Francisco on the 35,000 ton bulk Swedish carrier Jarl R. Trapp and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade
Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016 and a second son, Murtagh, on August 6, 2021. He ran for parliament in Canada's federal elections twice.
Activism
Early years
In October 1969, Watson joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing at Amchitka Island. The group which formed as a result of that protest was the Don't Make a Wave Committee, which evolved into the group known today as Greenpeace. In the early 1970s, Watson was also active with the Vancouver Liberation Front and the Vancouver Yippies. Watson sailed as a crew member aboard the Greenpeace Too! ship in 1971 and skippered the Greenpeace boat Astral in 1972. Paul Watson continued as a crew member, skipper, and officer aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s.
According to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other sources, Watson was a founding member of Greenpeace, but the organization denies this stating he "was an influential early member but not, as he sometimes claims, a founder." Greenpeace claims that Watson joined Greenpeace on its Amchitka expedition, which they claim to be their second expedition, but Paul Watson claims that this was Greenpeace's first meeting.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The first Sea Shepherd vessel, the Sea Shepherd, was purchased in December 1978 with assistance from the Fund for Animals and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Sea Shepherd soon established itself as one of the more controversial environmental groups, known for provocative direct action tactics. These tactics have included throwing objects onto the decks of whaling ships, the use of "prop foulers" in an attempt to sabotage the ships, boarding whaling vessels, and the scuttling of two ships in an Icelandic harbor. In January 2013, Watson relinquished captaincy of the Steve Irwin. The organization and its activities to halt whaling are the focus of a reality TV series, Whale Wars, airing on Animal Planet.
In 2010, Watson personally received more than $120,000 from Sea Shepherd.
Because of mounting legal complications, Watson has stepped down as head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2013, to abide by an injunction barring him from proximity with Japanese whaling ships. After the resolution of legal issues involving the Japanese Institute for Cetacean Research, Watson returned as President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Commander of the Sea Shepherd fleet.
Other environmental activities
Watson was a field correspondent for Defenders of Wildlife from 1976 to 1980 and a field representative for the Fund for Animals from 1978 to 1981. Watson also was a co-founder of Friends of the Wolf and Earthforce Environmental Society.
During the 1980s, Watson declared his support for Earth First! and cultivated friendships with David Foreman and Edward Abbey. He proclaimed Sea Shepherd to be the "navy" of Earth First! According to The New Yorker, Watson revived the 19th-century practice of tree spiking.
Watson worked with the Green Party of British Columbia in Vancouver in the 1980s and 90s. He ran for mayor in 1996, placing fourth.
In April 2003, Watson was elected to the board of directors of the Sierra Club for a three-year term. In 2006, he did not seek re-election. He resigned from the board a month before his term ended, in protest against the organization's sponsorship of a "Why I Hunt" essay contest.
In January 2008, Paul Watson was named by The Guardian as one of its "50 people who could save the planet" for the work of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Writings on activism
Watson published Earthforce!, a guide to strategy for environmental activists in 1993. In it, he specifically endorsed the tactics of "monkeywrenching" previously described by Dave Foreman and Edward Abbey. According to Foreman in Eco-Defense—The Field Guide to Monkey-Wrenching— these are tactics of sabotage, covert activity, and direct action. Watson says he incorporated his own personal experience in writing the book.
In Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy, Watson expressed disdain for the truthfulness of mainstream media:
The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was "old news." A headline comment on Monday's newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Watson was explicit about what he perceived to be the lack of truthfulness in mass media: "If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, then simply follow the example of an American President and do as Ronald Reagan did—make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation." In a subsequent book, Ocean Warrior, Watson expanded on this view, saying: "Survival in a media culture meant developing the skills to understand and manipulate media to achieve strategic objectives."
In 2007 Watson explained his view of needed population control and the future for humans given their role in the Holocene extinction, which he refers to as the "Holocenic hominid collective suicide event":
Today, escalating human populations have vastly exceeded global carrying capacity and now produce massive quantities of solid, liquid, and gaseous waste [...] No human community should be larger than 20,000 people and separated from other communities by wilderness areas [...] We need to radically and intelligently reduce human populations to fewer than one billion [...] Curing a body of cancer requires radical and invasive therapy, and therefore, curing the biosphere of the human virus will also require a radical and invasive approach [...] Who should have children? Those who are responsible and completely dedicated to the responsibility which is actually a very small percentage of humans.
Controversy
Separation from Greenpeace
Paul Watson continued as a crew member, officer, and skipper (in 1972) aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. He considers himself a founding member of Greenpeace and Greenpeace International, a claim Greenpeace disputes despite being pointed out in the documentary, How to Change the World which shows that Watson was indeed one of the original founding members of Greenpeace. Watson has since accused Greenpeace of rewriting their history.
In 1977, Watson was expelled from the Greenpeace's board of directors by a vote of 11 to 1 (Watson himself cast the single vote against it). The group felt his strong, "front and center" personality and frequently voiced opposition to Greenpeace's interpretation of "nonviolence" were too divisive. Watson subsequently left the group. The group has since labeled his actions at the time as those of a "mutineer" within their ranks. That same year, he founded his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
During an interview in 1978 with CBC Radio, Watson spoke out against Greenpeace (as well as other organizations) and their role and motives for the anti-sealing campaigns. Watson accused these organizations of campaigning against the Canadian seal hunt because it is an easy way to raise money and it is a profit maker for the organizations.
Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities.
Charges and prosecutions
Watson was sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined $8,000 for his actions during a Canadian seal hunt protest in 1980, after being convicted of assaulting a fisheries officer. Watson served his sentence at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, St. John's, NL. He was also found guilty under the Seal Protection Act for painting harp seal pups with red dye to devalue their pelts. Watson was arrested in 1993 in Canada on charges stemming from actions against Cuban and Spanish fishing boats off the coast of Newfoundland. In 1997, Watson was convicted in absentia and sentenced to serve 120 days in jail by a court in Lofoten, Norway on charges of attempting to sink the small scale Norwegian fishing and whaling vessel Nybrænna on December 26, 1992. Dutch authorities refused to hand him over to Norwegian authorities although he did spend 80 days in detention in the Netherlands pending a ruling on extradition before being released.
There have not been any successful attempts at prosecuting Watson for his activities with Sea Shepherd since the trial in Newfoundland. Watson defends his actions as falling within international law, in particular Sea Shepherd's right to enforce maritime regulations against illegal whalers and sealers.
Sea Shepherd activists Rod Coronado and David Howitt went to Iceland in 1986 and scuttled two whaling ships in port at Reykjavík and also damaged a whale meat processing factory. Watson took responsibility for the operation, abiding by published Sea Shepherd principles. He went to Iceland saying, "I am responsible for all activities undertaken in the name of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I give the orders." He was deported without being charged and is considered a persona non grata by Iceland
In April 2010 the Japanese Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant for Watson "...on suspicion of ordering sabotage activities against Japan's whaling fleet", and Interpol has listed him as wanted at the request of Japan. The red notice has the charges issued by Japan as, "Breaking into the Vessel, Damage to Property, Forcible Obstruction of Business, Injury". In March 2012 Interpol issued a "written statement to all 190 member countries making it clear that it would not publish a Red Notice" for the detention of Watson, but reversed that position in September 2012. In both statements Interpol stated that a "Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant" that it is "a request for any country to identify or locate an individual with a view to their provisional arrest and extradition in accordance with the country's national laws".
In May 2012 Watson was detained by German authorities at the Frankfurt Airport because of a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation at sea in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd said that the other vessel was illegally shark finning in Guatemalan waters. Crew members of the other ship accused Sea Shepherd of trying to kill them. Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations with the Interpol alert stating the charge as, "peligro de naufragio" (danger of shipwreck). The conflict took place during filming for the documentary Sharkwater and the charges were dropped by prosecutors after video of the incident made by the documentary film makers was shown. On May 21, Watson was released on bail of €250,000 but required to report to police in Frankfurt on a daily basis. In June, Costa Rica formally requested Watson's extradition from Germany. On July 19, 2012, Japan applied for an extradition order and Watson left Germany, resulting in a German court ordering his immediate re-arrest. It is understood the statute of limitations on his Costa Rican charges was set to expire in June 2013.
On August 7, 2012 Interpol renewed the Red Notice for Watson on the charges of "causing a danger of drowning or of an air disaster" laid by Costa Rica. It was reported that Watson would come out of hiding to join Sea Shepherd in the 2012–13 campaign against Japanese whaling. Watson rejoined the crew of the Steve Irwin in the South Pacific in late November 2012. In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Sierra Club immigration stance
In 1999, Watson ran unsuccessfully for election to the national Sierra Club Board of Directors, with the backing of the anti-immigration faction Sierrans for US Population Stabilization (SUSPS). After his election to the board in 2003, Watson supported an unsuccessful slate of candidates supporting strict immigration controls as an element of a population stabilization policy. This effort was denounced by another candidate in the election, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, as a "hostile takeover" attempt by "radical anti-immigrant activists." Watson responded by saying that the only change he was seeking in the organization's immigration stance was to restore the position it had held before its 1996 "neutrality policy." Watson left the Sierra Club board in 2006.
Anti-sealing activities
In April 2008, Watson stated that, while the deaths of three Canadian seal hunters (a fourth one is still missing) in a marine accident involving a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and a fishing boat during the 2008 Canadian Commercial Seal Hunt were a tragedy, he felt that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals is an even greater tragedy. Canadian Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn accused Watson of trivializing the memory of the lost sealers. Watson replied that Hearn was trying to distract attention from his government's incompetence as the boat the men were on capsized while under tow by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, while his political ambitions continued to support and subsidize an industry that had no place in the 21st century. In 1978, Watson expressed opposition to seal hunt protest organization, suggesting in an interview with CBC's Barbara Frum that saving seals is a cheap and easy fundraiser and that seals do not deserve special status over other species. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams was quoted as saying, "I think what a lot of people don't realize is that this man is a terrorist."
Australian visa issues
In October 2009, Watson, who carries a US passport, complained to media outlets about having his request for an Australian visa denied. He states that the Australian government was attempting to sabotage the upcoming 2010 Sea Shepherd campaign by denying him entry into the country. Watson and several other shipmates were also unable to join the Steve Irwin on its promotional tour of Australia until they were able to provide documentation from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway, exonerating them from previously claimed acts of violence, specifically claims by Sea Shepherd of intentionally sinking a ship in Norway. In January 2013, Paul Watson was presented with an Aboriginal passport by the Krautungalung people of the Gunnai Nation.
Alleged shooting
On March 17, 2008, Paul Watson said that he was shot by the Japanese crew or coast guard personnel during the Operation Migaloo anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Ocean. The incident is documented during the season finale of season 1 of the Whale Wars TV reality show, and the first six episodes are covered as a buildup to what is portrayed as the major incident during the campaign. The Japanese respond by throwing stun grenades, one crew member is injured from a grenade detonating close behind him and another injured trying to escape the explosions. Watson is then shown reaching inside his jacket and body armour and remarking "I've been hit." Back inside the bridge of the Steve Irwin, a metal fragment is found inside the vest.
The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research disputes Sea Shepherd's statements. The Institute and Coast Guard said that they used seven stun grenades designed to temporarily debilitate a target by rendering them blind and deaf for a period of time. The Japanese government also alleged that the whalers launched "noise balls", described as "loud explosive deterrent devices". Neither of the two conflicting accounts have been independently verified. The Australian Foreign Affairs Department had condemned "actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury". Two media releases were made on the same day from the office. One said that the Australian Embassy in Tokyo had been informed by the Japanese that the whalers had "fired warning shots" while the updated version used the phrase "'warning balls' – also known as 'flashbangs' – had been fired".
Accusations of terrorism
Watson has been called an eco-terrorist by the Japanese government for his direct action tactics against whalers, and it repeated its position after conflicts during the 2009–10 whaling season.
At an animal rights convention in 2002, Paul Watson was also quoted as saying, "There's nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win. Then you write the history". In 2010, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck also discussed the comment, criticizing Watson's views. Watson responded to Beck's comments on the official Sea Shepherd website by stating that he had said that but that it was taken out of context, quoting Gerald Seymour's "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter".
Comments following 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
Watson was criticized for his poem published immediately following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami which suggested the disaster was Neptune's anger. Watson responded to critics with a commentary on the Sea Shepherd website expressing "deepest concern and sympathy for the people of Japan who are suffering through one of the worst natural disasters in the history of civilization".
Criticism of New Zealand
In 2013, three Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships docked in New Zealand, and were searched by New Zealand authorities to see if Watson was aboard. He was not, having transferred to another ship in international waters, aware New Zealand was required to notify Interpol if he entered the country. Watson criticised the search, accusing New Zealand of siding with Japan on the issue of whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Reactions to activism and leadership
Watson has stated that he does not consider himself a 'protester', but an 'interventionist', as he considers protesting as too submissive. He often takes the attitude that he represents (or stands in for) law enforcement which is either unwilling or unable to enforce existing laws.
His leadership style has variously been called arrogant, as well as pushing himself too much "front and center", which was cited as one of the reasons for expulsion from Greenpeace. The atmosphere aboard his vessels has been compared to an "anarchy run by God".
The former member of Sea Shepherd and captain of the Pete Bethune described Watson as "morally bankrupt" who would order the intentional sinking of his own ships like the Ady Gil as a means to "garner sympathy with the public and to create better TV". Watson denied this, saying "No one ordered him to scuttle it. Pete Bethune was captain of the Ady Gil; all decisions on the Ady Gil were his."
Awards
Paul Watson received the Jules Verne Award on October 10, 2012. He was the second person after Captain Jacques Cousteau to be honored with a Jules Verne Award dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. On June 28, 2010 Paul received the Asociación de Amigos del Museo de Anclas Philippe Cousteau: Defense of Marine Life Award, in recognition of his merits achieved by the work done in defense of marine life. In 2002, Paul was inducted into the US Animal Rights Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to animal liberation. Paul received the George H. W. Bush Daily Points of Light Award in 1999 and in 2000, he was named one of Time Magazine's Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century. On May 23, 2019, Paul Watson received an official commendation by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont stating that the "State of Connecticut conveyed both honor and recognition to Captain Paul Watson." In 2007 Watson received the Amazon Peace Prize presented by the Vice President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno.
Media portrayals
A biographical documentary on Paul Watson's early life and background entitled Pirate for the Sea was produced by Ron Colby in 2008.
The 2008 documentary At the Edge of the World chronicled the efforts of Watson and 45 volunteers to hinder the Japanese whaling fleet in the waters around Antarctica. In 2010, long time friend and filmmaker Peter Brown released the documentary Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist, a satirical look back at the last 30 years of actions. The documentary Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson from 2011 features interviews and footage with early Greenpeace members Rex Weyler and Patrick Moore.
Watson, Whale Wars, and the Japanese whaling industry were satirized in the South Park episode "Whale Whores". In its fictional Larry King show, Watson himself was called "An unorganized incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause" and "A smug, narcoleptic liar with no credibility".
Watson responded to the South Park episode by stating; "My understanding is that the Japanese Prime Minister was not amused and the whalers and dolphin killers are enraged at the way they were portrayed," Watson said. "That's music to my ears. If the humorless whale killers and the bank rollers of the dolphin killers did not like the show, then that's all I need to applaud it."
Watson was portrayed (along with whale biologist, Nan Hauser), during a 60 Minutes episode that aired in 2013, as contributing to the return of the Humpback whale populations in the South Pacific.
In 2019 a biopic film called, Watson directed by one of the producers of An Inconvenient Truth, Lesley Chilcott, was released and also aired on Animal Planet on December 22, 2019.
List of works
Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals (1981) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy (1993) ()
Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas (1994) ()
Seal Wars: Twenty-Five Years on the Front Lines With the Harp Seals (2002) ()
Contributor to Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberations of Animals (2004) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy 2nd Edition (2012)
The War That Saved the Whales (2019)
Songs from the Southern Ocean (2020)
The Haunted Mariner (2020)
Dealing with Climate Change and Stress (2020)
Orcapedia (2020)
Desperate Mythologies: Theology, Ecology and the General Insanity of Humanity (2020)
Death of a Whale (2021)
URGENT! Save Our Ocean to Survive Climate Change (2021)
See also
List of conservationists
List of vegans
References
Further reading
Earth Warrior: Overboard With Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, by David B. Morris (1995) ()
Eco-Warriors, by Rik Scarce (2006) ()
Capitaine Paul Watson, entretien avec un pirate, by Lamya Essemlali, Paul Watson (2012)
External links
Paul Watson's page on the Sea Shepherd official website
1950 births
Canadian animal rights activists
Canadian environmentalists
Fugitives wanted by Germany
Green Party of British Columbia politicians
Green thinkers
Living people
People associated with Greenpeace
People from St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Activists from Toronto
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Sierra Club directors
Sustainability advocates
Veganism activists
Yippies | false | [
"Where Did We Go Wrong may refer to:\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\" (Dondria song), 2010\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\" (Toni Braxton and Babyface song), 2013\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a song by Petula Clark from the album My Love\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a song by Diana Ross from the album Ross\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a 1980 song by Frankie Valli",
"California Concordia College existed in Oakland, California, United States from 1906 until 1973.\n\nAmong the presidents of California Concordia College was Johann Theodore Gotthold Brohm Jr.\n\nCalifornia Concordia College and the Academy of California College were located at 2365 Camden Street, Oakland, California. Some of the school buildings still exist at this location, but older buildings that housed the earlier classrooms and later the dormitories are gone. The site is now the location of the Spectrum Center Camden Campus, a provider of special education services.\n\nThe \"Academy\" was the official name for the high school. California Concordia was a six-year institution patterned after the German gymnasium. This provided four years of high school, plus two years of junior college. Years in the school took their names from Latin numbers and referred to the years to go before graduation. The classes were named:\n\n Sexta - 6 years to go; high school freshman\n Qunita - 5 years to go; high school sophomore\n Quarta - 4 years to go; high school junior\n Tertia - 3 years to go; high school senior\n Secunda - 2 years to go; college freshman\n Prima - 1 year to go; college sophomore\n\nThose in Sexta were usually hazed in a mild way by upperclassmen. In addition, those in Sexta were required to do a certain amount of clean-up work around the school, such as picking up trash.\n\nMost students, even high school freshmen, lived in dormitories. High school students were supervised by \"proctors\" (selected high school seniors in Tertia). High school students were required to study for two hours each night in their study rooms from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Students could not leave their rooms for any reason without permission. This requirement came as quite a shock to those in Sexta (freshmen) on their first night, when they were caught and scolded by a proctor when they left their study room to go to the bathroom without permission. Seniors (those in Tertia) were allowed one night off where they did not need to be in their study hall.\n\nFrom 9:00 to 9:30 pm all students gathered for a chapel service. From 9:30 to 10 pm, high school students were free to roam, and sometimes went to the local Lucky Supermarket to purchase snacks. All high school students were required to be in bed with lights out by 10:00 pm. There were generally five students in each dormitory room. The room had two sections: a bedroom area and (across the hallway) another room for studying. Four beds, including at least one bunk bed, were in the bedroom, and four or five desks were in the study room\n\nA few interesting words used by Concordia students were \"fink\" and \"rack.\" To \"fink\" meant to \"sing like a canary\" or \"squeal.\" A student who finked told everything he knew about a misbehavior committed by another student. \"Rack\" was actually an official term used by proctors and administrators who lived on campus in the dormitories with students. When students misbehaved they were racked (punished). Proctors held a meeting once a week and decided which students, if any, deserved to be racked. If a student were racked, he might be forbidden from leaving the campus grounds, even during normal free time School hours were from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. After 3:30 pm and until 7:00 pm, students could normally explore the local area surrounding the school, for example, to go to a local store to buy a snack. However, if a student were racked for the week, he could not do so.\n\nProctors made their rounds in the morning to make sure beds were made and inspected rooms in the evening to ensure that students were in bed by 10:00 pm. Often after the proctors left a room at night, the room lights would go back on and students enjoyed studying their National Geographic magazines. Student might be racked if they failed to make their beds or did not make them neatly enough.\n\nAlthough California Concordia College no longer exists, it does receive some recognition by Concordia University Irvine. This is also the location of its old academic records.\n\nSources\n\nExternal links \n Photos of old campus\n\nEducational institutions disestablished in 1973\nDefunct private universities and colleges in California\nEducational institutions established in 1906\n1906 establishments in California\n1973 disestablishments in California\nUniversities and colleges affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod"
] |
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"Paul Watson was born in Toronto",
"when was he born?",
"I don't know.",
"who were his parents?",
"Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen,",
"did he have any siblings?",
"two sisters and three brothers.",
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] | C_92b9e56b3db24c86932abccd2b624bea_1 | what was interesting about his early life? | 6 | What was interesting about Paul Watson's early life? | Paul Watson | According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver. According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 35,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deck hand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016. CANNOTANSWER | As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". | Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. The tactics used by Sea Shepherd have attracted opposition, with the group accused of eco-terrorism by both the Japanese government and Greenpeace. Watson is a citizen of Canada and the United States.
The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969. He was a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1972. Because Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, he was ousted from the board in 1977. That same year, he formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group was the subject of a reality show named Whale Wars.
He promotes veganism, population reduction and a biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, worldview.
Watson's activities have led to legal action from authorities in countries including the United States, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica and Japan. He was detained in Germany on an extradition request by Costa Rica in May 2012. An Interpol red notice was issued on September 14, 2012, at the request of Japan and Costa Rica.
After staying at sea for 15 months following his escape from Germany, where he was released on bail, he returned to Los Angeles in late October 2013, going through customs and "was not arrested". He appeared before a US appeals court on November 6, 2013, stating that neither he nor the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society violated a 2012 order requiring them to leave whaling vessels alone. Although the United States is a signatory member of Interpol, Watson has not been detained for extradition to Japan or Costa Rica. He is living in Vermont, writing books. He was residing in Paris as of July 1, 2014 but has since returned to the USA.
In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Early and personal life
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver.
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 30,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deckhand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. In 1972 he shipped out of San Francisco on the 35,000 ton bulk Swedish carrier Jarl R. Trapp and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade
Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016 and a second son, Murtagh, on August 6, 2021. He ran for parliament in Canada's federal elections twice.
Activism
Early years
In October 1969, Watson joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing at Amchitka Island. The group which formed as a result of that protest was the Don't Make a Wave Committee, which evolved into the group known today as Greenpeace. In the early 1970s, Watson was also active with the Vancouver Liberation Front and the Vancouver Yippies. Watson sailed as a crew member aboard the Greenpeace Too! ship in 1971 and skippered the Greenpeace boat Astral in 1972. Paul Watson continued as a crew member, skipper, and officer aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s.
According to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other sources, Watson was a founding member of Greenpeace, but the organization denies this stating he "was an influential early member but not, as he sometimes claims, a founder." Greenpeace claims that Watson joined Greenpeace on its Amchitka expedition, which they claim to be their second expedition, but Paul Watson claims that this was Greenpeace's first meeting.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The first Sea Shepherd vessel, the Sea Shepherd, was purchased in December 1978 with assistance from the Fund for Animals and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Sea Shepherd soon established itself as one of the more controversial environmental groups, known for provocative direct action tactics. These tactics have included throwing objects onto the decks of whaling ships, the use of "prop foulers" in an attempt to sabotage the ships, boarding whaling vessels, and the scuttling of two ships in an Icelandic harbor. In January 2013, Watson relinquished captaincy of the Steve Irwin. The organization and its activities to halt whaling are the focus of a reality TV series, Whale Wars, airing on Animal Planet.
In 2010, Watson personally received more than $120,000 from Sea Shepherd.
Because of mounting legal complications, Watson has stepped down as head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2013, to abide by an injunction barring him from proximity with Japanese whaling ships. After the resolution of legal issues involving the Japanese Institute for Cetacean Research, Watson returned as President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Commander of the Sea Shepherd fleet.
Other environmental activities
Watson was a field correspondent for Defenders of Wildlife from 1976 to 1980 and a field representative for the Fund for Animals from 1978 to 1981. Watson also was a co-founder of Friends of the Wolf and Earthforce Environmental Society.
During the 1980s, Watson declared his support for Earth First! and cultivated friendships with David Foreman and Edward Abbey. He proclaimed Sea Shepherd to be the "navy" of Earth First! According to The New Yorker, Watson revived the 19th-century practice of tree spiking.
Watson worked with the Green Party of British Columbia in Vancouver in the 1980s and 90s. He ran for mayor in 1996, placing fourth.
In April 2003, Watson was elected to the board of directors of the Sierra Club for a three-year term. In 2006, he did not seek re-election. He resigned from the board a month before his term ended, in protest against the organization's sponsorship of a "Why I Hunt" essay contest.
In January 2008, Paul Watson was named by The Guardian as one of its "50 people who could save the planet" for the work of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Writings on activism
Watson published Earthforce!, a guide to strategy for environmental activists in 1993. In it, he specifically endorsed the tactics of "monkeywrenching" previously described by Dave Foreman and Edward Abbey. According to Foreman in Eco-Defense—The Field Guide to Monkey-Wrenching— these are tactics of sabotage, covert activity, and direct action. Watson says he incorporated his own personal experience in writing the book.
In Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy, Watson expressed disdain for the truthfulness of mainstream media:
The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was "old news." A headline comment on Monday's newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Watson was explicit about what he perceived to be the lack of truthfulness in mass media: "If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, then simply follow the example of an American President and do as Ronald Reagan did—make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation." In a subsequent book, Ocean Warrior, Watson expanded on this view, saying: "Survival in a media culture meant developing the skills to understand and manipulate media to achieve strategic objectives."
In 2007 Watson explained his view of needed population control and the future for humans given their role in the Holocene extinction, which he refers to as the "Holocenic hominid collective suicide event":
Today, escalating human populations have vastly exceeded global carrying capacity and now produce massive quantities of solid, liquid, and gaseous waste [...] No human community should be larger than 20,000 people and separated from other communities by wilderness areas [...] We need to radically and intelligently reduce human populations to fewer than one billion [...] Curing a body of cancer requires radical and invasive therapy, and therefore, curing the biosphere of the human virus will also require a radical and invasive approach [...] Who should have children? Those who are responsible and completely dedicated to the responsibility which is actually a very small percentage of humans.
Controversy
Separation from Greenpeace
Paul Watson continued as a crew member, officer, and skipper (in 1972) aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. He considers himself a founding member of Greenpeace and Greenpeace International, a claim Greenpeace disputes despite being pointed out in the documentary, How to Change the World which shows that Watson was indeed one of the original founding members of Greenpeace. Watson has since accused Greenpeace of rewriting their history.
In 1977, Watson was expelled from the Greenpeace's board of directors by a vote of 11 to 1 (Watson himself cast the single vote against it). The group felt his strong, "front and center" personality and frequently voiced opposition to Greenpeace's interpretation of "nonviolence" were too divisive. Watson subsequently left the group. The group has since labeled his actions at the time as those of a "mutineer" within their ranks. That same year, he founded his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
During an interview in 1978 with CBC Radio, Watson spoke out against Greenpeace (as well as other organizations) and their role and motives for the anti-sealing campaigns. Watson accused these organizations of campaigning against the Canadian seal hunt because it is an easy way to raise money and it is a profit maker for the organizations.
Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities.
Charges and prosecutions
Watson was sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined $8,000 for his actions during a Canadian seal hunt protest in 1980, after being convicted of assaulting a fisheries officer. Watson served his sentence at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, St. John's, NL. He was also found guilty under the Seal Protection Act for painting harp seal pups with red dye to devalue their pelts. Watson was arrested in 1993 in Canada on charges stemming from actions against Cuban and Spanish fishing boats off the coast of Newfoundland. In 1997, Watson was convicted in absentia and sentenced to serve 120 days in jail by a court in Lofoten, Norway on charges of attempting to sink the small scale Norwegian fishing and whaling vessel Nybrænna on December 26, 1992. Dutch authorities refused to hand him over to Norwegian authorities although he did spend 80 days in detention in the Netherlands pending a ruling on extradition before being released.
There have not been any successful attempts at prosecuting Watson for his activities with Sea Shepherd since the trial in Newfoundland. Watson defends his actions as falling within international law, in particular Sea Shepherd's right to enforce maritime regulations against illegal whalers and sealers.
Sea Shepherd activists Rod Coronado and David Howitt went to Iceland in 1986 and scuttled two whaling ships in port at Reykjavík and also damaged a whale meat processing factory. Watson took responsibility for the operation, abiding by published Sea Shepherd principles. He went to Iceland saying, "I am responsible for all activities undertaken in the name of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I give the orders." He was deported without being charged and is considered a persona non grata by Iceland
In April 2010 the Japanese Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant for Watson "...on suspicion of ordering sabotage activities against Japan's whaling fleet", and Interpol has listed him as wanted at the request of Japan. The red notice has the charges issued by Japan as, "Breaking into the Vessel, Damage to Property, Forcible Obstruction of Business, Injury". In March 2012 Interpol issued a "written statement to all 190 member countries making it clear that it would not publish a Red Notice" for the detention of Watson, but reversed that position in September 2012. In both statements Interpol stated that a "Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant" that it is "a request for any country to identify or locate an individual with a view to their provisional arrest and extradition in accordance with the country's national laws".
In May 2012 Watson was detained by German authorities at the Frankfurt Airport because of a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation at sea in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd said that the other vessel was illegally shark finning in Guatemalan waters. Crew members of the other ship accused Sea Shepherd of trying to kill them. Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations with the Interpol alert stating the charge as, "peligro de naufragio" (danger of shipwreck). The conflict took place during filming for the documentary Sharkwater and the charges were dropped by prosecutors after video of the incident made by the documentary film makers was shown. On May 21, Watson was released on bail of €250,000 but required to report to police in Frankfurt on a daily basis. In June, Costa Rica formally requested Watson's extradition from Germany. On July 19, 2012, Japan applied for an extradition order and Watson left Germany, resulting in a German court ordering his immediate re-arrest. It is understood the statute of limitations on his Costa Rican charges was set to expire in June 2013.
On August 7, 2012 Interpol renewed the Red Notice for Watson on the charges of "causing a danger of drowning or of an air disaster" laid by Costa Rica. It was reported that Watson would come out of hiding to join Sea Shepherd in the 2012–13 campaign against Japanese whaling. Watson rejoined the crew of the Steve Irwin in the South Pacific in late November 2012. In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Sierra Club immigration stance
In 1999, Watson ran unsuccessfully for election to the national Sierra Club Board of Directors, with the backing of the anti-immigration faction Sierrans for US Population Stabilization (SUSPS). After his election to the board in 2003, Watson supported an unsuccessful slate of candidates supporting strict immigration controls as an element of a population stabilization policy. This effort was denounced by another candidate in the election, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, as a "hostile takeover" attempt by "radical anti-immigrant activists." Watson responded by saying that the only change he was seeking in the organization's immigration stance was to restore the position it had held before its 1996 "neutrality policy." Watson left the Sierra Club board in 2006.
Anti-sealing activities
In April 2008, Watson stated that, while the deaths of three Canadian seal hunters (a fourth one is still missing) in a marine accident involving a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and a fishing boat during the 2008 Canadian Commercial Seal Hunt were a tragedy, he felt that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals is an even greater tragedy. Canadian Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn accused Watson of trivializing the memory of the lost sealers. Watson replied that Hearn was trying to distract attention from his government's incompetence as the boat the men were on capsized while under tow by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, while his political ambitions continued to support and subsidize an industry that had no place in the 21st century. In 1978, Watson expressed opposition to seal hunt protest organization, suggesting in an interview with CBC's Barbara Frum that saving seals is a cheap and easy fundraiser and that seals do not deserve special status over other species. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams was quoted as saying, "I think what a lot of people don't realize is that this man is a terrorist."
Australian visa issues
In October 2009, Watson, who carries a US passport, complained to media outlets about having his request for an Australian visa denied. He states that the Australian government was attempting to sabotage the upcoming 2010 Sea Shepherd campaign by denying him entry into the country. Watson and several other shipmates were also unable to join the Steve Irwin on its promotional tour of Australia until they were able to provide documentation from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway, exonerating them from previously claimed acts of violence, specifically claims by Sea Shepherd of intentionally sinking a ship in Norway. In January 2013, Paul Watson was presented with an Aboriginal passport by the Krautungalung people of the Gunnai Nation.
Alleged shooting
On March 17, 2008, Paul Watson said that he was shot by the Japanese crew or coast guard personnel during the Operation Migaloo anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Ocean. The incident is documented during the season finale of season 1 of the Whale Wars TV reality show, and the first six episodes are covered as a buildup to what is portrayed as the major incident during the campaign. The Japanese respond by throwing stun grenades, one crew member is injured from a grenade detonating close behind him and another injured trying to escape the explosions. Watson is then shown reaching inside his jacket and body armour and remarking "I've been hit." Back inside the bridge of the Steve Irwin, a metal fragment is found inside the vest.
The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research disputes Sea Shepherd's statements. The Institute and Coast Guard said that they used seven stun grenades designed to temporarily debilitate a target by rendering them blind and deaf for a period of time. The Japanese government also alleged that the whalers launched "noise balls", described as "loud explosive deterrent devices". Neither of the two conflicting accounts have been independently verified. The Australian Foreign Affairs Department had condemned "actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury". Two media releases were made on the same day from the office. One said that the Australian Embassy in Tokyo had been informed by the Japanese that the whalers had "fired warning shots" while the updated version used the phrase "'warning balls' – also known as 'flashbangs' – had been fired".
Accusations of terrorism
Watson has been called an eco-terrorist by the Japanese government for his direct action tactics against whalers, and it repeated its position after conflicts during the 2009–10 whaling season.
At an animal rights convention in 2002, Paul Watson was also quoted as saying, "There's nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win. Then you write the history". In 2010, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck also discussed the comment, criticizing Watson's views. Watson responded to Beck's comments on the official Sea Shepherd website by stating that he had said that but that it was taken out of context, quoting Gerald Seymour's "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter".
Comments following 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
Watson was criticized for his poem published immediately following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami which suggested the disaster was Neptune's anger. Watson responded to critics with a commentary on the Sea Shepherd website expressing "deepest concern and sympathy for the people of Japan who are suffering through one of the worst natural disasters in the history of civilization".
Criticism of New Zealand
In 2013, three Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships docked in New Zealand, and were searched by New Zealand authorities to see if Watson was aboard. He was not, having transferred to another ship in international waters, aware New Zealand was required to notify Interpol if he entered the country. Watson criticised the search, accusing New Zealand of siding with Japan on the issue of whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Reactions to activism and leadership
Watson has stated that he does not consider himself a 'protester', but an 'interventionist', as he considers protesting as too submissive. He often takes the attitude that he represents (or stands in for) law enforcement which is either unwilling or unable to enforce existing laws.
His leadership style has variously been called arrogant, as well as pushing himself too much "front and center", which was cited as one of the reasons for expulsion from Greenpeace. The atmosphere aboard his vessels has been compared to an "anarchy run by God".
The former member of Sea Shepherd and captain of the Pete Bethune described Watson as "morally bankrupt" who would order the intentional sinking of his own ships like the Ady Gil as a means to "garner sympathy with the public and to create better TV". Watson denied this, saying "No one ordered him to scuttle it. Pete Bethune was captain of the Ady Gil; all decisions on the Ady Gil were his."
Awards
Paul Watson received the Jules Verne Award on October 10, 2012. He was the second person after Captain Jacques Cousteau to be honored with a Jules Verne Award dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. On June 28, 2010 Paul received the Asociación de Amigos del Museo de Anclas Philippe Cousteau: Defense of Marine Life Award, in recognition of his merits achieved by the work done in defense of marine life. In 2002, Paul was inducted into the US Animal Rights Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to animal liberation. Paul received the George H. W. Bush Daily Points of Light Award in 1999 and in 2000, he was named one of Time Magazine's Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century. On May 23, 2019, Paul Watson received an official commendation by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont stating that the "State of Connecticut conveyed both honor and recognition to Captain Paul Watson." In 2007 Watson received the Amazon Peace Prize presented by the Vice President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno.
Media portrayals
A biographical documentary on Paul Watson's early life and background entitled Pirate for the Sea was produced by Ron Colby in 2008.
The 2008 documentary At the Edge of the World chronicled the efforts of Watson and 45 volunteers to hinder the Japanese whaling fleet in the waters around Antarctica. In 2010, long time friend and filmmaker Peter Brown released the documentary Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist, a satirical look back at the last 30 years of actions. The documentary Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson from 2011 features interviews and footage with early Greenpeace members Rex Weyler and Patrick Moore.
Watson, Whale Wars, and the Japanese whaling industry were satirized in the South Park episode "Whale Whores". In its fictional Larry King show, Watson himself was called "An unorganized incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause" and "A smug, narcoleptic liar with no credibility".
Watson responded to the South Park episode by stating; "My understanding is that the Japanese Prime Minister was not amused and the whalers and dolphin killers are enraged at the way they were portrayed," Watson said. "That's music to my ears. If the humorless whale killers and the bank rollers of the dolphin killers did not like the show, then that's all I need to applaud it."
Watson was portrayed (along with whale biologist, Nan Hauser), during a 60 Minutes episode that aired in 2013, as contributing to the return of the Humpback whale populations in the South Pacific.
In 2019 a biopic film called, Watson directed by one of the producers of An Inconvenient Truth, Lesley Chilcott, was released and also aired on Animal Planet on December 22, 2019.
List of works
Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals (1981) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy (1993) ()
Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas (1994) ()
Seal Wars: Twenty-Five Years on the Front Lines With the Harp Seals (2002) ()
Contributor to Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberations of Animals (2004) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy 2nd Edition (2012)
The War That Saved the Whales (2019)
Songs from the Southern Ocean (2020)
The Haunted Mariner (2020)
Dealing with Climate Change and Stress (2020)
Orcapedia (2020)
Desperate Mythologies: Theology, Ecology and the General Insanity of Humanity (2020)
Death of a Whale (2021)
URGENT! Save Our Ocean to Survive Climate Change (2021)
See also
List of conservationists
List of vegans
References
Further reading
Earth Warrior: Overboard With Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, by David B. Morris (1995) ()
Eco-Warriors, by Rik Scarce (2006) ()
Capitaine Paul Watson, entretien avec un pirate, by Lamya Essemlali, Paul Watson (2012)
External links
Paul Watson's page on the Sea Shepherd official website
1950 births
Canadian animal rights activists
Canadian environmentalists
Fugitives wanted by Germany
Green Party of British Columbia politicians
Green thinkers
Living people
People associated with Greenpeace
People from St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Activists from Toronto
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Sierra Club directors
Sustainability advocates
Veganism activists
Yippies | true | [
"Yes, Chef is chef Marcus Samuelsson's 2012 memoir written with journalist Veronica Chambers.\n\nPublished by Random House, Yes, Chef describes Samuelsson's early years in Ethiopia, adoption and childhood in Sweden and then culinary career, concluding with a chapter on his restaurant in Harlem, Red Rooster. In the Washington Post, Robin Shulman called the book as \"a sensitive and compelling account of his rise and his extraordinary life...searching for his place in the world through food.\" Reviewing Yes, Chef for The New York Times, Dwight Garner wrote, \"What lifts this book beyond being merely the plainly told story of an interesting life is Mr. Samuelsson’s filigreed yet often pointed observations about why so few black chefs have risen to the top of the culinary world.\"\n\nYes, Chef was a New York Times best-seller and won the 2013 James Beard Award for Writing and Literature.\n\nReferences\n\nMemoirs\n2012 books\nBooks about food and drink\nBooks about Ethiopia\nBooks about Sweden\nBooks about the United States",
"Alien Worlds is a British sci-fi nature docufiction narrated by Sophie Okonedo. The 4-part miniseries, depicted by using CGI techniques, blends fact with science fiction and conceptualizes what alien life might be like by applying the laws of life on Earth to imagined exoplanets. The series was released on Netflix on 2 December 2020.\n\nEpisodes\n\nReception \n\nThe weekend after the series' release, it was one of Netflix's top 10 shows in the UK.\n\nSheena Scott of Forbes called the series \"entertaining and very informative science fiction\" and said that the most interesting part of the series was the non-fiction sections about planet Earth, which show \"the breadth of knowledge scientists have accumulated about our planet\". Likewise, Emma Stefansky of Thrillist said the alien creatures were fun, but \"it's the Earth-bound science that ends up being the most interesting part\".\n\nSee also \n\n Alien Planet, a 2005 Discovery Channel TV film with a similar premise\n Natural History of an Alien, a 1998 TV film, also by the Discovery Channel\n Extraterrestrial (Alien Worlds in the UK) a 2005 National Geographic documentary series\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n \n \"Exploring 'Alien Worlds' on Netflix\" from the SETI Institute\n\nEnglish-language television shows\n2020 British television series debuts\n2020 British television series endings\nBritish television documentaries\nDocumentary films about nature\nNetflix original documentary television series\n2020s British documentary television series\nSpeculative evolution\nAstrobiology\nTelevision series about extraterrestrial life\nTelevision series set on fictional planets"
] |
[
"Paul Watson",
"Early and personal life",
"Where was paul born?",
"Paul Watson was born in Toronto",
"when was he born?",
"I don't know.",
"who were his parents?",
"Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen,",
"did he have any siblings?",
"two sisters and three brothers.",
"where did he go to school?",
"I don't know.",
"what was interesting about his early life?",
"As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to \"respect and defend animals\"."
] | C_92b9e56b3db24c86932abccd2b624bea_1 | did he have any romantic relatiosnships? | 7 | Did Paul Watson have any romantic relationships? | Paul Watson | According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver. According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 35,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deck hand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016. CANNOTANSWER | Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, | Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. The tactics used by Sea Shepherd have attracted opposition, with the group accused of eco-terrorism by both the Japanese government and Greenpeace. Watson is a citizen of Canada and the United States.
The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969. He was a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1972. Because Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, he was ousted from the board in 1977. That same year, he formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group was the subject of a reality show named Whale Wars.
He promotes veganism, population reduction and a biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, worldview.
Watson's activities have led to legal action from authorities in countries including the United States, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica and Japan. He was detained in Germany on an extradition request by Costa Rica in May 2012. An Interpol red notice was issued on September 14, 2012, at the request of Japan and Costa Rica.
After staying at sea for 15 months following his escape from Germany, where he was released on bail, he returned to Los Angeles in late October 2013, going through customs and "was not arrested". He appeared before a US appeals court on November 6, 2013, stating that neither he nor the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society violated a 2012 order requiring them to leave whaling vessels alone. Although the United States is a signatory member of Interpol, Watson has not been detained for extradition to Japan or Costa Rica. He is living in Vermont, writing books. He was residing in Paris as of July 1, 2014 but has since returned to the USA.
In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Early and personal life
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver.
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 30,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deckhand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. In 1972 he shipped out of San Francisco on the 35,000 ton bulk Swedish carrier Jarl R. Trapp and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade
Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016 and a second son, Murtagh, on August 6, 2021. He ran for parliament in Canada's federal elections twice.
Activism
Early years
In October 1969, Watson joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing at Amchitka Island. The group which formed as a result of that protest was the Don't Make a Wave Committee, which evolved into the group known today as Greenpeace. In the early 1970s, Watson was also active with the Vancouver Liberation Front and the Vancouver Yippies. Watson sailed as a crew member aboard the Greenpeace Too! ship in 1971 and skippered the Greenpeace boat Astral in 1972. Paul Watson continued as a crew member, skipper, and officer aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s.
According to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other sources, Watson was a founding member of Greenpeace, but the organization denies this stating he "was an influential early member but not, as he sometimes claims, a founder." Greenpeace claims that Watson joined Greenpeace on its Amchitka expedition, which they claim to be their second expedition, but Paul Watson claims that this was Greenpeace's first meeting.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The first Sea Shepherd vessel, the Sea Shepherd, was purchased in December 1978 with assistance from the Fund for Animals and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Sea Shepherd soon established itself as one of the more controversial environmental groups, known for provocative direct action tactics. These tactics have included throwing objects onto the decks of whaling ships, the use of "prop foulers" in an attempt to sabotage the ships, boarding whaling vessels, and the scuttling of two ships in an Icelandic harbor. In January 2013, Watson relinquished captaincy of the Steve Irwin. The organization and its activities to halt whaling are the focus of a reality TV series, Whale Wars, airing on Animal Planet.
In 2010, Watson personally received more than $120,000 from Sea Shepherd.
Because of mounting legal complications, Watson has stepped down as head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2013, to abide by an injunction barring him from proximity with Japanese whaling ships. After the resolution of legal issues involving the Japanese Institute for Cetacean Research, Watson returned as President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Commander of the Sea Shepherd fleet.
Other environmental activities
Watson was a field correspondent for Defenders of Wildlife from 1976 to 1980 and a field representative for the Fund for Animals from 1978 to 1981. Watson also was a co-founder of Friends of the Wolf and Earthforce Environmental Society.
During the 1980s, Watson declared his support for Earth First! and cultivated friendships with David Foreman and Edward Abbey. He proclaimed Sea Shepherd to be the "navy" of Earth First! According to The New Yorker, Watson revived the 19th-century practice of tree spiking.
Watson worked with the Green Party of British Columbia in Vancouver in the 1980s and 90s. He ran for mayor in 1996, placing fourth.
In April 2003, Watson was elected to the board of directors of the Sierra Club for a three-year term. In 2006, he did not seek re-election. He resigned from the board a month before his term ended, in protest against the organization's sponsorship of a "Why I Hunt" essay contest.
In January 2008, Paul Watson was named by The Guardian as one of its "50 people who could save the planet" for the work of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Writings on activism
Watson published Earthforce!, a guide to strategy for environmental activists in 1993. In it, he specifically endorsed the tactics of "monkeywrenching" previously described by Dave Foreman and Edward Abbey. According to Foreman in Eco-Defense—The Field Guide to Monkey-Wrenching— these are tactics of sabotage, covert activity, and direct action. Watson says he incorporated his own personal experience in writing the book.
In Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy, Watson expressed disdain for the truthfulness of mainstream media:
The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was "old news." A headline comment on Monday's newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Watson was explicit about what he perceived to be the lack of truthfulness in mass media: "If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, then simply follow the example of an American President and do as Ronald Reagan did—make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation." In a subsequent book, Ocean Warrior, Watson expanded on this view, saying: "Survival in a media culture meant developing the skills to understand and manipulate media to achieve strategic objectives."
In 2007 Watson explained his view of needed population control and the future for humans given their role in the Holocene extinction, which he refers to as the "Holocenic hominid collective suicide event":
Today, escalating human populations have vastly exceeded global carrying capacity and now produce massive quantities of solid, liquid, and gaseous waste [...] No human community should be larger than 20,000 people and separated from other communities by wilderness areas [...] We need to radically and intelligently reduce human populations to fewer than one billion [...] Curing a body of cancer requires radical and invasive therapy, and therefore, curing the biosphere of the human virus will also require a radical and invasive approach [...] Who should have children? Those who are responsible and completely dedicated to the responsibility which is actually a very small percentage of humans.
Controversy
Separation from Greenpeace
Paul Watson continued as a crew member, officer, and skipper (in 1972) aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. He considers himself a founding member of Greenpeace and Greenpeace International, a claim Greenpeace disputes despite being pointed out in the documentary, How to Change the World which shows that Watson was indeed one of the original founding members of Greenpeace. Watson has since accused Greenpeace of rewriting their history.
In 1977, Watson was expelled from the Greenpeace's board of directors by a vote of 11 to 1 (Watson himself cast the single vote against it). The group felt his strong, "front and center" personality and frequently voiced opposition to Greenpeace's interpretation of "nonviolence" were too divisive. Watson subsequently left the group. The group has since labeled his actions at the time as those of a "mutineer" within their ranks. That same year, he founded his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
During an interview in 1978 with CBC Radio, Watson spoke out against Greenpeace (as well as other organizations) and their role and motives for the anti-sealing campaigns. Watson accused these organizations of campaigning against the Canadian seal hunt because it is an easy way to raise money and it is a profit maker for the organizations.
Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities.
Charges and prosecutions
Watson was sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined $8,000 for his actions during a Canadian seal hunt protest in 1980, after being convicted of assaulting a fisheries officer. Watson served his sentence at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, St. John's, NL. He was also found guilty under the Seal Protection Act for painting harp seal pups with red dye to devalue their pelts. Watson was arrested in 1993 in Canada on charges stemming from actions against Cuban and Spanish fishing boats off the coast of Newfoundland. In 1997, Watson was convicted in absentia and sentenced to serve 120 days in jail by a court in Lofoten, Norway on charges of attempting to sink the small scale Norwegian fishing and whaling vessel Nybrænna on December 26, 1992. Dutch authorities refused to hand him over to Norwegian authorities although he did spend 80 days in detention in the Netherlands pending a ruling on extradition before being released.
There have not been any successful attempts at prosecuting Watson for his activities with Sea Shepherd since the trial in Newfoundland. Watson defends his actions as falling within international law, in particular Sea Shepherd's right to enforce maritime regulations against illegal whalers and sealers.
Sea Shepherd activists Rod Coronado and David Howitt went to Iceland in 1986 and scuttled two whaling ships in port at Reykjavík and also damaged a whale meat processing factory. Watson took responsibility for the operation, abiding by published Sea Shepherd principles. He went to Iceland saying, "I am responsible for all activities undertaken in the name of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I give the orders." He was deported without being charged and is considered a persona non grata by Iceland
In April 2010 the Japanese Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant for Watson "...on suspicion of ordering sabotage activities against Japan's whaling fleet", and Interpol has listed him as wanted at the request of Japan. The red notice has the charges issued by Japan as, "Breaking into the Vessel, Damage to Property, Forcible Obstruction of Business, Injury". In March 2012 Interpol issued a "written statement to all 190 member countries making it clear that it would not publish a Red Notice" for the detention of Watson, but reversed that position in September 2012. In both statements Interpol stated that a "Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant" that it is "a request for any country to identify or locate an individual with a view to their provisional arrest and extradition in accordance with the country's national laws".
In May 2012 Watson was detained by German authorities at the Frankfurt Airport because of a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation at sea in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd said that the other vessel was illegally shark finning in Guatemalan waters. Crew members of the other ship accused Sea Shepherd of trying to kill them. Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations with the Interpol alert stating the charge as, "peligro de naufragio" (danger of shipwreck). The conflict took place during filming for the documentary Sharkwater and the charges were dropped by prosecutors after video of the incident made by the documentary film makers was shown. On May 21, Watson was released on bail of €250,000 but required to report to police in Frankfurt on a daily basis. In June, Costa Rica formally requested Watson's extradition from Germany. On July 19, 2012, Japan applied for an extradition order and Watson left Germany, resulting in a German court ordering his immediate re-arrest. It is understood the statute of limitations on his Costa Rican charges was set to expire in June 2013.
On August 7, 2012 Interpol renewed the Red Notice for Watson on the charges of "causing a danger of drowning or of an air disaster" laid by Costa Rica. It was reported that Watson would come out of hiding to join Sea Shepherd in the 2012–13 campaign against Japanese whaling. Watson rejoined the crew of the Steve Irwin in the South Pacific in late November 2012. In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Sierra Club immigration stance
In 1999, Watson ran unsuccessfully for election to the national Sierra Club Board of Directors, with the backing of the anti-immigration faction Sierrans for US Population Stabilization (SUSPS). After his election to the board in 2003, Watson supported an unsuccessful slate of candidates supporting strict immigration controls as an element of a population stabilization policy. This effort was denounced by another candidate in the election, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, as a "hostile takeover" attempt by "radical anti-immigrant activists." Watson responded by saying that the only change he was seeking in the organization's immigration stance was to restore the position it had held before its 1996 "neutrality policy." Watson left the Sierra Club board in 2006.
Anti-sealing activities
In April 2008, Watson stated that, while the deaths of three Canadian seal hunters (a fourth one is still missing) in a marine accident involving a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and a fishing boat during the 2008 Canadian Commercial Seal Hunt were a tragedy, he felt that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals is an even greater tragedy. Canadian Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn accused Watson of trivializing the memory of the lost sealers. Watson replied that Hearn was trying to distract attention from his government's incompetence as the boat the men were on capsized while under tow by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, while his political ambitions continued to support and subsidize an industry that had no place in the 21st century. In 1978, Watson expressed opposition to seal hunt protest organization, suggesting in an interview with CBC's Barbara Frum that saving seals is a cheap and easy fundraiser and that seals do not deserve special status over other species. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams was quoted as saying, "I think what a lot of people don't realize is that this man is a terrorist."
Australian visa issues
In October 2009, Watson, who carries a US passport, complained to media outlets about having his request for an Australian visa denied. He states that the Australian government was attempting to sabotage the upcoming 2010 Sea Shepherd campaign by denying him entry into the country. Watson and several other shipmates were also unable to join the Steve Irwin on its promotional tour of Australia until they were able to provide documentation from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway, exonerating them from previously claimed acts of violence, specifically claims by Sea Shepherd of intentionally sinking a ship in Norway. In January 2013, Paul Watson was presented with an Aboriginal passport by the Krautungalung people of the Gunnai Nation.
Alleged shooting
On March 17, 2008, Paul Watson said that he was shot by the Japanese crew or coast guard personnel during the Operation Migaloo anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Ocean. The incident is documented during the season finale of season 1 of the Whale Wars TV reality show, and the first six episodes are covered as a buildup to what is portrayed as the major incident during the campaign. The Japanese respond by throwing stun grenades, one crew member is injured from a grenade detonating close behind him and another injured trying to escape the explosions. Watson is then shown reaching inside his jacket and body armour and remarking "I've been hit." Back inside the bridge of the Steve Irwin, a metal fragment is found inside the vest.
The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research disputes Sea Shepherd's statements. The Institute and Coast Guard said that they used seven stun grenades designed to temporarily debilitate a target by rendering them blind and deaf for a period of time. The Japanese government also alleged that the whalers launched "noise balls", described as "loud explosive deterrent devices". Neither of the two conflicting accounts have been independently verified. The Australian Foreign Affairs Department had condemned "actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury". Two media releases were made on the same day from the office. One said that the Australian Embassy in Tokyo had been informed by the Japanese that the whalers had "fired warning shots" while the updated version used the phrase "'warning balls' – also known as 'flashbangs' – had been fired".
Accusations of terrorism
Watson has been called an eco-terrorist by the Japanese government for his direct action tactics against whalers, and it repeated its position after conflicts during the 2009–10 whaling season.
At an animal rights convention in 2002, Paul Watson was also quoted as saying, "There's nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win. Then you write the history". In 2010, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck also discussed the comment, criticizing Watson's views. Watson responded to Beck's comments on the official Sea Shepherd website by stating that he had said that but that it was taken out of context, quoting Gerald Seymour's "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter".
Comments following 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
Watson was criticized for his poem published immediately following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami which suggested the disaster was Neptune's anger. Watson responded to critics with a commentary on the Sea Shepherd website expressing "deepest concern and sympathy for the people of Japan who are suffering through one of the worst natural disasters in the history of civilization".
Criticism of New Zealand
In 2013, three Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships docked in New Zealand, and were searched by New Zealand authorities to see if Watson was aboard. He was not, having transferred to another ship in international waters, aware New Zealand was required to notify Interpol if he entered the country. Watson criticised the search, accusing New Zealand of siding with Japan on the issue of whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Reactions to activism and leadership
Watson has stated that he does not consider himself a 'protester', but an 'interventionist', as he considers protesting as too submissive. He often takes the attitude that he represents (or stands in for) law enforcement which is either unwilling or unable to enforce existing laws.
His leadership style has variously been called arrogant, as well as pushing himself too much "front and center", which was cited as one of the reasons for expulsion from Greenpeace. The atmosphere aboard his vessels has been compared to an "anarchy run by God".
The former member of Sea Shepherd and captain of the Pete Bethune described Watson as "morally bankrupt" who would order the intentional sinking of his own ships like the Ady Gil as a means to "garner sympathy with the public and to create better TV". Watson denied this, saying "No one ordered him to scuttle it. Pete Bethune was captain of the Ady Gil; all decisions on the Ady Gil were his."
Awards
Paul Watson received the Jules Verne Award on October 10, 2012. He was the second person after Captain Jacques Cousteau to be honored with a Jules Verne Award dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. On June 28, 2010 Paul received the Asociación de Amigos del Museo de Anclas Philippe Cousteau: Defense of Marine Life Award, in recognition of his merits achieved by the work done in defense of marine life. In 2002, Paul was inducted into the US Animal Rights Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to animal liberation. Paul received the George H. W. Bush Daily Points of Light Award in 1999 and in 2000, he was named one of Time Magazine's Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century. On May 23, 2019, Paul Watson received an official commendation by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont stating that the "State of Connecticut conveyed both honor and recognition to Captain Paul Watson." In 2007 Watson received the Amazon Peace Prize presented by the Vice President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno.
Media portrayals
A biographical documentary on Paul Watson's early life and background entitled Pirate for the Sea was produced by Ron Colby in 2008.
The 2008 documentary At the Edge of the World chronicled the efforts of Watson and 45 volunteers to hinder the Japanese whaling fleet in the waters around Antarctica. In 2010, long time friend and filmmaker Peter Brown released the documentary Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist, a satirical look back at the last 30 years of actions. The documentary Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson from 2011 features interviews and footage with early Greenpeace members Rex Weyler and Patrick Moore.
Watson, Whale Wars, and the Japanese whaling industry were satirized in the South Park episode "Whale Whores". In its fictional Larry King show, Watson himself was called "An unorganized incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause" and "A smug, narcoleptic liar with no credibility".
Watson responded to the South Park episode by stating; "My understanding is that the Japanese Prime Minister was not amused and the whalers and dolphin killers are enraged at the way they were portrayed," Watson said. "That's music to my ears. If the humorless whale killers and the bank rollers of the dolphin killers did not like the show, then that's all I need to applaud it."
Watson was portrayed (along with whale biologist, Nan Hauser), during a 60 Minutes episode that aired in 2013, as contributing to the return of the Humpback whale populations in the South Pacific.
In 2019 a biopic film called, Watson directed by one of the producers of An Inconvenient Truth, Lesley Chilcott, was released and also aired on Animal Planet on December 22, 2019.
List of works
Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals (1981) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy (1993) ()
Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas (1994) ()
Seal Wars: Twenty-Five Years on the Front Lines With the Harp Seals (2002) ()
Contributor to Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberations of Animals (2004) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy 2nd Edition (2012)
The War That Saved the Whales (2019)
Songs from the Southern Ocean (2020)
The Haunted Mariner (2020)
Dealing with Climate Change and Stress (2020)
Orcapedia (2020)
Desperate Mythologies: Theology, Ecology and the General Insanity of Humanity (2020)
Death of a Whale (2021)
URGENT! Save Our Ocean to Survive Climate Change (2021)
See also
List of conservationists
List of vegans
References
Further reading
Earth Warrior: Overboard With Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, by David B. Morris (1995) ()
Eco-Warriors, by Rik Scarce (2006) ()
Capitaine Paul Watson, entretien avec un pirate, by Lamya Essemlali, Paul Watson (2012)
External links
Paul Watson's page on the Sea Shepherd official website
1950 births
Canadian animal rights activists
Canadian environmentalists
Fugitives wanted by Germany
Green Party of British Columbia politicians
Green thinkers
Living people
People associated with Greenpeace
People from St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Activists from Toronto
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Sierra Club directors
Sustainability advocates
Veganism activists
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"Romantic orientation, also called affectional orientation, indicates the sex or gender with which a person is most likely to have a romantic relationship or fall in love. It is used both alternatively and side by side with the term sexual orientation, and is based on the perspective that sexual attraction is only a single component of a larger dynamic. For example, although a pansexual person may feel sexually attracted to people regardless of gender, the person may experience romantic attraction and intimacy with women only.\n\nFor asexual people, romantic orientation is often considered a more useful measure of attraction than sexual orientation.\n\nThe relationship between sexual attraction and romantic attraction is still under debate and is not fully understood. Sexual and romantic attractions are often studied in conjunction. Even though studies of sexual and romantic spectrums are shedding light onto this underresearched subject, much is still not fully understood.\n\nRomantic identities\nPeople may or may not engage in purely emotional romantic relationships. The main identities relating to this are:\n Aromantic: No romantic attraction towards anyone (aromanticism, see section below).\n Heteroromantic (or heteromantic): Romantic attraction towards person(s) of the opposite gender (heteroromanticism).\n Homoromantic: Romantic attraction towards person(s) of the same gender (homoromanticism).\n Biromantic: Romantic attraction towards two or more genders, or person(s) of the same and other genders (biromanticism). Sometimes used the same way as panromantic.\n Panromantic: Romantic attraction towards person(s) of any, every, and all genders (panromanticism).\n Demiromantic: Romantic attraction towards any of the above but only after forming a deep emotional bond with the person(s) (demiromanticism).\n Greyromantic: Experiencing romantic attraction rarely or only under certain circumstances (greyromanticism).\n\nRelationship with sexual orientation and asexuality\nThe implications of the distinction between romantic and sexual orientations have not been fully recognized, nor have they been studied extensively. It is common for sources to describe sexual orientation as including components of both sexual and romantic (or romantic equivalent) attractions. Publications investigating the relationship between sexual orientation and romantic orientation are limited. Challenges in collecting information result from survey participants having difficulty identifying or distinguishing between sexual and romantic attractions. Asexual individuals experience little to no sexual attraction (see gray asexuality); however, they may still experience romantic attraction. Lisa M. Diamond states that a person's romantic orientation can differ from whom the person is sexually attracted to. While there is limited research on the discordance between sexual attraction and romantic attraction in individuals, also known as cross orientation, the possibility of fluidity and diversity in attractions have been progressively recognized. Researchers Bulmer and Izuma found that people who identify as aromantic often have more negative attitudes in relation to romance. While roughly 1% of the population identifies as asexual, 74% of those people reported having some form of romantic attraction.\n\nAromanticism\n\nAromanticism is a romantic orientation characterized by experiencing little to no romantic attraction. One of the attributes of aromantic people is that, despite feeling no romantic attraction, they may still enjoy sex. Aromantic people are not incapable of feeling love; for example, they can still feel familial love, or the type of platonic love that is expressed between friends, and some form intimate partnerships called queerplatonic relationships. Individuals who identify as aromantic may have trouble distinguishing the affection of family and friends from that of a romantic partner.\n\nMany aromantic people are asexual, but the term aromantic can be used in relation to various sexual identities, such as aromantic bisexual, aromantic heterosexual, aromantic lesbian, aromantic gay man or aromantic asexual. This is because aromanticism primarily deals with romantic attraction rather than with sexuality or libido.\n\nSome publications have argued that there is an underrepresentation of asexual and aromantic people in media and in research, and that they are often misunderstood. Aromantic people often face stigma and are stereotyped with labels such as being afraid of intimacy, heartless, or deluded. Amatonormativity, a concept that elevates romantic relationships over non-romantic relationships, has been said to be damaging to aromantics.\n\nThe antonym of aromanticism is alloromanticism, the state of experiencing romantic love or romantic attraction to others, while such a person is called an alloromantic. An informal term for an aromantic person is aro. In the expanded LGBT initialism LGBTQIA+, the letter A stands for asexual, aromantic and agender.\n\nPanromanticism \nPanromantic is described as having romantic attraction to people of all genders or regardless of gender. Panromantic people are seen to have romantic attraction for people both inside and outside the general gender binary. They are capable of love regardless of the gender of the person the love is aimed towards. Sexual and romantic attractions are not necessarily always the same and hence being panromantic does not necessarily mean being pansexual. Panromantic asexuality describes people who do not feel sexual attraction to those of any gender but have panromantic attraction.\n\nBiromanticism \nBiromantic is defined as having romantic attraction to two or more genders. This could mean different things for different people. For example, one could be attracted to both men and women, or attracted to men and non-binary people etc.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nSexual orientation\nRomance\nAsexuality",
"Hard Promises is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Martin Davidson. It stars Sissy Spacek and William Petersen.\n\nPlot\nA man who dislikes stable work environments has been away for too many years when he finds out that his wife had divorced him and is planning to remarry. He comes home to confront her, trying to persuade her not to get married, aided by their daughter, who loves him despite his wandering ways. The couple finds out they still have feelings for each other but must decide how best to handle the contradiction of their lifestyles.\n\nCast\n\nCritical reception\nVincent Canby of The New York Times did not care for the film but did praise some of the actors:\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1991 films\n1990s romantic comedy films\nAmerican films\nAmerican romantic comedy films\nColumbia Pictures films\nEnglish-language films\nFilms directed by Martin Davidson\nFilms scored by George S. Clinton\nFilms set in Texas\nFilms shot in Texas\n1991 comedy films"
] |
[
"Paul Watson",
"Early and personal life",
"Where was paul born?",
"Paul Watson was born in Toronto",
"when was he born?",
"I don't know.",
"who were his parents?",
"Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen,",
"did he have any siblings?",
"two sisters and three brothers.",
"where did he go to school?",
"I don't know.",
"what was interesting about his early life?",
"As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to \"respect and defend animals\".",
"did he have any romantic relatiosnships?",
"Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife,"
] | C_92b9e56b3db24c86932abccd2b624bea_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 8 | Besides the family life of Paul Watson, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Paul Watson | According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver. According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 35,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deck hand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016. CANNOTANSWER | Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, | Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. The tactics used by Sea Shepherd have attracted opposition, with the group accused of eco-terrorism by both the Japanese government and Greenpeace. Watson is a citizen of Canada and the United States.
The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969. He was a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1972. Because Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, he was ousted from the board in 1977. That same year, he formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group was the subject of a reality show named Whale Wars.
He promotes veganism, population reduction and a biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, worldview.
Watson's activities have led to legal action from authorities in countries including the United States, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica and Japan. He was detained in Germany on an extradition request by Costa Rica in May 2012. An Interpol red notice was issued on September 14, 2012, at the request of Japan and Costa Rica.
After staying at sea for 15 months following his escape from Germany, where he was released on bail, he returned to Los Angeles in late October 2013, going through customs and "was not arrested". He appeared before a US appeals court on November 6, 2013, stating that neither he nor the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society violated a 2012 order requiring them to leave whaling vessels alone. Although the United States is a signatory member of Interpol, Watson has not been detained for extradition to Japan or Costa Rica. He is living in Vermont, writing books. He was residing in Paris as of July 1, 2014 but has since returned to the USA.
In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Early and personal life
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two sisters and three brothers. As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals". After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver.
According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 30,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deckhand. The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade. In 1972 he shipped out of San Francisco on the 35,000 ton bulk Swedish carrier Jarl R. Trapp and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade
Watson has one daughter Lilliolani (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd. Watson has two grandchildren. Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris, France. Watson and Rusinovich had a son, Tiger, on September 29, 2016 and a second son, Murtagh, on August 6, 2021. He ran for parliament in Canada's federal elections twice.
Activism
Early years
In October 1969, Watson joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing at Amchitka Island. The group which formed as a result of that protest was the Don't Make a Wave Committee, which evolved into the group known today as Greenpeace. In the early 1970s, Watson was also active with the Vancouver Liberation Front and the Vancouver Yippies. Watson sailed as a crew member aboard the Greenpeace Too! ship in 1971 and skippered the Greenpeace boat Astral in 1972. Paul Watson continued as a crew member, skipper, and officer aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s.
According to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other sources, Watson was a founding member of Greenpeace, but the organization denies this stating he "was an influential early member but not, as he sometimes claims, a founder." Greenpeace claims that Watson joined Greenpeace on its Amchitka expedition, which they claim to be their second expedition, but Paul Watson claims that this was Greenpeace's first meeting.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The first Sea Shepherd vessel, the Sea Shepherd, was purchased in December 1978 with assistance from the Fund for Animals and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Sea Shepherd soon established itself as one of the more controversial environmental groups, known for provocative direct action tactics. These tactics have included throwing objects onto the decks of whaling ships, the use of "prop foulers" in an attempt to sabotage the ships, boarding whaling vessels, and the scuttling of two ships in an Icelandic harbor. In January 2013, Watson relinquished captaincy of the Steve Irwin. The organization and its activities to halt whaling are the focus of a reality TV series, Whale Wars, airing on Animal Planet.
In 2010, Watson personally received more than $120,000 from Sea Shepherd.
Because of mounting legal complications, Watson has stepped down as head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2013, to abide by an injunction barring him from proximity with Japanese whaling ships. After the resolution of legal issues involving the Japanese Institute for Cetacean Research, Watson returned as President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Commander of the Sea Shepherd fleet.
Other environmental activities
Watson was a field correspondent for Defenders of Wildlife from 1976 to 1980 and a field representative for the Fund for Animals from 1978 to 1981. Watson also was a co-founder of Friends of the Wolf and Earthforce Environmental Society.
During the 1980s, Watson declared his support for Earth First! and cultivated friendships with David Foreman and Edward Abbey. He proclaimed Sea Shepherd to be the "navy" of Earth First! According to The New Yorker, Watson revived the 19th-century practice of tree spiking.
Watson worked with the Green Party of British Columbia in Vancouver in the 1980s and 90s. He ran for mayor in 1996, placing fourth.
In April 2003, Watson was elected to the board of directors of the Sierra Club for a three-year term. In 2006, he did not seek re-election. He resigned from the board a month before his term ended, in protest against the organization's sponsorship of a "Why I Hunt" essay contest.
In January 2008, Paul Watson was named by The Guardian as one of its "50 people who could save the planet" for the work of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Writings on activism
Watson published Earthforce!, a guide to strategy for environmental activists in 1993. In it, he specifically endorsed the tactics of "monkeywrenching" previously described by Dave Foreman and Edward Abbey. According to Foreman in Eco-Defense—The Field Guide to Monkey-Wrenching— these are tactics of sabotage, covert activity, and direct action. Watson says he incorporated his own personal experience in writing the book.
In Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy, Watson expressed disdain for the truthfulness of mainstream media:
The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was "old news." A headline comment on Monday's newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Watson was explicit about what he perceived to be the lack of truthfulness in mass media: "If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, then simply follow the example of an American President and do as Ronald Reagan did—make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation." In a subsequent book, Ocean Warrior, Watson expanded on this view, saying: "Survival in a media culture meant developing the skills to understand and manipulate media to achieve strategic objectives."
In 2007 Watson explained his view of needed population control and the future for humans given their role in the Holocene extinction, which he refers to as the "Holocenic hominid collective suicide event":
Today, escalating human populations have vastly exceeded global carrying capacity and now produce massive quantities of solid, liquid, and gaseous waste [...] No human community should be larger than 20,000 people and separated from other communities by wilderness areas [...] We need to radically and intelligently reduce human populations to fewer than one billion [...] Curing a body of cancer requires radical and invasive therapy, and therefore, curing the biosphere of the human virus will also require a radical and invasive approach [...] Who should have children? Those who are responsible and completely dedicated to the responsibility which is actually a very small percentage of humans.
Controversy
Separation from Greenpeace
Paul Watson continued as a crew member, officer, and skipper (in 1972) aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. He considers himself a founding member of Greenpeace and Greenpeace International, a claim Greenpeace disputes despite being pointed out in the documentary, How to Change the World which shows that Watson was indeed one of the original founding members of Greenpeace. Watson has since accused Greenpeace of rewriting their history.
In 1977, Watson was expelled from the Greenpeace's board of directors by a vote of 11 to 1 (Watson himself cast the single vote against it). The group felt his strong, "front and center" personality and frequently voiced opposition to Greenpeace's interpretation of "nonviolence" were too divisive. Watson subsequently left the group. The group has since labeled his actions at the time as those of a "mutineer" within their ranks. That same year, he founded his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
During an interview in 1978 with CBC Radio, Watson spoke out against Greenpeace (as well as other organizations) and their role and motives for the anti-sealing campaigns. Watson accused these organizations of campaigning against the Canadian seal hunt because it is an easy way to raise money and it is a profit maker for the organizations.
Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities.
Charges and prosecutions
Watson was sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined $8,000 for his actions during a Canadian seal hunt protest in 1980, after being convicted of assaulting a fisheries officer. Watson served his sentence at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, St. John's, NL. He was also found guilty under the Seal Protection Act for painting harp seal pups with red dye to devalue their pelts. Watson was arrested in 1993 in Canada on charges stemming from actions against Cuban and Spanish fishing boats off the coast of Newfoundland. In 1997, Watson was convicted in absentia and sentenced to serve 120 days in jail by a court in Lofoten, Norway on charges of attempting to sink the small scale Norwegian fishing and whaling vessel Nybrænna on December 26, 1992. Dutch authorities refused to hand him over to Norwegian authorities although he did spend 80 days in detention in the Netherlands pending a ruling on extradition before being released.
There have not been any successful attempts at prosecuting Watson for his activities with Sea Shepherd since the trial in Newfoundland. Watson defends his actions as falling within international law, in particular Sea Shepherd's right to enforce maritime regulations against illegal whalers and sealers.
Sea Shepherd activists Rod Coronado and David Howitt went to Iceland in 1986 and scuttled two whaling ships in port at Reykjavík and also damaged a whale meat processing factory. Watson took responsibility for the operation, abiding by published Sea Shepherd principles. He went to Iceland saying, "I am responsible for all activities undertaken in the name of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I give the orders." He was deported without being charged and is considered a persona non grata by Iceland
In April 2010 the Japanese Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant for Watson "...on suspicion of ordering sabotage activities against Japan's whaling fleet", and Interpol has listed him as wanted at the request of Japan. The red notice has the charges issued by Japan as, "Breaking into the Vessel, Damage to Property, Forcible Obstruction of Business, Injury". In March 2012 Interpol issued a "written statement to all 190 member countries making it clear that it would not publish a Red Notice" for the detention of Watson, but reversed that position in September 2012. In both statements Interpol stated that a "Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant" that it is "a request for any country to identify or locate an individual with a view to their provisional arrest and extradition in accordance with the country's national laws".
In May 2012 Watson was detained by German authorities at the Frankfurt Airport because of a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation at sea in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd said that the other vessel was illegally shark finning in Guatemalan waters. Crew members of the other ship accused Sea Shepherd of trying to kill them. Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations with the Interpol alert stating the charge as, "peligro de naufragio" (danger of shipwreck). The conflict took place during filming for the documentary Sharkwater and the charges were dropped by prosecutors after video of the incident made by the documentary film makers was shown. On May 21, Watson was released on bail of €250,000 but required to report to police in Frankfurt on a daily basis. In June, Costa Rica formally requested Watson's extradition from Germany. On July 19, 2012, Japan applied for an extradition order and Watson left Germany, resulting in a German court ordering his immediate re-arrest. It is understood the statute of limitations on his Costa Rican charges was set to expire in June 2013.
On August 7, 2012 Interpol renewed the Red Notice for Watson on the charges of "causing a danger of drowning or of an air disaster" laid by Costa Rica. It was reported that Watson would come out of hiding to join Sea Shepherd in the 2012–13 campaign against Japanese whaling. Watson rejoined the crew of the Steve Irwin in the South Pacific in late November 2012. In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.
Sierra Club immigration stance
In 1999, Watson ran unsuccessfully for election to the national Sierra Club Board of Directors, with the backing of the anti-immigration faction Sierrans for US Population Stabilization (SUSPS). After his election to the board in 2003, Watson supported an unsuccessful slate of candidates supporting strict immigration controls as an element of a population stabilization policy. This effort was denounced by another candidate in the election, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, as a "hostile takeover" attempt by "radical anti-immigrant activists." Watson responded by saying that the only change he was seeking in the organization's immigration stance was to restore the position it had held before its 1996 "neutrality policy." Watson left the Sierra Club board in 2006.
Anti-sealing activities
In April 2008, Watson stated that, while the deaths of three Canadian seal hunters (a fourth one is still missing) in a marine accident involving a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and a fishing boat during the 2008 Canadian Commercial Seal Hunt were a tragedy, he felt that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals is an even greater tragedy. Canadian Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn accused Watson of trivializing the memory of the lost sealers. Watson replied that Hearn was trying to distract attention from his government's incompetence as the boat the men were on capsized while under tow by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, while his political ambitions continued to support and subsidize an industry that had no place in the 21st century. In 1978, Watson expressed opposition to seal hunt protest organization, suggesting in an interview with CBC's Barbara Frum that saving seals is a cheap and easy fundraiser and that seals do not deserve special status over other species. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams was quoted as saying, "I think what a lot of people don't realize is that this man is a terrorist."
Australian visa issues
In October 2009, Watson, who carries a US passport, complained to media outlets about having his request for an Australian visa denied. He states that the Australian government was attempting to sabotage the upcoming 2010 Sea Shepherd campaign by denying him entry into the country. Watson and several other shipmates were also unable to join the Steve Irwin on its promotional tour of Australia until they were able to provide documentation from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway, exonerating them from previously claimed acts of violence, specifically claims by Sea Shepherd of intentionally sinking a ship in Norway. In January 2013, Paul Watson was presented with an Aboriginal passport by the Krautungalung people of the Gunnai Nation.
Alleged shooting
On March 17, 2008, Paul Watson said that he was shot by the Japanese crew or coast guard personnel during the Operation Migaloo anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Ocean. The incident is documented during the season finale of season 1 of the Whale Wars TV reality show, and the first six episodes are covered as a buildup to what is portrayed as the major incident during the campaign. The Japanese respond by throwing stun grenades, one crew member is injured from a grenade detonating close behind him and another injured trying to escape the explosions. Watson is then shown reaching inside his jacket and body armour and remarking "I've been hit." Back inside the bridge of the Steve Irwin, a metal fragment is found inside the vest.
The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research disputes Sea Shepherd's statements. The Institute and Coast Guard said that they used seven stun grenades designed to temporarily debilitate a target by rendering them blind and deaf for a period of time. The Japanese government also alleged that the whalers launched "noise balls", described as "loud explosive deterrent devices". Neither of the two conflicting accounts have been independently verified. The Australian Foreign Affairs Department had condemned "actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury". Two media releases were made on the same day from the office. One said that the Australian Embassy in Tokyo had been informed by the Japanese that the whalers had "fired warning shots" while the updated version used the phrase "'warning balls' – also known as 'flashbangs' – had been fired".
Accusations of terrorism
Watson has been called an eco-terrorist by the Japanese government for his direct action tactics against whalers, and it repeated its position after conflicts during the 2009–10 whaling season.
At an animal rights convention in 2002, Paul Watson was also quoted as saying, "There's nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win. Then you write the history". In 2010, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck also discussed the comment, criticizing Watson's views. Watson responded to Beck's comments on the official Sea Shepherd website by stating that he had said that but that it was taken out of context, quoting Gerald Seymour's "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter".
Comments following 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
Watson was criticized for his poem published immediately following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami which suggested the disaster was Neptune's anger. Watson responded to critics with a commentary on the Sea Shepherd website expressing "deepest concern and sympathy for the people of Japan who are suffering through one of the worst natural disasters in the history of civilization".
Criticism of New Zealand
In 2013, three Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships docked in New Zealand, and were searched by New Zealand authorities to see if Watson was aboard. He was not, having transferred to another ship in international waters, aware New Zealand was required to notify Interpol if he entered the country. Watson criticised the search, accusing New Zealand of siding with Japan on the issue of whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Reactions to activism and leadership
Watson has stated that he does not consider himself a 'protester', but an 'interventionist', as he considers protesting as too submissive. He often takes the attitude that he represents (or stands in for) law enforcement which is either unwilling or unable to enforce existing laws.
His leadership style has variously been called arrogant, as well as pushing himself too much "front and center", which was cited as one of the reasons for expulsion from Greenpeace. The atmosphere aboard his vessels has been compared to an "anarchy run by God".
The former member of Sea Shepherd and captain of the Pete Bethune described Watson as "morally bankrupt" who would order the intentional sinking of his own ships like the Ady Gil as a means to "garner sympathy with the public and to create better TV". Watson denied this, saying "No one ordered him to scuttle it. Pete Bethune was captain of the Ady Gil; all decisions on the Ady Gil were his."
Awards
Paul Watson received the Jules Verne Award on October 10, 2012. He was the second person after Captain Jacques Cousteau to be honored with a Jules Verne Award dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. On June 28, 2010 Paul received the Asociación de Amigos del Museo de Anclas Philippe Cousteau: Defense of Marine Life Award, in recognition of his merits achieved by the work done in defense of marine life. In 2002, Paul was inducted into the US Animal Rights Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to animal liberation. Paul received the George H. W. Bush Daily Points of Light Award in 1999 and in 2000, he was named one of Time Magazine's Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century. On May 23, 2019, Paul Watson received an official commendation by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont stating that the "State of Connecticut conveyed both honor and recognition to Captain Paul Watson." In 2007 Watson received the Amazon Peace Prize presented by the Vice President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno.
Media portrayals
A biographical documentary on Paul Watson's early life and background entitled Pirate for the Sea was produced by Ron Colby in 2008.
The 2008 documentary At the Edge of the World chronicled the efforts of Watson and 45 volunteers to hinder the Japanese whaling fleet in the waters around Antarctica. In 2010, long time friend and filmmaker Peter Brown released the documentary Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist, a satirical look back at the last 30 years of actions. The documentary Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson from 2011 features interviews and footage with early Greenpeace members Rex Weyler and Patrick Moore.
Watson, Whale Wars, and the Japanese whaling industry were satirized in the South Park episode "Whale Whores". In its fictional Larry King show, Watson himself was called "An unorganized incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause" and "A smug, narcoleptic liar with no credibility".
Watson responded to the South Park episode by stating; "My understanding is that the Japanese Prime Minister was not amused and the whalers and dolphin killers are enraged at the way they were portrayed," Watson said. "That's music to my ears. If the humorless whale killers and the bank rollers of the dolphin killers did not like the show, then that's all I need to applaud it."
Watson was portrayed (along with whale biologist, Nan Hauser), during a 60 Minutes episode that aired in 2013, as contributing to the return of the Humpback whale populations in the South Pacific.
In 2019 a biopic film called, Watson directed by one of the producers of An Inconvenient Truth, Lesley Chilcott, was released and also aired on Animal Planet on December 22, 2019.
List of works
Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals (1981) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy (1993) ()
Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas (1994) ()
Seal Wars: Twenty-Five Years on the Front Lines With the Harp Seals (2002) ()
Contributor to Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberations of Animals (2004) ()
Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy 2nd Edition (2012)
The War That Saved the Whales (2019)
Songs from the Southern Ocean (2020)
The Haunted Mariner (2020)
Dealing with Climate Change and Stress (2020)
Orcapedia (2020)
Desperate Mythologies: Theology, Ecology and the General Insanity of Humanity (2020)
Death of a Whale (2021)
URGENT! Save Our Ocean to Survive Climate Change (2021)
See also
List of conservationists
List of vegans
References
Further reading
Earth Warrior: Overboard With Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, by David B. Morris (1995) ()
Eco-Warriors, by Rik Scarce (2006) ()
Capitaine Paul Watson, entretien avec un pirate, by Lamya Essemlali, Paul Watson (2012)
External links
Paul Watson's page on the Sea Shepherd official website
1950 births
Canadian animal rights activists
Canadian environmentalists
Fugitives wanted by Germany
Green Party of British Columbia politicians
Green thinkers
Living people
People associated with Greenpeace
People from St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Activists from Toronto
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Sierra Club directors
Sustainability advocates
Veganism activists
Yippies | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] |
[
"George Armstrong Custer",
"The Valley and Appomattox"
] | C_d2621bad851f4bc88e76021d95db27e2_1 | What can you tell me about The Valley | 1 | What can you tell me about The Valley | George Armstrong Custer | In 1864, with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan, Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was then ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek. Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines finally broke, and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by General Philip Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historical table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution. On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for, then illegally seize a large, prize racehorse "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth then an estimated $10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in the grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C. on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who then ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not, instead hiding the horse and winning a race with it the next year, before the horse died suddenly. CANNOTANSWER | Shenandoah Valley | George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, but as the Civil War was just starting, trained officers were in immediate demand. He worked closely with General George B. McClellan and the future General Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his qualities as a cavalry leader, and he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers at age 23. Only a few days after his promotion, he fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he commanded the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and despite being outnumbered, defeated J. E. B. Stuart's attack at what is now known as the East Cavalry Field. In 1864, Custer served in the Overland Campaign and in Philip Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating Jubal Early at Cedar Creek. His division blocked the Army of Northern Virginia's final retreat and received the first flag of truce from the Confederates, and Custer was present at Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.
After the war, Custer was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army and was sent west to fight in the Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, while leading the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory against a coalition of Native American tribes, he was killed along with all of the five companies he led after splitting the regiment into three battalions. This action became romanticized as "Custer's Last Stand".
His dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his career, and reaction to his life and career remains deeply divided. Custer's legend was partly of his own fabrication through his extensive journalism, and perhaps more through the energetic lobbying of his wife Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer throughout her long widowhood.
Family and ancestry
Custer's paternal ancestors, Paulus and Gertrude Küster, came to the North American English colonies around 1693 from the Rhineland in Germany, probably among thousands of Palatines whose passage was arranged by the English government to gain settlers in New York and Pennsylvania.
According to family letters, Custer was named after George Armstrong, a minister, in his devout mother's hope that her son might join the clergy.
Birth, siblings, and childhood
Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, to Emanuel Henry Custer (1806–1892), a farmer and blacksmith, and his second wife, Marie Ward Kirkpatrick (1807–1882), who was of English and Scots-Irish descent. He had two younger brothers, Thomas and Boston. His other full siblings were the family's youngest child, Margaret Custer, and Nevin Custer, who suffered from asthma and rheumatism. Custer also had three older half-siblings. Custer and his brothers acquired a life-long love of practical jokes, which they played out among the close family members.
Emanuel Custer was an outspoken Jacksonian Democrat who taught his children politics and toughness at an early age. In a February 3, 1887, letter to his son's widow Libby, Emanuel related an incident from when George Custer (known as Autie) was about four years old:
"He had to have a tooth drawn, and he was very much afraid of blood. When I took him to the doctor to have the tooth pulled, it was in the night and I told him if it bled well it would get well right away, and he must be a good soldier. When he got to the doctor he took his seat, and the pulling began. The forceps slipped off and he had to make a second trial. He pulled it out, and Autie never even scrunched. Going home, I led him by the arm. He jumped and skipped, and said 'Father you and me can whip all the Whigs in Michigan.' I thought that was saying a good deal but I did not contradict him."
Education
In order to attend school, Custer lived with an older half-sister and her husband in Monroe, Michigan. Before entering the United States Military Academy, Custer attended the McNeely Normal School, later known as Hopedale Normal College, in Hopedale, Ohio. It was to train teachers for elementary schools. While attending Hopedale, Custer and classmate William Enos Emery were known to have carried coal to help pay for their room and board. After graduating from McNeely Normal School in 1856, Custer taught school in Cadiz, Ohio. His first sweetheart was Mary Jane Holland.
Custer entered West Point as a cadet on July 1, 1857, as a member of the class of 1862. His class numbered seventy-nine cadets embarking on a five-year course of study. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the course was shortened to four years, and Custer and his class graduated on June 24, 1861. He was 34th in a class of 34 graduates: 23 classmates had dropped out for academic reasons while 22 classmates had already resigned to join the Confederacy.
Throughout his life, Custer tested boundaries and rules. In his four years at West Point, he amassed a record total of 726 demerits, one of the worst conduct records in the history of the academy. The local minister remembered Custer as "the instigator of devilish plots both during the service and in Sunday school. On the surface he appeared attentive and respectful, but underneath the mind boiled with disruptive ideas." A fellow cadet recalled Custer as declaring there were only two places in a class, the head and the foot, and since he had no desire to be the head, he aspired to be the foot. A roommate noted, "It was alright with George Custer, whether he knew his lesson or not; he simply did not allow it to trouble him." Under ordinary conditions, Custer's low class rank would result in an obscure posting, the first step in a dead-end career, but Custer had the fortune to graduate as the Civil War broke out, and as a result the Union Army had a sudden need for many junior officers.
Civil War
McClellan and Pleasanton
Like the other graduates, Custer was commissioned as a second lieutenant; he was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment and tasked with drilling volunteers in Washington, D.C. On July 21, 1861, he was with his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run during the Manassas Campaign, where Army commander Winfield Scott detailed him to carry messages to Major General Irvin McDowell. After the battle, Custer continued participating in the defenses of Washington D.C. until October, when he became ill. He was absent from his unit until February 1862. In March, he participated with the 2nd Cavalry in the Peninsula Campaign (March to August) in Virginia until April 4.
On April 5, Custer served in the 5th Cavalry Regiment and participated in the Siege of Yorktown, from April 5 to May 4 and was aide to Major General George B. McClellan; McClellan was in command of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign. On May 24, 1862, during the pursuit of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston up the Peninsula, when General McClellan and his staff were reconnoitering a potential crossing point on the Chickahominy River, they stopped, and Custer overheard General John G. Barnard mutter, "I wish I knew how deep it is." Custer dashed forward on his horse out to the middle of the river, turned to the astonished officers, and shouted triumphantly, "McClellan, that’s how deep it is, General!"
Custer was allowed to lead an attack with four companies of the 4th Michigan Infantry across the Chickahominy River above New Bridge. The attack was successful, resulting in the capture of 50 Confederate soldiers and the seizing of the first Confederate battle flag of the war. McClellan termed it a "very gallant affair" and congratulated Custer personally. In his role as aide-de-camp to McClellan, Custer began his life-long pursuit of publicity. Custer was promoted to the rank of captain on June 5, 1862. On July 17, he was reverted to the rank of first lieutenant. He participated in the Maryland Campaign in September to October, the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, the Battle of Antietam on September 17, and the March to Warrenton, Virginia, in October.
On June 9, 1863, Custer became aide to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Pleasonton, who was commanding the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Recalling his service under Pleasonton, Custer was quoted as saying that "I do not believe a father could love his son more than General Pleasonton loves me." Pleasonton's first assignment was to locate the army of Robert E. Lee, moving north through the Shenandoah Valley in the beginning of what was to become the Gettysburg Campaign.
Brigade command
Pleasonton was promoted on June 22, 1863, to major general of U.S. Volunteers. On June 29, after consulting with the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, George Meade, Pleasanton began replacing political generals with "commanders who were prepared to fight, to personally lead mounted attacks". He found just the kind of aggressive fighters he wanted in three of his aides: Wesley Merritt, Elon J. Farnsworth (both of whom had command experience) and Custer. All received immediate promotions, Custer to brigadier general of volunteers, commanding the Michigan Cavalry Brigade ("Wolverines"), part of the division of Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick. Despite having no direct command experience, Custer became one of the youngest generals in the Union Army at age 23. Custer immediately shaped his brigade to reflect his aggressive character.
Now a general officer, Custer had great latitude in choosing his uniform. Though often criticized as gaudy, it was more than personal vanity. Historian Tom Carhart observed that "A showy uniform for Custer was one of command presence on the battlefield: he wanted to be readily distinguishable at first glance from all other soldiers. He intended to lead from the front, and to him it was a crucial issue of unit morale that his men be able to look up in the middle of a charge, or at any other time on the battlefield, and instantly see him leading the way into danger."
Hanover and Abbottstown
On June 30, 1863, Custer and the First and Seventh Michigan Cavalry had just passed through Hanover, Pennsylvania, while the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry followed about seven miles behind. Hearing gunfire, he turned and started to the sound of the guns. A courier reported that Farnsworth's Brigade had been attacked by rebel cavalry from side streets in the town. Reassembling his command, he received orders from Kilpatrick to engage the enemy northeast of town near the railway station. Custer deployed his troops and began to advance. After a brief firefight, the rebels withdrew to the northeast. This seemed odd, since it was supposed that Lee and his army were somewhere to the west. Though seemingly of little consequence, this skirmish further delayed Stuart from joining Lee. Further, as Captain James H. Kidd, commander of F troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, later wrote: "Under [Custer's] skillful hand the four regiments were soon welded into a cohesive unit...."
Next morning, July 1, they passed through Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, still searching for Stuart's cavalry. Late in the morning they heard sounds of gunfire from the direction of Gettysburg. At Heidlersburg, Pennsylvania, that night they learned that General John Buford's cavalry had found Lee's army at Gettysburg. The next morning, July 2, orders came to hurry north to disrupt General Richard S. Ewell's communications and relieve the pressure on the union forces. By mid afternoon, as they approached Hunterstown, Pennsylvania, they encountered Stuart's cavalry. Custer rode alone ahead to investigate and found that the rebels were unaware of the arrival of his troops. Returning to his men, he carefully positioned them along both sides of the road where they would be hidden from the rebels. Further along the road, behind a low rise, he positioned the First and Fifth Michigan Cavalry and his artillery, under the command of Lieutenant Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr. To bait his trap, he gathered A Troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, called out, "Come on boys, I'll lead you this time!" and galloped directly at the unsuspecting rebels. As he had expected, the rebels, "more than two hundred horsemen, came racing down the country road" after Custer and his men. He lost half of his men in the deadly rebel fire and his horse went down, leaving him on foot. He was rescued by Private Norvell Francis Churchill of the 1st Michigan Cavalry, who galloped up, shot Custer's nearest assailant, and pulled Custer up behind him. Custer and his remaining men reached safety, while the pursuing rebels were cut down by slashing rifle fire, then canister from six cannons. The rebels broke off their attack, and both sides withdrew.
After spending most of the night in the saddle, Custer's brigade arrived at Two Taverns, Pennsylvania, roughly five miles southeast of Gettysburg around 3 a.m. July 3. There he was joined by Farnsworth's brigade. By daybreak they received orders to protect Meade's flanks. He was about to experience perhaps his finest hours during the war.
Gettysburg
Lee's battle plan, shared with less than a handful of subordinates, was to defeat Meade through a combined assault by all of his resources. General James Longstreet would attack Cemetery Hill from the west, Stuart would attack Culp's Hill from the southeast and Ewell would attack Culp's Hill from the north. Once the Union forces holding Culp's Hill had collapsed, the rebels would "roll up" the remaining Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge. To accomplish this, he sent Stuart with six thousand cavalrymen and mounted infantry on a long flanking maneuver.
By mid-morning on July 3, Custer had arrived at the intersection of Old Dutch road and Hanover Road 2 miles east of Gettysburg. He was later joined by Brigadier General David McMurtrie Gregg, who had him deploy his men at the northeast corner. Custer then sent out scouts to investigate nearby wooded areas. Meanwhile, Gregg had positioned Colonel John Baillie McIntosh's brigade near the intersection and sent the rest of his command to picket duty two miles to the southwest. After additional deployments, 2,400 cavalry under McIntosh and 1,200 under Custer remained, together with Colonel Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr.'s and Captain Alanson Merwin Randol's artillery, who had a total of ten three-inch guns.
About noon Custer's men heard cannon fire, Stuart's signal to Lee that he was in position and had not been detected. About the same time Gregg received a message warning that a large body of rebel cavalry had moved out the York Pike and might be trying to get around the Union right. A second message from Pleasonton ordered Gregg to send Custer to cover the Union far left. Since Gregg had already sent most of his force off to other duties, it was clear to both Gregg and Custer that Custer must remain. They had about 2700 men facing 6000 Confederates.
Soon afterward fighting broke out between the skirmish lines. Stuart ordered an attack by his mounted infantry under General Albert G. Jenkins, but the Union line held, with men from the First Michigan cavalry, the First New Jersey Cavalry and the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry. Stuart ordered Jackson's four gun battery into action. Custer ordered Pennington to answer. After a brief exchange in which two of Jackson's guns were destroyed, there was a lull.
About one o'clock, the massive Confederate artillery barrage in support of the upcoming assault on Cemetery Ridge began. Jenkins' men renewed the attack but soon ran out of ammunition and fell back. Resupplied, they again pressed the attack. Outnumbered, the Union cavalry fell back, firing as they went. Custer sent most of his Fifth Michigan cavalry ahead on foot, forcing Jenkins' men to fall back. Jenkins' men were reinforced by about 150 sharpshooters from General Fitzhugh Lee's brigade, and shortly after Stuart ordered a mounted charge by the Ninth Virginia Cavalry and the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry. Now it was Custer's men who were running out of ammunition. The Fifth Michigan was forced back and the battle was reduced to vicious, hand-to-hand combat.
Seeing this, Custer mounted a counter-attack, riding ahead of the fewer than 400 new troopers of the Seventh Michigan Cavalry, shouting, "Come on, you Wolverines!" As he swept forward, he formed a line of squadrons five ranks deep – five rows of eighty horsemen side by side – chasing the retreating rebels until their charge was stopped by a wood rail fence. The horses and men became jammed into a solid mass and were soon attacked on their left flank by the dismounted Ninth and Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry and on the right flank by the mounted First Virginia cavalry. Custer extricated his men and raced south to the protection of Pennington's artillery near Hanover Road. The pursuing Confederates were cut down by canister, then driven back by the remounted Fifth Michigan Cavalry. Both forces withdrew to a safe distance to regroup.
It was then about three o'clock. The artillery barrage to the west had suddenly stopped. Union soldiers were surprised to see Stuart's entire force about a half mile away, coming toward them, not in line of battle, but "formed in close column of squadrons... A grander spectacle than their advance has rarely been beheld". Stuart recognized he now had little time to reach and attack the Union rear along Cemetery Ridge. He must make one last effort to break through the Union cavalry.
Stuart passed by McIntosh's cavalry – the First New Jersey, Third Pennsylvania and Company A of Purnell's Legion, which had been posted about halfway down the field – with relative ease. As Stuart approached, the Union troops were ordered back into the woods without slowing down Stuart's column, "advancing as if in review, with sabers drawn and glistening like silver in the bright sunlight...."
Stuart's last obstacle was Custer and his four hundred veteran troopers of the First Michigan Cavalry directly in the Confererate cavalry's path. Outnumbered but undaunted, Custer rode to the head of the regiment, "drew his saber, threw off his hat so they could see his long yellow hair" and shouted... "Come on, you Wolverines!" Custer formed his men in line of battle and charged. "So sudden was the collision that many of the horses were turned end over end and crushed their riders beneath them...." As the Confederate advance stopped, their right flank was struck by troopers of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Michigan. McIntosh was able to gather some of his men from the First New Jersey and Third Pennsylvania and charged the rebel left flank. "Seeing that the situation was becoming critical, I [Captain Miller] turned to [Lieutenant Brooke-Rawle] and said: 'I have been ordered to hold this position, but, if you will back me up in case I am court-martialed for disobedience, I will order a charge.' The rebel column disintegrated, and individual troopers fought with saber and pistol.
Within twenty minutes the combatants heard the sound of the Union artillery opening up on Pickett's men. Stuart knew that whatever chance he had of joining the Confederate assault was gone. He withdrew his men to Cress Ridge.
Custer's brigade lost 257 men at Gettysburg, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade. "I challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful charge of cavalry", Custer wrote in his report. "For Gallant And Meritorious Services", he was awarded a regular army brevet promotion to Major.
Shenandoah Valley and Appomattox
General Custer participated in Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. The civilian population was specifically targeted in what is known as the Burning.
In 1864, with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan, Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was then ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek.
Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines finally broke, and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. After a truce was arranged Custer was escorted through the lines to meet Longstreet, who described Custer as having flaxen locks flowing over his shoulders, and Custer said “in the name of General Sheridan I demand the unconditional surrender of this army.” Longstreet replied that he was not in command of the army, but if he was he would not deal with messages from Sheridan. Custer responded it would be a pity to have more blood upon the field, to which Longstreet suggested the truce be respected, and then added “General Lee has gone to meet General Grant, and it is for them to determine the future of the armies.” Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historic table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution.
On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for, then illegally seize a large, prize racehorse named "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth then an estimated $10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in the grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C., on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who then ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not, instead hiding the horse and winning a race with it the next year, before the horse died suddenly.
Reconstruction duties in Texas
On June 3, 1865, at Sheridan's behest, Major General Custer accepted command of the 2nd Division of Cavalry, Military Division of the Southwest, to march from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Hempstead, Texas, as part of the Union occupation forces. Custer arrived at Alexandria on June 27 and began assembling his units, which took more than a month to gather and remount. On July 17, he assumed command of the Cavalry Division of the Military Division of the Gulf (on August 5, officially named the 2nd Division of Cavalry of the Military Division of the Gulf), and accompanied by his wife, he led the division (five regiments of veteran Western Theater cavalrymen) to Texas on an arduous 18-day march in August. On October 27, the division departed to Austin. On October 29, Custer moved the division from Hempstead to Austin, arriving on November 4. Major General Custer became Chief of Cavalry of the Department of Texas, from November 13 to February 1, 1866, succeeding Major General Wesley Merritt.
During his entire period of command of the division, Custer encountered considerable friction and near mutiny from the volunteer cavalry regiments who had campaigned along the Gulf coast. They desired to be mustered out of Federal service rather than continue campaigning, resented imposition of discipline (particularly from an Eastern Theater general), and considered Custer nothing more than a vain dandy.
Custer's division was mustered out beginning in November 1865, replaced by the regulars of the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment. Although their occupation of Austin had apparently been pleasant, many veterans harbored deep resentments against Custer, particularly in the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, because of his attempts to maintain discipline. Upon its mustering out, several members planned to ambush Custer, but he was warned the night before and the attempt thwarted.
Indian Wars
On February 1, 1866, Major General Custer mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service and took an extended leave of absence and awaited orders to September 24. He explored options in New York City, where he considered careers in railroads and mining. Offered a position (and $10,000 in gold) as adjutant general of the army of Benito Juárez of Mexico, who was then in a struggle with the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I (a satellite ruler of French Emperor Napoleon III), Custer applied for a one-year leave of absence from the U.S. Army, which was endorsed by Grant and Secretary of War Stanton. Sheridan and Mrs. Custer disapproved, however, and when his request for leave was opposed by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, who was against having an American officer commanding foreign troops, Custer refused the alternative of resignation from the Army to take the lucrative post.
Following the death of his father-in-law in May 1866, Custer returned to Monroe, Michigan, where he considered running for Congress. He took part in public discussion over the treatment of the American South in the aftermath of the Civil War, advocating a policy of moderation. He was named head of the Soldiers and Sailors Union, regarded as a response to the hyper-partisan Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Also formed in 1866, it was led by Republican activist John Alexander Logan. In September 1866 Custer accompanied President Andrew Johnson on a journey by train known as the "Swing Around the Circle" to build up public support for Johnson's policies towards the South. Custer denied a charge by the newspapers that Johnson had promised him a colonel's commission in return for his support, but Custer had written to Johnson some weeks before seeking such a commission. Custer and his wife stayed with the president during most of the trip. At one point Custer confronted a small group of Ohio men who repeatedly jeered Johnson, saying to them: "I was born two miles and a half from here, but I am ashamed of you."
On July 28, 1866, Custer was appointed lieutenant colonel of the newly created 7th Cavalry Regiment, which was headquartered at Fort Riley, Kansas. He served on frontier duty at Fort Riley from October 18 to March 26, and scouted in Kansas and Colorado to July 28, 1867. He took part in Major General Winfield Scott Hancock's expedition against the Cheyenne. On June 26, Lt. Lyman Kidder's party, made up of ten troopers and one scout, were massacred while en route to Fort Wallace. Lt. Kidder was to deliver dispatches to Custer from General Sherman, but his party was attacked by Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne. Days later, Custer and a search party found the bodies of Kidder's patrol.
Following the Hancock campaign, Custer was arrested and suspended at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to August 12, 1868, for being AWOL, after having abandoned his post to see his wife. At the request of Major General Sheridan, who wanted Custer for his planned winter campaign against the Cheyenne, Custer was allowed to return to duty before his one-year term of suspension had expired and joined his regiment to October 7, 1868. He then went on frontier duty, scouting in Kansas and Indian Territory to October 1869.
Under Sheridan's orders, Custer took part in establishing Camp Supply in Indian Territory in early November 1868 as a supply base for the winter campaign. On November 27, 1868, Custer led the 7th Cavalry Regiment in an attack on the Cheyenne encampment of Chief Black Kettle – the Battle of Washita River. Custer reported killing 103 warriors and some women and children; 53 women and children were taken as prisoners. Estimates by the Cheyenne of their casualties were substantially lower (11 warriors plus 19 women and children). Custer had his men shoot most of the 875 Indian ponies they had captured. The Battle of Washita River was regarded as the first substantial U.S. victory in the Southern Plains War, and it helped force a large portion of the Southern Cheyenne onto a U.S.-assigned reservation.
In 1873, Custer was sent to the Dakota Territory to protect a railroad survey party against the Lakota. On August 4, 1873, near the Tongue River, Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment clashed for the first time with the Lakota. One man on each side was killed. In 1874 Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota. Custer's announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush. Among the towns that immediately grew up was Deadwood, South Dakota, notorious for lawlessness.
Grant, Belknap and politics
In 1875, the Grant administration attempted to buy the Black Hills region from the Sioux. When the Sioux refused to sell, they were ordered to report to reservations by the end of January, 1876. Mid-winter conditions made it impossible for them to comply. The administration labeled them "hostiles" and tasked the Army with bringing them in. Custer was to command an expedition planned for the spring, part of a three-pronged campaign. While Custer's expedition marched west from Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, troops under Colonel John Gibbon were to march east from Fort Ellis, near present-day Bozeman, Montana, while a force under General George Crook was to march north from Fort Fetterman, near present-day Douglas, Wyoming.
Custer's 7th Cavalry was originally scheduled to leave Fort Abraham Lincoln on April 6, 1876, but on March 15 he was summoned to Washington to testify at congressional hearings. Rep. Hiester Clymer's Committee was investigating alleged corruption involving Secretary of War William W. Belknap (who had resigned March 2), President Grant's brother Orville and traders granted monopolies at frontier Army posts. It was alleged that Belknap had been selling these lucrative trading post positions where soldiers were required to make their purchases. Custer himself had experienced first hand the high prices being charged at Fort Lincoln.
Concerned that he might miss the coming campaign, Custer did not want to go to Washington. He asked to answer questions in writing, but Clymer insisted. Recognizing that his testimony would be explosive, Custer tried "to follow a moderate and prudent course, avoiding prominence." Despite this, he provided a quantity of unsubstantiated accusations against Belknap. His testimony, given on March 29 and April 4, was a sensation, being loudly praised by the Democratic press and sharply criticized by Republicans. Custer wrote articles published anonymously in The New York Herald that exposed trader post kickback rings and implied that Belknap was behind them. During his testimony, Custer attacked President Grant's brother Orville on unproven grounds of extorting money in exchange for exerting undue influence.
After Custer testified, Belknap was impeached and the case sent to the Senate for trial. Custer asked the impeachment managers to release him from further testimony. With the help of a request from his superior, Brigadier General Alfred Terry, Commander of the Department of Dakota, he was excused. However, President Grant intervened, ordering that another officer fulfill Custer's military duty.
General Terry protested, arguing that he had no available officers of rank qualified to replace Custer. Both Sheridan and Sherman wanted Custer in command but had to support Grant. General Sherman, hoping to resolve the issue, advised Custer to meet personally with Grant before leaving Washington. Three times Custer requested meetings with the president, but each request was refused.
Finally, Custer gave up and took a train to Chicago on May 2, planning to rejoin his regiment. A furious Grant ordered Sheridan to arrest Custer for leaving Washington without permission. On May 3, a member of Sheridan's staff arrested Custer as he arrived in Chicago. The arrest sparked public outrage. The New York Herald called Grant the "modern Caesar" and asked, "Are officers... to be dragged from railroad trains and ignominiously ordered to stand aside until the whims of the Chief magistrate ... are satisfied?"
Grant relented but insisted that Terry—not Custer—personally command the expedition. Terry met Custer in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 6. He later recalled that Custer "with tears in his eyes, begged for my aid. How could I resist it?" Custer and Terry both wrote telegrams to Grant asking that Custer lead his regiment, with Terry in command. Sheridan endorsed the effort.
Grant was already under pressure for his treatment of Custer. His administration worried that if the "Sioux campaign" failed without Custer, then Grant would be blamed for ignoring the recommendations of senior Army officers. On May 8, Custer was told that he would lead the expedition, but only under Terry's direct supervision.
Elated, Custer told General Terry's chief engineer, Captain Ludlow, that he would "cut loose" from Terry and operate independently.
Battle of the Little Bighorn
By the time of Custer's Black Hills expedition in 1874, the level of conflict and tension between the U.S. and many of the Plains Indians tribes (including the Lakota Sioux and the Cheyenne) had become exceedingly high. European-Americans continually broke treaty agreements and advanced further westward, resulting in violence and acts of depredation by both sides. To take possession of the Black Hills (and thus the gold deposits), and to stop Indian attacks, the U.S. decided to corral all remaining free Plains Indians. The Grant government set a deadline of January 31, 1876, for all Lakota and Arapaho wintering in the "unceded territory" to report to their designated agencies (reservations) or be considered "hostile".
At that time the 7th Cavalry's regimental commander, Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis, was on detached duty as the Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and in command of the Cavalry Depot in St. Louis, Missouri, which left Lieutenant Colonel Custer in command of the regiment. Custer and the 7th Cavalry departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln on May 17, 1876, part of a larger army force planning to round up remaining free Indians. Meanwhile, in the spring and summer of 1876, the Hunkpapa Lakota holy man Sitting Bull had called together the largest ever gathering of Plains Indians at Ash Creek, Montana (later moved to the Little Bighorn River) to discuss what to do about the whites. It was this united encampment of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians that the 7th met at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in the Crow Indian Reservation created in old Crow Country. (In the Fort Laramie Treaty (1851), the valley of the Little Bighorn is in the heart of the Crow Indian treaty territory and accepted as such by the Lakota, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho). The Lakotas were staying in the valley without consent from the Crow tribe, which sided with the Army to expel the Indian invaders.
About June 15, Major Marcus Reno, while on a scout, discovered the trail of a large village on the Rosebud River. On June 22, Custer's entire regiment was detached to follow this trail. On June 25, some of Custer's Crow Indian scouts identified what they claimed was a large Indian encampment in the valley near the Little Bighorn River. Custer had first intended to attack the Indian village the next day, but since his presence was known, he decided to attack immediately and divided his forces into three battalions: one led by Major Reno, one by Captain Frederick Benteen, and one by himself. Captain Thomas M. McDougall and Company B were with the pack train. Reno was sent north to charge the southern end of the encampment, Custer rode north, hidden to the east of the encampment by bluffs and planning to circle around and attack from the north, and Benteen was initially sent south and west to scout Indian presence and potentially protect the column from the south.
Reno began a charge on the southern end of the village but halted some 500–600 yards short of the camp, and had his men dismount and form a skirmish line. They were soon overcome by mounted Lakota and Cheyenne warriors who counterattacked en masse against Reno's exposed left flank, forcing Reno and his men to take cover in the trees along the river. Eventually, however, the troopers engaged in a bloody retreat up onto the bluffs above the river, where they made their own stand. This, the opening action of the battle, cost Reno a quarter of his command.
Custer may have seen Reno stop and form a skirmish line as Custer led his command to the northern end of the main encampment, where he may have planned to sandwich the Indians between his attacking troopers and Reno's command in a "hammer and anvil" maneuver. According to Grinnell's account, based on the testimony of the Cheyenne warriors who survived the fight, at least part of Custer's command attempted to ford the river at the north end of the camp but were driven off by Indian sharpshooters firing from the brush along the west bank of the river. From that point the soldiers were pursued by hundreds of warriors onto a ridge north of the encampment. Custer and his command were prevented from digging in by Crazy Horse however, whose warriors had outflanked him and were now to his north, at the crest of the ridge. Traditional white accounts attribute to Gall the attack that drove Custer up onto the ridge, but Indian witnesses have disputed that account.
For a time, Custer's men appear to have been deployed by company, in standard cavalry fighting formation—the skirmish line, with every fourth man holding the horses, though this arrangement would have robbed Custer of a quarter of his firepower. Worse, as the fight intensified, many soldiers could have taken to holding their own horses or hobbling them, further reducing the 7th's effective fire. When Crazy Horse and White Bull mounted the charge that broke through the center of Custer's lines, order may have broken down among the soldiers of Calhoun's command, though Myles Keogh's men seem to have fought and died where they stood. According to some Lakota accounts, many of the panicking soldiers threw down their weapons and either rode or ran towards the knoll where Custer, the other officers, and about 40 men were making a stand. Along the way, the warriors rode them down, counting coup by striking the fleeing troopers with their quirts or lances.
Initially, Custer had 208 officers and men under his direct command, with an additional 142 under Reno, just over 100 under Benteen, and 50 soldiers with Captain McDougall's rearguard, accompanying 84 soldiers under 1st Lieutenant Edward Gustave Mathey with the pack train. The Lakota-Cheyenne coalition may have fielded over 1,800 warriors. Historian Gregory Michno settles on a low number of around 1,000 based on contemporary Lakota testimony, but other sources place the number at 1,800 or 2,000, especially in the works by Utley and Fox. The 1,800–2,000 figure is substantially lower than the higher numbers of 3,000 or more postulated by Ambrose, Gray, Scott, and others. Some of the other participants in the battle gave these estimates:
Spotted Horn Bull – 5,000 braves and leaders
Maj. Reno – 2,500 to 5,000 warriors
Capt. Moylan – 3,500 to 4,000
Lt. Hare – not under 4,000
Lt. Godfrey – minimum between 2,500 and 3,000
Lt. Edgerly – 4,000
Lt. Varnum – not less than 4,000
Sgt. Kanipe – fully 4,000
George Herendeen – fully 3,000
Fred Gerard – 2,500 to 3,000
An average of the above is 3,500 Indian warriors and leaders.
As the troopers of Custer's five companies were cut down, the native warriors stripped the dead of their firearms and ammunition, with the result that the return fire from the cavalry steadily decreased, while the fire from the Indians constantly increased. The surviving troopers apparently shot their remaining horses to use as breastworks for a final stand on the knoll at the north end of the ridge. The warriors closed in for the final attack and killed every man in Custer's command. As a result, the Battle of the Little Bighorn has come to be popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand".
Personal life
On February 9, 1864, Custer married Elizabeth Clift Bacon (1842–1933), whom he had first seen when he was ten years old. He had been socially introduced to her in November 1862, when home in Monroe on leave. She was not initially impressed with him, and her father, Judge Daniel Bacon, disapproved of Custer as a match because he was the son of a blacksmith. It was not until well after Custer had been promoted to the rank of brigadier general that he gained the approval of Judge Bacon. He married Elizabeth Bacon fourteen months after they formally met.
In November 1868, following the Battle of Washita River, Custer was alleged (by Captain Frederick Benteen, chief of scouts Ben Clark, and Cheyenne oral tradition) to have unofficially married Mo-nah-se-tah, daughter of the Cheyenne chief Little Rock in the winter or early spring of 1868–1869 (Little Rock was killed in the one-day action at Washita on November 27). Mo-nah-se-tah gave birth to a child in January 1869, two months after the Washita battle. Cheyenne oral history tells that she also bore a second child, fathered by Custer in late 1869. Some historians, however, believe that Custer had become sterile after contracting gonorrhea while at West Point and that the father was, in actuality, his brother Thomas. Clarke's description in his memoirs included the statement, "Custer picked out a fine looking one and had her in his tent every night."
Death
It is unlikely that any Native American recognized Custer during or after the battle. Michno summarizes: "Shave Elk said, 'We did not suspect that we were fighting Custer and did not recognize him either alive or dead.' Wooden Leg said no one could recognize any enemy during the fight, for they were too far away. The Cheyennes did not even know a man named Custer was in the fight until weeks later. Antelope said none knew of Custer being at the fight until they later learned of it at the agencies. Thomas Marquis learned from his interviews that no Indian knew Custer was at the Little Bighorn fight until months later. Many Cheyennes were not even aware that other members of the Custer family had been in the fight until 1922 when Marquis himself first informed them of that fact."
Several individuals claimed responsibility for killing Custer, including White Bull of the Miniconjous, Rain-in-the-Face, Flat Lip, and Brave Bear. In June 2005, at a public meeting, Northern Cheyenne storytellers said that according to their oral tradition, Buffalo Calf Road Woman, a Northern Cheyenne heroine of the Battle of the Rosebud, struck the final blow against Custer, which knocked him off his horse before he died.
A contrasting version of Custer's death is suggested by the testimony of an Oglala named Joseph White Cow Bull, according to novelist and Custer biographer Evan Connell. He says that Joseph White Bull stated he had shot a rider wearing a buckskin jacket and big hat at the riverside when the soldiers first approached the village from the east. The initial force facing the soldiers, according to this version, was quite small (possibly as few as four warriors) yet challenged Custer's command. The rider who was hit was mounted next to a rider who bore a flag and had shouted orders that prompted the soldiers to attack, but when the buckskin-clad rider fell off his horse after being shot, many of the attackers reined up. The allegation that the buckskin-clad officer was Custer, if accurate, might explain the supposed rapid disintegration of Custer's forces. However, several other officers of the Seventh, including William Cooke, Tom Custer and William Sturgis, were also dressed in buckskin on the day of the battle, and the fact that each of the non-mutilation wounds to George Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded or killed at the ford, more than a mile from where his body was found. The circumstances are, however, consistent with David Humphreys Miller's suggestion that Custer's attendants would not have left his dead body behind to be desecrated.
During the 1920s, two elderly Cheyenne women spoke briefly with oral historians about their having recognized Custer's body on the battlefield and said that they had stopped a Sioux warrior from desecrating the body. The women were relatives of Mo-nah-se-tah, who was alleged to have been Custer's lover in late 1868 and through 1869, and borne two children by him. Mo-nah-se-tah was among 53 Cheyenne women and children taken captive by the 7th Cavalry after the Battle of Washita River in 1868, in which Custer commanded an attack on the camp of Chief Black Kettle. Mo-nah-se-tah's father, Cheyenne chief Little Rock, was killed in the battle. During the winter and early spring of 1868–69, Custer reportedly sexually assaulted teenage Mo-nah-se-tah. Cheyenne oral history alleges that she later bore Custer's child in late 1869. (Custer, however, had apparently become sterile after contracting venereal disease at West Point, leading some historians to believe that the father was really his brother Thomas). In the Cheyenne culture of the time, such a relationship was considered a marriage. The women allegedly told the warrior: "Stop, he is a relative of ours," and then shooed him away. The two women said they shoved their sewing awls into his ears to permit Custer's corpse to "hear better in the afterlife" because he had broken his promise to Stone Forehead never to fight against Native Americans again.
When the main column under General Terry arrived two days later, the army found most of the soldiers' corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated. Custer's body had two bullet holes, one in the left temple and one just below the heart. Capt. Benteen, who inspected the body, stated that in his opinion the fatal injuries had not been the result of .45 caliber ammunition, which implies the bullet holes had been caused by ranged rifle fire. Some time later, Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey described Custer's mutilation, telling Charles F. Bates that an arrow "had been forced up his penis."
The bodies of Custer and his brother Tom were wrapped in canvas and blankets, then buried in a shallow grave, covered by the basket from a travois held in place by rocks. When soldiers returned a year later, the brothers' grave had been scavenged by animals and the bones scattered. "Not more than a double handful of small bones were picked up." Custer was reinterred with full military honors at West Point Cemetery on October 10, 1877. The battle site was designated a National Cemetery in 1886.
Controversial legacy
Public relations and media coverage during his lifetime
Custer has been called a "media personality", and he valued good public relations and used the print media of his era effectively. He frequently invited journalists to accompany his campaigns (one, Associated Press reporter Mark Kellogg, died at the Little Bighorn), and their favorable reporting contributed to his high reputation, which lasted well into the latter 20th century.
Custer enjoyed writing, often writing all night long. He wrote a series of magazine articles of his experiences on the frontier, which were published in book form as My Life on the Plains in 1874. The work is still a valued primary source for information on US-Native relations.
Posthumous legacy
After his death, Custer achieved lasting fame. Despite some initial criticism, the public eventually saw him as a tragic military hero.
Custer's wife, Elizabeth, who had accompanied him in many of his frontier expeditions, did much to advance this view with the publication of several books about her late husband: Boots and Saddles, Life with General Custer in Dakota, Tenting on the Plains, or General Custer in Kansas and Texas and Following the Guidon.
The deaths of Custer and his troops became the best-known episode in the history of the American Indian Wars, due in part to a painting commissioned by the brewery Anheuser-Busch as part of an advertising campaign. The enterprising company ordered reprints of a dramatic work that depicted "Custer's Last Stand" and had them framed and hung in many United States saloons. This created lasting impressions of the battle and the brewery's products in the minds of many bar patrons. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote an adoring (and in some places, erroneous) poem. President Theodore Roosevelt's lavish praise pleased Custer's widow.
President Grant, a highly successful general but recent antagonist, criticized Custer's actions in the battle of the Little Bighorn. Quoted in the New York Herald on September 2, 1876, Grant said, "I regard Custer's Massacre as a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself, that was wholly unnecessary – wholly unnecessary." General Phillip Sheridan took a more moderately critical view of Custer's final military actions.
General Nelson Miles (who inherited Custer's mantle of famed Indian fighter) and others praised him as a fallen hero betrayed by the incompetence of subordinate officers. Miles noted the difficulty of winning a fight "with seven-twelfths of the command remaining out of the engagement when within sound of his rifle shots."
The assessment of Custer's actions during the American Indian Wars has undergone substantial reconsideration in modern times. Documenting the arc of popular perception in his biography Son of the Morning Star (1984), author Evan Connell notes the reverential tone of Custer's first biographer Frederick Whittaker (whose book was rushed out the year of Custer's death.) Connell concludes:
These days it is stylish to denigrate the general, whose stock sells for nothing. Nineteenth-century Americans thought differently. At that time he was a cavalier without fear and beyond reproach.
Criticism and controversy
The controversy over blame for the disaster at Little Bighorn continues to this day. Major Marcus Reno's failure to press his attack on the south end of the Lakota/Cheyenne village and his flight to the timber along the river after a single casualty have been cited as a factor in the destruction of Custer's battalion, as has Captain Frederick Benteen's allegedly tardy arrival on the field, and the failure of the two officers' combined forces to move toward the relief of Custer.
Some of Custer's critics have asserted tactical errors.
While camped at Powder River, Custer refused the support offered by General Terry on June 21 of an additional four companies of the Second Cavalry. Custer stated that he "could whip any Indian village on the Plains" with his own regiment, and that extra troops would simply be a burden.
At the same time, he left behind at the steamer Far West, on the Yellowstone, a battery of Gatling guns, knowing he was facing superior numbers. Before leaving the camp all the troops, including the officers, also boxed their sabers and sent them back with the wagons.
On the day of the battle, Custer divided his 600-man command, despite being faced with vastly superior numbers of Sioux and Cheyenne.
The refusal of an extra battalion reduced the size of his force by at least a sixth, and rejecting the firepower offered by the Gatling guns played into the events of June 25 to the disadvantage of his regiment.
Custer's defenders, however, including historian Charles K. Hofling, have asserted that Gatling guns would have been slow and cumbersome as the troops crossed the rough country between the Yellowstone and the Little Bighorn. Custer rated speed in gaining the battlefield as essential and more important. Supporters of Custer claim that splitting the forces was a standard tactic, so as to demoralize the enemy with the appearance of the cavalry in different places all at once, especially when a contingent threatened the line of retreat.
Attacks on Indigenous Peoples
Sharply criticizing the self-styled “Indian fighter,” Indigenous people's movements have emphasized Custer's role in the U.S. government's land theft, treaty violations and atrocities against Native Americans.
Standing Rock Sioux theologian and author Vine Deloria, Jr. told the Los Angeles Times in 1996 that he considered Custer “the Adolf Eichmann of the Plains.” In his 1969 book Custer Died for Your Sins, Deloria condemned Custer's violations of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty that established the Black Hills region as unceded territory of the Sioux and Arapaho peoples. Custer's violations of the Fort Laramie Treaty included a 1874 gold expedition and the 1876 Battle of Greasy Grass (Battle of the Little Bighorn).
Critics have also highlighted Custer's 1868 Washita River surprise attack that killed Cheyenne non-combatants including mothers, children, and elders. Custer was following Generals William Sherman and Philip Sheridan's orders for “total war” on the Indigenous nations. Describing total war methods, Sherman wrote, “We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children...during an assault, the soldiers can not pause to distinguish between male and female, or even discriminate as to age." There is “credible evidence” that following the attack, Custer and his men took “sexual liberties” with female captives, in the euphemism of one historian. Another historian writes, “There was a saying among the soldiers of the western frontier, a saying Custer and his officers could heartily endorse: ‘Indian women rape easy.’”
Indigenous criticism of Custer’s posthumous legacy may have begun immediately after Custer died. Good Fox (Lakota) recounted:
"I was told that after the battle two Cheyenne women came across Custer’s body. They knew him, because he had attacked their peaceful village on the Washita. These women said, ‘You smoked the peace pipe with us. Our chiefs told you that you would be killed if you ever made war on us again. But you would not listen. This will make you hear better.’ The women each took an awl from their beaded cases and stuck them deep into Custer’s ears.”
In 1976, the American Indian Movement (AIM) celebrated the centennial anniversary of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho victory in the Battle of Greasy Grass, performing a victory dance around the marker of Custer’s death. AIM continued protesting there demanding the official renaming of the “Custer Battlefield,” finally winning this demand in 1991.
In May 2021, the United Tribes of Michigan unanimously passed a resolution calling for the removal of a Custer statue in Monroe, Michigan. The resolution stated in part:
"(It) is widely perceived as offensive and a painful public reminder of the legacy of Indigenous people's genocide and present realities of systemic racism in our country... Custer is notoriously known as the 'Indian Killer' [...] Custer does not deserve any glory, nor the right to further torment minoritized citizens 145 years postmortem."
Monuments and memorials
Counties are named in Custer's honor in six states: Colorado, Idaho (which is named for the General Custer Mine, which was named for Custer), Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Townships in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota were named for Custer.
Other municipalities named after Custer include the villages of Custer, Michigan, and Custar, Ohio; the city of Custer, South Dakota; and the unincorporated town of Custer, Wisconsin.
Custer National Cemetery is within Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the site of Custer's death.
The George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument of Custer, by Edward Clark Potter, was erected in Monroe, Michigan, Custer's boyhood home, in 1910.
Fort Custer National Military Reservation, near Augusta, Michigan, was built in 1917 on 130 parcels of land, as part of the military mobilization for World War I. During the war, some 90,000 troops passed through Camp Custer.
The establishment of Fort Custer National Cemetery (originally Fort Custer Post Cemetery) took place on September 18, 1943, with the first interment. On Memorial Day 1982, more than 33 years after the first resolution had been introduced in Congress, impressive ceremonies marked the official opening of the cemetery.
Custer Hill is the main troop billeting area at Fort Riley, Kansas. Custer's 1866 residence on the post has been preserved and is currently maintained as the Custer House Museum and meeting space (also sometimes referred to as Custer Home).
The 85th Infantry Division was nicknamed The Custer Division.
The Black Hills of South Dakota is full of evidence of Custer, with a county, town, and Custer State Park all located in the area.
A prominent mountain peak in the Black Hills bears his name.
The Custer house at Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, has been reconstructed as it was in Custer's day, along with the soldiers' barracks, block houses, etc. Annual re-enactments are held of Custer's 7th Cavalry's leaving for the Little Bighorn.
On July 2, 2008, a marble monument to Brigadier General Custer was dedicated at the site of the 1863 Civil War Battle of Hunterstown, in Adams County, Pennsylvania.
Custer Monument at the United States Military Academy was first unveiled in 1879. It now stands next to his grave in the West Point Cemetery.
Custer Memorial Monument at his birthplace was erected by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical society in 1931. It is located near the remains of the foundation of his birthplace homestead in New Rumley, Ohio. Custer Monument is managed locally by the Custer Memorial Association.
Miscellany
In addition to "Autie", Custer acquired a number of nicknames. During the Civil War, after his promotion to become the youngest brigadier general in the Army at age 23, the press frequently called him "The Boy General". During his years on the Great Plains in the American Indian Wars, his troopers often referred to him with grudging admiration as "Iron Butt" and "Hard Ass" for his physical stamina in the saddle and his strict discipline, as well as with the more derisive "Ringlets" for his long, curling blond hair, which he frequently perfumed with cinnamon-scented hair oil.
Custer was quite fastidious in his grooming. Early in their marriage, Libbie wrote, "He brushes his teeth after every meal. I always laugh at him for it, also for washing his hands so frequently."
He was 5'11" tall and wore a size 38 jacket and size 9C boots. At various times he weighed between 143 pounds (at the end of the 1869 Kansas campaign) and a muscular 170 pounds. A splendid horseman, "Custer mounted was an inspiration." He was quite fit, able to jump to a standing position from lying flat on his back. He was a "power sleeper", able to get by on very short naps after falling asleep immediately on lying down. He "had a habit of throwing himself prone on the grass for a few minutes' rest and resembled a human island, entirely surrounded by crowding, panting dogs."
Throughout his travels, he gathered geological specimens, sending them to the University of Michigan. On September 10, 1873, he wrote Libbie, "the Indian battles hindered the collecting, while in that immediate region it was unsafe to go far from the command...."
He was well-liked by his native scouts, whose company he enjoyed. He often ate with them. A May 21, 1876, diary entry by Kellogg records, "General Custer visits scouts; much at home amongst them."
Before leaving the steamer Far West for the final leg of the journey, Custer wrote all night. His orderly John Burkman stood guard in front of his tent and on the morning of June 22, 1876, found Custer "hunched over on the cot, just his coat and his boots off, and the pen still in his hand."
During his service in Kentucky, Custer bought several thoroughbred horses. He took two on his last campaign, Vic (for Victory) and Dandy. During the march he changed horses every three hours. He rode Vic into his last battle.
Custer took his two staghounds Tuck and Bleuch with him during the last expedition. He left them with orderly Burkman when he rode forward into battle. Burkman joined the packtrain. He regretted not accompanying Custer but lived until 1925, when he took his own life.
The common media image of Custer's appearance at the Last Stand—buckskin coat and long, curly blonde hair—is wrong. Although he and several other officers wore buckskin coats on the expedition, they took them off and packed them away because it was so hot. According to Soldier, an Arikara scout, "Custer took off his buckskin coat and tied it behind his saddle." Further, Custer—whose hair was thinning—joined a similarly balding Lieutenant Varnum and "had the clippers run over their heads" before leaving Fort Lincoln.
Dates of rank
See also
Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer
Custer's Revenge
Fort Abraham Lincoln
German-Americans in the Civil War
Half Yellow Face
White Swan
List of American Civil War generals (Union)
List of German Americans
References
Bibliography
Ambrose, Stephen E. (1996 [1975]). Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. New York: Anchor Books. .
Barnett, Louise (1996) Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer New York, Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Boulard, Garry (2006) The Swing Around the Circle: Andrew Johnson and the Train Ride that Destroyed a Presidency
Caudill, Edward and Paul Ashdown (2015). Inventing Custer: The Making of An American Legend. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Goodrich, Thomas. Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997.
Longacre, Edward G. (2000). Lincoln's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of the Potomac. Stackpole Books. .
Longstreet, James, From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America, J.B. Lippincott, 1908.
Mails, Thomas E. (1972). Mystic Warriors of the Plains. Doubleday.
Marshall, Joseph M. III. (2007). The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History. New York: Viking Press.
Merington, Marguerite, Ed. The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of General Custer and his Wife Elizabeth. (1950)
Michno, Gregory F. (1997). Lakota Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat. Mountain Press Publishing Company. .
Perrett, Bryan. Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds. London: Arms & Armour, 1993.
Punke, Michael, "Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West", Smithsonian Books, 2007,
Robbins, James S. The Real Custer: From Boy General to Tragic Hero. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2014,
Tagg, Larry. (1988). The Generals of Gettysburg. Savas Publishing. .
Urwin, Gregory J. W., Custer Victorious, University of Nebraska Press, 1990, .
Utley, Robert M. (2001). Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier, revised edition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. .
Vestal, Stanley. Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1934.
Welch, James, with Paul Stekler. (2007 [1994]). Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Wert, Jeffry D. Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. .
Further reading
Stiles, T.J. Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America (2015), Pulitzer Prize.
External links
Indian Wars and the Year of George Custer
Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield
Custer Battlefield Museum
Little Big Horn Associates
Little Bighorn History Alliance
Kenneth M Hammer Collection on Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Harold G. Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Gallery of Custer images
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture -Custer, George Armstrong
George A. and Elizabeth B. Custer papers, Vault MSS 364 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Charles F. Bates Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
1839 births
1876 deaths
People from Harrison County, Ohio
American people of German descent
American people of English descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Union Army generals
People of Ohio in the American Civil War
People of Michigan in the American Civil War
People of the Great Sioux War of 1876
United States Army personnel who were court-martialed
Comanche campaign
United States Military Academy alumni
People from Monroe, Michigan
Michigan Brigade
American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars
Deaths by firearm in Montana
Burials at West Point Cemetery
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Genocide perpetrators | true | [
"\"Tell Me What You Want\" is the fourth single by English R&B band Loose Ends from their first studio album, A Little Spice, and was released in February 1984 by Virgin Records. The single reached number 74 in the UK Singles Chart.\n\nTrack listing\n7” Single: VS658\n \"Tell Me What You Want) 3.35\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Dub Mix)\" 3.34\n\n12” Single: VS658-12\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Extended Version)\" 6.11\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Extended Dub Mix)\" 5.41\n\nU.S. only release - 12” Single: MCA23596 (released 1985)\n \"Tell Me What You Want (U.S. Extended Remix)\" 6.08 *\n \"Tell Me What You Want (U.S. Dub Version)\" 5.18\n\n* The U.S. Extended Remix version was released on CD on the U.S. Version of the 'A Little Spice' album (MCAD27141).\n\nThe Extended Version also featured on Side D of the limited gatefold sleeve version of 'Magic Touch'\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Tell Me What You Want at Discogs.\n\n1984 singles\nLoose Ends (band) songs\nSong recordings produced by Nick Martinelli\nSongs written by Carl McIntosh (musician)\nSongs written by Steve Nichol\n1984 songs\nVirgin Records singles",
"\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" is the title of a number-one R&B single by singer Tevin Campbell. To date, the single is Campbell's biggest hit peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending one week at number-one on the US R&B chart. The hit song is also Tevin's one and only Adult Contemporary hit, where it peaked at number 43. The song showcases Campbell's four-octave vocal range from a low note of E2 to a D#6 during the bridge of the song.\n\nTrack listings\nUS 7\" vinyl\nA \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:16\t\nB \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (instrumental) – 5:00\n\n12\" vinyl\nA \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:16\t\nB \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (album version) – 5:02\n\nUK CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" – 4:16\n \"Goodbye\" (7\" Remix Edit) – 3:48\n \"Goodbye\" (Sidub and Listen) – 4:58\n \"Goodbye\" (Tevin's Dub Pt 1 & 2) – 6:53\n\nJapan CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" – 4:10\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (instrumental version) – 4:10\n\nGermany CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:10\n \"Just Ask Me\" (featuring Chubb Rock) – 4:07\n \"Tomorrow\" (A Better You, Better Me) – 4:46\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nSee also\nList of number-one R&B singles of 1992 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\nTevin Campbell songs\n1991 singles\n1991 songs\nSongs written by Tevin Campbell\nSongs written by Narada Michael Walden\nSong recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden\nWarner Records singles\nContemporary R&B ballads\nPop ballads\nSoul ballads\n1990s ballads"
] |
[
"George Armstrong Custer",
"The Valley and Appomattox",
"What can you tell me about The Valley",
"Shenandoah Valley"
] | C_d2621bad851f4bc88e76021d95db27e2_1 | What is the valley and appomattox | 2 | What is the valley and appomattox | George Armstrong Custer | In 1864, with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan, Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was then ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek. Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines finally broke, and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by General Philip Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historical table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution. On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for, then illegally seize a large, prize racehorse "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth then an estimated $10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in the grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C. on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who then ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not, instead hiding the horse and winning a race with it the next year, before the horse died suddenly. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, but as the Civil War was just starting, trained officers were in immediate demand. He worked closely with General George B. McClellan and the future General Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his qualities as a cavalry leader, and he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers at age 23. Only a few days after his promotion, he fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he commanded the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and despite being outnumbered, defeated J. E. B. Stuart's attack at what is now known as the East Cavalry Field. In 1864, Custer served in the Overland Campaign and in Philip Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating Jubal Early at Cedar Creek. His division blocked the Army of Northern Virginia's final retreat and received the first flag of truce from the Confederates, and Custer was present at Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.
After the war, Custer was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army and was sent west to fight in the Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, while leading the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory against a coalition of Native American tribes, he was killed along with all of the five companies he led after splitting the regiment into three battalions. This action became romanticized as "Custer's Last Stand".
His dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his career, and reaction to his life and career remains deeply divided. Custer's legend was partly of his own fabrication through his extensive journalism, and perhaps more through the energetic lobbying of his wife Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer throughout her long widowhood.
Family and ancestry
Custer's paternal ancestors, Paulus and Gertrude Küster, came to the North American English colonies around 1693 from the Rhineland in Germany, probably among thousands of Palatines whose passage was arranged by the English government to gain settlers in New York and Pennsylvania.
According to family letters, Custer was named after George Armstrong, a minister, in his devout mother's hope that her son might join the clergy.
Birth, siblings, and childhood
Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, to Emanuel Henry Custer (1806–1892), a farmer and blacksmith, and his second wife, Marie Ward Kirkpatrick (1807–1882), who was of English and Scots-Irish descent. He had two younger brothers, Thomas and Boston. His other full siblings were the family's youngest child, Margaret Custer, and Nevin Custer, who suffered from asthma and rheumatism. Custer also had three older half-siblings. Custer and his brothers acquired a life-long love of practical jokes, which they played out among the close family members.
Emanuel Custer was an outspoken Jacksonian Democrat who taught his children politics and toughness at an early age. In a February 3, 1887, letter to his son's widow Libby, Emanuel related an incident from when George Custer (known as Autie) was about four years old:
"He had to have a tooth drawn, and he was very much afraid of blood. When I took him to the doctor to have the tooth pulled, it was in the night and I told him if it bled well it would get well right away, and he must be a good soldier. When he got to the doctor he took his seat, and the pulling began. The forceps slipped off and he had to make a second trial. He pulled it out, and Autie never even scrunched. Going home, I led him by the arm. He jumped and skipped, and said 'Father you and me can whip all the Whigs in Michigan.' I thought that was saying a good deal but I did not contradict him."
Education
In order to attend school, Custer lived with an older half-sister and her husband in Monroe, Michigan. Before entering the United States Military Academy, Custer attended the McNeely Normal School, later known as Hopedale Normal College, in Hopedale, Ohio. It was to train teachers for elementary schools. While attending Hopedale, Custer and classmate William Enos Emery were known to have carried coal to help pay for their room and board. After graduating from McNeely Normal School in 1856, Custer taught school in Cadiz, Ohio. His first sweetheart was Mary Jane Holland.
Custer entered West Point as a cadet on July 1, 1857, as a member of the class of 1862. His class numbered seventy-nine cadets embarking on a five-year course of study. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the course was shortened to four years, and Custer and his class graduated on June 24, 1861. He was 34th in a class of 34 graduates: 23 classmates had dropped out for academic reasons while 22 classmates had already resigned to join the Confederacy.
Throughout his life, Custer tested boundaries and rules. In his four years at West Point, he amassed a record total of 726 demerits, one of the worst conduct records in the history of the academy. The local minister remembered Custer as "the instigator of devilish plots both during the service and in Sunday school. On the surface he appeared attentive and respectful, but underneath the mind boiled with disruptive ideas." A fellow cadet recalled Custer as declaring there were only two places in a class, the head and the foot, and since he had no desire to be the head, he aspired to be the foot. A roommate noted, "It was alright with George Custer, whether he knew his lesson or not; he simply did not allow it to trouble him." Under ordinary conditions, Custer's low class rank would result in an obscure posting, the first step in a dead-end career, but Custer had the fortune to graduate as the Civil War broke out, and as a result the Union Army had a sudden need for many junior officers.
Civil War
McClellan and Pleasanton
Like the other graduates, Custer was commissioned as a second lieutenant; he was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment and tasked with drilling volunteers in Washington, D.C. On July 21, 1861, he was with his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run during the Manassas Campaign, where Army commander Winfield Scott detailed him to carry messages to Major General Irvin McDowell. After the battle, Custer continued participating in the defenses of Washington D.C. until October, when he became ill. He was absent from his unit until February 1862. In March, he participated with the 2nd Cavalry in the Peninsula Campaign (March to August) in Virginia until April 4.
On April 5, Custer served in the 5th Cavalry Regiment and participated in the Siege of Yorktown, from April 5 to May 4 and was aide to Major General George B. McClellan; McClellan was in command of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign. On May 24, 1862, during the pursuit of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston up the Peninsula, when General McClellan and his staff were reconnoitering a potential crossing point on the Chickahominy River, they stopped, and Custer overheard General John G. Barnard mutter, "I wish I knew how deep it is." Custer dashed forward on his horse out to the middle of the river, turned to the astonished officers, and shouted triumphantly, "McClellan, that’s how deep it is, General!"
Custer was allowed to lead an attack with four companies of the 4th Michigan Infantry across the Chickahominy River above New Bridge. The attack was successful, resulting in the capture of 50 Confederate soldiers and the seizing of the first Confederate battle flag of the war. McClellan termed it a "very gallant affair" and congratulated Custer personally. In his role as aide-de-camp to McClellan, Custer began his life-long pursuit of publicity. Custer was promoted to the rank of captain on June 5, 1862. On July 17, he was reverted to the rank of first lieutenant. He participated in the Maryland Campaign in September to October, the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, the Battle of Antietam on September 17, and the March to Warrenton, Virginia, in October.
On June 9, 1863, Custer became aide to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Pleasonton, who was commanding the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Recalling his service under Pleasonton, Custer was quoted as saying that "I do not believe a father could love his son more than General Pleasonton loves me." Pleasonton's first assignment was to locate the army of Robert E. Lee, moving north through the Shenandoah Valley in the beginning of what was to become the Gettysburg Campaign.
Brigade command
Pleasonton was promoted on June 22, 1863, to major general of U.S. Volunteers. On June 29, after consulting with the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, George Meade, Pleasanton began replacing political generals with "commanders who were prepared to fight, to personally lead mounted attacks". He found just the kind of aggressive fighters he wanted in three of his aides: Wesley Merritt, Elon J. Farnsworth (both of whom had command experience) and Custer. All received immediate promotions, Custer to brigadier general of volunteers, commanding the Michigan Cavalry Brigade ("Wolverines"), part of the division of Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick. Despite having no direct command experience, Custer became one of the youngest generals in the Union Army at age 23. Custer immediately shaped his brigade to reflect his aggressive character.
Now a general officer, Custer had great latitude in choosing his uniform. Though often criticized as gaudy, it was more than personal vanity. Historian Tom Carhart observed that "A showy uniform for Custer was one of command presence on the battlefield: he wanted to be readily distinguishable at first glance from all other soldiers. He intended to lead from the front, and to him it was a crucial issue of unit morale that his men be able to look up in the middle of a charge, or at any other time on the battlefield, and instantly see him leading the way into danger."
Hanover and Abbottstown
On June 30, 1863, Custer and the First and Seventh Michigan Cavalry had just passed through Hanover, Pennsylvania, while the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry followed about seven miles behind. Hearing gunfire, he turned and started to the sound of the guns. A courier reported that Farnsworth's Brigade had been attacked by rebel cavalry from side streets in the town. Reassembling his command, he received orders from Kilpatrick to engage the enemy northeast of town near the railway station. Custer deployed his troops and began to advance. After a brief firefight, the rebels withdrew to the northeast. This seemed odd, since it was supposed that Lee and his army were somewhere to the west. Though seemingly of little consequence, this skirmish further delayed Stuart from joining Lee. Further, as Captain James H. Kidd, commander of F troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, later wrote: "Under [Custer's] skillful hand the four regiments were soon welded into a cohesive unit...."
Next morning, July 1, they passed through Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, still searching for Stuart's cavalry. Late in the morning they heard sounds of gunfire from the direction of Gettysburg. At Heidlersburg, Pennsylvania, that night they learned that General John Buford's cavalry had found Lee's army at Gettysburg. The next morning, July 2, orders came to hurry north to disrupt General Richard S. Ewell's communications and relieve the pressure on the union forces. By mid afternoon, as they approached Hunterstown, Pennsylvania, they encountered Stuart's cavalry. Custer rode alone ahead to investigate and found that the rebels were unaware of the arrival of his troops. Returning to his men, he carefully positioned them along both sides of the road where they would be hidden from the rebels. Further along the road, behind a low rise, he positioned the First and Fifth Michigan Cavalry and his artillery, under the command of Lieutenant Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr. To bait his trap, he gathered A Troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, called out, "Come on boys, I'll lead you this time!" and galloped directly at the unsuspecting rebels. As he had expected, the rebels, "more than two hundred horsemen, came racing down the country road" after Custer and his men. He lost half of his men in the deadly rebel fire and his horse went down, leaving him on foot. He was rescued by Private Norvell Francis Churchill of the 1st Michigan Cavalry, who galloped up, shot Custer's nearest assailant, and pulled Custer up behind him. Custer and his remaining men reached safety, while the pursuing rebels were cut down by slashing rifle fire, then canister from six cannons. The rebels broke off their attack, and both sides withdrew.
After spending most of the night in the saddle, Custer's brigade arrived at Two Taverns, Pennsylvania, roughly five miles southeast of Gettysburg around 3 a.m. July 3. There he was joined by Farnsworth's brigade. By daybreak they received orders to protect Meade's flanks. He was about to experience perhaps his finest hours during the war.
Gettysburg
Lee's battle plan, shared with less than a handful of subordinates, was to defeat Meade through a combined assault by all of his resources. General James Longstreet would attack Cemetery Hill from the west, Stuart would attack Culp's Hill from the southeast and Ewell would attack Culp's Hill from the north. Once the Union forces holding Culp's Hill had collapsed, the rebels would "roll up" the remaining Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge. To accomplish this, he sent Stuart with six thousand cavalrymen and mounted infantry on a long flanking maneuver.
By mid-morning on July 3, Custer had arrived at the intersection of Old Dutch road and Hanover Road 2 miles east of Gettysburg. He was later joined by Brigadier General David McMurtrie Gregg, who had him deploy his men at the northeast corner. Custer then sent out scouts to investigate nearby wooded areas. Meanwhile, Gregg had positioned Colonel John Baillie McIntosh's brigade near the intersection and sent the rest of his command to picket duty two miles to the southwest. After additional deployments, 2,400 cavalry under McIntosh and 1,200 under Custer remained, together with Colonel Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr.'s and Captain Alanson Merwin Randol's artillery, who had a total of ten three-inch guns.
About noon Custer's men heard cannon fire, Stuart's signal to Lee that he was in position and had not been detected. About the same time Gregg received a message warning that a large body of rebel cavalry had moved out the York Pike and might be trying to get around the Union right. A second message from Pleasonton ordered Gregg to send Custer to cover the Union far left. Since Gregg had already sent most of his force off to other duties, it was clear to both Gregg and Custer that Custer must remain. They had about 2700 men facing 6000 Confederates.
Soon afterward fighting broke out between the skirmish lines. Stuart ordered an attack by his mounted infantry under General Albert G. Jenkins, but the Union line held, with men from the First Michigan cavalry, the First New Jersey Cavalry and the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry. Stuart ordered Jackson's four gun battery into action. Custer ordered Pennington to answer. After a brief exchange in which two of Jackson's guns were destroyed, there was a lull.
About one o'clock, the massive Confederate artillery barrage in support of the upcoming assault on Cemetery Ridge began. Jenkins' men renewed the attack but soon ran out of ammunition and fell back. Resupplied, they again pressed the attack. Outnumbered, the Union cavalry fell back, firing as they went. Custer sent most of his Fifth Michigan cavalry ahead on foot, forcing Jenkins' men to fall back. Jenkins' men were reinforced by about 150 sharpshooters from General Fitzhugh Lee's brigade, and shortly after Stuart ordered a mounted charge by the Ninth Virginia Cavalry and the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry. Now it was Custer's men who were running out of ammunition. The Fifth Michigan was forced back and the battle was reduced to vicious, hand-to-hand combat.
Seeing this, Custer mounted a counter-attack, riding ahead of the fewer than 400 new troopers of the Seventh Michigan Cavalry, shouting, "Come on, you Wolverines!" As he swept forward, he formed a line of squadrons five ranks deep – five rows of eighty horsemen side by side – chasing the retreating rebels until their charge was stopped by a wood rail fence. The horses and men became jammed into a solid mass and were soon attacked on their left flank by the dismounted Ninth and Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry and on the right flank by the mounted First Virginia cavalry. Custer extricated his men and raced south to the protection of Pennington's artillery near Hanover Road. The pursuing Confederates were cut down by canister, then driven back by the remounted Fifth Michigan Cavalry. Both forces withdrew to a safe distance to regroup.
It was then about three o'clock. The artillery barrage to the west had suddenly stopped. Union soldiers were surprised to see Stuart's entire force about a half mile away, coming toward them, not in line of battle, but "formed in close column of squadrons... A grander spectacle than their advance has rarely been beheld". Stuart recognized he now had little time to reach and attack the Union rear along Cemetery Ridge. He must make one last effort to break through the Union cavalry.
Stuart passed by McIntosh's cavalry – the First New Jersey, Third Pennsylvania and Company A of Purnell's Legion, which had been posted about halfway down the field – with relative ease. As Stuart approached, the Union troops were ordered back into the woods without slowing down Stuart's column, "advancing as if in review, with sabers drawn and glistening like silver in the bright sunlight...."
Stuart's last obstacle was Custer and his four hundred veteran troopers of the First Michigan Cavalry directly in the Confererate cavalry's path. Outnumbered but undaunted, Custer rode to the head of the regiment, "drew his saber, threw off his hat so they could see his long yellow hair" and shouted... "Come on, you Wolverines!" Custer formed his men in line of battle and charged. "So sudden was the collision that many of the horses were turned end over end and crushed their riders beneath them...." As the Confederate advance stopped, their right flank was struck by troopers of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Michigan. McIntosh was able to gather some of his men from the First New Jersey and Third Pennsylvania and charged the rebel left flank. "Seeing that the situation was becoming critical, I [Captain Miller] turned to [Lieutenant Brooke-Rawle] and said: 'I have been ordered to hold this position, but, if you will back me up in case I am court-martialed for disobedience, I will order a charge.' The rebel column disintegrated, and individual troopers fought with saber and pistol.
Within twenty minutes the combatants heard the sound of the Union artillery opening up on Pickett's men. Stuart knew that whatever chance he had of joining the Confederate assault was gone. He withdrew his men to Cress Ridge.
Custer's brigade lost 257 men at Gettysburg, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade. "I challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful charge of cavalry", Custer wrote in his report. "For Gallant And Meritorious Services", he was awarded a regular army brevet promotion to Major.
Shenandoah Valley and Appomattox
General Custer participated in Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. The civilian population was specifically targeted in what is known as the Burning.
In 1864, with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan, Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was then ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek.
Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines finally broke, and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. After a truce was arranged Custer was escorted through the lines to meet Longstreet, who described Custer as having flaxen locks flowing over his shoulders, and Custer said “in the name of General Sheridan I demand the unconditional surrender of this army.” Longstreet replied that he was not in command of the army, but if he was he would not deal with messages from Sheridan. Custer responded it would be a pity to have more blood upon the field, to which Longstreet suggested the truce be respected, and then added “General Lee has gone to meet General Grant, and it is for them to determine the future of the armies.” Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historic table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution.
On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for, then illegally seize a large, prize racehorse named "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth then an estimated $10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in the grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C., on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who then ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not, instead hiding the horse and winning a race with it the next year, before the horse died suddenly.
Reconstruction duties in Texas
On June 3, 1865, at Sheridan's behest, Major General Custer accepted command of the 2nd Division of Cavalry, Military Division of the Southwest, to march from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Hempstead, Texas, as part of the Union occupation forces. Custer arrived at Alexandria on June 27 and began assembling his units, which took more than a month to gather and remount. On July 17, he assumed command of the Cavalry Division of the Military Division of the Gulf (on August 5, officially named the 2nd Division of Cavalry of the Military Division of the Gulf), and accompanied by his wife, he led the division (five regiments of veteran Western Theater cavalrymen) to Texas on an arduous 18-day march in August. On October 27, the division departed to Austin. On October 29, Custer moved the division from Hempstead to Austin, arriving on November 4. Major General Custer became Chief of Cavalry of the Department of Texas, from November 13 to February 1, 1866, succeeding Major General Wesley Merritt.
During his entire period of command of the division, Custer encountered considerable friction and near mutiny from the volunteer cavalry regiments who had campaigned along the Gulf coast. They desired to be mustered out of Federal service rather than continue campaigning, resented imposition of discipline (particularly from an Eastern Theater general), and considered Custer nothing more than a vain dandy.
Custer's division was mustered out beginning in November 1865, replaced by the regulars of the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment. Although their occupation of Austin had apparently been pleasant, many veterans harbored deep resentments against Custer, particularly in the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, because of his attempts to maintain discipline. Upon its mustering out, several members planned to ambush Custer, but he was warned the night before and the attempt thwarted.
Indian Wars
On February 1, 1866, Major General Custer mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service and took an extended leave of absence and awaited orders to September 24. He explored options in New York City, where he considered careers in railroads and mining. Offered a position (and $10,000 in gold) as adjutant general of the army of Benito Juárez of Mexico, who was then in a struggle with the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I (a satellite ruler of French Emperor Napoleon III), Custer applied for a one-year leave of absence from the U.S. Army, which was endorsed by Grant and Secretary of War Stanton. Sheridan and Mrs. Custer disapproved, however, and when his request for leave was opposed by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, who was against having an American officer commanding foreign troops, Custer refused the alternative of resignation from the Army to take the lucrative post.
Following the death of his father-in-law in May 1866, Custer returned to Monroe, Michigan, where he considered running for Congress. He took part in public discussion over the treatment of the American South in the aftermath of the Civil War, advocating a policy of moderation. He was named head of the Soldiers and Sailors Union, regarded as a response to the hyper-partisan Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Also formed in 1866, it was led by Republican activist John Alexander Logan. In September 1866 Custer accompanied President Andrew Johnson on a journey by train known as the "Swing Around the Circle" to build up public support for Johnson's policies towards the South. Custer denied a charge by the newspapers that Johnson had promised him a colonel's commission in return for his support, but Custer had written to Johnson some weeks before seeking such a commission. Custer and his wife stayed with the president during most of the trip. At one point Custer confronted a small group of Ohio men who repeatedly jeered Johnson, saying to them: "I was born two miles and a half from here, but I am ashamed of you."
On July 28, 1866, Custer was appointed lieutenant colonel of the newly created 7th Cavalry Regiment, which was headquartered at Fort Riley, Kansas. He served on frontier duty at Fort Riley from October 18 to March 26, and scouted in Kansas and Colorado to July 28, 1867. He took part in Major General Winfield Scott Hancock's expedition against the Cheyenne. On June 26, Lt. Lyman Kidder's party, made up of ten troopers and one scout, were massacred while en route to Fort Wallace. Lt. Kidder was to deliver dispatches to Custer from General Sherman, but his party was attacked by Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne. Days later, Custer and a search party found the bodies of Kidder's patrol.
Following the Hancock campaign, Custer was arrested and suspended at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to August 12, 1868, for being AWOL, after having abandoned his post to see his wife. At the request of Major General Sheridan, who wanted Custer for his planned winter campaign against the Cheyenne, Custer was allowed to return to duty before his one-year term of suspension had expired and joined his regiment to October 7, 1868. He then went on frontier duty, scouting in Kansas and Indian Territory to October 1869.
Under Sheridan's orders, Custer took part in establishing Camp Supply in Indian Territory in early November 1868 as a supply base for the winter campaign. On November 27, 1868, Custer led the 7th Cavalry Regiment in an attack on the Cheyenne encampment of Chief Black Kettle – the Battle of Washita River. Custer reported killing 103 warriors and some women and children; 53 women and children were taken as prisoners. Estimates by the Cheyenne of their casualties were substantially lower (11 warriors plus 19 women and children). Custer had his men shoot most of the 875 Indian ponies they had captured. The Battle of Washita River was regarded as the first substantial U.S. victory in the Southern Plains War, and it helped force a large portion of the Southern Cheyenne onto a U.S.-assigned reservation.
In 1873, Custer was sent to the Dakota Territory to protect a railroad survey party against the Lakota. On August 4, 1873, near the Tongue River, Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment clashed for the first time with the Lakota. One man on each side was killed. In 1874 Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota. Custer's announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush. Among the towns that immediately grew up was Deadwood, South Dakota, notorious for lawlessness.
Grant, Belknap and politics
In 1875, the Grant administration attempted to buy the Black Hills region from the Sioux. When the Sioux refused to sell, they were ordered to report to reservations by the end of January, 1876. Mid-winter conditions made it impossible for them to comply. The administration labeled them "hostiles" and tasked the Army with bringing them in. Custer was to command an expedition planned for the spring, part of a three-pronged campaign. While Custer's expedition marched west from Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, troops under Colonel John Gibbon were to march east from Fort Ellis, near present-day Bozeman, Montana, while a force under General George Crook was to march north from Fort Fetterman, near present-day Douglas, Wyoming.
Custer's 7th Cavalry was originally scheduled to leave Fort Abraham Lincoln on April 6, 1876, but on March 15 he was summoned to Washington to testify at congressional hearings. Rep. Hiester Clymer's Committee was investigating alleged corruption involving Secretary of War William W. Belknap (who had resigned March 2), President Grant's brother Orville and traders granted monopolies at frontier Army posts. It was alleged that Belknap had been selling these lucrative trading post positions where soldiers were required to make their purchases. Custer himself had experienced first hand the high prices being charged at Fort Lincoln.
Concerned that he might miss the coming campaign, Custer did not want to go to Washington. He asked to answer questions in writing, but Clymer insisted. Recognizing that his testimony would be explosive, Custer tried "to follow a moderate and prudent course, avoiding prominence." Despite this, he provided a quantity of unsubstantiated accusations against Belknap. His testimony, given on March 29 and April 4, was a sensation, being loudly praised by the Democratic press and sharply criticized by Republicans. Custer wrote articles published anonymously in The New York Herald that exposed trader post kickback rings and implied that Belknap was behind them. During his testimony, Custer attacked President Grant's brother Orville on unproven grounds of extorting money in exchange for exerting undue influence.
After Custer testified, Belknap was impeached and the case sent to the Senate for trial. Custer asked the impeachment managers to release him from further testimony. With the help of a request from his superior, Brigadier General Alfred Terry, Commander of the Department of Dakota, he was excused. However, President Grant intervened, ordering that another officer fulfill Custer's military duty.
General Terry protested, arguing that he had no available officers of rank qualified to replace Custer. Both Sheridan and Sherman wanted Custer in command but had to support Grant. General Sherman, hoping to resolve the issue, advised Custer to meet personally with Grant before leaving Washington. Three times Custer requested meetings with the president, but each request was refused.
Finally, Custer gave up and took a train to Chicago on May 2, planning to rejoin his regiment. A furious Grant ordered Sheridan to arrest Custer for leaving Washington without permission. On May 3, a member of Sheridan's staff arrested Custer as he arrived in Chicago. The arrest sparked public outrage. The New York Herald called Grant the "modern Caesar" and asked, "Are officers... to be dragged from railroad trains and ignominiously ordered to stand aside until the whims of the Chief magistrate ... are satisfied?"
Grant relented but insisted that Terry—not Custer—personally command the expedition. Terry met Custer in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 6. He later recalled that Custer "with tears in his eyes, begged for my aid. How could I resist it?" Custer and Terry both wrote telegrams to Grant asking that Custer lead his regiment, with Terry in command. Sheridan endorsed the effort.
Grant was already under pressure for his treatment of Custer. His administration worried that if the "Sioux campaign" failed without Custer, then Grant would be blamed for ignoring the recommendations of senior Army officers. On May 8, Custer was told that he would lead the expedition, but only under Terry's direct supervision.
Elated, Custer told General Terry's chief engineer, Captain Ludlow, that he would "cut loose" from Terry and operate independently.
Battle of the Little Bighorn
By the time of Custer's Black Hills expedition in 1874, the level of conflict and tension between the U.S. and many of the Plains Indians tribes (including the Lakota Sioux and the Cheyenne) had become exceedingly high. European-Americans continually broke treaty agreements and advanced further westward, resulting in violence and acts of depredation by both sides. To take possession of the Black Hills (and thus the gold deposits), and to stop Indian attacks, the U.S. decided to corral all remaining free Plains Indians. The Grant government set a deadline of January 31, 1876, for all Lakota and Arapaho wintering in the "unceded territory" to report to their designated agencies (reservations) or be considered "hostile".
At that time the 7th Cavalry's regimental commander, Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis, was on detached duty as the Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and in command of the Cavalry Depot in St. Louis, Missouri, which left Lieutenant Colonel Custer in command of the regiment. Custer and the 7th Cavalry departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln on May 17, 1876, part of a larger army force planning to round up remaining free Indians. Meanwhile, in the spring and summer of 1876, the Hunkpapa Lakota holy man Sitting Bull had called together the largest ever gathering of Plains Indians at Ash Creek, Montana (later moved to the Little Bighorn River) to discuss what to do about the whites. It was this united encampment of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians that the 7th met at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in the Crow Indian Reservation created in old Crow Country. (In the Fort Laramie Treaty (1851), the valley of the Little Bighorn is in the heart of the Crow Indian treaty territory and accepted as such by the Lakota, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho). The Lakotas were staying in the valley without consent from the Crow tribe, which sided with the Army to expel the Indian invaders.
About June 15, Major Marcus Reno, while on a scout, discovered the trail of a large village on the Rosebud River. On June 22, Custer's entire regiment was detached to follow this trail. On June 25, some of Custer's Crow Indian scouts identified what they claimed was a large Indian encampment in the valley near the Little Bighorn River. Custer had first intended to attack the Indian village the next day, but since his presence was known, he decided to attack immediately and divided his forces into three battalions: one led by Major Reno, one by Captain Frederick Benteen, and one by himself. Captain Thomas M. McDougall and Company B were with the pack train. Reno was sent north to charge the southern end of the encampment, Custer rode north, hidden to the east of the encampment by bluffs and planning to circle around and attack from the north, and Benteen was initially sent south and west to scout Indian presence and potentially protect the column from the south.
Reno began a charge on the southern end of the village but halted some 500–600 yards short of the camp, and had his men dismount and form a skirmish line. They were soon overcome by mounted Lakota and Cheyenne warriors who counterattacked en masse against Reno's exposed left flank, forcing Reno and his men to take cover in the trees along the river. Eventually, however, the troopers engaged in a bloody retreat up onto the bluffs above the river, where they made their own stand. This, the opening action of the battle, cost Reno a quarter of his command.
Custer may have seen Reno stop and form a skirmish line as Custer led his command to the northern end of the main encampment, where he may have planned to sandwich the Indians between his attacking troopers and Reno's command in a "hammer and anvil" maneuver. According to Grinnell's account, based on the testimony of the Cheyenne warriors who survived the fight, at least part of Custer's command attempted to ford the river at the north end of the camp but were driven off by Indian sharpshooters firing from the brush along the west bank of the river. From that point the soldiers were pursued by hundreds of warriors onto a ridge north of the encampment. Custer and his command were prevented from digging in by Crazy Horse however, whose warriors had outflanked him and were now to his north, at the crest of the ridge. Traditional white accounts attribute to Gall the attack that drove Custer up onto the ridge, but Indian witnesses have disputed that account.
For a time, Custer's men appear to have been deployed by company, in standard cavalry fighting formation—the skirmish line, with every fourth man holding the horses, though this arrangement would have robbed Custer of a quarter of his firepower. Worse, as the fight intensified, many soldiers could have taken to holding their own horses or hobbling them, further reducing the 7th's effective fire. When Crazy Horse and White Bull mounted the charge that broke through the center of Custer's lines, order may have broken down among the soldiers of Calhoun's command, though Myles Keogh's men seem to have fought and died where they stood. According to some Lakota accounts, many of the panicking soldiers threw down their weapons and either rode or ran towards the knoll where Custer, the other officers, and about 40 men were making a stand. Along the way, the warriors rode them down, counting coup by striking the fleeing troopers with their quirts or lances.
Initially, Custer had 208 officers and men under his direct command, with an additional 142 under Reno, just over 100 under Benteen, and 50 soldiers with Captain McDougall's rearguard, accompanying 84 soldiers under 1st Lieutenant Edward Gustave Mathey with the pack train. The Lakota-Cheyenne coalition may have fielded over 1,800 warriors. Historian Gregory Michno settles on a low number of around 1,000 based on contemporary Lakota testimony, but other sources place the number at 1,800 or 2,000, especially in the works by Utley and Fox. The 1,800–2,000 figure is substantially lower than the higher numbers of 3,000 or more postulated by Ambrose, Gray, Scott, and others. Some of the other participants in the battle gave these estimates:
Spotted Horn Bull – 5,000 braves and leaders
Maj. Reno – 2,500 to 5,000 warriors
Capt. Moylan – 3,500 to 4,000
Lt. Hare – not under 4,000
Lt. Godfrey – minimum between 2,500 and 3,000
Lt. Edgerly – 4,000
Lt. Varnum – not less than 4,000
Sgt. Kanipe – fully 4,000
George Herendeen – fully 3,000
Fred Gerard – 2,500 to 3,000
An average of the above is 3,500 Indian warriors and leaders.
As the troopers of Custer's five companies were cut down, the native warriors stripped the dead of their firearms and ammunition, with the result that the return fire from the cavalry steadily decreased, while the fire from the Indians constantly increased. The surviving troopers apparently shot their remaining horses to use as breastworks for a final stand on the knoll at the north end of the ridge. The warriors closed in for the final attack and killed every man in Custer's command. As a result, the Battle of the Little Bighorn has come to be popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand".
Personal life
On February 9, 1864, Custer married Elizabeth Clift Bacon (1842–1933), whom he had first seen when he was ten years old. He had been socially introduced to her in November 1862, when home in Monroe on leave. She was not initially impressed with him, and her father, Judge Daniel Bacon, disapproved of Custer as a match because he was the son of a blacksmith. It was not until well after Custer had been promoted to the rank of brigadier general that he gained the approval of Judge Bacon. He married Elizabeth Bacon fourteen months after they formally met.
In November 1868, following the Battle of Washita River, Custer was alleged (by Captain Frederick Benteen, chief of scouts Ben Clark, and Cheyenne oral tradition) to have unofficially married Mo-nah-se-tah, daughter of the Cheyenne chief Little Rock in the winter or early spring of 1868–1869 (Little Rock was killed in the one-day action at Washita on November 27). Mo-nah-se-tah gave birth to a child in January 1869, two months after the Washita battle. Cheyenne oral history tells that she also bore a second child, fathered by Custer in late 1869. Some historians, however, believe that Custer had become sterile after contracting gonorrhea while at West Point and that the father was, in actuality, his brother Thomas. Clarke's description in his memoirs included the statement, "Custer picked out a fine looking one and had her in his tent every night."
Death
It is unlikely that any Native American recognized Custer during or after the battle. Michno summarizes: "Shave Elk said, 'We did not suspect that we were fighting Custer and did not recognize him either alive or dead.' Wooden Leg said no one could recognize any enemy during the fight, for they were too far away. The Cheyennes did not even know a man named Custer was in the fight until weeks later. Antelope said none knew of Custer being at the fight until they later learned of it at the agencies. Thomas Marquis learned from his interviews that no Indian knew Custer was at the Little Bighorn fight until months later. Many Cheyennes were not even aware that other members of the Custer family had been in the fight until 1922 when Marquis himself first informed them of that fact."
Several individuals claimed responsibility for killing Custer, including White Bull of the Miniconjous, Rain-in-the-Face, Flat Lip, and Brave Bear. In June 2005, at a public meeting, Northern Cheyenne storytellers said that according to their oral tradition, Buffalo Calf Road Woman, a Northern Cheyenne heroine of the Battle of the Rosebud, struck the final blow against Custer, which knocked him off his horse before he died.
A contrasting version of Custer's death is suggested by the testimony of an Oglala named Joseph White Cow Bull, according to novelist and Custer biographer Evan Connell. He says that Joseph White Bull stated he had shot a rider wearing a buckskin jacket and big hat at the riverside when the soldiers first approached the village from the east. The initial force facing the soldiers, according to this version, was quite small (possibly as few as four warriors) yet challenged Custer's command. The rider who was hit was mounted next to a rider who bore a flag and had shouted orders that prompted the soldiers to attack, but when the buckskin-clad rider fell off his horse after being shot, many of the attackers reined up. The allegation that the buckskin-clad officer was Custer, if accurate, might explain the supposed rapid disintegration of Custer's forces. However, several other officers of the Seventh, including William Cooke, Tom Custer and William Sturgis, were also dressed in buckskin on the day of the battle, and the fact that each of the non-mutilation wounds to George Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded or killed at the ford, more than a mile from where his body was found. The circumstances are, however, consistent with David Humphreys Miller's suggestion that Custer's attendants would not have left his dead body behind to be desecrated.
During the 1920s, two elderly Cheyenne women spoke briefly with oral historians about their having recognized Custer's body on the battlefield and said that they had stopped a Sioux warrior from desecrating the body. The women were relatives of Mo-nah-se-tah, who was alleged to have been Custer's lover in late 1868 and through 1869, and borne two children by him. Mo-nah-se-tah was among 53 Cheyenne women and children taken captive by the 7th Cavalry after the Battle of Washita River in 1868, in which Custer commanded an attack on the camp of Chief Black Kettle. Mo-nah-se-tah's father, Cheyenne chief Little Rock, was killed in the battle. During the winter and early spring of 1868–69, Custer reportedly sexually assaulted teenage Mo-nah-se-tah. Cheyenne oral history alleges that she later bore Custer's child in late 1869. (Custer, however, had apparently become sterile after contracting venereal disease at West Point, leading some historians to believe that the father was really his brother Thomas). In the Cheyenne culture of the time, such a relationship was considered a marriage. The women allegedly told the warrior: "Stop, he is a relative of ours," and then shooed him away. The two women said they shoved their sewing awls into his ears to permit Custer's corpse to "hear better in the afterlife" because he had broken his promise to Stone Forehead never to fight against Native Americans again.
When the main column under General Terry arrived two days later, the army found most of the soldiers' corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated. Custer's body had two bullet holes, one in the left temple and one just below the heart. Capt. Benteen, who inspected the body, stated that in his opinion the fatal injuries had not been the result of .45 caliber ammunition, which implies the bullet holes had been caused by ranged rifle fire. Some time later, Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey described Custer's mutilation, telling Charles F. Bates that an arrow "had been forced up his penis."
The bodies of Custer and his brother Tom were wrapped in canvas and blankets, then buried in a shallow grave, covered by the basket from a travois held in place by rocks. When soldiers returned a year later, the brothers' grave had been scavenged by animals and the bones scattered. "Not more than a double handful of small bones were picked up." Custer was reinterred with full military honors at West Point Cemetery on October 10, 1877. The battle site was designated a National Cemetery in 1886.
Controversial legacy
Public relations and media coverage during his lifetime
Custer has been called a "media personality", and he valued good public relations and used the print media of his era effectively. He frequently invited journalists to accompany his campaigns (one, Associated Press reporter Mark Kellogg, died at the Little Bighorn), and their favorable reporting contributed to his high reputation, which lasted well into the latter 20th century.
Custer enjoyed writing, often writing all night long. He wrote a series of magazine articles of his experiences on the frontier, which were published in book form as My Life on the Plains in 1874. The work is still a valued primary source for information on US-Native relations.
Posthumous legacy
After his death, Custer achieved lasting fame. Despite some initial criticism, the public eventually saw him as a tragic military hero.
Custer's wife, Elizabeth, who had accompanied him in many of his frontier expeditions, did much to advance this view with the publication of several books about her late husband: Boots and Saddles, Life with General Custer in Dakota, Tenting on the Plains, or General Custer in Kansas and Texas and Following the Guidon.
The deaths of Custer and his troops became the best-known episode in the history of the American Indian Wars, due in part to a painting commissioned by the brewery Anheuser-Busch as part of an advertising campaign. The enterprising company ordered reprints of a dramatic work that depicted "Custer's Last Stand" and had them framed and hung in many United States saloons. This created lasting impressions of the battle and the brewery's products in the minds of many bar patrons. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote an adoring (and in some places, erroneous) poem. President Theodore Roosevelt's lavish praise pleased Custer's widow.
President Grant, a highly successful general but recent antagonist, criticized Custer's actions in the battle of the Little Bighorn. Quoted in the New York Herald on September 2, 1876, Grant said, "I regard Custer's Massacre as a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself, that was wholly unnecessary – wholly unnecessary." General Phillip Sheridan took a more moderately critical view of Custer's final military actions.
General Nelson Miles (who inherited Custer's mantle of famed Indian fighter) and others praised him as a fallen hero betrayed by the incompetence of subordinate officers. Miles noted the difficulty of winning a fight "with seven-twelfths of the command remaining out of the engagement when within sound of his rifle shots."
The assessment of Custer's actions during the American Indian Wars has undergone substantial reconsideration in modern times. Documenting the arc of popular perception in his biography Son of the Morning Star (1984), author Evan Connell notes the reverential tone of Custer's first biographer Frederick Whittaker (whose book was rushed out the year of Custer's death.) Connell concludes:
These days it is stylish to denigrate the general, whose stock sells for nothing. Nineteenth-century Americans thought differently. At that time he was a cavalier without fear and beyond reproach.
Criticism and controversy
The controversy over blame for the disaster at Little Bighorn continues to this day. Major Marcus Reno's failure to press his attack on the south end of the Lakota/Cheyenne village and his flight to the timber along the river after a single casualty have been cited as a factor in the destruction of Custer's battalion, as has Captain Frederick Benteen's allegedly tardy arrival on the field, and the failure of the two officers' combined forces to move toward the relief of Custer.
Some of Custer's critics have asserted tactical errors.
While camped at Powder River, Custer refused the support offered by General Terry on June 21 of an additional four companies of the Second Cavalry. Custer stated that he "could whip any Indian village on the Plains" with his own regiment, and that extra troops would simply be a burden.
At the same time, he left behind at the steamer Far West, on the Yellowstone, a battery of Gatling guns, knowing he was facing superior numbers. Before leaving the camp all the troops, including the officers, also boxed their sabers and sent them back with the wagons.
On the day of the battle, Custer divided his 600-man command, despite being faced with vastly superior numbers of Sioux and Cheyenne.
The refusal of an extra battalion reduced the size of his force by at least a sixth, and rejecting the firepower offered by the Gatling guns played into the events of June 25 to the disadvantage of his regiment.
Custer's defenders, however, including historian Charles K. Hofling, have asserted that Gatling guns would have been slow and cumbersome as the troops crossed the rough country between the Yellowstone and the Little Bighorn. Custer rated speed in gaining the battlefield as essential and more important. Supporters of Custer claim that splitting the forces was a standard tactic, so as to demoralize the enemy with the appearance of the cavalry in different places all at once, especially when a contingent threatened the line of retreat.
Attacks on Indigenous Peoples
Sharply criticizing the self-styled “Indian fighter,” Indigenous people's movements have emphasized Custer's role in the U.S. government's land theft, treaty violations and atrocities against Native Americans.
Standing Rock Sioux theologian and author Vine Deloria, Jr. told the Los Angeles Times in 1996 that he considered Custer “the Adolf Eichmann of the Plains.” In his 1969 book Custer Died for Your Sins, Deloria condemned Custer's violations of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty that established the Black Hills region as unceded territory of the Sioux and Arapaho peoples. Custer's violations of the Fort Laramie Treaty included a 1874 gold expedition and the 1876 Battle of Greasy Grass (Battle of the Little Bighorn).
Critics have also highlighted Custer's 1868 Washita River surprise attack that killed Cheyenne non-combatants including mothers, children, and elders. Custer was following Generals William Sherman and Philip Sheridan's orders for “total war” on the Indigenous nations. Describing total war methods, Sherman wrote, “We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children...during an assault, the soldiers can not pause to distinguish between male and female, or even discriminate as to age." There is “credible evidence” that following the attack, Custer and his men took “sexual liberties” with female captives, in the euphemism of one historian. Another historian writes, “There was a saying among the soldiers of the western frontier, a saying Custer and his officers could heartily endorse: ‘Indian women rape easy.’”
Indigenous criticism of Custer’s posthumous legacy may have begun immediately after Custer died. Good Fox (Lakota) recounted:
"I was told that after the battle two Cheyenne women came across Custer’s body. They knew him, because he had attacked their peaceful village on the Washita. These women said, ‘You smoked the peace pipe with us. Our chiefs told you that you would be killed if you ever made war on us again. But you would not listen. This will make you hear better.’ The women each took an awl from their beaded cases and stuck them deep into Custer’s ears.”
In 1976, the American Indian Movement (AIM) celebrated the centennial anniversary of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho victory in the Battle of Greasy Grass, performing a victory dance around the marker of Custer’s death. AIM continued protesting there demanding the official renaming of the “Custer Battlefield,” finally winning this demand in 1991.
In May 2021, the United Tribes of Michigan unanimously passed a resolution calling for the removal of a Custer statue in Monroe, Michigan. The resolution stated in part:
"(It) is widely perceived as offensive and a painful public reminder of the legacy of Indigenous people's genocide and present realities of systemic racism in our country... Custer is notoriously known as the 'Indian Killer' [...] Custer does not deserve any glory, nor the right to further torment minoritized citizens 145 years postmortem."
Monuments and memorials
Counties are named in Custer's honor in six states: Colorado, Idaho (which is named for the General Custer Mine, which was named for Custer), Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Townships in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota were named for Custer.
Other municipalities named after Custer include the villages of Custer, Michigan, and Custar, Ohio; the city of Custer, South Dakota; and the unincorporated town of Custer, Wisconsin.
Custer National Cemetery is within Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the site of Custer's death.
The George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument of Custer, by Edward Clark Potter, was erected in Monroe, Michigan, Custer's boyhood home, in 1910.
Fort Custer National Military Reservation, near Augusta, Michigan, was built in 1917 on 130 parcels of land, as part of the military mobilization for World War I. During the war, some 90,000 troops passed through Camp Custer.
The establishment of Fort Custer National Cemetery (originally Fort Custer Post Cemetery) took place on September 18, 1943, with the first interment. On Memorial Day 1982, more than 33 years after the first resolution had been introduced in Congress, impressive ceremonies marked the official opening of the cemetery.
Custer Hill is the main troop billeting area at Fort Riley, Kansas. Custer's 1866 residence on the post has been preserved and is currently maintained as the Custer House Museum and meeting space (also sometimes referred to as Custer Home).
The 85th Infantry Division was nicknamed The Custer Division.
The Black Hills of South Dakota is full of evidence of Custer, with a county, town, and Custer State Park all located in the area.
A prominent mountain peak in the Black Hills bears his name.
The Custer house at Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, has been reconstructed as it was in Custer's day, along with the soldiers' barracks, block houses, etc. Annual re-enactments are held of Custer's 7th Cavalry's leaving for the Little Bighorn.
On July 2, 2008, a marble monument to Brigadier General Custer was dedicated at the site of the 1863 Civil War Battle of Hunterstown, in Adams County, Pennsylvania.
Custer Monument at the United States Military Academy was first unveiled in 1879. It now stands next to his grave in the West Point Cemetery.
Custer Memorial Monument at his birthplace was erected by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical society in 1931. It is located near the remains of the foundation of his birthplace homestead in New Rumley, Ohio. Custer Monument is managed locally by the Custer Memorial Association.
Miscellany
In addition to "Autie", Custer acquired a number of nicknames. During the Civil War, after his promotion to become the youngest brigadier general in the Army at age 23, the press frequently called him "The Boy General". During his years on the Great Plains in the American Indian Wars, his troopers often referred to him with grudging admiration as "Iron Butt" and "Hard Ass" for his physical stamina in the saddle and his strict discipline, as well as with the more derisive "Ringlets" for his long, curling blond hair, which he frequently perfumed with cinnamon-scented hair oil.
Custer was quite fastidious in his grooming. Early in their marriage, Libbie wrote, "He brushes his teeth after every meal. I always laugh at him for it, also for washing his hands so frequently."
He was 5'11" tall and wore a size 38 jacket and size 9C boots. At various times he weighed between 143 pounds (at the end of the 1869 Kansas campaign) and a muscular 170 pounds. A splendid horseman, "Custer mounted was an inspiration." He was quite fit, able to jump to a standing position from lying flat on his back. He was a "power sleeper", able to get by on very short naps after falling asleep immediately on lying down. He "had a habit of throwing himself prone on the grass for a few minutes' rest and resembled a human island, entirely surrounded by crowding, panting dogs."
Throughout his travels, he gathered geological specimens, sending them to the University of Michigan. On September 10, 1873, he wrote Libbie, "the Indian battles hindered the collecting, while in that immediate region it was unsafe to go far from the command...."
He was well-liked by his native scouts, whose company he enjoyed. He often ate with them. A May 21, 1876, diary entry by Kellogg records, "General Custer visits scouts; much at home amongst them."
Before leaving the steamer Far West for the final leg of the journey, Custer wrote all night. His orderly John Burkman stood guard in front of his tent and on the morning of June 22, 1876, found Custer "hunched over on the cot, just his coat and his boots off, and the pen still in his hand."
During his service in Kentucky, Custer bought several thoroughbred horses. He took two on his last campaign, Vic (for Victory) and Dandy. During the march he changed horses every three hours. He rode Vic into his last battle.
Custer took his two staghounds Tuck and Bleuch with him during the last expedition. He left them with orderly Burkman when he rode forward into battle. Burkman joined the packtrain. He regretted not accompanying Custer but lived until 1925, when he took his own life.
The common media image of Custer's appearance at the Last Stand—buckskin coat and long, curly blonde hair—is wrong. Although he and several other officers wore buckskin coats on the expedition, they took them off and packed them away because it was so hot. According to Soldier, an Arikara scout, "Custer took off his buckskin coat and tied it behind his saddle." Further, Custer—whose hair was thinning—joined a similarly balding Lieutenant Varnum and "had the clippers run over their heads" before leaving Fort Lincoln.
Dates of rank
See also
Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer
Custer's Revenge
Fort Abraham Lincoln
German-Americans in the Civil War
Half Yellow Face
White Swan
List of American Civil War generals (Union)
List of German Americans
References
Bibliography
Ambrose, Stephen E. (1996 [1975]). Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. New York: Anchor Books. .
Barnett, Louise (1996) Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer New York, Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Boulard, Garry (2006) The Swing Around the Circle: Andrew Johnson and the Train Ride that Destroyed a Presidency
Caudill, Edward and Paul Ashdown (2015). Inventing Custer: The Making of An American Legend. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Goodrich, Thomas. Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997.
Longacre, Edward G. (2000). Lincoln's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of the Potomac. Stackpole Books. .
Longstreet, James, From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America, J.B. Lippincott, 1908.
Mails, Thomas E. (1972). Mystic Warriors of the Plains. Doubleday.
Marshall, Joseph M. III. (2007). The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History. New York: Viking Press.
Merington, Marguerite, Ed. The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of General Custer and his Wife Elizabeth. (1950)
Michno, Gregory F. (1997). Lakota Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat. Mountain Press Publishing Company. .
Perrett, Bryan. Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds. London: Arms & Armour, 1993.
Punke, Michael, "Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West", Smithsonian Books, 2007,
Robbins, James S. The Real Custer: From Boy General to Tragic Hero. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2014,
Tagg, Larry. (1988). The Generals of Gettysburg. Savas Publishing. .
Urwin, Gregory J. W., Custer Victorious, University of Nebraska Press, 1990, .
Utley, Robert M. (2001). Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier, revised edition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. .
Vestal, Stanley. Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1934.
Welch, James, with Paul Stekler. (2007 [1994]). Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Wert, Jeffry D. Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. .
Further reading
Stiles, T.J. Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America (2015), Pulitzer Prize.
External links
Indian Wars and the Year of George Custer
Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield
Custer Battlefield Museum
Little Big Horn Associates
Little Bighorn History Alliance
Kenneth M Hammer Collection on Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Harold G. Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Gallery of Custer images
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture -Custer, George Armstrong
George A. and Elizabeth B. Custer papers, Vault MSS 364 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Charles F. Bates Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
1839 births
1876 deaths
People from Harrison County, Ohio
American people of German descent
American people of English descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Union Army generals
People of Ohio in the American Civil War
People of Michigan in the American Civil War
People of the Great Sioux War of 1876
United States Army personnel who were court-martialed
Comanche campaign
United States Military Academy alumni
People from Monroe, Michigan
Michigan Brigade
American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars
Deaths by firearm in Montana
Burials at West Point Cemetery
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Genocide perpetrators | false | [
"State Route 26 (SR 26) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Oakville Road, the state highway runs from U.S. Route 460 (US 460), SR 24, and US 460 Business in Appomattox north to US 60 in Bent Creek.\n\nRoute description\n\nSR 26 begins as a four-lane divided highway at a diamond interchange with US 460 and SR 24 (Richmond Highway) just north of the town of Appomattox. The roadway continues south of the expressway bypass of the town as US 460 Business (Confederate Boulevard), which leads to the Appomattox Historic District. SR 26 reduces to a two-lane undivided road and heads north as Oakville Road through northwestern Appomattox County. The state highway passes through the hamlet of Oakville. Near the northern end of SR 26, the highway descends into the narrow valley of Bent Creek. The state highway crosses the stream just south of the stream's mouth at the James River. A short distance to the north, SR 26 reaches its terminus at US 60 (James Anderson Highway) in the hamlet of Bent Creek just south of the U.S. Highway's crossing of the James River.\n\nMajor intersections\n\nHistory\nThe route originally continued south of Appomattox through to Charlotte and Halifax Counties, passing by what is now VA 40 in Phenix and ending at what is now VA 92 in the former town of Clover. The Appomattox-Phenix portion is now SR 727, while the Phenix-Clover portion is now SR 746.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nVirginia Highways Project: VA 26\n\n026\nState Route 026",
"The Appomattox Courthouse is the current courthouse in Appomattox, Virginia built in 1892. It is located in the middle of the state about three miles (5 km) southwest of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, once known as Clover Hill—home of the original Old Appomattox Court House. The \"new\" Appomattox Courthouse is near the Appomattox Station and where the regional county government is located.\n\nBefore the Civil War, the railroad bypassed Clover Hill, now known as the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. As a result the population of Clover Hill, where the Old Appomattox Courthouse once stood, never grew much over 150 while Appomattox town grew to the thousands. When the courthouse at the village of Clover Hill burned for the second time in 1892, it was not rebuilt and a new courthouse was built in West Appomattox. That sealed the fate of the village of Clover Hill. The county seat was formally moved to the town of West Appomattox in 1894 and the word \"West\" was dropped in time making the name of the town just Appomattox, Virginia.\n\nThere is a marker at the site of the \"new\" Appomattox Court House explaining the difference between the \"new\" and \"old\" court houses.\n\nTwo members of the United States House of Representatives, Henry D. Flood and his half-brother Joel West Flood, are entombed in a mausoleum on the courthouse green.\n\nFootnotes\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n \n Official County website\n Official Tourism website for Town and County of Appomattox \n\nBuildings and structures in Appomattox County, Virginia\nCounty courthouses in Virginia\nGovernment buildings completed in 1892"
] |
[
"George Armstrong Custer",
"The Valley and Appomattox",
"What can you tell me about The Valley",
"Shenandoah Valley",
"What is the valley and appomattox",
"I don't know."
] | C_d2621bad851f4bc88e76021d95db27e2_1 | What happened in The Valley | 3 | What happened in The Valley | George Armstrong Custer | In 1864, with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan, Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was then ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek. Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines finally broke, and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by General Philip Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historical table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution. On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for, then illegally seize a large, prize racehorse "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth then an estimated $10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in the grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C. on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who then ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not, instead hiding the horse and winning a race with it the next year, before the horse died suddenly. CANNOTANSWER | In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester | George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, but as the Civil War was just starting, trained officers were in immediate demand. He worked closely with General George B. McClellan and the future General Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his qualities as a cavalry leader, and he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers at age 23. Only a few days after his promotion, he fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he commanded the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and despite being outnumbered, defeated J. E. B. Stuart's attack at what is now known as the East Cavalry Field. In 1864, Custer served in the Overland Campaign and in Philip Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating Jubal Early at Cedar Creek. His division blocked the Army of Northern Virginia's final retreat and received the first flag of truce from the Confederates, and Custer was present at Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.
After the war, Custer was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army and was sent west to fight in the Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, while leading the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory against a coalition of Native American tribes, he was killed along with all of the five companies he led after splitting the regiment into three battalions. This action became romanticized as "Custer's Last Stand".
His dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his career, and reaction to his life and career remains deeply divided. Custer's legend was partly of his own fabrication through his extensive journalism, and perhaps more through the energetic lobbying of his wife Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer throughout her long widowhood.
Family and ancestry
Custer's paternal ancestors, Paulus and Gertrude Küster, came to the North American English colonies around 1693 from the Rhineland in Germany, probably among thousands of Palatines whose passage was arranged by the English government to gain settlers in New York and Pennsylvania.
According to family letters, Custer was named after George Armstrong, a minister, in his devout mother's hope that her son might join the clergy.
Birth, siblings, and childhood
Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, to Emanuel Henry Custer (1806–1892), a farmer and blacksmith, and his second wife, Marie Ward Kirkpatrick (1807–1882), who was of English and Scots-Irish descent. He had two younger brothers, Thomas and Boston. His other full siblings were the family's youngest child, Margaret Custer, and Nevin Custer, who suffered from asthma and rheumatism. Custer also had three older half-siblings. Custer and his brothers acquired a life-long love of practical jokes, which they played out among the close family members.
Emanuel Custer was an outspoken Jacksonian Democrat who taught his children politics and toughness at an early age. In a February 3, 1887, letter to his son's widow Libby, Emanuel related an incident from when George Custer (known as Autie) was about four years old:
"He had to have a tooth drawn, and he was very much afraid of blood. When I took him to the doctor to have the tooth pulled, it was in the night and I told him if it bled well it would get well right away, and he must be a good soldier. When he got to the doctor he took his seat, and the pulling began. The forceps slipped off and he had to make a second trial. He pulled it out, and Autie never even scrunched. Going home, I led him by the arm. He jumped and skipped, and said 'Father you and me can whip all the Whigs in Michigan.' I thought that was saying a good deal but I did not contradict him."
Education
In order to attend school, Custer lived with an older half-sister and her husband in Monroe, Michigan. Before entering the United States Military Academy, Custer attended the McNeely Normal School, later known as Hopedale Normal College, in Hopedale, Ohio. It was to train teachers for elementary schools. While attending Hopedale, Custer and classmate William Enos Emery were known to have carried coal to help pay for their room and board. After graduating from McNeely Normal School in 1856, Custer taught school in Cadiz, Ohio. His first sweetheart was Mary Jane Holland.
Custer entered West Point as a cadet on July 1, 1857, as a member of the class of 1862. His class numbered seventy-nine cadets embarking on a five-year course of study. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the course was shortened to four years, and Custer and his class graduated on June 24, 1861. He was 34th in a class of 34 graduates: 23 classmates had dropped out for academic reasons while 22 classmates had already resigned to join the Confederacy.
Throughout his life, Custer tested boundaries and rules. In his four years at West Point, he amassed a record total of 726 demerits, one of the worst conduct records in the history of the academy. The local minister remembered Custer as "the instigator of devilish plots both during the service and in Sunday school. On the surface he appeared attentive and respectful, but underneath the mind boiled with disruptive ideas." A fellow cadet recalled Custer as declaring there were only two places in a class, the head and the foot, and since he had no desire to be the head, he aspired to be the foot. A roommate noted, "It was alright with George Custer, whether he knew his lesson or not; he simply did not allow it to trouble him." Under ordinary conditions, Custer's low class rank would result in an obscure posting, the first step in a dead-end career, but Custer had the fortune to graduate as the Civil War broke out, and as a result the Union Army had a sudden need for many junior officers.
Civil War
McClellan and Pleasanton
Like the other graduates, Custer was commissioned as a second lieutenant; he was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment and tasked with drilling volunteers in Washington, D.C. On July 21, 1861, he was with his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run during the Manassas Campaign, where Army commander Winfield Scott detailed him to carry messages to Major General Irvin McDowell. After the battle, Custer continued participating in the defenses of Washington D.C. until October, when he became ill. He was absent from his unit until February 1862. In March, he participated with the 2nd Cavalry in the Peninsula Campaign (March to August) in Virginia until April 4.
On April 5, Custer served in the 5th Cavalry Regiment and participated in the Siege of Yorktown, from April 5 to May 4 and was aide to Major General George B. McClellan; McClellan was in command of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign. On May 24, 1862, during the pursuit of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston up the Peninsula, when General McClellan and his staff were reconnoitering a potential crossing point on the Chickahominy River, they stopped, and Custer overheard General John G. Barnard mutter, "I wish I knew how deep it is." Custer dashed forward on his horse out to the middle of the river, turned to the astonished officers, and shouted triumphantly, "McClellan, that’s how deep it is, General!"
Custer was allowed to lead an attack with four companies of the 4th Michigan Infantry across the Chickahominy River above New Bridge. The attack was successful, resulting in the capture of 50 Confederate soldiers and the seizing of the first Confederate battle flag of the war. McClellan termed it a "very gallant affair" and congratulated Custer personally. In his role as aide-de-camp to McClellan, Custer began his life-long pursuit of publicity. Custer was promoted to the rank of captain on June 5, 1862. On July 17, he was reverted to the rank of first lieutenant. He participated in the Maryland Campaign in September to October, the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, the Battle of Antietam on September 17, and the March to Warrenton, Virginia, in October.
On June 9, 1863, Custer became aide to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Pleasonton, who was commanding the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Recalling his service under Pleasonton, Custer was quoted as saying that "I do not believe a father could love his son more than General Pleasonton loves me." Pleasonton's first assignment was to locate the army of Robert E. Lee, moving north through the Shenandoah Valley in the beginning of what was to become the Gettysburg Campaign.
Brigade command
Pleasonton was promoted on June 22, 1863, to major general of U.S. Volunteers. On June 29, after consulting with the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, George Meade, Pleasanton began replacing political generals with "commanders who were prepared to fight, to personally lead mounted attacks". He found just the kind of aggressive fighters he wanted in three of his aides: Wesley Merritt, Elon J. Farnsworth (both of whom had command experience) and Custer. All received immediate promotions, Custer to brigadier general of volunteers, commanding the Michigan Cavalry Brigade ("Wolverines"), part of the division of Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick. Despite having no direct command experience, Custer became one of the youngest generals in the Union Army at age 23. Custer immediately shaped his brigade to reflect his aggressive character.
Now a general officer, Custer had great latitude in choosing his uniform. Though often criticized as gaudy, it was more than personal vanity. Historian Tom Carhart observed that "A showy uniform for Custer was one of command presence on the battlefield: he wanted to be readily distinguishable at first glance from all other soldiers. He intended to lead from the front, and to him it was a crucial issue of unit morale that his men be able to look up in the middle of a charge, or at any other time on the battlefield, and instantly see him leading the way into danger."
Hanover and Abbottstown
On June 30, 1863, Custer and the First and Seventh Michigan Cavalry had just passed through Hanover, Pennsylvania, while the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry followed about seven miles behind. Hearing gunfire, he turned and started to the sound of the guns. A courier reported that Farnsworth's Brigade had been attacked by rebel cavalry from side streets in the town. Reassembling his command, he received orders from Kilpatrick to engage the enemy northeast of town near the railway station. Custer deployed his troops and began to advance. After a brief firefight, the rebels withdrew to the northeast. This seemed odd, since it was supposed that Lee and his army were somewhere to the west. Though seemingly of little consequence, this skirmish further delayed Stuart from joining Lee. Further, as Captain James H. Kidd, commander of F troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, later wrote: "Under [Custer's] skillful hand the four regiments were soon welded into a cohesive unit...."
Next morning, July 1, they passed through Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, still searching for Stuart's cavalry. Late in the morning they heard sounds of gunfire from the direction of Gettysburg. At Heidlersburg, Pennsylvania, that night they learned that General John Buford's cavalry had found Lee's army at Gettysburg. The next morning, July 2, orders came to hurry north to disrupt General Richard S. Ewell's communications and relieve the pressure on the union forces. By mid afternoon, as they approached Hunterstown, Pennsylvania, they encountered Stuart's cavalry. Custer rode alone ahead to investigate and found that the rebels were unaware of the arrival of his troops. Returning to his men, he carefully positioned them along both sides of the road where they would be hidden from the rebels. Further along the road, behind a low rise, he positioned the First and Fifth Michigan Cavalry and his artillery, under the command of Lieutenant Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr. To bait his trap, he gathered A Troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, called out, "Come on boys, I'll lead you this time!" and galloped directly at the unsuspecting rebels. As he had expected, the rebels, "more than two hundred horsemen, came racing down the country road" after Custer and his men. He lost half of his men in the deadly rebel fire and his horse went down, leaving him on foot. He was rescued by Private Norvell Francis Churchill of the 1st Michigan Cavalry, who galloped up, shot Custer's nearest assailant, and pulled Custer up behind him. Custer and his remaining men reached safety, while the pursuing rebels were cut down by slashing rifle fire, then canister from six cannons. The rebels broke off their attack, and both sides withdrew.
After spending most of the night in the saddle, Custer's brigade arrived at Two Taverns, Pennsylvania, roughly five miles southeast of Gettysburg around 3 a.m. July 3. There he was joined by Farnsworth's brigade. By daybreak they received orders to protect Meade's flanks. He was about to experience perhaps his finest hours during the war.
Gettysburg
Lee's battle plan, shared with less than a handful of subordinates, was to defeat Meade through a combined assault by all of his resources. General James Longstreet would attack Cemetery Hill from the west, Stuart would attack Culp's Hill from the southeast and Ewell would attack Culp's Hill from the north. Once the Union forces holding Culp's Hill had collapsed, the rebels would "roll up" the remaining Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge. To accomplish this, he sent Stuart with six thousand cavalrymen and mounted infantry on a long flanking maneuver.
By mid-morning on July 3, Custer had arrived at the intersection of Old Dutch road and Hanover Road 2 miles east of Gettysburg. He was later joined by Brigadier General David McMurtrie Gregg, who had him deploy his men at the northeast corner. Custer then sent out scouts to investigate nearby wooded areas. Meanwhile, Gregg had positioned Colonel John Baillie McIntosh's brigade near the intersection and sent the rest of his command to picket duty two miles to the southwest. After additional deployments, 2,400 cavalry under McIntosh and 1,200 under Custer remained, together with Colonel Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr.'s and Captain Alanson Merwin Randol's artillery, who had a total of ten three-inch guns.
About noon Custer's men heard cannon fire, Stuart's signal to Lee that he was in position and had not been detected. About the same time Gregg received a message warning that a large body of rebel cavalry had moved out the York Pike and might be trying to get around the Union right. A second message from Pleasonton ordered Gregg to send Custer to cover the Union far left. Since Gregg had already sent most of his force off to other duties, it was clear to both Gregg and Custer that Custer must remain. They had about 2700 men facing 6000 Confederates.
Soon afterward fighting broke out between the skirmish lines. Stuart ordered an attack by his mounted infantry under General Albert G. Jenkins, but the Union line held, with men from the First Michigan cavalry, the First New Jersey Cavalry and the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry. Stuart ordered Jackson's four gun battery into action. Custer ordered Pennington to answer. After a brief exchange in which two of Jackson's guns were destroyed, there was a lull.
About one o'clock, the massive Confederate artillery barrage in support of the upcoming assault on Cemetery Ridge began. Jenkins' men renewed the attack but soon ran out of ammunition and fell back. Resupplied, they again pressed the attack. Outnumbered, the Union cavalry fell back, firing as they went. Custer sent most of his Fifth Michigan cavalry ahead on foot, forcing Jenkins' men to fall back. Jenkins' men were reinforced by about 150 sharpshooters from General Fitzhugh Lee's brigade, and shortly after Stuart ordered a mounted charge by the Ninth Virginia Cavalry and the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry. Now it was Custer's men who were running out of ammunition. The Fifth Michigan was forced back and the battle was reduced to vicious, hand-to-hand combat.
Seeing this, Custer mounted a counter-attack, riding ahead of the fewer than 400 new troopers of the Seventh Michigan Cavalry, shouting, "Come on, you Wolverines!" As he swept forward, he formed a line of squadrons five ranks deep – five rows of eighty horsemen side by side – chasing the retreating rebels until their charge was stopped by a wood rail fence. The horses and men became jammed into a solid mass and were soon attacked on their left flank by the dismounted Ninth and Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry and on the right flank by the mounted First Virginia cavalry. Custer extricated his men and raced south to the protection of Pennington's artillery near Hanover Road. The pursuing Confederates were cut down by canister, then driven back by the remounted Fifth Michigan Cavalry. Both forces withdrew to a safe distance to regroup.
It was then about three o'clock. The artillery barrage to the west had suddenly stopped. Union soldiers were surprised to see Stuart's entire force about a half mile away, coming toward them, not in line of battle, but "formed in close column of squadrons... A grander spectacle than their advance has rarely been beheld". Stuart recognized he now had little time to reach and attack the Union rear along Cemetery Ridge. He must make one last effort to break through the Union cavalry.
Stuart passed by McIntosh's cavalry – the First New Jersey, Third Pennsylvania and Company A of Purnell's Legion, which had been posted about halfway down the field – with relative ease. As Stuart approached, the Union troops were ordered back into the woods without slowing down Stuart's column, "advancing as if in review, with sabers drawn and glistening like silver in the bright sunlight...."
Stuart's last obstacle was Custer and his four hundred veteran troopers of the First Michigan Cavalry directly in the Confererate cavalry's path. Outnumbered but undaunted, Custer rode to the head of the regiment, "drew his saber, threw off his hat so they could see his long yellow hair" and shouted... "Come on, you Wolverines!" Custer formed his men in line of battle and charged. "So sudden was the collision that many of the horses were turned end over end and crushed their riders beneath them...." As the Confederate advance stopped, their right flank was struck by troopers of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Michigan. McIntosh was able to gather some of his men from the First New Jersey and Third Pennsylvania and charged the rebel left flank. "Seeing that the situation was becoming critical, I [Captain Miller] turned to [Lieutenant Brooke-Rawle] and said: 'I have been ordered to hold this position, but, if you will back me up in case I am court-martialed for disobedience, I will order a charge.' The rebel column disintegrated, and individual troopers fought with saber and pistol.
Within twenty minutes the combatants heard the sound of the Union artillery opening up on Pickett's men. Stuart knew that whatever chance he had of joining the Confederate assault was gone. He withdrew his men to Cress Ridge.
Custer's brigade lost 257 men at Gettysburg, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade. "I challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful charge of cavalry", Custer wrote in his report. "For Gallant And Meritorious Services", he was awarded a regular army brevet promotion to Major.
Shenandoah Valley and Appomattox
General Custer participated in Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. The civilian population was specifically targeted in what is known as the Burning.
In 1864, with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan, Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was then ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek.
Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines finally broke, and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. After a truce was arranged Custer was escorted through the lines to meet Longstreet, who described Custer as having flaxen locks flowing over his shoulders, and Custer said “in the name of General Sheridan I demand the unconditional surrender of this army.” Longstreet replied that he was not in command of the army, but if he was he would not deal with messages from Sheridan. Custer responded it would be a pity to have more blood upon the field, to which Longstreet suggested the truce be respected, and then added “General Lee has gone to meet General Grant, and it is for them to determine the future of the armies.” Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historic table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution.
On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for, then illegally seize a large, prize racehorse named "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth then an estimated $10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in the grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C., on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who then ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not, instead hiding the horse and winning a race with it the next year, before the horse died suddenly.
Reconstruction duties in Texas
On June 3, 1865, at Sheridan's behest, Major General Custer accepted command of the 2nd Division of Cavalry, Military Division of the Southwest, to march from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Hempstead, Texas, as part of the Union occupation forces. Custer arrived at Alexandria on June 27 and began assembling his units, which took more than a month to gather and remount. On July 17, he assumed command of the Cavalry Division of the Military Division of the Gulf (on August 5, officially named the 2nd Division of Cavalry of the Military Division of the Gulf), and accompanied by his wife, he led the division (five regiments of veteran Western Theater cavalrymen) to Texas on an arduous 18-day march in August. On October 27, the division departed to Austin. On October 29, Custer moved the division from Hempstead to Austin, arriving on November 4. Major General Custer became Chief of Cavalry of the Department of Texas, from November 13 to February 1, 1866, succeeding Major General Wesley Merritt.
During his entire period of command of the division, Custer encountered considerable friction and near mutiny from the volunteer cavalry regiments who had campaigned along the Gulf coast. They desired to be mustered out of Federal service rather than continue campaigning, resented imposition of discipline (particularly from an Eastern Theater general), and considered Custer nothing more than a vain dandy.
Custer's division was mustered out beginning in November 1865, replaced by the regulars of the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment. Although their occupation of Austin had apparently been pleasant, many veterans harbored deep resentments against Custer, particularly in the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, because of his attempts to maintain discipline. Upon its mustering out, several members planned to ambush Custer, but he was warned the night before and the attempt thwarted.
Indian Wars
On February 1, 1866, Major General Custer mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service and took an extended leave of absence and awaited orders to September 24. He explored options in New York City, where he considered careers in railroads and mining. Offered a position (and $10,000 in gold) as adjutant general of the army of Benito Juárez of Mexico, who was then in a struggle with the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I (a satellite ruler of French Emperor Napoleon III), Custer applied for a one-year leave of absence from the U.S. Army, which was endorsed by Grant and Secretary of War Stanton. Sheridan and Mrs. Custer disapproved, however, and when his request for leave was opposed by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, who was against having an American officer commanding foreign troops, Custer refused the alternative of resignation from the Army to take the lucrative post.
Following the death of his father-in-law in May 1866, Custer returned to Monroe, Michigan, where he considered running for Congress. He took part in public discussion over the treatment of the American South in the aftermath of the Civil War, advocating a policy of moderation. He was named head of the Soldiers and Sailors Union, regarded as a response to the hyper-partisan Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Also formed in 1866, it was led by Republican activist John Alexander Logan. In September 1866 Custer accompanied President Andrew Johnson on a journey by train known as the "Swing Around the Circle" to build up public support for Johnson's policies towards the South. Custer denied a charge by the newspapers that Johnson had promised him a colonel's commission in return for his support, but Custer had written to Johnson some weeks before seeking such a commission. Custer and his wife stayed with the president during most of the trip. At one point Custer confronted a small group of Ohio men who repeatedly jeered Johnson, saying to them: "I was born two miles and a half from here, but I am ashamed of you."
On July 28, 1866, Custer was appointed lieutenant colonel of the newly created 7th Cavalry Regiment, which was headquartered at Fort Riley, Kansas. He served on frontier duty at Fort Riley from October 18 to March 26, and scouted in Kansas and Colorado to July 28, 1867. He took part in Major General Winfield Scott Hancock's expedition against the Cheyenne. On June 26, Lt. Lyman Kidder's party, made up of ten troopers and one scout, were massacred while en route to Fort Wallace. Lt. Kidder was to deliver dispatches to Custer from General Sherman, but his party was attacked by Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne. Days later, Custer and a search party found the bodies of Kidder's patrol.
Following the Hancock campaign, Custer was arrested and suspended at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to August 12, 1868, for being AWOL, after having abandoned his post to see his wife. At the request of Major General Sheridan, who wanted Custer for his planned winter campaign against the Cheyenne, Custer was allowed to return to duty before his one-year term of suspension had expired and joined his regiment to October 7, 1868. He then went on frontier duty, scouting in Kansas and Indian Territory to October 1869.
Under Sheridan's orders, Custer took part in establishing Camp Supply in Indian Territory in early November 1868 as a supply base for the winter campaign. On November 27, 1868, Custer led the 7th Cavalry Regiment in an attack on the Cheyenne encampment of Chief Black Kettle – the Battle of Washita River. Custer reported killing 103 warriors and some women and children; 53 women and children were taken as prisoners. Estimates by the Cheyenne of their casualties were substantially lower (11 warriors plus 19 women and children). Custer had his men shoot most of the 875 Indian ponies they had captured. The Battle of Washita River was regarded as the first substantial U.S. victory in the Southern Plains War, and it helped force a large portion of the Southern Cheyenne onto a U.S.-assigned reservation.
In 1873, Custer was sent to the Dakota Territory to protect a railroad survey party against the Lakota. On August 4, 1873, near the Tongue River, Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment clashed for the first time with the Lakota. One man on each side was killed. In 1874 Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota. Custer's announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush. Among the towns that immediately grew up was Deadwood, South Dakota, notorious for lawlessness.
Grant, Belknap and politics
In 1875, the Grant administration attempted to buy the Black Hills region from the Sioux. When the Sioux refused to sell, they were ordered to report to reservations by the end of January, 1876. Mid-winter conditions made it impossible for them to comply. The administration labeled them "hostiles" and tasked the Army with bringing them in. Custer was to command an expedition planned for the spring, part of a three-pronged campaign. While Custer's expedition marched west from Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, troops under Colonel John Gibbon were to march east from Fort Ellis, near present-day Bozeman, Montana, while a force under General George Crook was to march north from Fort Fetterman, near present-day Douglas, Wyoming.
Custer's 7th Cavalry was originally scheduled to leave Fort Abraham Lincoln on April 6, 1876, but on March 15 he was summoned to Washington to testify at congressional hearings. Rep. Hiester Clymer's Committee was investigating alleged corruption involving Secretary of War William W. Belknap (who had resigned March 2), President Grant's brother Orville and traders granted monopolies at frontier Army posts. It was alleged that Belknap had been selling these lucrative trading post positions where soldiers were required to make their purchases. Custer himself had experienced first hand the high prices being charged at Fort Lincoln.
Concerned that he might miss the coming campaign, Custer did not want to go to Washington. He asked to answer questions in writing, but Clymer insisted. Recognizing that his testimony would be explosive, Custer tried "to follow a moderate and prudent course, avoiding prominence." Despite this, he provided a quantity of unsubstantiated accusations against Belknap. His testimony, given on March 29 and April 4, was a sensation, being loudly praised by the Democratic press and sharply criticized by Republicans. Custer wrote articles published anonymously in The New York Herald that exposed trader post kickback rings and implied that Belknap was behind them. During his testimony, Custer attacked President Grant's brother Orville on unproven grounds of extorting money in exchange for exerting undue influence.
After Custer testified, Belknap was impeached and the case sent to the Senate for trial. Custer asked the impeachment managers to release him from further testimony. With the help of a request from his superior, Brigadier General Alfred Terry, Commander of the Department of Dakota, he was excused. However, President Grant intervened, ordering that another officer fulfill Custer's military duty.
General Terry protested, arguing that he had no available officers of rank qualified to replace Custer. Both Sheridan and Sherman wanted Custer in command but had to support Grant. General Sherman, hoping to resolve the issue, advised Custer to meet personally with Grant before leaving Washington. Three times Custer requested meetings with the president, but each request was refused.
Finally, Custer gave up and took a train to Chicago on May 2, planning to rejoin his regiment. A furious Grant ordered Sheridan to arrest Custer for leaving Washington without permission. On May 3, a member of Sheridan's staff arrested Custer as he arrived in Chicago. The arrest sparked public outrage. The New York Herald called Grant the "modern Caesar" and asked, "Are officers... to be dragged from railroad trains and ignominiously ordered to stand aside until the whims of the Chief magistrate ... are satisfied?"
Grant relented but insisted that Terry—not Custer—personally command the expedition. Terry met Custer in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 6. He later recalled that Custer "with tears in his eyes, begged for my aid. How could I resist it?" Custer and Terry both wrote telegrams to Grant asking that Custer lead his regiment, with Terry in command. Sheridan endorsed the effort.
Grant was already under pressure for his treatment of Custer. His administration worried that if the "Sioux campaign" failed without Custer, then Grant would be blamed for ignoring the recommendations of senior Army officers. On May 8, Custer was told that he would lead the expedition, but only under Terry's direct supervision.
Elated, Custer told General Terry's chief engineer, Captain Ludlow, that he would "cut loose" from Terry and operate independently.
Battle of the Little Bighorn
By the time of Custer's Black Hills expedition in 1874, the level of conflict and tension between the U.S. and many of the Plains Indians tribes (including the Lakota Sioux and the Cheyenne) had become exceedingly high. European-Americans continually broke treaty agreements and advanced further westward, resulting in violence and acts of depredation by both sides. To take possession of the Black Hills (and thus the gold deposits), and to stop Indian attacks, the U.S. decided to corral all remaining free Plains Indians. The Grant government set a deadline of January 31, 1876, for all Lakota and Arapaho wintering in the "unceded territory" to report to their designated agencies (reservations) or be considered "hostile".
At that time the 7th Cavalry's regimental commander, Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis, was on detached duty as the Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and in command of the Cavalry Depot in St. Louis, Missouri, which left Lieutenant Colonel Custer in command of the regiment. Custer and the 7th Cavalry departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln on May 17, 1876, part of a larger army force planning to round up remaining free Indians. Meanwhile, in the spring and summer of 1876, the Hunkpapa Lakota holy man Sitting Bull had called together the largest ever gathering of Plains Indians at Ash Creek, Montana (later moved to the Little Bighorn River) to discuss what to do about the whites. It was this united encampment of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians that the 7th met at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in the Crow Indian Reservation created in old Crow Country. (In the Fort Laramie Treaty (1851), the valley of the Little Bighorn is in the heart of the Crow Indian treaty territory and accepted as such by the Lakota, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho). The Lakotas were staying in the valley without consent from the Crow tribe, which sided with the Army to expel the Indian invaders.
About June 15, Major Marcus Reno, while on a scout, discovered the trail of a large village on the Rosebud River. On June 22, Custer's entire regiment was detached to follow this trail. On June 25, some of Custer's Crow Indian scouts identified what they claimed was a large Indian encampment in the valley near the Little Bighorn River. Custer had first intended to attack the Indian village the next day, but since his presence was known, he decided to attack immediately and divided his forces into three battalions: one led by Major Reno, one by Captain Frederick Benteen, and one by himself. Captain Thomas M. McDougall and Company B were with the pack train. Reno was sent north to charge the southern end of the encampment, Custer rode north, hidden to the east of the encampment by bluffs and planning to circle around and attack from the north, and Benteen was initially sent south and west to scout Indian presence and potentially protect the column from the south.
Reno began a charge on the southern end of the village but halted some 500–600 yards short of the camp, and had his men dismount and form a skirmish line. They were soon overcome by mounted Lakota and Cheyenne warriors who counterattacked en masse against Reno's exposed left flank, forcing Reno and his men to take cover in the trees along the river. Eventually, however, the troopers engaged in a bloody retreat up onto the bluffs above the river, where they made their own stand. This, the opening action of the battle, cost Reno a quarter of his command.
Custer may have seen Reno stop and form a skirmish line as Custer led his command to the northern end of the main encampment, where he may have planned to sandwich the Indians between his attacking troopers and Reno's command in a "hammer and anvil" maneuver. According to Grinnell's account, based on the testimony of the Cheyenne warriors who survived the fight, at least part of Custer's command attempted to ford the river at the north end of the camp but were driven off by Indian sharpshooters firing from the brush along the west bank of the river. From that point the soldiers were pursued by hundreds of warriors onto a ridge north of the encampment. Custer and his command were prevented from digging in by Crazy Horse however, whose warriors had outflanked him and were now to his north, at the crest of the ridge. Traditional white accounts attribute to Gall the attack that drove Custer up onto the ridge, but Indian witnesses have disputed that account.
For a time, Custer's men appear to have been deployed by company, in standard cavalry fighting formation—the skirmish line, with every fourth man holding the horses, though this arrangement would have robbed Custer of a quarter of his firepower. Worse, as the fight intensified, many soldiers could have taken to holding their own horses or hobbling them, further reducing the 7th's effective fire. When Crazy Horse and White Bull mounted the charge that broke through the center of Custer's lines, order may have broken down among the soldiers of Calhoun's command, though Myles Keogh's men seem to have fought and died where they stood. According to some Lakota accounts, many of the panicking soldiers threw down their weapons and either rode or ran towards the knoll where Custer, the other officers, and about 40 men were making a stand. Along the way, the warriors rode them down, counting coup by striking the fleeing troopers with their quirts or lances.
Initially, Custer had 208 officers and men under his direct command, with an additional 142 under Reno, just over 100 under Benteen, and 50 soldiers with Captain McDougall's rearguard, accompanying 84 soldiers under 1st Lieutenant Edward Gustave Mathey with the pack train. The Lakota-Cheyenne coalition may have fielded over 1,800 warriors. Historian Gregory Michno settles on a low number of around 1,000 based on contemporary Lakota testimony, but other sources place the number at 1,800 or 2,000, especially in the works by Utley and Fox. The 1,800–2,000 figure is substantially lower than the higher numbers of 3,000 or more postulated by Ambrose, Gray, Scott, and others. Some of the other participants in the battle gave these estimates:
Spotted Horn Bull – 5,000 braves and leaders
Maj. Reno – 2,500 to 5,000 warriors
Capt. Moylan – 3,500 to 4,000
Lt. Hare – not under 4,000
Lt. Godfrey – minimum between 2,500 and 3,000
Lt. Edgerly – 4,000
Lt. Varnum – not less than 4,000
Sgt. Kanipe – fully 4,000
George Herendeen – fully 3,000
Fred Gerard – 2,500 to 3,000
An average of the above is 3,500 Indian warriors and leaders.
As the troopers of Custer's five companies were cut down, the native warriors stripped the dead of their firearms and ammunition, with the result that the return fire from the cavalry steadily decreased, while the fire from the Indians constantly increased. The surviving troopers apparently shot their remaining horses to use as breastworks for a final stand on the knoll at the north end of the ridge. The warriors closed in for the final attack and killed every man in Custer's command. As a result, the Battle of the Little Bighorn has come to be popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand".
Personal life
On February 9, 1864, Custer married Elizabeth Clift Bacon (1842–1933), whom he had first seen when he was ten years old. He had been socially introduced to her in November 1862, when home in Monroe on leave. She was not initially impressed with him, and her father, Judge Daniel Bacon, disapproved of Custer as a match because he was the son of a blacksmith. It was not until well after Custer had been promoted to the rank of brigadier general that he gained the approval of Judge Bacon. He married Elizabeth Bacon fourteen months after they formally met.
In November 1868, following the Battle of Washita River, Custer was alleged (by Captain Frederick Benteen, chief of scouts Ben Clark, and Cheyenne oral tradition) to have unofficially married Mo-nah-se-tah, daughter of the Cheyenne chief Little Rock in the winter or early spring of 1868–1869 (Little Rock was killed in the one-day action at Washita on November 27). Mo-nah-se-tah gave birth to a child in January 1869, two months after the Washita battle. Cheyenne oral history tells that she also bore a second child, fathered by Custer in late 1869. Some historians, however, believe that Custer had become sterile after contracting gonorrhea while at West Point and that the father was, in actuality, his brother Thomas. Clarke's description in his memoirs included the statement, "Custer picked out a fine looking one and had her in his tent every night."
Death
It is unlikely that any Native American recognized Custer during or after the battle. Michno summarizes: "Shave Elk said, 'We did not suspect that we were fighting Custer and did not recognize him either alive or dead.' Wooden Leg said no one could recognize any enemy during the fight, for they were too far away. The Cheyennes did not even know a man named Custer was in the fight until weeks later. Antelope said none knew of Custer being at the fight until they later learned of it at the agencies. Thomas Marquis learned from his interviews that no Indian knew Custer was at the Little Bighorn fight until months later. Many Cheyennes were not even aware that other members of the Custer family had been in the fight until 1922 when Marquis himself first informed them of that fact."
Several individuals claimed responsibility for killing Custer, including White Bull of the Miniconjous, Rain-in-the-Face, Flat Lip, and Brave Bear. In June 2005, at a public meeting, Northern Cheyenne storytellers said that according to their oral tradition, Buffalo Calf Road Woman, a Northern Cheyenne heroine of the Battle of the Rosebud, struck the final blow against Custer, which knocked him off his horse before he died.
A contrasting version of Custer's death is suggested by the testimony of an Oglala named Joseph White Cow Bull, according to novelist and Custer biographer Evan Connell. He says that Joseph White Bull stated he had shot a rider wearing a buckskin jacket and big hat at the riverside when the soldiers first approached the village from the east. The initial force facing the soldiers, according to this version, was quite small (possibly as few as four warriors) yet challenged Custer's command. The rider who was hit was mounted next to a rider who bore a flag and had shouted orders that prompted the soldiers to attack, but when the buckskin-clad rider fell off his horse after being shot, many of the attackers reined up. The allegation that the buckskin-clad officer was Custer, if accurate, might explain the supposed rapid disintegration of Custer's forces. However, several other officers of the Seventh, including William Cooke, Tom Custer and William Sturgis, were also dressed in buckskin on the day of the battle, and the fact that each of the non-mutilation wounds to George Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded or killed at the ford, more than a mile from where his body was found. The circumstances are, however, consistent with David Humphreys Miller's suggestion that Custer's attendants would not have left his dead body behind to be desecrated.
During the 1920s, two elderly Cheyenne women spoke briefly with oral historians about their having recognized Custer's body on the battlefield and said that they had stopped a Sioux warrior from desecrating the body. The women were relatives of Mo-nah-se-tah, who was alleged to have been Custer's lover in late 1868 and through 1869, and borne two children by him. Mo-nah-se-tah was among 53 Cheyenne women and children taken captive by the 7th Cavalry after the Battle of Washita River in 1868, in which Custer commanded an attack on the camp of Chief Black Kettle. Mo-nah-se-tah's father, Cheyenne chief Little Rock, was killed in the battle. During the winter and early spring of 1868–69, Custer reportedly sexually assaulted teenage Mo-nah-se-tah. Cheyenne oral history alleges that she later bore Custer's child in late 1869. (Custer, however, had apparently become sterile after contracting venereal disease at West Point, leading some historians to believe that the father was really his brother Thomas). In the Cheyenne culture of the time, such a relationship was considered a marriage. The women allegedly told the warrior: "Stop, he is a relative of ours," and then shooed him away. The two women said they shoved their sewing awls into his ears to permit Custer's corpse to "hear better in the afterlife" because he had broken his promise to Stone Forehead never to fight against Native Americans again.
When the main column under General Terry arrived two days later, the army found most of the soldiers' corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated. Custer's body had two bullet holes, one in the left temple and one just below the heart. Capt. Benteen, who inspected the body, stated that in his opinion the fatal injuries had not been the result of .45 caliber ammunition, which implies the bullet holes had been caused by ranged rifle fire. Some time later, Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey described Custer's mutilation, telling Charles F. Bates that an arrow "had been forced up his penis."
The bodies of Custer and his brother Tom were wrapped in canvas and blankets, then buried in a shallow grave, covered by the basket from a travois held in place by rocks. When soldiers returned a year later, the brothers' grave had been scavenged by animals and the bones scattered. "Not more than a double handful of small bones were picked up." Custer was reinterred with full military honors at West Point Cemetery on October 10, 1877. The battle site was designated a National Cemetery in 1886.
Controversial legacy
Public relations and media coverage during his lifetime
Custer has been called a "media personality", and he valued good public relations and used the print media of his era effectively. He frequently invited journalists to accompany his campaigns (one, Associated Press reporter Mark Kellogg, died at the Little Bighorn), and their favorable reporting contributed to his high reputation, which lasted well into the latter 20th century.
Custer enjoyed writing, often writing all night long. He wrote a series of magazine articles of his experiences on the frontier, which were published in book form as My Life on the Plains in 1874. The work is still a valued primary source for information on US-Native relations.
Posthumous legacy
After his death, Custer achieved lasting fame. Despite some initial criticism, the public eventually saw him as a tragic military hero.
Custer's wife, Elizabeth, who had accompanied him in many of his frontier expeditions, did much to advance this view with the publication of several books about her late husband: Boots and Saddles, Life with General Custer in Dakota, Tenting on the Plains, or General Custer in Kansas and Texas and Following the Guidon.
The deaths of Custer and his troops became the best-known episode in the history of the American Indian Wars, due in part to a painting commissioned by the brewery Anheuser-Busch as part of an advertising campaign. The enterprising company ordered reprints of a dramatic work that depicted "Custer's Last Stand" and had them framed and hung in many United States saloons. This created lasting impressions of the battle and the brewery's products in the minds of many bar patrons. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote an adoring (and in some places, erroneous) poem. President Theodore Roosevelt's lavish praise pleased Custer's widow.
President Grant, a highly successful general but recent antagonist, criticized Custer's actions in the battle of the Little Bighorn. Quoted in the New York Herald on September 2, 1876, Grant said, "I regard Custer's Massacre as a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself, that was wholly unnecessary – wholly unnecessary." General Phillip Sheridan took a more moderately critical view of Custer's final military actions.
General Nelson Miles (who inherited Custer's mantle of famed Indian fighter) and others praised him as a fallen hero betrayed by the incompetence of subordinate officers. Miles noted the difficulty of winning a fight "with seven-twelfths of the command remaining out of the engagement when within sound of his rifle shots."
The assessment of Custer's actions during the American Indian Wars has undergone substantial reconsideration in modern times. Documenting the arc of popular perception in his biography Son of the Morning Star (1984), author Evan Connell notes the reverential tone of Custer's first biographer Frederick Whittaker (whose book was rushed out the year of Custer's death.) Connell concludes:
These days it is stylish to denigrate the general, whose stock sells for nothing. Nineteenth-century Americans thought differently. At that time he was a cavalier without fear and beyond reproach.
Criticism and controversy
The controversy over blame for the disaster at Little Bighorn continues to this day. Major Marcus Reno's failure to press his attack on the south end of the Lakota/Cheyenne village and his flight to the timber along the river after a single casualty have been cited as a factor in the destruction of Custer's battalion, as has Captain Frederick Benteen's allegedly tardy arrival on the field, and the failure of the two officers' combined forces to move toward the relief of Custer.
Some of Custer's critics have asserted tactical errors.
While camped at Powder River, Custer refused the support offered by General Terry on June 21 of an additional four companies of the Second Cavalry. Custer stated that he "could whip any Indian village on the Plains" with his own regiment, and that extra troops would simply be a burden.
At the same time, he left behind at the steamer Far West, on the Yellowstone, a battery of Gatling guns, knowing he was facing superior numbers. Before leaving the camp all the troops, including the officers, also boxed their sabers and sent them back with the wagons.
On the day of the battle, Custer divided his 600-man command, despite being faced with vastly superior numbers of Sioux and Cheyenne.
The refusal of an extra battalion reduced the size of his force by at least a sixth, and rejecting the firepower offered by the Gatling guns played into the events of June 25 to the disadvantage of his regiment.
Custer's defenders, however, including historian Charles K. Hofling, have asserted that Gatling guns would have been slow and cumbersome as the troops crossed the rough country between the Yellowstone and the Little Bighorn. Custer rated speed in gaining the battlefield as essential and more important. Supporters of Custer claim that splitting the forces was a standard tactic, so as to demoralize the enemy with the appearance of the cavalry in different places all at once, especially when a contingent threatened the line of retreat.
Attacks on Indigenous Peoples
Sharply criticizing the self-styled “Indian fighter,” Indigenous people's movements have emphasized Custer's role in the U.S. government's land theft, treaty violations and atrocities against Native Americans.
Standing Rock Sioux theologian and author Vine Deloria, Jr. told the Los Angeles Times in 1996 that he considered Custer “the Adolf Eichmann of the Plains.” In his 1969 book Custer Died for Your Sins, Deloria condemned Custer's violations of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty that established the Black Hills region as unceded territory of the Sioux and Arapaho peoples. Custer's violations of the Fort Laramie Treaty included a 1874 gold expedition and the 1876 Battle of Greasy Grass (Battle of the Little Bighorn).
Critics have also highlighted Custer's 1868 Washita River surprise attack that killed Cheyenne non-combatants including mothers, children, and elders. Custer was following Generals William Sherman and Philip Sheridan's orders for “total war” on the Indigenous nations. Describing total war methods, Sherman wrote, “We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children...during an assault, the soldiers can not pause to distinguish between male and female, or even discriminate as to age." There is “credible evidence” that following the attack, Custer and his men took “sexual liberties” with female captives, in the euphemism of one historian. Another historian writes, “There was a saying among the soldiers of the western frontier, a saying Custer and his officers could heartily endorse: ‘Indian women rape easy.’”
Indigenous criticism of Custer’s posthumous legacy may have begun immediately after Custer died. Good Fox (Lakota) recounted:
"I was told that after the battle two Cheyenne women came across Custer’s body. They knew him, because he had attacked their peaceful village on the Washita. These women said, ‘You smoked the peace pipe with us. Our chiefs told you that you would be killed if you ever made war on us again. But you would not listen. This will make you hear better.’ The women each took an awl from their beaded cases and stuck them deep into Custer’s ears.”
In 1976, the American Indian Movement (AIM) celebrated the centennial anniversary of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho victory in the Battle of Greasy Grass, performing a victory dance around the marker of Custer’s death. AIM continued protesting there demanding the official renaming of the “Custer Battlefield,” finally winning this demand in 1991.
In May 2021, the United Tribes of Michigan unanimously passed a resolution calling for the removal of a Custer statue in Monroe, Michigan. The resolution stated in part:
"(It) is widely perceived as offensive and a painful public reminder of the legacy of Indigenous people's genocide and present realities of systemic racism in our country... Custer is notoriously known as the 'Indian Killer' [...] Custer does not deserve any glory, nor the right to further torment minoritized citizens 145 years postmortem."
Monuments and memorials
Counties are named in Custer's honor in six states: Colorado, Idaho (which is named for the General Custer Mine, which was named for Custer), Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Townships in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota were named for Custer.
Other municipalities named after Custer include the villages of Custer, Michigan, and Custar, Ohio; the city of Custer, South Dakota; and the unincorporated town of Custer, Wisconsin.
Custer National Cemetery is within Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the site of Custer's death.
The George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument of Custer, by Edward Clark Potter, was erected in Monroe, Michigan, Custer's boyhood home, in 1910.
Fort Custer National Military Reservation, near Augusta, Michigan, was built in 1917 on 130 parcels of land, as part of the military mobilization for World War I. During the war, some 90,000 troops passed through Camp Custer.
The establishment of Fort Custer National Cemetery (originally Fort Custer Post Cemetery) took place on September 18, 1943, with the first interment. On Memorial Day 1982, more than 33 years after the first resolution had been introduced in Congress, impressive ceremonies marked the official opening of the cemetery.
Custer Hill is the main troop billeting area at Fort Riley, Kansas. Custer's 1866 residence on the post has been preserved and is currently maintained as the Custer House Museum and meeting space (also sometimes referred to as Custer Home).
The 85th Infantry Division was nicknamed The Custer Division.
The Black Hills of South Dakota is full of evidence of Custer, with a county, town, and Custer State Park all located in the area.
A prominent mountain peak in the Black Hills bears his name.
The Custer house at Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, has been reconstructed as it was in Custer's day, along with the soldiers' barracks, block houses, etc. Annual re-enactments are held of Custer's 7th Cavalry's leaving for the Little Bighorn.
On July 2, 2008, a marble monument to Brigadier General Custer was dedicated at the site of the 1863 Civil War Battle of Hunterstown, in Adams County, Pennsylvania.
Custer Monument at the United States Military Academy was first unveiled in 1879. It now stands next to his grave in the West Point Cemetery.
Custer Memorial Monument at his birthplace was erected by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical society in 1931. It is located near the remains of the foundation of his birthplace homestead in New Rumley, Ohio. Custer Monument is managed locally by the Custer Memorial Association.
Miscellany
In addition to "Autie", Custer acquired a number of nicknames. During the Civil War, after his promotion to become the youngest brigadier general in the Army at age 23, the press frequently called him "The Boy General". During his years on the Great Plains in the American Indian Wars, his troopers often referred to him with grudging admiration as "Iron Butt" and "Hard Ass" for his physical stamina in the saddle and his strict discipline, as well as with the more derisive "Ringlets" for his long, curling blond hair, which he frequently perfumed with cinnamon-scented hair oil.
Custer was quite fastidious in his grooming. Early in their marriage, Libbie wrote, "He brushes his teeth after every meal. I always laugh at him for it, also for washing his hands so frequently."
He was 5'11" tall and wore a size 38 jacket and size 9C boots. At various times he weighed between 143 pounds (at the end of the 1869 Kansas campaign) and a muscular 170 pounds. A splendid horseman, "Custer mounted was an inspiration." He was quite fit, able to jump to a standing position from lying flat on his back. He was a "power sleeper", able to get by on very short naps after falling asleep immediately on lying down. He "had a habit of throwing himself prone on the grass for a few minutes' rest and resembled a human island, entirely surrounded by crowding, panting dogs."
Throughout his travels, he gathered geological specimens, sending them to the University of Michigan. On September 10, 1873, he wrote Libbie, "the Indian battles hindered the collecting, while in that immediate region it was unsafe to go far from the command...."
He was well-liked by his native scouts, whose company he enjoyed. He often ate with them. A May 21, 1876, diary entry by Kellogg records, "General Custer visits scouts; much at home amongst them."
Before leaving the steamer Far West for the final leg of the journey, Custer wrote all night. His orderly John Burkman stood guard in front of his tent and on the morning of June 22, 1876, found Custer "hunched over on the cot, just his coat and his boots off, and the pen still in his hand."
During his service in Kentucky, Custer bought several thoroughbred horses. He took two on his last campaign, Vic (for Victory) and Dandy. During the march he changed horses every three hours. He rode Vic into his last battle.
Custer took his two staghounds Tuck and Bleuch with him during the last expedition. He left them with orderly Burkman when he rode forward into battle. Burkman joined the packtrain. He regretted not accompanying Custer but lived until 1925, when he took his own life.
The common media image of Custer's appearance at the Last Stand—buckskin coat and long, curly blonde hair—is wrong. Although he and several other officers wore buckskin coats on the expedition, they took them off and packed them away because it was so hot. According to Soldier, an Arikara scout, "Custer took off his buckskin coat and tied it behind his saddle." Further, Custer—whose hair was thinning—joined a similarly balding Lieutenant Varnum and "had the clippers run over their heads" before leaving Fort Lincoln.
Dates of rank
See also
Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer
Custer's Revenge
Fort Abraham Lincoln
German-Americans in the Civil War
Half Yellow Face
White Swan
List of American Civil War generals (Union)
List of German Americans
References
Bibliography
Ambrose, Stephen E. (1996 [1975]). Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. New York: Anchor Books. .
Barnett, Louise (1996) Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer New York, Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Boulard, Garry (2006) The Swing Around the Circle: Andrew Johnson and the Train Ride that Destroyed a Presidency
Caudill, Edward and Paul Ashdown (2015). Inventing Custer: The Making of An American Legend. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Goodrich, Thomas. Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997.
Longacre, Edward G. (2000). Lincoln's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of the Potomac. Stackpole Books. .
Longstreet, James, From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America, J.B. Lippincott, 1908.
Mails, Thomas E. (1972). Mystic Warriors of the Plains. Doubleday.
Marshall, Joseph M. III. (2007). The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History. New York: Viking Press.
Merington, Marguerite, Ed. The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of General Custer and his Wife Elizabeth. (1950)
Michno, Gregory F. (1997). Lakota Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat. Mountain Press Publishing Company. .
Perrett, Bryan. Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds. London: Arms & Armour, 1993.
Punke, Michael, "Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West", Smithsonian Books, 2007,
Robbins, James S. The Real Custer: From Boy General to Tragic Hero. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2014,
Tagg, Larry. (1988). The Generals of Gettysburg. Savas Publishing. .
Urwin, Gregory J. W., Custer Victorious, University of Nebraska Press, 1990, .
Utley, Robert M. (2001). Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier, revised edition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. .
Vestal, Stanley. Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1934.
Welch, James, with Paul Stekler. (2007 [1994]). Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Wert, Jeffry D. Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. .
Further reading
Stiles, T.J. Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America (2015), Pulitzer Prize.
External links
Indian Wars and the Year of George Custer
Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield
Custer Battlefield Museum
Little Big Horn Associates
Little Bighorn History Alliance
Kenneth M Hammer Collection on Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Harold G. Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Gallery of Custer images
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture -Custer, George Armstrong
George A. and Elizabeth B. Custer papers, Vault MSS 364 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Charles F. Bates Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
1839 births
1876 deaths
People from Harrison County, Ohio
American people of German descent
American people of English descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Union Army generals
People of Ohio in the American Civil War
People of Michigan in the American Civil War
People of the Great Sioux War of 1876
United States Army personnel who were court-martialed
Comanche campaign
United States Military Academy alumni
People from Monroe, Michigan
Michigan Brigade
American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars
Deaths by firearm in Montana
Burials at West Point Cemetery
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Genocide perpetrators | true | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"Ramsey Denison is a director, producer, editor and documentary filmmaker who is best known for his critically acclaimed documentary What Happened in Vegas, which went to #1 on iTunes documentary charts in June 2018.\n\nEarly life and education \nDenison was born in Bellingham, Washington, to parents Tom Denison, a shop teacher, and Carolyn Denison, an educator. He grew up in Satellite Beach, Florida, and graduated with the class of 1997 from Satellite High School. He received a journalism degree from Eastern Washington University.\n\nCareer \nAt 18, Denison went to work for WBCC-TV in Cocoa, Florida. By 2004, he moved to Los Angeles, and the following year was hired as an assistant editor on TV documentaries and reality shows, including Catfish: The TV Show, The Hills Have Eyes, High School Musical 2, Sky High and The Family Stone.\n\nA short film Somewhere in the City, written, directed and produced by Denison, screened at over 30 film festivals and won awards at Vail Film Festival, San Fernando Valley International Film Festival, and Berkeley Film and Video Festival.\n\nIn 2013, Denison and a friend, Rhett Nielson, a former SWAT team videographer in Las Vegas, traveled to Nevada on vacation. While there, Denison witnessed what he told the media was two officers being rough with a suspect. He placed a call to 911 asking that a supervisor respond to the scene. Instead, Denison was himself arrested and spent three days in the Clark County Detention Center.\n\nThe arrest led to Denison developing the story into a documentary about police brutality. It resulted in his directorial debut of the full-length documentary, What Happened in Vegas, with its first screening at the 2017 Cinequest Film Festival.\n\nLos Angeles Times reviewer Michael Rechtshaffen wrote that What Happened in Vegas \"blows the whistle on a disturbing pattern of excessive force and corruption within its ranks.\" The Village Voice opined that issues Denison uncovers within the police department \"serve as a warning to all Americans.\" Daphne Howland in LA Weekly''' noted that \"What Happened in Vegas is more than a revenge project. He unveils a pattern of police malfeasance, including coverups and lies, through disturbing stories of unjustified deaths. It’s a damning takedown of the city’s powers that be.\"\n\nThe film also screened at the FreedomFest conference at the Paris Las Vegas hotel-casino in July 2017 where it won the Grand Jury Prize and went to #1 on iTunes documentary chart in June 2018.\n\nDenison and another filmmaker, Charlie Minn, each accused the Eclipse Theater in Las Vegas of failing to screen their movies because their films are critical of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.What Happened in Vegas prompted Denison's probe into the 2017 mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, where 59 people were killed, for a second documentary. It is titled Money Machine, with screenings at American Documentary and Animation Film Festival in March 2020 and Cleveland International Film Festival.\n\n Awards \nIn 2017, Denison received the best documentary award at the 2017 Las Vegas Black Film Festival for What Happened in Vegas'' and the Grand Jury Prize at Freedom Fest in 2017.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Filmmaker's official website\n \n \n\nLiving people\nAmerican documentary film directors\nAmerican film editors\nFilmmakers from Florida\nFilmmakers from California\nFilmmakers from Washington (state)\nEastern Washington University alumni\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] |
[
"George Armstrong Custer",
"The Valley and Appomattox",
"What can you tell me about The Valley",
"Shenandoah Valley",
"What is the valley and appomattox",
"I don't know.",
"What happened in The Valley",
"In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester"
] | C_d2621bad851f4bc88e76021d95db27e2_1 | Did they win against the confederates | 4 | Did George Armstrong Custer win against the confederates | George Armstrong Custer | In 1864, with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan, Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was then ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek. Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines finally broke, and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by General Philip Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historical table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution. On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for, then illegally seize a large, prize racehorse "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth then an estimated $10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in the grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C. on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who then ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not, instead hiding the horse and winning a race with it the next year, before the horse died suddenly. CANNOTANSWER | they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek. | George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, but as the Civil War was just starting, trained officers were in immediate demand. He worked closely with General George B. McClellan and the future General Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his qualities as a cavalry leader, and he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers at age 23. Only a few days after his promotion, he fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he commanded the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and despite being outnumbered, defeated J. E. B. Stuart's attack at what is now known as the East Cavalry Field. In 1864, Custer served in the Overland Campaign and in Philip Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating Jubal Early at Cedar Creek. His division blocked the Army of Northern Virginia's final retreat and received the first flag of truce from the Confederates, and Custer was present at Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.
After the war, Custer was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army and was sent west to fight in the Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, while leading the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory against a coalition of Native American tribes, he was killed along with all of the five companies he led after splitting the regiment into three battalions. This action became romanticized as "Custer's Last Stand".
His dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his career, and reaction to his life and career remains deeply divided. Custer's legend was partly of his own fabrication through his extensive journalism, and perhaps more through the energetic lobbying of his wife Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer throughout her long widowhood.
Family and ancestry
Custer's paternal ancestors, Paulus and Gertrude Küster, came to the North American English colonies around 1693 from the Rhineland in Germany, probably among thousands of Palatines whose passage was arranged by the English government to gain settlers in New York and Pennsylvania.
According to family letters, Custer was named after George Armstrong, a minister, in his devout mother's hope that her son might join the clergy.
Birth, siblings, and childhood
Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, to Emanuel Henry Custer (1806–1892), a farmer and blacksmith, and his second wife, Marie Ward Kirkpatrick (1807–1882), who was of English and Scots-Irish descent. He had two younger brothers, Thomas and Boston. His other full siblings were the family's youngest child, Margaret Custer, and Nevin Custer, who suffered from asthma and rheumatism. Custer also had three older half-siblings. Custer and his brothers acquired a life-long love of practical jokes, which they played out among the close family members.
Emanuel Custer was an outspoken Jacksonian Democrat who taught his children politics and toughness at an early age. In a February 3, 1887, letter to his son's widow Libby, Emanuel related an incident from when George Custer (known as Autie) was about four years old:
"He had to have a tooth drawn, and he was very much afraid of blood. When I took him to the doctor to have the tooth pulled, it was in the night and I told him if it bled well it would get well right away, and he must be a good soldier. When he got to the doctor he took his seat, and the pulling began. The forceps slipped off and he had to make a second trial. He pulled it out, and Autie never even scrunched. Going home, I led him by the arm. He jumped and skipped, and said 'Father you and me can whip all the Whigs in Michigan.' I thought that was saying a good deal but I did not contradict him."
Education
In order to attend school, Custer lived with an older half-sister and her husband in Monroe, Michigan. Before entering the United States Military Academy, Custer attended the McNeely Normal School, later known as Hopedale Normal College, in Hopedale, Ohio. It was to train teachers for elementary schools. While attending Hopedale, Custer and classmate William Enos Emery were known to have carried coal to help pay for their room and board. After graduating from McNeely Normal School in 1856, Custer taught school in Cadiz, Ohio. His first sweetheart was Mary Jane Holland.
Custer entered West Point as a cadet on July 1, 1857, as a member of the class of 1862. His class numbered seventy-nine cadets embarking on a five-year course of study. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the course was shortened to four years, and Custer and his class graduated on June 24, 1861. He was 34th in a class of 34 graduates: 23 classmates had dropped out for academic reasons while 22 classmates had already resigned to join the Confederacy.
Throughout his life, Custer tested boundaries and rules. In his four years at West Point, he amassed a record total of 726 demerits, one of the worst conduct records in the history of the academy. The local minister remembered Custer as "the instigator of devilish plots both during the service and in Sunday school. On the surface he appeared attentive and respectful, but underneath the mind boiled with disruptive ideas." A fellow cadet recalled Custer as declaring there were only two places in a class, the head and the foot, and since he had no desire to be the head, he aspired to be the foot. A roommate noted, "It was alright with George Custer, whether he knew his lesson or not; he simply did not allow it to trouble him." Under ordinary conditions, Custer's low class rank would result in an obscure posting, the first step in a dead-end career, but Custer had the fortune to graduate as the Civil War broke out, and as a result the Union Army had a sudden need for many junior officers.
Civil War
McClellan and Pleasanton
Like the other graduates, Custer was commissioned as a second lieutenant; he was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment and tasked with drilling volunteers in Washington, D.C. On July 21, 1861, he was with his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run during the Manassas Campaign, where Army commander Winfield Scott detailed him to carry messages to Major General Irvin McDowell. After the battle, Custer continued participating in the defenses of Washington D.C. until October, when he became ill. He was absent from his unit until February 1862. In March, he participated with the 2nd Cavalry in the Peninsula Campaign (March to August) in Virginia until April 4.
On April 5, Custer served in the 5th Cavalry Regiment and participated in the Siege of Yorktown, from April 5 to May 4 and was aide to Major General George B. McClellan; McClellan was in command of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign. On May 24, 1862, during the pursuit of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston up the Peninsula, when General McClellan and his staff were reconnoitering a potential crossing point on the Chickahominy River, they stopped, and Custer overheard General John G. Barnard mutter, "I wish I knew how deep it is." Custer dashed forward on his horse out to the middle of the river, turned to the astonished officers, and shouted triumphantly, "McClellan, that’s how deep it is, General!"
Custer was allowed to lead an attack with four companies of the 4th Michigan Infantry across the Chickahominy River above New Bridge. The attack was successful, resulting in the capture of 50 Confederate soldiers and the seizing of the first Confederate battle flag of the war. McClellan termed it a "very gallant affair" and congratulated Custer personally. In his role as aide-de-camp to McClellan, Custer began his life-long pursuit of publicity. Custer was promoted to the rank of captain on June 5, 1862. On July 17, he was reverted to the rank of first lieutenant. He participated in the Maryland Campaign in September to October, the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, the Battle of Antietam on September 17, and the March to Warrenton, Virginia, in October.
On June 9, 1863, Custer became aide to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Pleasonton, who was commanding the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Recalling his service under Pleasonton, Custer was quoted as saying that "I do not believe a father could love his son more than General Pleasonton loves me." Pleasonton's first assignment was to locate the army of Robert E. Lee, moving north through the Shenandoah Valley in the beginning of what was to become the Gettysburg Campaign.
Brigade command
Pleasonton was promoted on June 22, 1863, to major general of U.S. Volunteers. On June 29, after consulting with the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, George Meade, Pleasanton began replacing political generals with "commanders who were prepared to fight, to personally lead mounted attacks". He found just the kind of aggressive fighters he wanted in three of his aides: Wesley Merritt, Elon J. Farnsworth (both of whom had command experience) and Custer. All received immediate promotions, Custer to brigadier general of volunteers, commanding the Michigan Cavalry Brigade ("Wolverines"), part of the division of Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick. Despite having no direct command experience, Custer became one of the youngest generals in the Union Army at age 23. Custer immediately shaped his brigade to reflect his aggressive character.
Now a general officer, Custer had great latitude in choosing his uniform. Though often criticized as gaudy, it was more than personal vanity. Historian Tom Carhart observed that "A showy uniform for Custer was one of command presence on the battlefield: he wanted to be readily distinguishable at first glance from all other soldiers. He intended to lead from the front, and to him it was a crucial issue of unit morale that his men be able to look up in the middle of a charge, or at any other time on the battlefield, and instantly see him leading the way into danger."
Hanover and Abbottstown
On June 30, 1863, Custer and the First and Seventh Michigan Cavalry had just passed through Hanover, Pennsylvania, while the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry followed about seven miles behind. Hearing gunfire, he turned and started to the sound of the guns. A courier reported that Farnsworth's Brigade had been attacked by rebel cavalry from side streets in the town. Reassembling his command, he received orders from Kilpatrick to engage the enemy northeast of town near the railway station. Custer deployed his troops and began to advance. After a brief firefight, the rebels withdrew to the northeast. This seemed odd, since it was supposed that Lee and his army were somewhere to the west. Though seemingly of little consequence, this skirmish further delayed Stuart from joining Lee. Further, as Captain James H. Kidd, commander of F troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, later wrote: "Under [Custer's] skillful hand the four regiments were soon welded into a cohesive unit...."
Next morning, July 1, they passed through Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, still searching for Stuart's cavalry. Late in the morning they heard sounds of gunfire from the direction of Gettysburg. At Heidlersburg, Pennsylvania, that night they learned that General John Buford's cavalry had found Lee's army at Gettysburg. The next morning, July 2, orders came to hurry north to disrupt General Richard S. Ewell's communications and relieve the pressure on the union forces. By mid afternoon, as they approached Hunterstown, Pennsylvania, they encountered Stuart's cavalry. Custer rode alone ahead to investigate and found that the rebels were unaware of the arrival of his troops. Returning to his men, he carefully positioned them along both sides of the road where they would be hidden from the rebels. Further along the road, behind a low rise, he positioned the First and Fifth Michigan Cavalry and his artillery, under the command of Lieutenant Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr. To bait his trap, he gathered A Troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, called out, "Come on boys, I'll lead you this time!" and galloped directly at the unsuspecting rebels. As he had expected, the rebels, "more than two hundred horsemen, came racing down the country road" after Custer and his men. He lost half of his men in the deadly rebel fire and his horse went down, leaving him on foot. He was rescued by Private Norvell Francis Churchill of the 1st Michigan Cavalry, who galloped up, shot Custer's nearest assailant, and pulled Custer up behind him. Custer and his remaining men reached safety, while the pursuing rebels were cut down by slashing rifle fire, then canister from six cannons. The rebels broke off their attack, and both sides withdrew.
After spending most of the night in the saddle, Custer's brigade arrived at Two Taverns, Pennsylvania, roughly five miles southeast of Gettysburg around 3 a.m. July 3. There he was joined by Farnsworth's brigade. By daybreak they received orders to protect Meade's flanks. He was about to experience perhaps his finest hours during the war.
Gettysburg
Lee's battle plan, shared with less than a handful of subordinates, was to defeat Meade through a combined assault by all of his resources. General James Longstreet would attack Cemetery Hill from the west, Stuart would attack Culp's Hill from the southeast and Ewell would attack Culp's Hill from the north. Once the Union forces holding Culp's Hill had collapsed, the rebels would "roll up" the remaining Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge. To accomplish this, he sent Stuart with six thousand cavalrymen and mounted infantry on a long flanking maneuver.
By mid-morning on July 3, Custer had arrived at the intersection of Old Dutch road and Hanover Road 2 miles east of Gettysburg. He was later joined by Brigadier General David McMurtrie Gregg, who had him deploy his men at the northeast corner. Custer then sent out scouts to investigate nearby wooded areas. Meanwhile, Gregg had positioned Colonel John Baillie McIntosh's brigade near the intersection and sent the rest of his command to picket duty two miles to the southwest. After additional deployments, 2,400 cavalry under McIntosh and 1,200 under Custer remained, together with Colonel Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr.'s and Captain Alanson Merwin Randol's artillery, who had a total of ten three-inch guns.
About noon Custer's men heard cannon fire, Stuart's signal to Lee that he was in position and had not been detected. About the same time Gregg received a message warning that a large body of rebel cavalry had moved out the York Pike and might be trying to get around the Union right. A second message from Pleasonton ordered Gregg to send Custer to cover the Union far left. Since Gregg had already sent most of his force off to other duties, it was clear to both Gregg and Custer that Custer must remain. They had about 2700 men facing 6000 Confederates.
Soon afterward fighting broke out between the skirmish lines. Stuart ordered an attack by his mounted infantry under General Albert G. Jenkins, but the Union line held, with men from the First Michigan cavalry, the First New Jersey Cavalry and the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry. Stuart ordered Jackson's four gun battery into action. Custer ordered Pennington to answer. After a brief exchange in which two of Jackson's guns were destroyed, there was a lull.
About one o'clock, the massive Confederate artillery barrage in support of the upcoming assault on Cemetery Ridge began. Jenkins' men renewed the attack but soon ran out of ammunition and fell back. Resupplied, they again pressed the attack. Outnumbered, the Union cavalry fell back, firing as they went. Custer sent most of his Fifth Michigan cavalry ahead on foot, forcing Jenkins' men to fall back. Jenkins' men were reinforced by about 150 sharpshooters from General Fitzhugh Lee's brigade, and shortly after Stuart ordered a mounted charge by the Ninth Virginia Cavalry and the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry. Now it was Custer's men who were running out of ammunition. The Fifth Michigan was forced back and the battle was reduced to vicious, hand-to-hand combat.
Seeing this, Custer mounted a counter-attack, riding ahead of the fewer than 400 new troopers of the Seventh Michigan Cavalry, shouting, "Come on, you Wolverines!" As he swept forward, he formed a line of squadrons five ranks deep – five rows of eighty horsemen side by side – chasing the retreating rebels until their charge was stopped by a wood rail fence. The horses and men became jammed into a solid mass and were soon attacked on their left flank by the dismounted Ninth and Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry and on the right flank by the mounted First Virginia cavalry. Custer extricated his men and raced south to the protection of Pennington's artillery near Hanover Road. The pursuing Confederates were cut down by canister, then driven back by the remounted Fifth Michigan Cavalry. Both forces withdrew to a safe distance to regroup.
It was then about three o'clock. The artillery barrage to the west had suddenly stopped. Union soldiers were surprised to see Stuart's entire force about a half mile away, coming toward them, not in line of battle, but "formed in close column of squadrons... A grander spectacle than their advance has rarely been beheld". Stuart recognized he now had little time to reach and attack the Union rear along Cemetery Ridge. He must make one last effort to break through the Union cavalry.
Stuart passed by McIntosh's cavalry – the First New Jersey, Third Pennsylvania and Company A of Purnell's Legion, which had been posted about halfway down the field – with relative ease. As Stuart approached, the Union troops were ordered back into the woods without slowing down Stuart's column, "advancing as if in review, with sabers drawn and glistening like silver in the bright sunlight...."
Stuart's last obstacle was Custer and his four hundred veteran troopers of the First Michigan Cavalry directly in the Confererate cavalry's path. Outnumbered but undaunted, Custer rode to the head of the regiment, "drew his saber, threw off his hat so they could see his long yellow hair" and shouted... "Come on, you Wolverines!" Custer formed his men in line of battle and charged. "So sudden was the collision that many of the horses were turned end over end and crushed their riders beneath them...." As the Confederate advance stopped, their right flank was struck by troopers of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Michigan. McIntosh was able to gather some of his men from the First New Jersey and Third Pennsylvania and charged the rebel left flank. "Seeing that the situation was becoming critical, I [Captain Miller] turned to [Lieutenant Brooke-Rawle] and said: 'I have been ordered to hold this position, but, if you will back me up in case I am court-martialed for disobedience, I will order a charge.' The rebel column disintegrated, and individual troopers fought with saber and pistol.
Within twenty minutes the combatants heard the sound of the Union artillery opening up on Pickett's men. Stuart knew that whatever chance he had of joining the Confederate assault was gone. He withdrew his men to Cress Ridge.
Custer's brigade lost 257 men at Gettysburg, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade. "I challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful charge of cavalry", Custer wrote in his report. "For Gallant And Meritorious Services", he was awarded a regular army brevet promotion to Major.
Shenandoah Valley and Appomattox
General Custer participated in Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. The civilian population was specifically targeted in what is known as the Burning.
In 1864, with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan, Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was then ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek.
Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines finally broke, and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. After a truce was arranged Custer was escorted through the lines to meet Longstreet, who described Custer as having flaxen locks flowing over his shoulders, and Custer said “in the name of General Sheridan I demand the unconditional surrender of this army.” Longstreet replied that he was not in command of the army, but if he was he would not deal with messages from Sheridan. Custer responded it would be a pity to have more blood upon the field, to which Longstreet suggested the truce be respected, and then added “General Lee has gone to meet General Grant, and it is for them to determine the future of the armies.” Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historic table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution.
On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for, then illegally seize a large, prize racehorse named "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth then an estimated $10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in the grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C., on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who then ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not, instead hiding the horse and winning a race with it the next year, before the horse died suddenly.
Reconstruction duties in Texas
On June 3, 1865, at Sheridan's behest, Major General Custer accepted command of the 2nd Division of Cavalry, Military Division of the Southwest, to march from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Hempstead, Texas, as part of the Union occupation forces. Custer arrived at Alexandria on June 27 and began assembling his units, which took more than a month to gather and remount. On July 17, he assumed command of the Cavalry Division of the Military Division of the Gulf (on August 5, officially named the 2nd Division of Cavalry of the Military Division of the Gulf), and accompanied by his wife, he led the division (five regiments of veteran Western Theater cavalrymen) to Texas on an arduous 18-day march in August. On October 27, the division departed to Austin. On October 29, Custer moved the division from Hempstead to Austin, arriving on November 4. Major General Custer became Chief of Cavalry of the Department of Texas, from November 13 to February 1, 1866, succeeding Major General Wesley Merritt.
During his entire period of command of the division, Custer encountered considerable friction and near mutiny from the volunteer cavalry regiments who had campaigned along the Gulf coast. They desired to be mustered out of Federal service rather than continue campaigning, resented imposition of discipline (particularly from an Eastern Theater general), and considered Custer nothing more than a vain dandy.
Custer's division was mustered out beginning in November 1865, replaced by the regulars of the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment. Although their occupation of Austin had apparently been pleasant, many veterans harbored deep resentments against Custer, particularly in the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, because of his attempts to maintain discipline. Upon its mustering out, several members planned to ambush Custer, but he was warned the night before and the attempt thwarted.
Indian Wars
On February 1, 1866, Major General Custer mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service and took an extended leave of absence and awaited orders to September 24. He explored options in New York City, where he considered careers in railroads and mining. Offered a position (and $10,000 in gold) as adjutant general of the army of Benito Juárez of Mexico, who was then in a struggle with the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I (a satellite ruler of French Emperor Napoleon III), Custer applied for a one-year leave of absence from the U.S. Army, which was endorsed by Grant and Secretary of War Stanton. Sheridan and Mrs. Custer disapproved, however, and when his request for leave was opposed by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, who was against having an American officer commanding foreign troops, Custer refused the alternative of resignation from the Army to take the lucrative post.
Following the death of his father-in-law in May 1866, Custer returned to Monroe, Michigan, where he considered running for Congress. He took part in public discussion over the treatment of the American South in the aftermath of the Civil War, advocating a policy of moderation. He was named head of the Soldiers and Sailors Union, regarded as a response to the hyper-partisan Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Also formed in 1866, it was led by Republican activist John Alexander Logan. In September 1866 Custer accompanied President Andrew Johnson on a journey by train known as the "Swing Around the Circle" to build up public support for Johnson's policies towards the South. Custer denied a charge by the newspapers that Johnson had promised him a colonel's commission in return for his support, but Custer had written to Johnson some weeks before seeking such a commission. Custer and his wife stayed with the president during most of the trip. At one point Custer confronted a small group of Ohio men who repeatedly jeered Johnson, saying to them: "I was born two miles and a half from here, but I am ashamed of you."
On July 28, 1866, Custer was appointed lieutenant colonel of the newly created 7th Cavalry Regiment, which was headquartered at Fort Riley, Kansas. He served on frontier duty at Fort Riley from October 18 to March 26, and scouted in Kansas and Colorado to July 28, 1867. He took part in Major General Winfield Scott Hancock's expedition against the Cheyenne. On June 26, Lt. Lyman Kidder's party, made up of ten troopers and one scout, were massacred while en route to Fort Wallace. Lt. Kidder was to deliver dispatches to Custer from General Sherman, but his party was attacked by Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne. Days later, Custer and a search party found the bodies of Kidder's patrol.
Following the Hancock campaign, Custer was arrested and suspended at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to August 12, 1868, for being AWOL, after having abandoned his post to see his wife. At the request of Major General Sheridan, who wanted Custer for his planned winter campaign against the Cheyenne, Custer was allowed to return to duty before his one-year term of suspension had expired and joined his regiment to October 7, 1868. He then went on frontier duty, scouting in Kansas and Indian Territory to October 1869.
Under Sheridan's orders, Custer took part in establishing Camp Supply in Indian Territory in early November 1868 as a supply base for the winter campaign. On November 27, 1868, Custer led the 7th Cavalry Regiment in an attack on the Cheyenne encampment of Chief Black Kettle – the Battle of Washita River. Custer reported killing 103 warriors and some women and children; 53 women and children were taken as prisoners. Estimates by the Cheyenne of their casualties were substantially lower (11 warriors plus 19 women and children). Custer had his men shoot most of the 875 Indian ponies they had captured. The Battle of Washita River was regarded as the first substantial U.S. victory in the Southern Plains War, and it helped force a large portion of the Southern Cheyenne onto a U.S.-assigned reservation.
In 1873, Custer was sent to the Dakota Territory to protect a railroad survey party against the Lakota. On August 4, 1873, near the Tongue River, Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment clashed for the first time with the Lakota. One man on each side was killed. In 1874 Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota. Custer's announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush. Among the towns that immediately grew up was Deadwood, South Dakota, notorious for lawlessness.
Grant, Belknap and politics
In 1875, the Grant administration attempted to buy the Black Hills region from the Sioux. When the Sioux refused to sell, they were ordered to report to reservations by the end of January, 1876. Mid-winter conditions made it impossible for them to comply. The administration labeled them "hostiles" and tasked the Army with bringing them in. Custer was to command an expedition planned for the spring, part of a three-pronged campaign. While Custer's expedition marched west from Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, troops under Colonel John Gibbon were to march east from Fort Ellis, near present-day Bozeman, Montana, while a force under General George Crook was to march north from Fort Fetterman, near present-day Douglas, Wyoming.
Custer's 7th Cavalry was originally scheduled to leave Fort Abraham Lincoln on April 6, 1876, but on March 15 he was summoned to Washington to testify at congressional hearings. Rep. Hiester Clymer's Committee was investigating alleged corruption involving Secretary of War William W. Belknap (who had resigned March 2), President Grant's brother Orville and traders granted monopolies at frontier Army posts. It was alleged that Belknap had been selling these lucrative trading post positions where soldiers were required to make their purchases. Custer himself had experienced first hand the high prices being charged at Fort Lincoln.
Concerned that he might miss the coming campaign, Custer did not want to go to Washington. He asked to answer questions in writing, but Clymer insisted. Recognizing that his testimony would be explosive, Custer tried "to follow a moderate and prudent course, avoiding prominence." Despite this, he provided a quantity of unsubstantiated accusations against Belknap. His testimony, given on March 29 and April 4, was a sensation, being loudly praised by the Democratic press and sharply criticized by Republicans. Custer wrote articles published anonymously in The New York Herald that exposed trader post kickback rings and implied that Belknap was behind them. During his testimony, Custer attacked President Grant's brother Orville on unproven grounds of extorting money in exchange for exerting undue influence.
After Custer testified, Belknap was impeached and the case sent to the Senate for trial. Custer asked the impeachment managers to release him from further testimony. With the help of a request from his superior, Brigadier General Alfred Terry, Commander of the Department of Dakota, he was excused. However, President Grant intervened, ordering that another officer fulfill Custer's military duty.
General Terry protested, arguing that he had no available officers of rank qualified to replace Custer. Both Sheridan and Sherman wanted Custer in command but had to support Grant. General Sherman, hoping to resolve the issue, advised Custer to meet personally with Grant before leaving Washington. Three times Custer requested meetings with the president, but each request was refused.
Finally, Custer gave up and took a train to Chicago on May 2, planning to rejoin his regiment. A furious Grant ordered Sheridan to arrest Custer for leaving Washington without permission. On May 3, a member of Sheridan's staff arrested Custer as he arrived in Chicago. The arrest sparked public outrage. The New York Herald called Grant the "modern Caesar" and asked, "Are officers... to be dragged from railroad trains and ignominiously ordered to stand aside until the whims of the Chief magistrate ... are satisfied?"
Grant relented but insisted that Terry—not Custer—personally command the expedition. Terry met Custer in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 6. He later recalled that Custer "with tears in his eyes, begged for my aid. How could I resist it?" Custer and Terry both wrote telegrams to Grant asking that Custer lead his regiment, with Terry in command. Sheridan endorsed the effort.
Grant was already under pressure for his treatment of Custer. His administration worried that if the "Sioux campaign" failed without Custer, then Grant would be blamed for ignoring the recommendations of senior Army officers. On May 8, Custer was told that he would lead the expedition, but only under Terry's direct supervision.
Elated, Custer told General Terry's chief engineer, Captain Ludlow, that he would "cut loose" from Terry and operate independently.
Battle of the Little Bighorn
By the time of Custer's Black Hills expedition in 1874, the level of conflict and tension between the U.S. and many of the Plains Indians tribes (including the Lakota Sioux and the Cheyenne) had become exceedingly high. European-Americans continually broke treaty agreements and advanced further westward, resulting in violence and acts of depredation by both sides. To take possession of the Black Hills (and thus the gold deposits), and to stop Indian attacks, the U.S. decided to corral all remaining free Plains Indians. The Grant government set a deadline of January 31, 1876, for all Lakota and Arapaho wintering in the "unceded territory" to report to their designated agencies (reservations) or be considered "hostile".
At that time the 7th Cavalry's regimental commander, Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis, was on detached duty as the Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and in command of the Cavalry Depot in St. Louis, Missouri, which left Lieutenant Colonel Custer in command of the regiment. Custer and the 7th Cavalry departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln on May 17, 1876, part of a larger army force planning to round up remaining free Indians. Meanwhile, in the spring and summer of 1876, the Hunkpapa Lakota holy man Sitting Bull had called together the largest ever gathering of Plains Indians at Ash Creek, Montana (later moved to the Little Bighorn River) to discuss what to do about the whites. It was this united encampment of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians that the 7th met at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in the Crow Indian Reservation created in old Crow Country. (In the Fort Laramie Treaty (1851), the valley of the Little Bighorn is in the heart of the Crow Indian treaty territory and accepted as such by the Lakota, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho). The Lakotas were staying in the valley without consent from the Crow tribe, which sided with the Army to expel the Indian invaders.
About June 15, Major Marcus Reno, while on a scout, discovered the trail of a large village on the Rosebud River. On June 22, Custer's entire regiment was detached to follow this trail. On June 25, some of Custer's Crow Indian scouts identified what they claimed was a large Indian encampment in the valley near the Little Bighorn River. Custer had first intended to attack the Indian village the next day, but since his presence was known, he decided to attack immediately and divided his forces into three battalions: one led by Major Reno, one by Captain Frederick Benteen, and one by himself. Captain Thomas M. McDougall and Company B were with the pack train. Reno was sent north to charge the southern end of the encampment, Custer rode north, hidden to the east of the encampment by bluffs and planning to circle around and attack from the north, and Benteen was initially sent south and west to scout Indian presence and potentially protect the column from the south.
Reno began a charge on the southern end of the village but halted some 500–600 yards short of the camp, and had his men dismount and form a skirmish line. They were soon overcome by mounted Lakota and Cheyenne warriors who counterattacked en masse against Reno's exposed left flank, forcing Reno and his men to take cover in the trees along the river. Eventually, however, the troopers engaged in a bloody retreat up onto the bluffs above the river, where they made their own stand. This, the opening action of the battle, cost Reno a quarter of his command.
Custer may have seen Reno stop and form a skirmish line as Custer led his command to the northern end of the main encampment, where he may have planned to sandwich the Indians between his attacking troopers and Reno's command in a "hammer and anvil" maneuver. According to Grinnell's account, based on the testimony of the Cheyenne warriors who survived the fight, at least part of Custer's command attempted to ford the river at the north end of the camp but were driven off by Indian sharpshooters firing from the brush along the west bank of the river. From that point the soldiers were pursued by hundreds of warriors onto a ridge north of the encampment. Custer and his command were prevented from digging in by Crazy Horse however, whose warriors had outflanked him and were now to his north, at the crest of the ridge. Traditional white accounts attribute to Gall the attack that drove Custer up onto the ridge, but Indian witnesses have disputed that account.
For a time, Custer's men appear to have been deployed by company, in standard cavalry fighting formation—the skirmish line, with every fourth man holding the horses, though this arrangement would have robbed Custer of a quarter of his firepower. Worse, as the fight intensified, many soldiers could have taken to holding their own horses or hobbling them, further reducing the 7th's effective fire. When Crazy Horse and White Bull mounted the charge that broke through the center of Custer's lines, order may have broken down among the soldiers of Calhoun's command, though Myles Keogh's men seem to have fought and died where they stood. According to some Lakota accounts, many of the panicking soldiers threw down their weapons and either rode or ran towards the knoll where Custer, the other officers, and about 40 men were making a stand. Along the way, the warriors rode them down, counting coup by striking the fleeing troopers with their quirts or lances.
Initially, Custer had 208 officers and men under his direct command, with an additional 142 under Reno, just over 100 under Benteen, and 50 soldiers with Captain McDougall's rearguard, accompanying 84 soldiers under 1st Lieutenant Edward Gustave Mathey with the pack train. The Lakota-Cheyenne coalition may have fielded over 1,800 warriors. Historian Gregory Michno settles on a low number of around 1,000 based on contemporary Lakota testimony, but other sources place the number at 1,800 or 2,000, especially in the works by Utley and Fox. The 1,800–2,000 figure is substantially lower than the higher numbers of 3,000 or more postulated by Ambrose, Gray, Scott, and others. Some of the other participants in the battle gave these estimates:
Spotted Horn Bull – 5,000 braves and leaders
Maj. Reno – 2,500 to 5,000 warriors
Capt. Moylan – 3,500 to 4,000
Lt. Hare – not under 4,000
Lt. Godfrey – minimum between 2,500 and 3,000
Lt. Edgerly – 4,000
Lt. Varnum – not less than 4,000
Sgt. Kanipe – fully 4,000
George Herendeen – fully 3,000
Fred Gerard – 2,500 to 3,000
An average of the above is 3,500 Indian warriors and leaders.
As the troopers of Custer's five companies were cut down, the native warriors stripped the dead of their firearms and ammunition, with the result that the return fire from the cavalry steadily decreased, while the fire from the Indians constantly increased. The surviving troopers apparently shot their remaining horses to use as breastworks for a final stand on the knoll at the north end of the ridge. The warriors closed in for the final attack and killed every man in Custer's command. As a result, the Battle of the Little Bighorn has come to be popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand".
Personal life
On February 9, 1864, Custer married Elizabeth Clift Bacon (1842–1933), whom he had first seen when he was ten years old. He had been socially introduced to her in November 1862, when home in Monroe on leave. She was not initially impressed with him, and her father, Judge Daniel Bacon, disapproved of Custer as a match because he was the son of a blacksmith. It was not until well after Custer had been promoted to the rank of brigadier general that he gained the approval of Judge Bacon. He married Elizabeth Bacon fourteen months after they formally met.
In November 1868, following the Battle of Washita River, Custer was alleged (by Captain Frederick Benteen, chief of scouts Ben Clark, and Cheyenne oral tradition) to have unofficially married Mo-nah-se-tah, daughter of the Cheyenne chief Little Rock in the winter or early spring of 1868–1869 (Little Rock was killed in the one-day action at Washita on November 27). Mo-nah-se-tah gave birth to a child in January 1869, two months after the Washita battle. Cheyenne oral history tells that she also bore a second child, fathered by Custer in late 1869. Some historians, however, believe that Custer had become sterile after contracting gonorrhea while at West Point and that the father was, in actuality, his brother Thomas. Clarke's description in his memoirs included the statement, "Custer picked out a fine looking one and had her in his tent every night."
Death
It is unlikely that any Native American recognized Custer during or after the battle. Michno summarizes: "Shave Elk said, 'We did not suspect that we were fighting Custer and did not recognize him either alive or dead.' Wooden Leg said no one could recognize any enemy during the fight, for they were too far away. The Cheyennes did not even know a man named Custer was in the fight until weeks later. Antelope said none knew of Custer being at the fight until they later learned of it at the agencies. Thomas Marquis learned from his interviews that no Indian knew Custer was at the Little Bighorn fight until months later. Many Cheyennes were not even aware that other members of the Custer family had been in the fight until 1922 when Marquis himself first informed them of that fact."
Several individuals claimed responsibility for killing Custer, including White Bull of the Miniconjous, Rain-in-the-Face, Flat Lip, and Brave Bear. In June 2005, at a public meeting, Northern Cheyenne storytellers said that according to their oral tradition, Buffalo Calf Road Woman, a Northern Cheyenne heroine of the Battle of the Rosebud, struck the final blow against Custer, which knocked him off his horse before he died.
A contrasting version of Custer's death is suggested by the testimony of an Oglala named Joseph White Cow Bull, according to novelist and Custer biographer Evan Connell. He says that Joseph White Bull stated he had shot a rider wearing a buckskin jacket and big hat at the riverside when the soldiers first approached the village from the east. The initial force facing the soldiers, according to this version, was quite small (possibly as few as four warriors) yet challenged Custer's command. The rider who was hit was mounted next to a rider who bore a flag and had shouted orders that prompted the soldiers to attack, but when the buckskin-clad rider fell off his horse after being shot, many of the attackers reined up. The allegation that the buckskin-clad officer was Custer, if accurate, might explain the supposed rapid disintegration of Custer's forces. However, several other officers of the Seventh, including William Cooke, Tom Custer and William Sturgis, were also dressed in buckskin on the day of the battle, and the fact that each of the non-mutilation wounds to George Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded or killed at the ford, more than a mile from where his body was found. The circumstances are, however, consistent with David Humphreys Miller's suggestion that Custer's attendants would not have left his dead body behind to be desecrated.
During the 1920s, two elderly Cheyenne women spoke briefly with oral historians about their having recognized Custer's body on the battlefield and said that they had stopped a Sioux warrior from desecrating the body. The women were relatives of Mo-nah-se-tah, who was alleged to have been Custer's lover in late 1868 and through 1869, and borne two children by him. Mo-nah-se-tah was among 53 Cheyenne women and children taken captive by the 7th Cavalry after the Battle of Washita River in 1868, in which Custer commanded an attack on the camp of Chief Black Kettle. Mo-nah-se-tah's father, Cheyenne chief Little Rock, was killed in the battle. During the winter and early spring of 1868–69, Custer reportedly sexually assaulted teenage Mo-nah-se-tah. Cheyenne oral history alleges that she later bore Custer's child in late 1869. (Custer, however, had apparently become sterile after contracting venereal disease at West Point, leading some historians to believe that the father was really his brother Thomas). In the Cheyenne culture of the time, such a relationship was considered a marriage. The women allegedly told the warrior: "Stop, he is a relative of ours," and then shooed him away. The two women said they shoved their sewing awls into his ears to permit Custer's corpse to "hear better in the afterlife" because he had broken his promise to Stone Forehead never to fight against Native Americans again.
When the main column under General Terry arrived two days later, the army found most of the soldiers' corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated. Custer's body had two bullet holes, one in the left temple and one just below the heart. Capt. Benteen, who inspected the body, stated that in his opinion the fatal injuries had not been the result of .45 caliber ammunition, which implies the bullet holes had been caused by ranged rifle fire. Some time later, Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey described Custer's mutilation, telling Charles F. Bates that an arrow "had been forced up his penis."
The bodies of Custer and his brother Tom were wrapped in canvas and blankets, then buried in a shallow grave, covered by the basket from a travois held in place by rocks. When soldiers returned a year later, the brothers' grave had been scavenged by animals and the bones scattered. "Not more than a double handful of small bones were picked up." Custer was reinterred with full military honors at West Point Cemetery on October 10, 1877. The battle site was designated a National Cemetery in 1886.
Controversial legacy
Public relations and media coverage during his lifetime
Custer has been called a "media personality", and he valued good public relations and used the print media of his era effectively. He frequently invited journalists to accompany his campaigns (one, Associated Press reporter Mark Kellogg, died at the Little Bighorn), and their favorable reporting contributed to his high reputation, which lasted well into the latter 20th century.
Custer enjoyed writing, often writing all night long. He wrote a series of magazine articles of his experiences on the frontier, which were published in book form as My Life on the Plains in 1874. The work is still a valued primary source for information on US-Native relations.
Posthumous legacy
After his death, Custer achieved lasting fame. Despite some initial criticism, the public eventually saw him as a tragic military hero.
Custer's wife, Elizabeth, who had accompanied him in many of his frontier expeditions, did much to advance this view with the publication of several books about her late husband: Boots and Saddles, Life with General Custer in Dakota, Tenting on the Plains, or General Custer in Kansas and Texas and Following the Guidon.
The deaths of Custer and his troops became the best-known episode in the history of the American Indian Wars, due in part to a painting commissioned by the brewery Anheuser-Busch as part of an advertising campaign. The enterprising company ordered reprints of a dramatic work that depicted "Custer's Last Stand" and had them framed and hung in many United States saloons. This created lasting impressions of the battle and the brewery's products in the minds of many bar patrons. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote an adoring (and in some places, erroneous) poem. President Theodore Roosevelt's lavish praise pleased Custer's widow.
President Grant, a highly successful general but recent antagonist, criticized Custer's actions in the battle of the Little Bighorn. Quoted in the New York Herald on September 2, 1876, Grant said, "I regard Custer's Massacre as a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself, that was wholly unnecessary – wholly unnecessary." General Phillip Sheridan took a more moderately critical view of Custer's final military actions.
General Nelson Miles (who inherited Custer's mantle of famed Indian fighter) and others praised him as a fallen hero betrayed by the incompetence of subordinate officers. Miles noted the difficulty of winning a fight "with seven-twelfths of the command remaining out of the engagement when within sound of his rifle shots."
The assessment of Custer's actions during the American Indian Wars has undergone substantial reconsideration in modern times. Documenting the arc of popular perception in his biography Son of the Morning Star (1984), author Evan Connell notes the reverential tone of Custer's first biographer Frederick Whittaker (whose book was rushed out the year of Custer's death.) Connell concludes:
These days it is stylish to denigrate the general, whose stock sells for nothing. Nineteenth-century Americans thought differently. At that time he was a cavalier without fear and beyond reproach.
Criticism and controversy
The controversy over blame for the disaster at Little Bighorn continues to this day. Major Marcus Reno's failure to press his attack on the south end of the Lakota/Cheyenne village and his flight to the timber along the river after a single casualty have been cited as a factor in the destruction of Custer's battalion, as has Captain Frederick Benteen's allegedly tardy arrival on the field, and the failure of the two officers' combined forces to move toward the relief of Custer.
Some of Custer's critics have asserted tactical errors.
While camped at Powder River, Custer refused the support offered by General Terry on June 21 of an additional four companies of the Second Cavalry. Custer stated that he "could whip any Indian village on the Plains" with his own regiment, and that extra troops would simply be a burden.
At the same time, he left behind at the steamer Far West, on the Yellowstone, a battery of Gatling guns, knowing he was facing superior numbers. Before leaving the camp all the troops, including the officers, also boxed their sabers and sent them back with the wagons.
On the day of the battle, Custer divided his 600-man command, despite being faced with vastly superior numbers of Sioux and Cheyenne.
The refusal of an extra battalion reduced the size of his force by at least a sixth, and rejecting the firepower offered by the Gatling guns played into the events of June 25 to the disadvantage of his regiment.
Custer's defenders, however, including historian Charles K. Hofling, have asserted that Gatling guns would have been slow and cumbersome as the troops crossed the rough country between the Yellowstone and the Little Bighorn. Custer rated speed in gaining the battlefield as essential and more important. Supporters of Custer claim that splitting the forces was a standard tactic, so as to demoralize the enemy with the appearance of the cavalry in different places all at once, especially when a contingent threatened the line of retreat.
Attacks on Indigenous Peoples
Sharply criticizing the self-styled “Indian fighter,” Indigenous people's movements have emphasized Custer's role in the U.S. government's land theft, treaty violations and atrocities against Native Americans.
Standing Rock Sioux theologian and author Vine Deloria, Jr. told the Los Angeles Times in 1996 that he considered Custer “the Adolf Eichmann of the Plains.” In his 1969 book Custer Died for Your Sins, Deloria condemned Custer's violations of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty that established the Black Hills region as unceded territory of the Sioux and Arapaho peoples. Custer's violations of the Fort Laramie Treaty included a 1874 gold expedition and the 1876 Battle of Greasy Grass (Battle of the Little Bighorn).
Critics have also highlighted Custer's 1868 Washita River surprise attack that killed Cheyenne non-combatants including mothers, children, and elders. Custer was following Generals William Sherman and Philip Sheridan's orders for “total war” on the Indigenous nations. Describing total war methods, Sherman wrote, “We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children...during an assault, the soldiers can not pause to distinguish between male and female, or even discriminate as to age." There is “credible evidence” that following the attack, Custer and his men took “sexual liberties” with female captives, in the euphemism of one historian. Another historian writes, “There was a saying among the soldiers of the western frontier, a saying Custer and his officers could heartily endorse: ‘Indian women rape easy.’”
Indigenous criticism of Custer’s posthumous legacy may have begun immediately after Custer died. Good Fox (Lakota) recounted:
"I was told that after the battle two Cheyenne women came across Custer’s body. They knew him, because he had attacked their peaceful village on the Washita. These women said, ‘You smoked the peace pipe with us. Our chiefs told you that you would be killed if you ever made war on us again. But you would not listen. This will make you hear better.’ The women each took an awl from their beaded cases and stuck them deep into Custer’s ears.”
In 1976, the American Indian Movement (AIM) celebrated the centennial anniversary of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho victory in the Battle of Greasy Grass, performing a victory dance around the marker of Custer’s death. AIM continued protesting there demanding the official renaming of the “Custer Battlefield,” finally winning this demand in 1991.
In May 2021, the United Tribes of Michigan unanimously passed a resolution calling for the removal of a Custer statue in Monroe, Michigan. The resolution stated in part:
"(It) is widely perceived as offensive and a painful public reminder of the legacy of Indigenous people's genocide and present realities of systemic racism in our country... Custer is notoriously known as the 'Indian Killer' [...] Custer does not deserve any glory, nor the right to further torment minoritized citizens 145 years postmortem."
Monuments and memorials
Counties are named in Custer's honor in six states: Colorado, Idaho (which is named for the General Custer Mine, which was named for Custer), Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Townships in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota were named for Custer.
Other municipalities named after Custer include the villages of Custer, Michigan, and Custar, Ohio; the city of Custer, South Dakota; and the unincorporated town of Custer, Wisconsin.
Custer National Cemetery is within Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the site of Custer's death.
The George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument of Custer, by Edward Clark Potter, was erected in Monroe, Michigan, Custer's boyhood home, in 1910.
Fort Custer National Military Reservation, near Augusta, Michigan, was built in 1917 on 130 parcels of land, as part of the military mobilization for World War I. During the war, some 90,000 troops passed through Camp Custer.
The establishment of Fort Custer National Cemetery (originally Fort Custer Post Cemetery) took place on September 18, 1943, with the first interment. On Memorial Day 1982, more than 33 years after the first resolution had been introduced in Congress, impressive ceremonies marked the official opening of the cemetery.
Custer Hill is the main troop billeting area at Fort Riley, Kansas. Custer's 1866 residence on the post has been preserved and is currently maintained as the Custer House Museum and meeting space (also sometimes referred to as Custer Home).
The 85th Infantry Division was nicknamed The Custer Division.
The Black Hills of South Dakota is full of evidence of Custer, with a county, town, and Custer State Park all located in the area.
A prominent mountain peak in the Black Hills bears his name.
The Custer house at Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, has been reconstructed as it was in Custer's day, along with the soldiers' barracks, block houses, etc. Annual re-enactments are held of Custer's 7th Cavalry's leaving for the Little Bighorn.
On July 2, 2008, a marble monument to Brigadier General Custer was dedicated at the site of the 1863 Civil War Battle of Hunterstown, in Adams County, Pennsylvania.
Custer Monument at the United States Military Academy was first unveiled in 1879. It now stands next to his grave in the West Point Cemetery.
Custer Memorial Monument at his birthplace was erected by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical society in 1931. It is located near the remains of the foundation of his birthplace homestead in New Rumley, Ohio. Custer Monument is managed locally by the Custer Memorial Association.
Miscellany
In addition to "Autie", Custer acquired a number of nicknames. During the Civil War, after his promotion to become the youngest brigadier general in the Army at age 23, the press frequently called him "The Boy General". During his years on the Great Plains in the American Indian Wars, his troopers often referred to him with grudging admiration as "Iron Butt" and "Hard Ass" for his physical stamina in the saddle and his strict discipline, as well as with the more derisive "Ringlets" for his long, curling blond hair, which he frequently perfumed with cinnamon-scented hair oil.
Custer was quite fastidious in his grooming. Early in their marriage, Libbie wrote, "He brushes his teeth after every meal. I always laugh at him for it, also for washing his hands so frequently."
He was 5'11" tall and wore a size 38 jacket and size 9C boots. At various times he weighed between 143 pounds (at the end of the 1869 Kansas campaign) and a muscular 170 pounds. A splendid horseman, "Custer mounted was an inspiration." He was quite fit, able to jump to a standing position from lying flat on his back. He was a "power sleeper", able to get by on very short naps after falling asleep immediately on lying down. He "had a habit of throwing himself prone on the grass for a few minutes' rest and resembled a human island, entirely surrounded by crowding, panting dogs."
Throughout his travels, he gathered geological specimens, sending them to the University of Michigan. On September 10, 1873, he wrote Libbie, "the Indian battles hindered the collecting, while in that immediate region it was unsafe to go far from the command...."
He was well-liked by his native scouts, whose company he enjoyed. He often ate with them. A May 21, 1876, diary entry by Kellogg records, "General Custer visits scouts; much at home amongst them."
Before leaving the steamer Far West for the final leg of the journey, Custer wrote all night. His orderly John Burkman stood guard in front of his tent and on the morning of June 22, 1876, found Custer "hunched over on the cot, just his coat and his boots off, and the pen still in his hand."
During his service in Kentucky, Custer bought several thoroughbred horses. He took two on his last campaign, Vic (for Victory) and Dandy. During the march he changed horses every three hours. He rode Vic into his last battle.
Custer took his two staghounds Tuck and Bleuch with him during the last expedition. He left them with orderly Burkman when he rode forward into battle. Burkman joined the packtrain. He regretted not accompanying Custer but lived until 1925, when he took his own life.
The common media image of Custer's appearance at the Last Stand—buckskin coat and long, curly blonde hair—is wrong. Although he and several other officers wore buckskin coats on the expedition, they took them off and packed them away because it was so hot. According to Soldier, an Arikara scout, "Custer took off his buckskin coat and tied it behind his saddle." Further, Custer—whose hair was thinning—joined a similarly balding Lieutenant Varnum and "had the clippers run over their heads" before leaving Fort Lincoln.
Dates of rank
See also
Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer
Custer's Revenge
Fort Abraham Lincoln
German-Americans in the Civil War
Half Yellow Face
White Swan
List of American Civil War generals (Union)
List of German Americans
References
Bibliography
Ambrose, Stephen E. (1996 [1975]). Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. New York: Anchor Books. .
Barnett, Louise (1996) Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer New York, Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Boulard, Garry (2006) The Swing Around the Circle: Andrew Johnson and the Train Ride that Destroyed a Presidency
Caudill, Edward and Paul Ashdown (2015). Inventing Custer: The Making of An American Legend. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Goodrich, Thomas. Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997.
Longacre, Edward G. (2000). Lincoln's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of the Potomac. Stackpole Books. .
Longstreet, James, From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America, J.B. Lippincott, 1908.
Mails, Thomas E. (1972). Mystic Warriors of the Plains. Doubleday.
Marshall, Joseph M. III. (2007). The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History. New York: Viking Press.
Merington, Marguerite, Ed. The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of General Custer and his Wife Elizabeth. (1950)
Michno, Gregory F. (1997). Lakota Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat. Mountain Press Publishing Company. .
Perrett, Bryan. Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds. London: Arms & Armour, 1993.
Punke, Michael, "Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West", Smithsonian Books, 2007,
Robbins, James S. The Real Custer: From Boy General to Tragic Hero. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2014,
Tagg, Larry. (1988). The Generals of Gettysburg. Savas Publishing. .
Urwin, Gregory J. W., Custer Victorious, University of Nebraska Press, 1990, .
Utley, Robert M. (2001). Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier, revised edition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. .
Vestal, Stanley. Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1934.
Welch, James, with Paul Stekler. (2007 [1994]). Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Wert, Jeffry D. Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. .
Further reading
Stiles, T.J. Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America (2015), Pulitzer Prize.
External links
Indian Wars and the Year of George Custer
Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield
Custer Battlefield Museum
Little Big Horn Associates
Little Bighorn History Alliance
Kenneth M Hammer Collection on Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Harold G. Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Gallery of Custer images
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture -Custer, George Armstrong
George A. and Elizabeth B. Custer papers, Vault MSS 364 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Charles F. Bates Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
1839 births
1876 deaths
People from Harrison County, Ohio
American people of German descent
American people of English descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Union Army generals
People of Ohio in the American Civil War
People of Michigan in the American Civil War
People of the Great Sioux War of 1876
United States Army personnel who were court-martialed
Comanche campaign
United States Military Academy alumni
People from Monroe, Michigan
Michigan Brigade
American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars
Deaths by firearm in Montana
Burials at West Point Cemetery
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Genocide perpetrators | true | [
"\n\nBackground\nIn April 1863 Union forces of the Indian Home Guard under Colonel William A. Phillips occupied Fort Gibson. Upon hearing reports of no Confederate activity in all directions Philips sent the fort's livestock to graze. A Union sentry failed to scout a mountain road and Confederate forces therefore descended on the livestock.\n\nBattle\nUnwilling to move against the fort directly the Confederates maintained a strong position 5 miles away along the Arkansas River. Colonel Phillips dispatched his available mounted forces against the Confederates which succeeded in retaking most of the livestock. The Confederates made a strong attack against the Union sortie and were able to drive them back nearly surrounding two companies. Colonel Phillips then personally led a force of infantry with an artillery battery from the fort. Reinforced by the mounted infantry already in the field, Phillips was able to stop the Rebel attack. The Confederates held briefly in a forest until they were routed and withdrew beyond the Arkansas River. Phillips dispatched his cavalry to give chase to this Confederate force. Meanwhile, word was received of a second Confederate force attempting a river crossing. Phillips returned to the fort with the infantry and artillery to counter this feint. The Rebels fired one volley and withdrew having failed to draw away enough Union forces from the original Confederate attack on the livestock.\n\nAftermath\nEight days later Colonel Phillips' supply train was attacked at Fort Gibson. Phillips successfully defeated the attack and saved the supply train. In July 1863 troops from Fort Gibson marched south to win the battle of Honey Springs. Fort Gibson would remain in Union control for the rest of the war.\n\nSources\n\nBattles of the American Civil War in Indian Territory\nUnion victories of the American Civil War\nMay 1863 events\n1863 in Indian Territory",
"The Battle of Cherokee Station was a battle of the American Civil War fought between Union Army and Confederate Army near the town of Cherokee Station Alabama on 21 October 1863.\n\nGeneral Sherman attempted to start rebuilding the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to give Union forces an easier time to arrive at Chattanooga from Mississippi. Sherman initiated his reconstruction at Corinth, Mississippi and began to push into northern Alabama.\n\nOn 20 October, the Union captured Barton's Station and began their assault on Cherokee Station with a brief cavalry skirmish. XV Corps attacked Confederate forces near Cherokee Station and after an hour of trading musket fire, the Confederates retreated. First Division of XV Corps brought up several Parrott rifles and killed many of the retreating Confederates.\n\nThe Union continued its push with a decisive victory at Little Bear Creek on October 27 near Tuscumbia, forcing the Confederates to surrender Tuscumbia. The continued Confederate resistance, however, persuaded the Union to instead seek more northerly, safer routes to Chattanooga.\n\nBackground\nGeneral Sherman attempted to rebuild the Memphis and Charleston Railroad in order to make it easier for Union forces to get to Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge to prepare for an attack on Atlanta, Georgia. They began rebuilding near Corinth, Mississippi and pushed through Northwest Alabama.\n\nSherman began his push near Cane Creek on 20 October, winning a battle against the Confederates. On the same day, skirmishes occurred at Barton's and Dickson's Stations, both Union victories. Later on 20 October, Sherman pushed east towards Cherokee Station.\n\nOn the evening of 20 October, a skirmish occurred between the 5th Ohio Cavalry and a large troop of Confederate cavalry. The 3rd U.S. Cavalry came up as support, but the 5th Cavalry finished off the Confederates on their own. The 5th lost a total of three men and two horses.\n\nBattle\nOn 21 October at 08:00, the XV Corps moved up towards the location of the Confederate troops, with its 1st Division leading. They encountered a large force of Confederate soldiers and opened fire. Musket fire was exchanged for an hour, with the Confederates sustaining heavy losses. After the loss of a significant number of their men, the Confederates retreated. The division brought up several 20-pound Parrott rifles and inflicted several dozen more casualties. Several Confederate soldiers were captured as well.\n\nAftermath\nThe Confederates retreated from the field back to fortifications near Tuscumbia. Union forces sustained 35 casualties, while the Confederates suffered 300–400 casualties.\n\nLieutenant-General Stephen Dill Lee used artillery and his men to delay the Union's assault on Tuscumbia and made occasional skirmishes with Union troops, such as the skirmish at Barton's Station. However, on 27 October, Lee was forced to retreat from Tuscumbia after a defeat at Little Bear Creek. As Union troops went towards Georgia, Lee attempted a second assault on Cherokee Station, but was repulsed by XV Corps. After this defeat, the Confederates attempted to win at another skirmish at Barton's Station. Due to the lack of supplies, Lee was forced to withdraw from Alabama to northern Georgia. However, Lee's resistance prevented the reconstruction of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad by making the Union use northern detours to Chattanooga. Bragg commended Lee for his actions in delaying Union forces and preventing the construction of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nBibliography\n\nBattles of the American Civil War in Alabama\n1863 in the American Civil War"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google"
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | What was her relationship with Google? | 1 | What was Marissa Mayer's relationship with Google? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | true | [
"Google Squared was an information extraction and relationship extraction product from Google. It was announced on May 12, 2009 in response to the launch of Wolfram Alpha and was launched on Google Labs on June 3, 2009. As part of the phasing out of Google Labs, Google Squared was shut down on September 5, 2011.\n\nSquared was developed at Google's New York office. It was the first significant effort by Google to understand information on the web and present it in new ways.\n\nGoogle Squared extracted structured data from across the web and presented its results in spreadsheet-like format. Each search query returned a table of search results which has its own set of columns - common attributes that are associated with the topic of a search. Nathania Johnson of Search Engine Watch described Squared as \"quite possibly ... one of Google's significant achievements\".\n\nGoogle Squared is also the name used by an online digital marketing course Developed by Google with its partners.\n\nSee also \n List of Google products\n\nReferences\n\nSquared\nSemantic Web",
"Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares (March 16, 1910 – September 25, 1967) was a well-connected Brazilian woman who became a well-known landscape designer and architect. Despite not having a degree in either area, she was invited by governor Carlos Lacerda to design and oversee the construction of Flamengo Park in Rio de Janeiro. She was born in Paris, France into a prominent political family from Rio de Janeiro.\n\nBiography\nLota, as she was known, had a relationship with the American poet Elizabeth Bishop from 1951 to 1967. Bishop dedicated her 1965 volume of poems Questions of Travel to her. Their relationship is depicted in the Brazilian film Reaching for the Moon, based on the book Flores Raras e Banalíssimas (in English, Rare and Commonplace Flowers), by Carmen Lucia de Oliveira, as well as in the book The More I Owe You, by American author Michael Sledge.\n\nIn 1967, Soares joined Bishop in New York City after a period of extensive hospitalization for a nervous breakdown. The same day she arrived in New York, 19 September 1967, Soares took an overdose of tranquilizers. It is believed the problems with her work and her failing relationship with Bishop were what led to her suicide. She died several days later.\n\nTribute\nOn March 16, 2017, Google celebrated her 107th birthday with a Google Doodle.\n\nSee also\nFlamengo Park\nElizabeth Bishop\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\n Lloyd Schwartz, \"Elizabeth Bishop and Brazil,\" The New Yorker, September 30, 1991\n Brett Millier, Elizabeth Bishop: Life and the Memory of It, University of California Press, 1995\n Elizabeth Bishop, One Art: Letters. Ed. Robert Giroux (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1994). \n Carmen L. Oliveira, Rare and Commonplace Flowers: The Story of Elizabeth Bishop and Lota de Macedo Soares, translated by Neil K. Besner, (Rutgers University Press, 2002); reviewed by Emily Nussbaum \n Schuma Schumacher and Érico Vital Brasil, eds. Dicionário Mulheres do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Editora, 2000), pp. 335–336.\n Michael Sledge, \"The More I Owe You.\" (Berkeley: Counterpoint Press, 2010).\n\n1910 births\n1967 deaths\nFrench people of Brazilian descent\nPeople from Rio de Janeiro (city)\nBrazilian architects\nBrazilian women architects\nLGBT people from Brazil\nLGBT architects\n1967 suicides\n20th-century LGBT people\nBrazilian expatriates in France\nBrazilian expatriates in the United States"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20."
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | What was her position/title? | 2 | What was Marissa Mayer's position/title at Google? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | true | [
"(; plural Augustae; ) was a Roman imperial honorific title given to empresses and honoured women of the imperial families. It was the feminine form of Augustus. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater Senatus (\"Mother of the Senate) and Mater Castrorum (\"Mother of the Camp\") and Mater Patriae (\"Mother of the Fatherland\").\n\nThe title implied the greatest prestige. Augustae could issue their own coinage, wear imperial regalia, and rule their own courts.\n\nWife of Claudius, Agrippina was the first wife of the emperor in Roman history to receive the throne of Augusta, a position she held for the rest of her life, ruling with her husband and son.\n\nIn the third century, Julia Domna was the first empress to receive the title combination \"Pia Felix Augusta\" after the death of her husband Septimius Severus, which may have implied greater powers being vested in her than what was usual for a Roman empress mother and in this innumerable official position and honor, she accompanied his son on an extensive military campaign and provincial tour.\n\nPrincipate period\n\nJulio-Claudian dynasty\n\nFlavian dynasty\n\nNerva–Antonine dynasty\n\nYear of the Five Emperors\n\nSeveran dynasty\n\nCrisis of the Third Century\n\nDominate period\n\nTetrarchy\n\nConstantinian dynasty\n\nValentinianic dynasty\n\nTheodosian dynasty\n\nLeonid dynasty\n\nByzantine period\n\nJustinian dynasty\n\nHeraclian dynasty\n\nIsaurian dynasty\n\nNikephorian dynasty\n\nAmorian dynasty\n\nMacedonian dynasty\n\nKomnenid dynasty\n\nDoukid dynasty\n\nKomnenid dynasty\n\nSee also\nList of Roman and Byzantine empresses\n Augustus (title)\nList of Christian women of the patristic age\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n\nAugustae\nByzantine Empire-related lists",
"{{Infobox album\n| name = Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'\n| type = studio\n| artist = Lainey Wilson\n| cover = Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'.jpg\n| alt =\n| released = \n| recorded =\n| venue =\n| studio = Neon Cross Studios \n| genre = {{hlist|Country|<ref name=\"Allmusic\">{{cite web |title=Sayin' What I'm Thinkin: Lainey Wilson: Songs, reviews, credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sayin-what-im-thinkin-mw0003470520 |website=AllMusic |access-date=27 December 2021}}</ref>|classic country}}\n| length = 37:57\n| label = BBR\n| producer = Jay Joyce\n| prev_title = Redneck Hollywood\n| prev_year = 2019\n| next_title =\n| next_year =\n| misc = \n}}Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' is a studio album by American country singer–songwriter Lainey Wilson. It was released on February 19, 2021 via the BBR Music Group and contained 12 tracks. The album was the third studio collection released in Wilson's music career and the first issued on a major record label. The disc has since spawned two singles: \"Dirty Looks\" (2019) and \"Things a Man Oughta Know\" (2020). The latter release became Wilson's breakout single, reaching chart positions on the country music surveys in North America. Sayin' What I'm Thinkin has since been met with favorable reviews from critics and writers.\n\nBackground\nLainey Wilson had been attempting a career as a country music artist for several years. She had previously released the studio album Tougher and played a variety of shows while networking along the way. After signing a publishing deal, she would sign her first major record label contract with the BBR Music Group. In 2019, BBR issued the extended play (EP) Redneck Hollywood. Several of the songs that would appear on Sayin' What I'm Thinkin first appeared on Redneck Hollywood. In crafting the album, Wilson would continually ask herself if the music was \"saying what I'm thinking\". The phrase was used often enough that she decided to name the album Sayin' What I'm Thinkin.\n\nRecording and content\nSayin' What I'm Thinkin was recorded at the Neon Cross Studio, which was located in Nashville, Tennessee. The project was produced by Jay Joyce, aslong with assistance from Court Blankenship. In regards to production, Wilson explained that she and Joyce were \"kindred spirits\". A total of 12 songs comprised the collection and were all co-written by Wilson. In addition, Jason Nix and Brent Anderson are featured writers on multiple songs in the track listing. Several of the songs on the project were composed as far back as 2018 when Wilson first landed a publishing deal with Sony ATV. \"That’s when I started figuring out who I was more—what I wanted to say, and how I wanted to say it,\" she reflected. \n\nIn developing the album's sound, Wilson wanted it to sound \"fresh\" and \"familiar\". In an interview with Rolling Stone, Wilson explained that she wanted the disc to have the \"pureness of Lee Ann Womack\" and the \"sassiness of Dolly Parton\". Four of the disc's tracks were originally released on Redneck Hollywood: \"WWDD\", \"Dirty Looks\", \"LA\" and \"Things a Man Oughta Know\". The remaining eight songs were previously not released. The opening track \"Neon Diamonds\" was chosen as the lead song because it had similarities to a concert opener, according to Wilson. The song \"LA\" was derived from Wilson explaining to people that she was Louisiana (LA) and not Los Angeles. \"I’d meet people and they’d say, 'Where in the world are you from?' as soon as I’d open my mouth. And I’d say 'LA.' And they’d say, 'There’s no way you’re from Los Angeles.',\" she commented. \n\nThe song \"Pipe\" was described by Wilson as being her \"redneck rulebook\". The eighth track \"Keeping Bars in Business\" was composed after Wilson and her co-writers all experienced different personal tragedies: \"We were talking about how even though we were going through things in life, they don’t stop the world from turning,\" she stated. The tenth track \"WWDD\" (what would Dolly do) was a written as tribute to Dolly Parton, whom Wilson has been influence by: \"Dolly is an international icon and role model for a lot of folks around the world, so it’s an easy song for a lot of people to relate to.\" The eleventh track \"Rolling Stone\" was based off the breakup of Wilson and her high school boyfriend. After seven years of dating, the couple realized they were longer compatible. \n\nCritical reception\nSayin' What I'm Thinkin was met with favorable reviews from critics. Mark Deming of AllMusic commented that the album \"boasted more polished production but didn't dilute her style.\" Jon Freeman of Rolling Stone commented, \"It sounded like little else this year, and seemed particularly reflective of her singular, unabashedly Southern personality.\" Jeremy Chua compared Wilson's style on the album to that of Miranda Lambert and Kellie Pickler. Chua further added that \"Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin is a strong, cohesive introduction to who Lainey Wilson is. A force to be reckoned with, the Louisianan’s stellar album seals her position as a mainstay in country music.\"\n\n''Taste of Countrys Billy Dukes also gave the album a positive response. He praised Wilson's songwriting and her \"raspy\" voice. He also found the album to be genuine in both its production and vocal delivery: \"'Authentic' is a one-word review of Sayin' What I'm Thinkin, an album that's intentionally frayed at the edges. Beyond writing and recording songs that satisfy country music fans, she succeeds at introducing her whole self through the music.\" Pip Ellwood-Hughes of the United Kingdom-based Entertainment Focus praised her songwriting and the honesty in her lyrics. Ellwood-Hughes concluded by saying, \"Lainey Wilson has everything a breakout Country star needs and then some, and with any justice this will go down as one of the best records of 2021.\"\n\nRelease, chart performance and singlesSayin' What I'm Thinkin was originally released on February 19, 2021 on the BBR Music Group label. It was originally available to digital and streaming sites. It was later released as both a compact disc and as a vinyl LP. It was the third studio album released in Wilson's music career and her first to be released on a major label. The album was Wilson's second to reach the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Spending eight weeks on the list, the record peaked at number 40 in October 2021. Two songs had previously been issued as a singles prior to the album's release. The first single was \"Dirty Looks\", originally issued on October 3, 2019. The second was \"Things a Man Oughta Know\", which was released on August 24, 2020. The song became her breakout hit in the country field, reaching the top spot of the Billboard Country Airplay chart and the top five of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.\n\nTrack listing\nCD and digital versions\n{{Track listing\n| headline = Sayin' What I'm Thinkin (CD and digital versions)\n| title1 = Neon Diamonds\n| writer1 = \n| length1 = 3:06\n| title2 = Sunday Best\n| writer2 = \n| length2 = 3:13\n| title3 = Things a Man Oughta Know\n| writer3 = \n| length3 = 3:23\n| title4 = Small Town, Girl\n| writer4 = \n| length4 = 3:02\n| title5 = LA\n| writer5 = \n| length5 = 2:49\n| title6 = Dirty Looks\n| writer6 = \n| length6 = 3:14\n| title7 = Pipe\n| writer7 = \n| length7 = 2:49\n| title8 = Keeping Bars in Business\n| writer8 = \n| length8 = 3:45\n| title9 = Straight Up Sideways\n| writer9 = \n| length9 = 2:56\n| title10 = WWDD\n| writer10 = \n| length10 = 2:20\n| title11 = Rolling Stone\n| writer11 = \n| length11 = 3:59\n| title12 = Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'\n| writer12 = \n| length12 = 3:21\n| total_length = 37:57\n}}\n\nVinyl version\n\nPersonnel\nAll credits are adapted from the liner notes of Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'''.\n\nBrent Anderson - background vocals\nTom Bukovac - electric guitar, Fender Rhodes, handclaps\nFred Eltringham - djembe, drums, bongo, percussion, shaker, tambourine, vibraslap, gang vocals, handclaps\nAslan Freeman - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, gang vocals, handclaps\nJason Hall - gang vocals, handclaps\nJedd Hughes - mandolin\nJoel King - bass guitar, gang vocals, handclaps\nJoanna Janét - background vocals\nJay Joyce - acoustic guitar, B-3 organ, clavinet, drum machine, electric guitar, Farfisa organ, Fender Rhodes, keyboards, Oberheim, piano, programming, gang vocals, handclaps\nBilly Justineau - B-3 organ, CP-70, piano\nJimmy Mansfield - gang vocals, handclaps\nRob McNelley - dobro, electric guitar, gang vocals\nMickey Raphael - harmonica, Jew's harp\nMatt Rogers - background vocals\nJonathan Singleton - harmony vocals, background vocals\nLainey Wilson - lead vocals, background vocals, gang vocals, handclaps\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2021 albums\nAlbums produced by Jay Joyce\nBBR Music Group albums\nLainey Wilson albums"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20.",
"What was her position/title?",
"She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers,"
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | Did she have success in this job? | 3 | Did Marissa Mayer have successwriting code and overseeing small teams of engineers at Google? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | true | [
"Joanna Barczyńska ( Detko, born 14 July 1972) is a Polish chess player who won the Polish Women's Chess Championship in 1989.\n\nChess career\nIn chess began playing at the age of 6 years, and the first coach was her father Wiesław Detko. In 1984 she won Kielce Voivodeship Junior Chess Championship, but year later - Kielce Voivodeship Chess Championship.\n\nThe biggest success of her career occurred in 1989 in Poznań. In Polish Women's Chess Championship Joanna Detko was one of two theoretically the weakest participants, who do not have even the international ranking, but she won at the age of 16 years the title of National Champion. In the same year, she finished 7th in the World Youth Chess Championship U-18 in San Juan.\n\nLater Joanna Detko did not repeated this success in zonal tournament in Brno (1989) and Polish Women's Chess Championship (1990).\n\nPersonal life\nIn 1991 Joanna Detko began study in Medical University of Warsaw and withdrew from chess tournaments play. In 1997 she graduated Medical University as doctor. From 2005 she specializing in Internal medicine, but from 2008 - in Cardiology.\nIn 2006, she married Doctor of Medicine Piotr Barczyński. They have two daughters: Zofie and Anne.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n\n1972 births\nLiving people\nPolish female chess players",
"Luckey Quarter is a short story by American writer Stephen King. It was originally published in the June 30/July 2, 1995 issue of USA Weekend. In 1997, it was published in the limited-edition collection Six Stories. In 2002, it was collected in King's collection Everything's Eventual.\n\nPlot summary\nDarlene Pullen, who is a struggling single mother with two children (a rebellious teenage daughter and a sickly young son) and an unfulfilling job as a maid, is left a tip of a single quarter with a note saying that it is a \"luckey [lucky] quarter\". She takes a quick gamble on it and finds that it brings her some small luck. Moving on to a real casino, she keeps trying her luck, and soon she's winning thousands of dollars. All seems to be going exceedingly well until she suddenly reappears back in the hotel room, left with nothing but her lucky quarter. All of her success was a fantasy. As her two children come to visit her at work, she lets her son have the quarter, and as he uses it in a gamble, it starts to pay off just as it did when Darlene was fantasizing.\n\nSee also\n Stephen King short fiction bibliography\n\nExternal links\nStephen King Short Movies\n \n\n1997 short stories\nShort stories by Stephen King\nWorks originally published in USA Weekend"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20.",
"What was her position/title?",
"She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers,",
"Did she have success in this job?",
"She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion"
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | What did she get promoted to? | 4 | What did Marissa Mayer get promoted to at Google? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | true | [
"There are four groups in the Asia/Oceania Zone of the Davis Cup. The two winners of Group I advances to the World Group play-offs while the last placed team will be relegated to Group II the following year. The winner of Group II gets promoted to Group I next year, the two last placed teams get relegated to Group III. The top two teams of Group III gets promoted to Group II while the two weakest teams gets relegated to Group IV. In Group IV no team can get relegated, the best two will get promoted to Group III.\n\nGroup I\n\nGroup II\n\nGroup III\n\n – relegated to Group IV in 2013\n \n – promoted to Group II in 2013\n – relegated to Group IV in 2013\n\n \n \n – promoted to Group II in 2013\n\nGroup IV\n\n \n – promoted to Group III in 2013\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n – promoted to Group III in 2013\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Site\n\n \nAsia Oceania Zone\nDavis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone",
"There are four groups in the American Zone of the Davis Cup. The two winners of Group I advances to the World Group play-offs while the last placed team will be relegated to Group II the following year. The winner of Group II gets promoted to Group I next year, the two last placed teams get relegated to Group III. The top two teams of Group III gets promoted to Group II while the two weakest teams gets relegated to Group IV. In Group IV no team can get relegated, the best two will get promoted to Group III.\n\nGroup I\n\nGroup II\n\nGroup III\n\n \n \n \n – promoted to Group II in 2013\n – promoted to Group II in 2013\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Site\n\n \nAmericas Zone\nDavis Cup Americas Zone"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20.",
"What was her position/title?",
"She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers,",
"Did she have success in this job?",
"She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion",
"What did she get promoted to?",
"promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products."
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | What year did she get promoted? | 5 | What year did Marissa Mayer get promoted at Google? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | false | [
"There are four groups in the American Zone of the Davis Cup. The two winners of Group I advances to the World Group play-offs while the last placed team will be relegated to Group II the following year. The winner of Group II gets promoted to Group I next year, the two last placed teams get relegated to Group III. The top two teams of Group III gets promoted to Group II while the two weakest teams gets relegated to Group IV. In Group IV no team can get relegated, the best two will get promoted to Group III.\n\nGroup I\n\nGroup II\n\nGroup III\n\n \n \n \n – promoted to Group II in 2013\n – promoted to Group II in 2013\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Site\n\n \nAmericas Zone\nDavis Cup Americas Zone",
"There are four groups in the American Zone of the Davis Cup. The two winners of Group I advances to the World Group play-offs while the last-placed team will be relegated to Group II the following year. The winner of Group II gets promoted to Group I next year, the two last-placed teams get relegated to Group III. The top two teams of Group III get promoted to Group II while the two weakest teams get relegated to Group IV. In Group IV no team can get relegated, the best two will get promoted to Group III.\n\nGroup I\n\nDraw\n\nGroup II\n\nDraw\n\nGroup III\n\nGroup IV\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Site\n\n \nAmericas Zone\nDavis Cup Americas Zone"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20.",
"What was her position/title?",
"She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers,",
"Did she have success in this job?",
"She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion",
"What did she get promoted to?",
"promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products.",
"What year did she get promoted?",
"I don't know."
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | How long did she work for Google? | 6 | How long did Marissa Mayer work for Google? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | false | [
"\nAngela Byron is a software developer best known for her work with Drupal, a free and open source content management system and content management framework. She has been named one of the most highly regarded contributors to the open source movement, and has worked to encourage people to become involved with open source, particularly women. She was the first woman to be featured on the cover of Linux Journal, in April 2011.\n\nPersonal life\nByron is mostly self-taught. She holds a two-year degree from the Nova Scotia Community College in information technology, concentrating on programming. She lives in British Columbia, Canada with her daughter.\n\nCareer\nAt the advice of a professor, Byron applied to the Google Summer of Code in 2005. She was accepted, and participated by writing a quiz module for Drupal. This sparked her involvement with Drupal, as well as the open source movement as a whole. In October 2006, Byron began working for Lullabot, a Drupal consulting company. In 2008, Byron was awarded the Google–O'Reilly Open Source Award for Best Contributor for her work on Drupal. She worked full-time for Lullabot until 2011, doing software training and working with system architecture. Part of her work for Lullabot also allowed her to work on Drupal developments and initiatives. In 2008, she became the co-maintainer of the Drupal core, and she also worked on documentation and outreach. She led the project to create Using Drupal: Choosing and Configuring Modules to Build Dynamic Websites, a how-to book for Drupal users. She is also in charge of Drupal's involvement with the Google Summer of Code, as well as Google Highly Open Participation Contest. In 2011, she left Lullabot to work for Acquia, a software company that also provides products, services, and support for Drupal. She is the Director of Community Development.\n\nWorks\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nPersonal website\n\n1970s births\nLiving people\nCanadian computer programmers\nFree software programmers\nCanadian women non-fiction writers\n21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers\n21st-century Canadian women writers\nDrupal",
"Gretchen Andrew is an American artist. Her painting practice is mostly described as an exploration of search engine art and virtual reality, an exploration at which she was called a pioneer.\n\nHer work was exhibited in museums and galleries in Europe and the United States, including De Re Gallery, Arebyte gallery.\n\nBiography\nGretchen Andrew grew up in New Hampshire. She studied Information Systems at Boston College where she attended on a track scholarship. Describing her degree she has said, \"Information systems is all about how companies use technology for competitive advantage...translated into art, I'm asking how I can use information to create meaning.\"\n\nAndrew worked in Silicon Valley at both Intuit and Google. After working there from 2010–2012, she left Google to become a painter. She has claimed to have developed her artistic technique by watching how to videos on YouTube. The idea that one can learn about all topics on the Internet was the motto of her artistic series \"How to How to How to\".\n\nFrom 2012–2017 she apprenticed with London-based figurative painter Billy Childish who is still her mentor.\n\nWork\nGretchen Andrew's paintings explore and manipulate the functioning of search engines, particularly Google Search.\n\nHer first search engine art piece occurred accidentally when she would copy Billy Childish's paintings and title them as \"After Billy Childish\". Since internet technology was unable to grasp the nuance between original and facsimile, her versions popped up first when she searched for his paintings online.\n\nIn 2018 Gretchen's work then focused on the political and social impact of search technology, exploring in a paper with The British Computer Society the implications for artificial intelligence.\n\nIn 2018 she coined the term \"search engine art\" in a book she co-authored with Irini Papadimitriou through V&A Digital Futures.\n\nIn February 2019 Gretchen Andrew used her Internet Imperialism process to convince Google Image Search that images of her artwork are the most important visual content related to Frieze Los Angeles, the much-hyped international art fair. The digital performance brought her prominence with The Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic, artnet, and others reporting on Gretchen and her practice.\n\nShe has manipulated the search results using search engine optimization techniques for the terms \"powerful person\", \"made for women\", and \"frieze Los Angeles\", among others. Her paintings and search engine art are said to relate to the art world in an aspirational way.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n Gretchen Andrew's Collection \"Made for Women\"\n\n1988 births\nAmerican women artists\nArtists from Los Angeles\nBoston College alumni\nInternet art\nLiving people\nPainters from London\n21st-century American women"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20.",
"What was her position/title?",
"She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers,",
"Did she have success in this job?",
"She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion",
"What did she get promoted to?",
"promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products.",
"What year did she get promoted?",
"I don't know.",
"How long did she work for Google?",
"I don't know."
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | Any other interesting information? | 7 | Besides Marissa Mayer's career at Google, is there any other interesting information? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | true | [
"A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want—in other words, a strategy used in the making of a narrative to relay information to the audience and particularly to develop the narrative, usually in order to make it more complete, complex, or interesting. Literary techniques are distinguished from literary elements, which exist inherently in works of writing.\n\nSetting\n\nPlots\n\nPerspective\n\nStyle\n\nTheme\n\nCharacter\n\nSee also \n Plot device\n\nNotes\n\nReferences \n \n\n \nNarratology\nPoetic devices\nStyle (fiction)",
"SYSTAT was a command on the DEC TOPS-10 and RSTS/E computer operating systems by which one obtained the current general status of the running operating system. The commands showed the logged-on users, processes, I/O, and other interesting system management information.\n\nReferences\n\nDigital Equipment Corporation"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20.",
"What was her position/title?",
"She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers,",
"Did she have success in this job?",
"She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion",
"What did she get promoted to?",
"promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products.",
"What year did she get promoted?",
"I don't know.",
"How long did she work for Google?",
"I don't know.",
"Any other interesting information?",
"Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program,"
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | What did that program entail? | 8 | What did the APM program Marissa Mayer started entail? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | true | [
"Entail Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom for legislation relating to entails.\n\nList\nThe Entail (Scotland) Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo 5 c 43)\n\nThe Entail Acts is the collective title of the following Acts:\nThe Entail Act 1685 (c 26) [12mo ed: c 22]\nThe Tenures Abolition Act 1746 (20 Geo 2 c 50 ss 14, 15, 16, 17)\nThe Sales to Crown Act 1746 (20 Geo 2 c 51 ss 2, 3)\nThe Entail Improvement Act 1770 (10 Geo 3 c 51)\nThe Entail Provisions Act 1824 (5 Geo 4 c 87)\nThe Entail Powers Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will 4 c 42)\nThe Entail Sites Act 1840 (3 & 4 Vict c 48)\nThe Entail Amendment Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict c 36)\nThe Entail Amendment Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict c 94)\nThe Entail Cottages Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict c 95)\nThe Entail Amendment Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict c 84)\nThe Entail Amendment Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict c 61)\nThe Entail Amendment Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict c 28)\nThe Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict c 51 s 70)\nThe Roads Amendment Act 1880 (43 Vict c 7)\nThe Entail (Scotland) Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict c 53)\n\nSee also\nList of short titles\n\nReferences\n\nLists of legislation by short title and collective title",
"The Entail Act 1685 (c 26) [12mo ed: c 22] was an Act of the Parliament of Scotland. It was one of the Entail Acts.\n\nThis Act was disapplied by section 2 of the Entail (Scotland) Act 1914.\n\nThe whole Act was repealed by sections 76(2) of, and Part I of Schedule 13 to, the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 on 28 November 2004. See also sections 58, 62 and 75.\n\nReferences\nHalsbury's Statutes,\n\nExternal links\nThe Entail Act 1685, as amended, from Legislation.gov.uk.\n\nActs of the Parliament of Scotland\n1680s in Scotland\n1685 in law"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20.",
"What was her position/title?",
"She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers,",
"Did she have success in this job?",
"She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion",
"What did she get promoted to?",
"promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products.",
"What year did she get promoted?",
"I don't know.",
"How long did she work for Google?",
"I don't know.",
"Any other interesting information?",
"Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program,",
"What did that program entail?",
"a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles."
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | When did she start this? | 9 | When did Marissa Mayer start the APM program? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | In 2002, | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | true | [
"Mariska Huisman (born 23 November 1983) is a Dutch marathon skater and speed skater. She was the first winner of a mass start worldcup in Astana.\nAt this moment she is the number 2 on the world ranking list.\n\nShe won the 2011–12 mass start World Cup with a total of 320 points. She did not start in the 2013 national championship mass start on 30 December 2013 due to the untimely death of her brother Sjoerd Huisman a few hours beforehand. Sjoerd was also a marathon skater and his death was the reason the event was cancelled.\n\nPersonal records\n\nReferences\n\n1983 births\nLiving people\nDutch female speed skaters\nPeople from Andijk\nWorld Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists",
"Jolán Simon (31 May 1885, Újpest – 24 September 1938, Budapest) was a Hungarian actor active in the Hungarian avant-garde during the early nineteenth century.\n\nHer father died when she was still a child, so she was obliged to start work at an early age. She was largely self-taught but she did attend Kálmán Rózsahegyi’s drama school.\n\nReferences\n\n1885 births\n1938 deaths\n1938 suicides\n20th-century Hungarian actresses\nPeople from Újpest\nSuicides in Hungary"
] |
[
"Marissa Mayer",
"Google",
"What was her relationship with Google?",
"She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20.",
"What was her position/title?",
"She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers,",
"Did she have success in this job?",
"She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion",
"What did she get promoted to?",
"promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products.",
"What year did she get promoted?",
"I don't know.",
"How long did she work for Google?",
"I don't know.",
"Any other interesting information?",
"Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program,",
"What did that program entail?",
"a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles.",
"When did she start this?",
"In 2002,"
] | C_b091f20d9ba14be2b85a28163251e981_0 | Is this program still active? | 10 | Is the APM program started by Marissa Mayer still active? | Marissa Mayer | After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011. In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail. Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a position she held beginning in July 2012. It was announced in January 2017 that she would step down from the company's board upon the sale of Yahoo!'s operating business to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. She did not join the newly combined company, now called Verizon Media (formerly Oath), and she announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a long-time executive, usability leader, and key spokeswoman for Google (employee #20).
Early life
Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, the daughter of Margaret Mayer, an art teacher of Finnish descent, and Michael Mayer, an environmental engineer who worked for water companies. Her grandfather, Clem Mayer, had polio when he was 7 and served as mayor of Jackson, Wisconsin, for 32 years. She has a younger brother. She would later describe herself as having been "painfully shy" as a child and teenager. She "never had fewer than one after-school activity per day," participating in ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies. During middle school and high school, she took piano and ballet lessons, the latter of which taught her "criticism and discipline, poise, and confidence". At an early age, she showed an interest in math and science.
Education
Wausau West High School
When she was attending Wausau West High School, Mayer was on the curling team and the precision dance team. She excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology, and physics. She took part in extracurricular activities, becoming president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad. Her high school debate team won the Wisconsin state championship and the pom-pom squad was the state runner-up. During high school, she worked as a grocery clerk. After graduating from high school in 1993, Mayer was selected by Tommy Thompson, then the Governor of Wisconsin, as one of the state's two delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.
Stanford University
Intending to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mayer took pre-med classes at Stanford University. She later switched her major from pediatric neuroscience to symbolic systems, a major which combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. At Stanford, she danced in the university ballet's Nutcracker, was a member of parliamentary debate, volunteered at children's hospitals, and helped bring computer science education to Bermuda's schools.
During her junior year, she taught a class in symbolic systems, with Eric S. Roberts as her supervisor. The class was so well received by students that Roberts asked Mayer to teach another class over the summer. Mayer went on to graduate with honors from Stanford with a BS in symbolic systems in 1997 and an MS in computer science in 1999. For both degrees, her specialization was in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software that advised users in natural-sounding human language.
Illinois Institute of Technology
In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of her work in the field of search.
Mayer interned at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Ubilab, UBS's research lab based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Career
Google (1999–2012)
After graduating from Stanford, Mayer received 14 job offers, including a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University and a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. She joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20. She started out writing code and overseeing small teams of engineers, developing and designing Google's search offerings. She became known for her attention to detail, which helped land her a promotion to product manager, and later she became director of consumer web products. She oversaw the layout of Google's well-known, unadorned search homepage. She was also on the three-person team responsible for Google AdWords, which is an advertising platform that allows businesses to show their product to relevant potential customers based on their search terms. AdWords helped deliver 96% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2011.
In 2002, Mayer started the Associate Product Manager (APM) program, a Google mentorship initiative to recruit new talents and cultivate them for leadership roles. Each year, Mayer selected a number of junior employees for the two-year program, where they took on extracurricular assignments and intensive evening classes. Notable graduates of the program include Bret Taylor and Justin Rosenstein. In 2005, Mayer became Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer was the vice president of Google Search Products and User Experience until the end of 2010, when she was asked by then-CEO Eric Schmidt to head the Local, Maps, and Location Services. In 2011, she secured Google's acquisition of survey site Zagat for $125 million. While Mayer was working at Google, she taught introductory computer programming at Stanford and mentored students at the East Palo Alto Charter School. She was awarded the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award from Stanford.
Yahoo! (2012–2017)
On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo!, effective the following day. She was also a member of the company's board of directors. At the time of her appointment, Yahoo's numbers had been falling behind those of Google for over a year and the company had been through several top management changes. To simplify the bureaucratic process and "make the culture the best version of itself", Mayer launched a new online program called PB&J. It collects employee complaints, as well as their votes on problems in the office; if a problem generates at least 50 votes, online management automatically investigates the matter. In February 2013, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo! that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles. Having worked from home toward the end of her pregnancy, Mayer returned to work after giving birth to a boy, and built a mother's room next to her office suite—Mayer was consequently criticized for the telecommuting ban. In April 2013, Mayer changed Yahoo!'s maternity leave policy, lengthening its time allowance and providing a cash bonus to parents. CNN noted this was in line with other Silicon Valley companies, such as Facebook and Google. Mayer has been criticized for many of her management decisions in pieces by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
On May 20, 2013, Mayer led Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In February 2016, Yahoo! acknowledged that the value of Tumblr had fallen by $230 million since it was acquired. In July 2013, Yahoo! reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares falling 1.7%. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo! had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. However, much of this growth may be attributed to Yahoo!'s stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, which was acquired before Mayer's tenure.
In November 2013, Mayer instituted a performance review system based on a bell curve ranking of employees, suggesting that managers rank their employees on a bell curve, with those at the low end being fired. Employees complained that some managers were viewing the process as mandatory. In February 2016, a former Yahoo! employee filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that Yahoo's firing practices have violated both California and federal labor laws.
In 2014, Mayer was ranked sixth on Fortunes 40 under 40 list, and was ranked the 16th most-powerful businesswoman in the world that year according to the same publication. In March 2016 Fortune named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders. Yahoo! stocks continued to fall by more than 30% throughout 2015, while 12 key executives left the company.
In December 2015, the New York-based hedge fund SpringOwl, a shareholder in Yahoo Inc., released a statement arguing that Mayer be replaced as CEO. Starboard Value, an activist investing firm that owns a stake in Yahoo, likewise wrote a scathing letter regarding Mayer's performance at Yahoo. By January 2016, it was further estimated that Yahoo!'s core business has been worth less than zero dollars for the past few quarters. In February 2016, Mayer confirmed that Yahoo! was considering the possibility of selling its core business. In March 2017, it was reported that Mayer could receive a $23 million termination package upon the sale of Yahoo! to Verizon.
Mayer announced her resignation on June 13, 2017. In spite of large losses in advertising revenue at Yahoo! and a 50% reduction in staff during her 5 years as CEO, Mayer was paid a total of $239 million over that time, mainly in stock and stock options. On the day of her resignation, Mayer publicly highlighted many of the company's achievements during her tenure, including: creating $43B in market capitalization, tripling Yahoo stock, growing mobile users to over 650 million, building a $1.5B mobile ad business, and transforming Yahoo's culture. Over Mayer's tenure, the number of monthly visits on Yahoo's home page dropped from nearly 10 billion to less than 4.5 while Google's increased from 17 billion to over 56.
On 8 November 2017, along with several other present and former corporate CEOs, Mayer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding major security breaches at Yahoo during 2013 and 2014.
Allegations of gender-based discrimination
Scott Ard, a prominent editorial director, fired from Yahoo! in 2015, filed a lawsuit alleging that "Mayer encouraged and fostered the use of an employee performance-rating system to accommodate management’s subjective biases and personal opinions, to the detriment of Yahoo!’s male employees." He claimed that, prior to his firing, he had received "fully satisfactory" performance reviews since starting at the company in 2011 as head of editorial programming for Yahoo!'s home page; however, he was relieved of his role, which was given to a woman who had been recently hired. This case was dismissed in March 2018.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Gregory Anderson, who was fired in 2014, alleging the company’s performance management system was arbitrary and unfair and disguised layoffs as terminations for the purpose of evading state and federal WARN Acts, making it the first WARN Act and gender discrimination lawsuit Yahoo! and Mayer faced in 2016.
Sunshine (2018–present)
After leaving Yahoo! in 2017, Mayer started Sunshine (formerly Lumi Labs) with former colleague Enrique Munoz Torres. The company is based in Palo Alto and is focused on artificial intelligence and consumer media. On November 18, 2020, Mayer announced that Lumi Labs would be rebranded as Sunshine at the same time as revealing its first product: Sunshine Contacts. Sunshine Contacts claims to improve users' iPhone contacts and Google contacts using intelligent algorithms, contact data, public sources, and more.
Boards
As well as sitting on the boards of directors of Walmart, Maisonette, and Jawbone, Mayer also sits on several non-profit boards, such as Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Business investments
Mayer actively invests in technology companies, including crowd-sourced design retailer Minted, live video platform Airtime.com, wireless power startup uBeam, online DIY community/e-commerce company Brit + Co., mobile payments processor Square, home décor site One Kings Lane, genetic testing company Natera, and nootropics and biohacking company Nootrobox.
Accolades
Mayer was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 with ranks at 50, 44, 42, 38, 14, 8 and 16 respectively. In 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed.
Mayer was named one of Glamour Magazines Women of the Year in 2009. She was listed in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with ranks of 20, 32 and 18 respectively.
In September 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
In 2013, she was also named in the Time 100, becoming the first woman listed as number one on Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 40 business stars under 40 years old.
Mayer made Fortune magazine history in 2013, as the only person to feature in all three of its annual lists during the same year: Businessperson of the Year (No. 10), Most Powerful Women (at No. 8), and 40 Under 40 (No. 1) at the same time. In March 2016, Fortune then named Mayer as one of the world's most disappointing leaders.
On 24 December 2015, Mayer was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 14 in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs.
Mayer appeared on the List of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2017, having ranked 498 of the top 500 Fortune 500 company CEOs.
Personal life
Mayer married lawyer and investor Zachary Bogue on December 12, 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her hiring, Mayer revealed that she was pregnant; she gave birth to a baby boy on September 30, 2012. Although she asked for baby name suggestions via social media, she eventually chose the name Macallister from an existing list. On December 10, 2015, Mayer announced that she had given birth to identical twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Mayer is Lutheran, but she has said—referencing Vince Lombardi's "Your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers"—that her priorities are "God, family and Yahoo!, except I'm not that religious, so it's really family and Yahoo!."
References
Further reading
What Happened When Marissa Mayer Tried to Be Steve Jobs (2014-12-17), Nicholas Carlson, The New York Times
Marissa Mayer – How Yahoo! went from mess to an Apple Design award (2014-08-15), Tim Green, Hot Topics
External links
"Marissa Mayer: One of the Most Powerful Women in Business" at Richtopia
1975 births
21st-century American businesspeople
American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
American computer businesspeople
American computer programmers
American corporate directors
American investors
American Lutherans
American people of Finnish descent
American technology chief executives
American women academics
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Businesspeople in information technology
Directors of Walmart
Directors of Yahoo!
Google employees
Living people
People from Wausau, Wisconsin
Stanford University alumni
Technology corporate directors
Women corporate directors
American women investors
Yahoo! employees
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women scientists | false | [
"AOL Active Virus Shield (commonly referred to as AVS) was a free antivirus utility made available by AOL. Its engine was based on the one used by Kaspersky Anti-Virus. The program is no longer available.\n\nFeatures\nActive Virus Shield includes numerous features found in Kaspersky Anti-Virus. The software's main feature is malware scanning, which uses Kaspersky's underlying engine and detects a variety of malware such as viruses, spyware, and even joke programs. It also offers real-time file and e-mail scanning and protection.\n\nThe latest version of Active Virus Shield (version 6.0.2.621) supports Windows Vista.\n\nAdvantages\nActive Virus Shield is light compared to other commercial anti-virus products. It also does not consume much memory during startup. The program also benefits from Kaspersky's regular definition updates, typically around every two hours, which enable new viruses to be more effectively detected than programs that update less regularly. In addition, Active Virus Shield has better detection rates than other free programs such as AVG Free and avast! Home Edition.\n\nCriticisms\nActive Virus Shield does lack some features of Kaspersky 6.0 (such as proactive protection and HTTP protection), and the license provided is only valid for one year, although the same email address as used initially can easily be used to renew it up to 10 times. It also does not support mail scanning when using TLS or SSL.\n\nSome users have also reported compatibility problems with certain applications such as McAfee Personal Firewall Plus, ZoneAlarm and Logitech products.\n\nCurrent status\nActive Virus Shield is no longer available for download as of August 1, 2007. It was replaced by McAfee Virus Scan Plus - Special edition from AOL, which is available for free for users with a free AOL account.\n\nEven though Active Virus Shield is no longer available officially, the latest version of the program can still be obtained from the mirror server that it is hosted on. Help is also still offered for those already using the application.\n\nSee also\n\n Antivirus software\n AOL\n Kaspersky Lab\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n AOL Active Virus Shield FAQ\n\nExternal links\n AOL Active Virus Shield Homepage (defunct)\n AOL Active Virus Shield Mirrorpage (functional)\n\nAntivirus software\nWindows-only freeware",
"Control+C is a common computer command. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on most computer keyboards.\n\nIn graphical user interface environments that use the control key to control the active program, control+C is often used to copy highlighted text to the clipboard. \n\nIn many command-line interface environments, control+C is used to abort the current task and regain user control. It is a special sequence that causes the operating system to send a signal to the active program. Usually the signal causes it to end, but the program may \"catch\" it and do something else, typically returning control to the user.\n\nIn graphical environments \nLarry Tesler created the concept of cut, copy, paste, and undo for human-computer interaction while working at Xerox PARC to control text editing. During the development of the Macintosh it was decided that the cut, paste, copy and undo would be used frequently and assigned them to the ⌘-Z (Undo), ⌘-X (Cut), ⌘-C (Copy), and ⌘-V (Paste). The four letters are all located together at the left end of the bottom row of the standard QWERTY keyboard. IBM and early versions of windows used a different set of keys as part of IBM Common User Access. Later versions of Windows adopted the shortcuts using Control instead of the Command key.\n\nIn command-line environments\nControl+C was part of various Digital Equipment operating systems, including TOPS-10 and TOPS-20. Its popularity as an abort command was adopted by other systems including Unix. Later systems that copied it include CP/M, DOS and Windows. In POSIX systems, the sequence causes the active program to receive SIGINT, the interruption signal. If the program does not specify how to handle this condition, the program is terminated. Typically a program that does handle a SIGINT will still terminate itself, or at least terminate the task running inside it.\n\nThis system is usually preserved even in graphical terminal emulators. If control-C is used for copy-and-paste in the graphical environment, an ambiguity arises. Typically an alternate keystroke is assigned to one of the commands, and both appear in the emulator's menus.\n\nAs many keyboards and computer terminals once directly generated ASCII code, the choice of control+C overlapped with the ASCII end-of-text character. This character has a numerical value of three, as \"C\" is the third letter of the alphabet. It was chosen to cause an interrupt as it is otherwise unlikely to be part of a program's interactive interface.\n\nSee also\nC0 and C1 control codes\nControl-D\nControl-V\nControl-X\nControl-Z\nControl-\\\nKeyboard shortcut\n\nReferences\n\nComputer keys"
] |
[
"William Beveridge",
"Report on social insurance"
] | C_237643feedba46959fb07be350fab269_0 | What was the report on social insurance? | 1 | What was the report on social insurance? | William Beveridge | An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly. The Report to the Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health. Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods. Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed how this goal might be gained. Alternative measures for achieving it included Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society. CANNOTANSWER | It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid | William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services (known as the Beveridge Report) served as the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.
He built his career as an expert on unemployment insurance. He served on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges, and later as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford.
Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security, his most notable works being: Unemployment: A Problem of Industry (1909), Planning Under Socialism (1936), Full Employment in a Free Society (1944), Pillars of Security (1943), Power and Influence (1953) and A Defence of Free Learning (1959). He was elected in a 1944 by-election as a Liberal MP (for Berwick-upon-Tweed); following his defeat in the 1945 general election, he was elevated to the House of Lords where he served as the leader of the Liberal peers.
Early life and education
Beveridge, the eldest son of Henry Beveridge, an Indian Civil Service officer and District Judge, and scholar Annette Ackroyd, was born in Rangpur, British India (now Rangpur, Bangladesh), on 5 March 1879.
Beveridge's mother had, with Elizabeth Malleson, founded the Working Women's College in Queen Square, London in 1864. She met and married Henry Beveridge in Calcutta where she had gone in 1873 to open a school for Indian girls. William Beveridge was educated at Charterhouse, a leading public school near the market town of Godalming in Surrey, followed by Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he studied Mathematics and Classics, obtaining a first class degree in both. He later studied law.
While Beveridge's mother had been a member of the Stourbridge Unitarian community, his father was an early humanist and positivist activist and "an ardent disciple" of the French philosopher Auguste Comte. Comte's ideas of a secular religion of humanity were a prominent influence in the household and would exert a lasting influence on Beveridge's thinking. Beveridge himself became a "materialist agnostic", in his words.
Life and career
After leaving university, Beveridge initially became a lawyer. He became interested in the social services and wrote about the subject for the Morning Post newspaper. His interest in the causes of unemployment began in 1903 when he worked at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London. There he worked closely with Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb and was influenced by their theories of social reform, becoming active in promoting old age pensions, free school meals, and campaigning for a national system of labour exchanges.
In 1908, now considered to be Britain's leading authority on unemployment insurance, he was introduced by Beatrice Webb to Winston Churchill, who had recently been promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. Churchill invited Beveridge to join the Board of Trade, and he organised the implementation of the national system of labour exchanges and National Insurance to combat unemployment and poverty. During the First World War he was involved in mobilising and controlling manpower. After the war, he was knighted and made permanent secretary to the Ministry of Food.
In 1919 he left the civil service to become director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Over the next few years he served on several commissions and committees on social policy. He was so highly influenced by the Fabian Society socialists – in particular by Beatrice Webb, with whom he worked on the 1909 Poor Laws report – that he could be considered one of their number. He published academic economic works including his early work on unemployment (1909). The Fabians made him a director of the LSE in 1919, a post he retained until 1937. During his time as Director, he jousted with Edwin Cannan and Lionel Robbins, who were trying to steer the LSE away from its Fabian roots. From 1929 he led the International scientific committee on price history, contributing a large historical study, Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century (1939).
In 1933 he helped set up the Academic Assistance Council. This helped prominent academics who had been dismissed from their posts on grounds of race, religion or political position to escape Nazi persecution. In 1937 Beveridge was appointed Master of University College, Oxford.
Wartime work
Three years later, Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour in the wartime National government, invited Beveridge to take charge of the Welfare department of his Ministry. Beveridge refused, but declared an interest in organising British manpower in wartime (Beveridge had come to favour a strong system of centralised planning). Bevin was reluctant to let Beveridge have his way but did commission him to work on a relatively unimportant manpower survey from June 1940 and so Beveridge became a temporary civil servant. Neither Bevin nor the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Sir Thomas Phillips liked working with Beveridge as both found him conceited.
His work on manpower culminated in his chairmanship of the Committee on Skilled Men in the Services which reported to the War Cabinet in August and October 1941. Two recommendations of the committee were implemented: Army recruits were enlisted for their first six weeks into the General Service Corps, so that their subsequent posting could take account of their skills and the Army's needs; and the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was created.
Report on social insurance and views on full employment
An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly.
The report to Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health.
Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods.
Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed the view that it was "absurd" to "look to individual employers for maintenance of demand and full employment." These things must be "undertaken by the State under the supervision and pressure of democracy." Measures for achieving full-employment might include Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society.
Later career
Later in 1944, Beveridge, who had recently joined the Liberal Party, was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election to succeed George Charles Grey, who had died on the battlefield in Normandy, France, on the first day of Operation Bluecoat on 30 July 1944. Beveridge briefly served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, during which time he was prominent in the Radical Action group, which called for the party to withdraw from the war-time electoral pact and adopt more radical policies. However, he lost his seat at the 1945 general election, when he was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Robert Thorp, by a majority of 1,962 votes.
Clement Attlee and the Labour Party defeated Winston Churchill's Conservative Party in that election and the new Labour Government began the process of implementing Beveridge's proposals that provided the basis of the modern Welfare State. Attlee announced he would introduce the Welfare State outlined in the 1942 Beveridge Report. This included the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide "social security" so that the population would be protected from the "cradle to the grave". The new system was partly built upon the National Insurance scheme set up by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer and future Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1911.
In 1946, Beveridge was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Beveridge, of Tuggal in the County of Northumberland, and eventually became leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. He was the author of Power and Influence (1953). He was the President of the charity Attend (then the National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1952 to 1962.
Eugenics
Beveridge was a member of the Eugenics Society, which promoted the study of methods to 'improve' the human race by controlling reproduction. In 1909, he proposed that men who could not work should be supported by the state "but with complete and permanent loss of all citizen rights – including not only the franchise but civil freedom and fatherhood." Whilst director of the London School of Economics, Beveridge attempted to create a Department of Social Biology. Though never fully established, Lancelot Hogben, a fierce anti-eugenicist, was named its chair. Former LSE director John Ashworth speculated that discord between those in favour and those against the serious study of eugenics led to Beveridge's departure from the school in 1937.
In the 1940s, Beveridge credited the Eugenics Society with promoting the children's allowance, which was incorporated into his 1942 report. However, whilst he held views in support of eugenics, he did not believe the report had any overall "eugenic value". Professor Danny Dorling said that "there is not even the faintest hint" of eugenic thought in the report.
Dennis Sewell states that "On the day the House of Commons met to debate the Beveridge Report in 1943, its author slipped out of the gallery early in the evening to address a meeting of the Eugenics Society at the Mansion House. ... His report he was keen to reassure them, was eugenic in intent and would prove so in effect. ... The idea of child allowances had been developed within the society with the twin aims of encouraging the educated professional classes to have more children than they currently did and, at the same time, to limit the number of children born to poor households. For both effects to be properly stimulated, the allowance needed to be graded: middle-class parents receiving more generous payments than working-class parents. ... The Home Secretary had that very day signalled that the government planned a flat rate of child allowance. But Beveridge, alluding to the problem of an overall declining birth rate, argued that even the flat rate would be eugenic. Nevertheless, he held out hope for the purists." 'Sir William made it clear that it was in his view not only possible but desirable that graded family allowance schemes, applicable to families in the higher income brackets, be administered concurrently with his flat rate scheme,' reported the Eugenics Review.
Personal life
Beveridge married the mathematician Janet Philip, daughter of William Philip and widow of David Mair, in 1942. They had worked together in the civil service and at LSE, and she was instrumental in the drafting and publicising of the Beveridge Report.
He died at his home on 16 March 1963, aged 84, and was buried in Thockrington churchyard, on the Northumbrian moors. His barony became extinct upon his death. His last words were "I have a thousand things to do".
Commemoration
Beveridge Street in the Christchurch Central City was named for William Beveridge. It was one of 120 streets that were renamed in 1948 by Peter Fraser's Labour Government of New Zealand.
In November 2018, English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque commemorating Beveridge at 27 Bedford Gardens in Campden Hill, London W8 7EF where he lived from 1914 until 1921.
University College, Oxford's society for students studying and tutors involved in the study of Philosophy, Politics and Economics was recently renamed the Beveridge Society in his honour.
Works
Unemployment: A problem of industry, 1909. online (Archive.org)
'Wages in the Winchester Manors', Economic History Review, Vol. VII, 1936–37.
Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century, 1939.
Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942. (The Beveridge Report)
The Pillars of Security and Other War-Time Essays and Addresses, 1943, republished 2014.
Full Employment in a Free Society, 1944.
The Economics of Full Employment, 1944.
Why I am a Liberal, 1945.
The Price of Peace, 1945.
Power and Influence, 1953.
"India Called Them," George Allen & Unwin, 1947
Plan for Britain: A Collection of Essays prepared for the Fabian Society by G. D. H. Cole, Aneurin Bevan, Jim Griffiths, L. F. Easterbrook, Sir William Beveridge, and Harold J. Laski (Not illustrated with 127 text pages).
'Westminster Wages in the Manorial Era', Economic History Review, 2nd Series, Vol. VIII, 1955.
See also
Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee's Health Minister
Beveridge curve – the relationship between unemployment and the job vacancy rate
List of liberal theorists
List of British university chancellors and vice-chancellors
List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service
List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Resources
Jose Harris, William Beveridge: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1997. .
Julien Demade, Produire un fait scientifique. Beveridge et le Comité international d'histoire des prix, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2018. .
William Beveridge's archives are held at the London School of Economics.
Photographs of William Beveridge held by LSE Archives
Donald Markwell, John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace, Oxford University Press, 2006.
References
Further reading
Addison, Paul. The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (1977) pp 211–28.
Harris, Jose. William Beveridge: a biography (1997) online.
Hills, John et al. eds. Beveridge and Social Security: an International Retrospective (1994)
Robertson, David Brian. "Policy entrepreneurs and policy divergence: John R. Commons and William Beveridge." Social Service Review 62.3 (1988): 504–531.
Sugita, Yoneyuki. "The Beveridge Report and Japan." Social work in public health 29.2 (2014): 148–161.
Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and its implementation: A revolutionary project?." Histoire@ Politique 3 (2014): 24–37. online
Primary sources
Williams, Ioan, and Karel Williams, eds. A Beveridge Reader (2014); (Works of William H. Beveridge).
External links
Sir William Beveridge Foundation
Spartacus Educational on William Beveridge and The Beveridge Report
Full text of the report
BBC information
BBC Radio 4, Great Lives – Downloadable 30 minute discussion of William Beveridge
Catalogue of William Beveridge's papers at the London School of Economics (LSE Archives)
Cataloguing the Beveridge papers at LSE Archives
1879 births
1963 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British agnostics
British humanists
British economists
British reformers
British social liberals
Civil servants in the Board of Trade
English people of Scottish descent
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Masters of University College, Oxford
People educated at Charterhouse School
People associated with the London School of Economics
Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Food
Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
British social reformers
UK MPs 1935–1945
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Peers created by George VI | true | [
"The Commission on Social Welfare (CSW) was a commission in Ireland that from 1983 to 1986 reviewed social welfare in the country. Social security policy between 1987 and 1994 was heavily influenced by the findings of the CSW.\n\nThe final report of the Commission recommended raising social welfare payments. For social welfare payments to be adequate, they \"must prevent poverty, and in our view poverty must be judged in the light of actual living standards,\" the report concluded.\n\nBackground\n\nA social welfare provision refers to any program which seeks to provide a minimum level of income, service or other support for many marginalized groups such as the poor, elderly, and disabled people. Social welfare programs are undertaken by governments as well as non-governmental organizations (NGO's). Social welfare payments and services are typically provided at the expense of taxpayers generally, funded by benefactors, or by compulsory enrollment of the poor themselves.\n\nEstablishment\nIn 1982 the National Social Services Board in its pre-budget submission called for the establishment of a commission to carry out a fundamental review of the social welfare system. A commitment to establish such a commission was part of the program of the Fine Gael/Labour coalition government that came into office in December 1982. The Commission on Social Welfare was established in 1983.\n\nCommission report\nThe Commission's report was published in 1986. The reforms recommended were within the existing system rather than replacing the system and creating a new one. The four key reforms proposed by the Commission concerned the payment structure, social insurance, social assistance and financing.\n\nThe adequacy of payments was the most important issue the Commission considered. By using a number of indicators, the Commission estimated that a minimally adequate income for a single person in 1985 was 50 to 60 pounds per week.\n\nThe Commission favored keeping the social insurance system. It recommended that all income earners should contribute to and benefit where appropriate from social insurance and favored a widening of coverage for insurance.\n\nThe Commission recommended that there should be a comprehensive social assistance scheme for those who, for whatever reason, do not qualify for social insurance. The main condition would be the establishment of an income.\n\nOn the grounds of redistribution the Commission concluded that the income ceiling on contributions should be gradually abolished.\n\nReferences\n\n1976 in Ireland\nPolitical history of Ireland\nWelfare in the Republic of Ireland\nSocial history of Ireland",
"The Code on Social Security, 2020 is a code to amend and consolidate the laws relating to social security with the goal to extend social security to all employees and workers either in the organised or unorganised or any other sectors.\n\nThe Social Security Code, 2020 brings unorganised sector, gig workers and platform workers under the ambit of social security schemes, including life insurance and disability insurance, health and maternity benefits, provident insurance, pension and skill upgradation, etc. The act amalgamates nine central labour enactments relating to social security.\n\nBackground\n\nThe bill was introduced by the Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha 22 September 2020 and the Rajya Sabha on 23 September 2020. The bill was formulated according to the Report and Recommendations of the Second National Commission on Labour.\n\nIt consolidated The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923, The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959, The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, The Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981, The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996, Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act 2008.\n\nThe bill received the presidential assent on 28 September 2020, and section 142 of the Act has come into force on 3 May 2021.\n\nSee also\n\n Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020\n Code on Wages, 2019\n Industrial Relations Code, 2020\n\nReferences\n\nIndian labour law\nSocial security in India\nActs of the Parliament of India 2020"
] |
[
"William Beveridge",
"Report on social insurance",
"What was the report on social insurance?",
"It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid"
] | C_237643feedba46959fb07be350fab269_0 | Was this report helpful? | 2 | Was the report on social insurance helpful? | William Beveridge | An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly. The Report to the Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health. Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods. Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed how this goal might be gained. Alternative measures for achieving it included Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society. CANNOTANSWER | He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, | William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services (known as the Beveridge Report) served as the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.
He built his career as an expert on unemployment insurance. He served on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges, and later as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford.
Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security, his most notable works being: Unemployment: A Problem of Industry (1909), Planning Under Socialism (1936), Full Employment in a Free Society (1944), Pillars of Security (1943), Power and Influence (1953) and A Defence of Free Learning (1959). He was elected in a 1944 by-election as a Liberal MP (for Berwick-upon-Tweed); following his defeat in the 1945 general election, he was elevated to the House of Lords where he served as the leader of the Liberal peers.
Early life and education
Beveridge, the eldest son of Henry Beveridge, an Indian Civil Service officer and District Judge, and scholar Annette Ackroyd, was born in Rangpur, British India (now Rangpur, Bangladesh), on 5 March 1879.
Beveridge's mother had, with Elizabeth Malleson, founded the Working Women's College in Queen Square, London in 1864. She met and married Henry Beveridge in Calcutta where she had gone in 1873 to open a school for Indian girls. William Beveridge was educated at Charterhouse, a leading public school near the market town of Godalming in Surrey, followed by Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he studied Mathematics and Classics, obtaining a first class degree in both. He later studied law.
While Beveridge's mother had been a member of the Stourbridge Unitarian community, his father was an early humanist and positivist activist and "an ardent disciple" of the French philosopher Auguste Comte. Comte's ideas of a secular religion of humanity were a prominent influence in the household and would exert a lasting influence on Beveridge's thinking. Beveridge himself became a "materialist agnostic", in his words.
Life and career
After leaving university, Beveridge initially became a lawyer. He became interested in the social services and wrote about the subject for the Morning Post newspaper. His interest in the causes of unemployment began in 1903 when he worked at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London. There he worked closely with Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb and was influenced by their theories of social reform, becoming active in promoting old age pensions, free school meals, and campaigning for a national system of labour exchanges.
In 1908, now considered to be Britain's leading authority on unemployment insurance, he was introduced by Beatrice Webb to Winston Churchill, who had recently been promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. Churchill invited Beveridge to join the Board of Trade, and he organised the implementation of the national system of labour exchanges and National Insurance to combat unemployment and poverty. During the First World War he was involved in mobilising and controlling manpower. After the war, he was knighted and made permanent secretary to the Ministry of Food.
In 1919 he left the civil service to become director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Over the next few years he served on several commissions and committees on social policy. He was so highly influenced by the Fabian Society socialists – in particular by Beatrice Webb, with whom he worked on the 1909 Poor Laws report – that he could be considered one of their number. He published academic economic works including his early work on unemployment (1909). The Fabians made him a director of the LSE in 1919, a post he retained until 1937. During his time as Director, he jousted with Edwin Cannan and Lionel Robbins, who were trying to steer the LSE away from its Fabian roots. From 1929 he led the International scientific committee on price history, contributing a large historical study, Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century (1939).
In 1933 he helped set up the Academic Assistance Council. This helped prominent academics who had been dismissed from their posts on grounds of race, religion or political position to escape Nazi persecution. In 1937 Beveridge was appointed Master of University College, Oxford.
Wartime work
Three years later, Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour in the wartime National government, invited Beveridge to take charge of the Welfare department of his Ministry. Beveridge refused, but declared an interest in organising British manpower in wartime (Beveridge had come to favour a strong system of centralised planning). Bevin was reluctant to let Beveridge have his way but did commission him to work on a relatively unimportant manpower survey from June 1940 and so Beveridge became a temporary civil servant. Neither Bevin nor the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Sir Thomas Phillips liked working with Beveridge as both found him conceited.
His work on manpower culminated in his chairmanship of the Committee on Skilled Men in the Services which reported to the War Cabinet in August and October 1941. Two recommendations of the committee were implemented: Army recruits were enlisted for their first six weeks into the General Service Corps, so that their subsequent posting could take account of their skills and the Army's needs; and the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was created.
Report on social insurance and views on full employment
An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly.
The report to Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health.
Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods.
Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed the view that it was "absurd" to "look to individual employers for maintenance of demand and full employment." These things must be "undertaken by the State under the supervision and pressure of democracy." Measures for achieving full-employment might include Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society.
Later career
Later in 1944, Beveridge, who had recently joined the Liberal Party, was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election to succeed George Charles Grey, who had died on the battlefield in Normandy, France, on the first day of Operation Bluecoat on 30 July 1944. Beveridge briefly served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, during which time he was prominent in the Radical Action group, which called for the party to withdraw from the war-time electoral pact and adopt more radical policies. However, he lost his seat at the 1945 general election, when he was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Robert Thorp, by a majority of 1,962 votes.
Clement Attlee and the Labour Party defeated Winston Churchill's Conservative Party in that election and the new Labour Government began the process of implementing Beveridge's proposals that provided the basis of the modern Welfare State. Attlee announced he would introduce the Welfare State outlined in the 1942 Beveridge Report. This included the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide "social security" so that the population would be protected from the "cradle to the grave". The new system was partly built upon the National Insurance scheme set up by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer and future Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1911.
In 1946, Beveridge was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Beveridge, of Tuggal in the County of Northumberland, and eventually became leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. He was the author of Power and Influence (1953). He was the President of the charity Attend (then the National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1952 to 1962.
Eugenics
Beveridge was a member of the Eugenics Society, which promoted the study of methods to 'improve' the human race by controlling reproduction. In 1909, he proposed that men who could not work should be supported by the state "but with complete and permanent loss of all citizen rights – including not only the franchise but civil freedom and fatherhood." Whilst director of the London School of Economics, Beveridge attempted to create a Department of Social Biology. Though never fully established, Lancelot Hogben, a fierce anti-eugenicist, was named its chair. Former LSE director John Ashworth speculated that discord between those in favour and those against the serious study of eugenics led to Beveridge's departure from the school in 1937.
In the 1940s, Beveridge credited the Eugenics Society with promoting the children's allowance, which was incorporated into his 1942 report. However, whilst he held views in support of eugenics, he did not believe the report had any overall "eugenic value". Professor Danny Dorling said that "there is not even the faintest hint" of eugenic thought in the report.
Dennis Sewell states that "On the day the House of Commons met to debate the Beveridge Report in 1943, its author slipped out of the gallery early in the evening to address a meeting of the Eugenics Society at the Mansion House. ... His report he was keen to reassure them, was eugenic in intent and would prove so in effect. ... The idea of child allowances had been developed within the society with the twin aims of encouraging the educated professional classes to have more children than they currently did and, at the same time, to limit the number of children born to poor households. For both effects to be properly stimulated, the allowance needed to be graded: middle-class parents receiving more generous payments than working-class parents. ... The Home Secretary had that very day signalled that the government planned a flat rate of child allowance. But Beveridge, alluding to the problem of an overall declining birth rate, argued that even the flat rate would be eugenic. Nevertheless, he held out hope for the purists." 'Sir William made it clear that it was in his view not only possible but desirable that graded family allowance schemes, applicable to families in the higher income brackets, be administered concurrently with his flat rate scheme,' reported the Eugenics Review.
Personal life
Beveridge married the mathematician Janet Philip, daughter of William Philip and widow of David Mair, in 1942. They had worked together in the civil service and at LSE, and she was instrumental in the drafting and publicising of the Beveridge Report.
He died at his home on 16 March 1963, aged 84, and was buried in Thockrington churchyard, on the Northumbrian moors. His barony became extinct upon his death. His last words were "I have a thousand things to do".
Commemoration
Beveridge Street in the Christchurch Central City was named for William Beveridge. It was one of 120 streets that were renamed in 1948 by Peter Fraser's Labour Government of New Zealand.
In November 2018, English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque commemorating Beveridge at 27 Bedford Gardens in Campden Hill, London W8 7EF where he lived from 1914 until 1921.
University College, Oxford's society for students studying and tutors involved in the study of Philosophy, Politics and Economics was recently renamed the Beveridge Society in his honour.
Works
Unemployment: A problem of industry, 1909. online (Archive.org)
'Wages in the Winchester Manors', Economic History Review, Vol. VII, 1936–37.
Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century, 1939.
Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942. (The Beveridge Report)
The Pillars of Security and Other War-Time Essays and Addresses, 1943, republished 2014.
Full Employment in a Free Society, 1944.
The Economics of Full Employment, 1944.
Why I am a Liberal, 1945.
The Price of Peace, 1945.
Power and Influence, 1953.
"India Called Them," George Allen & Unwin, 1947
Plan for Britain: A Collection of Essays prepared for the Fabian Society by G. D. H. Cole, Aneurin Bevan, Jim Griffiths, L. F. Easterbrook, Sir William Beveridge, and Harold J. Laski (Not illustrated with 127 text pages).
'Westminster Wages in the Manorial Era', Economic History Review, 2nd Series, Vol. VIII, 1955.
See also
Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee's Health Minister
Beveridge curve – the relationship between unemployment and the job vacancy rate
List of liberal theorists
List of British university chancellors and vice-chancellors
List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service
List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Resources
Jose Harris, William Beveridge: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1997. .
Julien Demade, Produire un fait scientifique. Beveridge et le Comité international d'histoire des prix, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2018. .
William Beveridge's archives are held at the London School of Economics.
Photographs of William Beveridge held by LSE Archives
Donald Markwell, John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace, Oxford University Press, 2006.
References
Further reading
Addison, Paul. The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (1977) pp 211–28.
Harris, Jose. William Beveridge: a biography (1997) online.
Hills, John et al. eds. Beveridge and Social Security: an International Retrospective (1994)
Robertson, David Brian. "Policy entrepreneurs and policy divergence: John R. Commons and William Beveridge." Social Service Review 62.3 (1988): 504–531.
Sugita, Yoneyuki. "The Beveridge Report and Japan." Social work in public health 29.2 (2014): 148–161.
Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and its implementation: A revolutionary project?." Histoire@ Politique 3 (2014): 24–37. online
Primary sources
Williams, Ioan, and Karel Williams, eds. A Beveridge Reader (2014); (Works of William H. Beveridge).
External links
Sir William Beveridge Foundation
Spartacus Educational on William Beveridge and The Beveridge Report
Full text of the report
BBC information
BBC Radio 4, Great Lives – Downloadable 30 minute discussion of William Beveridge
Catalogue of William Beveridge's papers at the London School of Economics (LSE Archives)
Cataloguing the Beveridge papers at LSE Archives
1879 births
1963 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British agnostics
British humanists
British economists
British reformers
British social liberals
Civil servants in the Board of Trade
English people of Scottish descent
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Masters of University College, Oxford
People educated at Charterhouse School
People associated with the London School of Economics
Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Food
Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
British social reformers
UK MPs 1935–1945
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Peers created by George VI | true | [
"Helpful Henry was the name of two comic strips—one from the United States, the other from the United Kingdom.\n\nAmerican comic strip Helpful Henry (1922–1927) \nHelpful Henry was an American gag-a-day comic strip, created by cartoonist J. P. Arnot (Paul Arnot – Born: 16 September 1887 – Died: 2 December 1951). The series ran from July 17, 1922, until 1927 and was syndicated by International Feature Service. Despite its brief run actor Oliver Hardy, of Laurel and Hardy fame, said the character was an inspiration for his own screen character. He described Helpful Henry as being big, fussy and self-important, but underneath it all, he was a very nice fellow.\n\nBritish comic strip Helpful Henry (1938–1939) \nHelpful Henry was also a British gag-a-day comic strip from the magazine The Beano. It first appeared in Beano issue 1, dated 30 July 1938, drawn by Eric Roberts. A similarly named character had also appeared in the first issue of The Wizard under the name 'Elpful 'Enery.\n\nThe central character is Henry, a young boy who attempts to be helpful but ends up doing more harm than good – usually as a result of a misunderstanding or misinterpretation.\n\nHe was also in The Dandy Annual 1939, which came out two months after Beano No. 1 – it is unknown whether the character moved comic or if this was a preview. However some characters, such as Marmaduke Mean the Miser, only appeared in the annuals, so that could be the explanation. As well as this some early Dandy characters such as Podge appeared in the 1940 Beano annual so this could be the case of minor characters just appearing in any DC Thomson annual.\n\nHelpful Henry reappeared in Sparky in issue 211 (dated 1 February 1969) drawn by Hugh Morren this strip lasted in Sparky until issue 230.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican comic strips\nAmerican comics characters\n1922 comics debuts\nComics characters introduced in 1922\n1927 comics endings\nGag-a-day comics\nBeano strips\nBritish comic strips\nBritish comics characters\n1938 comics debuts\nComics characters introduced in 1938\n1939 comics endings\nChild characters in comics",
"Biejjenniejte (\"Daughter of the Sun\") was a deity of the Sami mythology. \n\nShe was the goddess of medicine and healing. She was the daughter of the sun goddess Beaivi. She was particularly helpful towards illnesses caused by her mother, the Sun.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nSámi goddesses\nHealth goddesses"
] |
[
"William Beveridge",
"Report on social insurance",
"What was the report on social insurance?",
"It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid",
"Was this report helpful?",
"He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period,"
] | C_237643feedba46959fb07be350fab269_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Besides William Beveridge arguing welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | William Beveridge | An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly. The Report to the Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health. Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods. Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed how this goal might be gained. Alternative measures for achieving it included Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society. CANNOTANSWER | Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". | William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services (known as the Beveridge Report) served as the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.
He built his career as an expert on unemployment insurance. He served on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges, and later as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford.
Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security, his most notable works being: Unemployment: A Problem of Industry (1909), Planning Under Socialism (1936), Full Employment in a Free Society (1944), Pillars of Security (1943), Power and Influence (1953) and A Defence of Free Learning (1959). He was elected in a 1944 by-election as a Liberal MP (for Berwick-upon-Tweed); following his defeat in the 1945 general election, he was elevated to the House of Lords where he served as the leader of the Liberal peers.
Early life and education
Beveridge, the eldest son of Henry Beveridge, an Indian Civil Service officer and District Judge, and scholar Annette Ackroyd, was born in Rangpur, British India (now Rangpur, Bangladesh), on 5 March 1879.
Beveridge's mother had, with Elizabeth Malleson, founded the Working Women's College in Queen Square, London in 1864. She met and married Henry Beveridge in Calcutta where she had gone in 1873 to open a school for Indian girls. William Beveridge was educated at Charterhouse, a leading public school near the market town of Godalming in Surrey, followed by Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he studied Mathematics and Classics, obtaining a first class degree in both. He later studied law.
While Beveridge's mother had been a member of the Stourbridge Unitarian community, his father was an early humanist and positivist activist and "an ardent disciple" of the French philosopher Auguste Comte. Comte's ideas of a secular religion of humanity were a prominent influence in the household and would exert a lasting influence on Beveridge's thinking. Beveridge himself became a "materialist agnostic", in his words.
Life and career
After leaving university, Beveridge initially became a lawyer. He became interested in the social services and wrote about the subject for the Morning Post newspaper. His interest in the causes of unemployment began in 1903 when he worked at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London. There he worked closely with Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb and was influenced by their theories of social reform, becoming active in promoting old age pensions, free school meals, and campaigning for a national system of labour exchanges.
In 1908, now considered to be Britain's leading authority on unemployment insurance, he was introduced by Beatrice Webb to Winston Churchill, who had recently been promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. Churchill invited Beveridge to join the Board of Trade, and he organised the implementation of the national system of labour exchanges and National Insurance to combat unemployment and poverty. During the First World War he was involved in mobilising and controlling manpower. After the war, he was knighted and made permanent secretary to the Ministry of Food.
In 1919 he left the civil service to become director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Over the next few years he served on several commissions and committees on social policy. He was so highly influenced by the Fabian Society socialists – in particular by Beatrice Webb, with whom he worked on the 1909 Poor Laws report – that he could be considered one of their number. He published academic economic works including his early work on unemployment (1909). The Fabians made him a director of the LSE in 1919, a post he retained until 1937. During his time as Director, he jousted with Edwin Cannan and Lionel Robbins, who were trying to steer the LSE away from its Fabian roots. From 1929 he led the International scientific committee on price history, contributing a large historical study, Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century (1939).
In 1933 he helped set up the Academic Assistance Council. This helped prominent academics who had been dismissed from their posts on grounds of race, religion or political position to escape Nazi persecution. In 1937 Beveridge was appointed Master of University College, Oxford.
Wartime work
Three years later, Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour in the wartime National government, invited Beveridge to take charge of the Welfare department of his Ministry. Beveridge refused, but declared an interest in organising British manpower in wartime (Beveridge had come to favour a strong system of centralised planning). Bevin was reluctant to let Beveridge have his way but did commission him to work on a relatively unimportant manpower survey from June 1940 and so Beveridge became a temporary civil servant. Neither Bevin nor the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Sir Thomas Phillips liked working with Beveridge as both found him conceited.
His work on manpower culminated in his chairmanship of the Committee on Skilled Men in the Services which reported to the War Cabinet in August and October 1941. Two recommendations of the committee were implemented: Army recruits were enlisted for their first six weeks into the General Service Corps, so that their subsequent posting could take account of their skills and the Army's needs; and the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was created.
Report on social insurance and views on full employment
An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly.
The report to Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health.
Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods.
Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed the view that it was "absurd" to "look to individual employers for maintenance of demand and full employment." These things must be "undertaken by the State under the supervision and pressure of democracy." Measures for achieving full-employment might include Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society.
Later career
Later in 1944, Beveridge, who had recently joined the Liberal Party, was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election to succeed George Charles Grey, who had died on the battlefield in Normandy, France, on the first day of Operation Bluecoat on 30 July 1944. Beveridge briefly served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, during which time he was prominent in the Radical Action group, which called for the party to withdraw from the war-time electoral pact and adopt more radical policies. However, he lost his seat at the 1945 general election, when he was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Robert Thorp, by a majority of 1,962 votes.
Clement Attlee and the Labour Party defeated Winston Churchill's Conservative Party in that election and the new Labour Government began the process of implementing Beveridge's proposals that provided the basis of the modern Welfare State. Attlee announced he would introduce the Welfare State outlined in the 1942 Beveridge Report. This included the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide "social security" so that the population would be protected from the "cradle to the grave". The new system was partly built upon the National Insurance scheme set up by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer and future Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1911.
In 1946, Beveridge was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Beveridge, of Tuggal in the County of Northumberland, and eventually became leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. He was the author of Power and Influence (1953). He was the President of the charity Attend (then the National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1952 to 1962.
Eugenics
Beveridge was a member of the Eugenics Society, which promoted the study of methods to 'improve' the human race by controlling reproduction. In 1909, he proposed that men who could not work should be supported by the state "but with complete and permanent loss of all citizen rights – including not only the franchise but civil freedom and fatherhood." Whilst director of the London School of Economics, Beveridge attempted to create a Department of Social Biology. Though never fully established, Lancelot Hogben, a fierce anti-eugenicist, was named its chair. Former LSE director John Ashworth speculated that discord between those in favour and those against the serious study of eugenics led to Beveridge's departure from the school in 1937.
In the 1940s, Beveridge credited the Eugenics Society with promoting the children's allowance, which was incorporated into his 1942 report. However, whilst he held views in support of eugenics, he did not believe the report had any overall "eugenic value". Professor Danny Dorling said that "there is not even the faintest hint" of eugenic thought in the report.
Dennis Sewell states that "On the day the House of Commons met to debate the Beveridge Report in 1943, its author slipped out of the gallery early in the evening to address a meeting of the Eugenics Society at the Mansion House. ... His report he was keen to reassure them, was eugenic in intent and would prove so in effect. ... The idea of child allowances had been developed within the society with the twin aims of encouraging the educated professional classes to have more children than they currently did and, at the same time, to limit the number of children born to poor households. For both effects to be properly stimulated, the allowance needed to be graded: middle-class parents receiving more generous payments than working-class parents. ... The Home Secretary had that very day signalled that the government planned a flat rate of child allowance. But Beveridge, alluding to the problem of an overall declining birth rate, argued that even the flat rate would be eugenic. Nevertheless, he held out hope for the purists." 'Sir William made it clear that it was in his view not only possible but desirable that graded family allowance schemes, applicable to families in the higher income brackets, be administered concurrently with his flat rate scheme,' reported the Eugenics Review.
Personal life
Beveridge married the mathematician Janet Philip, daughter of William Philip and widow of David Mair, in 1942. They had worked together in the civil service and at LSE, and she was instrumental in the drafting and publicising of the Beveridge Report.
He died at his home on 16 March 1963, aged 84, and was buried in Thockrington churchyard, on the Northumbrian moors. His barony became extinct upon his death. His last words were "I have a thousand things to do".
Commemoration
Beveridge Street in the Christchurch Central City was named for William Beveridge. It was one of 120 streets that were renamed in 1948 by Peter Fraser's Labour Government of New Zealand.
In November 2018, English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque commemorating Beveridge at 27 Bedford Gardens in Campden Hill, London W8 7EF where he lived from 1914 until 1921.
University College, Oxford's society for students studying and tutors involved in the study of Philosophy, Politics and Economics was recently renamed the Beveridge Society in his honour.
Works
Unemployment: A problem of industry, 1909. online (Archive.org)
'Wages in the Winchester Manors', Economic History Review, Vol. VII, 1936–37.
Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century, 1939.
Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942. (The Beveridge Report)
The Pillars of Security and Other War-Time Essays and Addresses, 1943, republished 2014.
Full Employment in a Free Society, 1944.
The Economics of Full Employment, 1944.
Why I am a Liberal, 1945.
The Price of Peace, 1945.
Power and Influence, 1953.
"India Called Them," George Allen & Unwin, 1947
Plan for Britain: A Collection of Essays prepared for the Fabian Society by G. D. H. Cole, Aneurin Bevan, Jim Griffiths, L. F. Easterbrook, Sir William Beveridge, and Harold J. Laski (Not illustrated with 127 text pages).
'Westminster Wages in the Manorial Era', Economic History Review, 2nd Series, Vol. VIII, 1955.
See also
Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee's Health Minister
Beveridge curve – the relationship between unemployment and the job vacancy rate
List of liberal theorists
List of British university chancellors and vice-chancellors
List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service
List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Resources
Jose Harris, William Beveridge: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1997. .
Julien Demade, Produire un fait scientifique. Beveridge et le Comité international d'histoire des prix, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2018. .
William Beveridge's archives are held at the London School of Economics.
Photographs of William Beveridge held by LSE Archives
Donald Markwell, John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace, Oxford University Press, 2006.
References
Further reading
Addison, Paul. The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (1977) pp 211–28.
Harris, Jose. William Beveridge: a biography (1997) online.
Hills, John et al. eds. Beveridge and Social Security: an International Retrospective (1994)
Robertson, David Brian. "Policy entrepreneurs and policy divergence: John R. Commons and William Beveridge." Social Service Review 62.3 (1988): 504–531.
Sugita, Yoneyuki. "The Beveridge Report and Japan." Social work in public health 29.2 (2014): 148–161.
Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and its implementation: A revolutionary project?." Histoire@ Politique 3 (2014): 24–37. online
Primary sources
Williams, Ioan, and Karel Williams, eds. A Beveridge Reader (2014); (Works of William H. Beveridge).
External links
Sir William Beveridge Foundation
Spartacus Educational on William Beveridge and The Beveridge Report
Full text of the report
BBC information
BBC Radio 4, Great Lives – Downloadable 30 minute discussion of William Beveridge
Catalogue of William Beveridge's papers at the London School of Economics (LSE Archives)
Cataloguing the Beveridge papers at LSE Archives
1879 births
1963 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British agnostics
British humanists
British economists
British reformers
British social liberals
Civil servants in the Board of Trade
English people of Scottish descent
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Masters of University College, Oxford
People educated at Charterhouse School
People associated with the London School of Economics
Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Food
Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
British social reformers
UK MPs 1935–1945
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Peers created by George VI | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] |
[
"William Beveridge",
"Report on social insurance",
"What was the report on social insurance?",
"It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid",
"Was this report helpful?",
"He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living \"below which no one should be allowed to fall\"."
] | C_237643feedba46959fb07be350fab269_0 | did he help bring about change? | 4 | Did William Beveridge help bring about change? | William Beveridge | An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly. The Report to the Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health. Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods. Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed how this goal might be gained. Alternative measures for achieving it included Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society. CANNOTANSWER | fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health. | William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services (known as the Beveridge Report) served as the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.
He built his career as an expert on unemployment insurance. He served on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges, and later as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford.
Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security, his most notable works being: Unemployment: A Problem of Industry (1909), Planning Under Socialism (1936), Full Employment in a Free Society (1944), Pillars of Security (1943), Power and Influence (1953) and A Defence of Free Learning (1959). He was elected in a 1944 by-election as a Liberal MP (for Berwick-upon-Tweed); following his defeat in the 1945 general election, he was elevated to the House of Lords where he served as the leader of the Liberal peers.
Early life and education
Beveridge, the eldest son of Henry Beveridge, an Indian Civil Service officer and District Judge, and scholar Annette Ackroyd, was born in Rangpur, British India (now Rangpur, Bangladesh), on 5 March 1879.
Beveridge's mother had, with Elizabeth Malleson, founded the Working Women's College in Queen Square, London in 1864. She met and married Henry Beveridge in Calcutta where she had gone in 1873 to open a school for Indian girls. William Beveridge was educated at Charterhouse, a leading public school near the market town of Godalming in Surrey, followed by Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he studied Mathematics and Classics, obtaining a first class degree in both. He later studied law.
While Beveridge's mother had been a member of the Stourbridge Unitarian community, his father was an early humanist and positivist activist and "an ardent disciple" of the French philosopher Auguste Comte. Comte's ideas of a secular religion of humanity were a prominent influence in the household and would exert a lasting influence on Beveridge's thinking. Beveridge himself became a "materialist agnostic", in his words.
Life and career
After leaving university, Beveridge initially became a lawyer. He became interested in the social services and wrote about the subject for the Morning Post newspaper. His interest in the causes of unemployment began in 1903 when he worked at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London. There he worked closely with Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb and was influenced by their theories of social reform, becoming active in promoting old age pensions, free school meals, and campaigning for a national system of labour exchanges.
In 1908, now considered to be Britain's leading authority on unemployment insurance, he was introduced by Beatrice Webb to Winston Churchill, who had recently been promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. Churchill invited Beveridge to join the Board of Trade, and he organised the implementation of the national system of labour exchanges and National Insurance to combat unemployment and poverty. During the First World War he was involved in mobilising and controlling manpower. After the war, he was knighted and made permanent secretary to the Ministry of Food.
In 1919 he left the civil service to become director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Over the next few years he served on several commissions and committees on social policy. He was so highly influenced by the Fabian Society socialists – in particular by Beatrice Webb, with whom he worked on the 1909 Poor Laws report – that he could be considered one of their number. He published academic economic works including his early work on unemployment (1909). The Fabians made him a director of the LSE in 1919, a post he retained until 1937. During his time as Director, he jousted with Edwin Cannan and Lionel Robbins, who were trying to steer the LSE away from its Fabian roots. From 1929 he led the International scientific committee on price history, contributing a large historical study, Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century (1939).
In 1933 he helped set up the Academic Assistance Council. This helped prominent academics who had been dismissed from their posts on grounds of race, religion or political position to escape Nazi persecution. In 1937 Beveridge was appointed Master of University College, Oxford.
Wartime work
Three years later, Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour in the wartime National government, invited Beveridge to take charge of the Welfare department of his Ministry. Beveridge refused, but declared an interest in organising British manpower in wartime (Beveridge had come to favour a strong system of centralised planning). Bevin was reluctant to let Beveridge have his way but did commission him to work on a relatively unimportant manpower survey from June 1940 and so Beveridge became a temporary civil servant. Neither Bevin nor the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Sir Thomas Phillips liked working with Beveridge as both found him conceited.
His work on manpower culminated in his chairmanship of the Committee on Skilled Men in the Services which reported to the War Cabinet in August and October 1941. Two recommendations of the committee were implemented: Army recruits were enlisted for their first six weeks into the General Service Corps, so that their subsequent posting could take account of their skills and the Army's needs; and the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was created.
Report on social insurance and views on full employment
An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly.
The report to Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health.
Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods.
Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed the view that it was "absurd" to "look to individual employers for maintenance of demand and full employment." These things must be "undertaken by the State under the supervision and pressure of democracy." Measures for achieving full-employment might include Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society.
Later career
Later in 1944, Beveridge, who had recently joined the Liberal Party, was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election to succeed George Charles Grey, who had died on the battlefield in Normandy, France, on the first day of Operation Bluecoat on 30 July 1944. Beveridge briefly served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, during which time he was prominent in the Radical Action group, which called for the party to withdraw from the war-time electoral pact and adopt more radical policies. However, he lost his seat at the 1945 general election, when he was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Robert Thorp, by a majority of 1,962 votes.
Clement Attlee and the Labour Party defeated Winston Churchill's Conservative Party in that election and the new Labour Government began the process of implementing Beveridge's proposals that provided the basis of the modern Welfare State. Attlee announced he would introduce the Welfare State outlined in the 1942 Beveridge Report. This included the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide "social security" so that the population would be protected from the "cradle to the grave". The new system was partly built upon the National Insurance scheme set up by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer and future Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1911.
In 1946, Beveridge was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Beveridge, of Tuggal in the County of Northumberland, and eventually became leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. He was the author of Power and Influence (1953). He was the President of the charity Attend (then the National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1952 to 1962.
Eugenics
Beveridge was a member of the Eugenics Society, which promoted the study of methods to 'improve' the human race by controlling reproduction. In 1909, he proposed that men who could not work should be supported by the state "but with complete and permanent loss of all citizen rights – including not only the franchise but civil freedom and fatherhood." Whilst director of the London School of Economics, Beveridge attempted to create a Department of Social Biology. Though never fully established, Lancelot Hogben, a fierce anti-eugenicist, was named its chair. Former LSE director John Ashworth speculated that discord between those in favour and those against the serious study of eugenics led to Beveridge's departure from the school in 1937.
In the 1940s, Beveridge credited the Eugenics Society with promoting the children's allowance, which was incorporated into his 1942 report. However, whilst he held views in support of eugenics, he did not believe the report had any overall "eugenic value". Professor Danny Dorling said that "there is not even the faintest hint" of eugenic thought in the report.
Dennis Sewell states that "On the day the House of Commons met to debate the Beveridge Report in 1943, its author slipped out of the gallery early in the evening to address a meeting of the Eugenics Society at the Mansion House. ... His report he was keen to reassure them, was eugenic in intent and would prove so in effect. ... The idea of child allowances had been developed within the society with the twin aims of encouraging the educated professional classes to have more children than they currently did and, at the same time, to limit the number of children born to poor households. For both effects to be properly stimulated, the allowance needed to be graded: middle-class parents receiving more generous payments than working-class parents. ... The Home Secretary had that very day signalled that the government planned a flat rate of child allowance. But Beveridge, alluding to the problem of an overall declining birth rate, argued that even the flat rate would be eugenic. Nevertheless, he held out hope for the purists." 'Sir William made it clear that it was in his view not only possible but desirable that graded family allowance schemes, applicable to families in the higher income brackets, be administered concurrently with his flat rate scheme,' reported the Eugenics Review.
Personal life
Beveridge married the mathematician Janet Philip, daughter of William Philip and widow of David Mair, in 1942. They had worked together in the civil service and at LSE, and she was instrumental in the drafting and publicising of the Beveridge Report.
He died at his home on 16 March 1963, aged 84, and was buried in Thockrington churchyard, on the Northumbrian moors. His barony became extinct upon his death. His last words were "I have a thousand things to do".
Commemoration
Beveridge Street in the Christchurch Central City was named for William Beveridge. It was one of 120 streets that were renamed in 1948 by Peter Fraser's Labour Government of New Zealand.
In November 2018, English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque commemorating Beveridge at 27 Bedford Gardens in Campden Hill, London W8 7EF where he lived from 1914 until 1921.
University College, Oxford's society for students studying and tutors involved in the study of Philosophy, Politics and Economics was recently renamed the Beveridge Society in his honour.
Works
Unemployment: A problem of industry, 1909. online (Archive.org)
'Wages in the Winchester Manors', Economic History Review, Vol. VII, 1936–37.
Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century, 1939.
Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942. (The Beveridge Report)
The Pillars of Security and Other War-Time Essays and Addresses, 1943, republished 2014.
Full Employment in a Free Society, 1944.
The Economics of Full Employment, 1944.
Why I am a Liberal, 1945.
The Price of Peace, 1945.
Power and Influence, 1953.
"India Called Them," George Allen & Unwin, 1947
Plan for Britain: A Collection of Essays prepared for the Fabian Society by G. D. H. Cole, Aneurin Bevan, Jim Griffiths, L. F. Easterbrook, Sir William Beveridge, and Harold J. Laski (Not illustrated with 127 text pages).
'Westminster Wages in the Manorial Era', Economic History Review, 2nd Series, Vol. VIII, 1955.
See also
Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee's Health Minister
Beveridge curve – the relationship between unemployment and the job vacancy rate
List of liberal theorists
List of British university chancellors and vice-chancellors
List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service
List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Resources
Jose Harris, William Beveridge: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1997. .
Julien Demade, Produire un fait scientifique. Beveridge et le Comité international d'histoire des prix, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2018. .
William Beveridge's archives are held at the London School of Economics.
Photographs of William Beveridge held by LSE Archives
Donald Markwell, John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace, Oxford University Press, 2006.
References
Further reading
Addison, Paul. The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (1977) pp 211–28.
Harris, Jose. William Beveridge: a biography (1997) online.
Hills, John et al. eds. Beveridge and Social Security: an International Retrospective (1994)
Robertson, David Brian. "Policy entrepreneurs and policy divergence: John R. Commons and William Beveridge." Social Service Review 62.3 (1988): 504–531.
Sugita, Yoneyuki. "The Beveridge Report and Japan." Social work in public health 29.2 (2014): 148–161.
Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and its implementation: A revolutionary project?." Histoire@ Politique 3 (2014): 24–37. online
Primary sources
Williams, Ioan, and Karel Williams, eds. A Beveridge Reader (2014); (Works of William H. Beveridge).
External links
Sir William Beveridge Foundation
Spartacus Educational on William Beveridge and The Beveridge Report
Full text of the report
BBC information
BBC Radio 4, Great Lives – Downloadable 30 minute discussion of William Beveridge
Catalogue of William Beveridge's papers at the London School of Economics (LSE Archives)
Cataloguing the Beveridge papers at LSE Archives
1879 births
1963 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British agnostics
British humanists
British economists
British reformers
British social liberals
Civil servants in the Board of Trade
English people of Scottish descent
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Masters of University College, Oxford
People educated at Charterhouse School
People associated with the London School of Economics
Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Food
Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
British social reformers
UK MPs 1935–1945
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Peers created by George VI | true | [
"A Different Shade is the debut studio album from Swedish singer Erik Segerstedt, released on February 1, 2007. It debuted at number two on the Swedish Albums Chart. The album spawned two singles, \"Can't Say I'm Sorry\", a number-one single, and \"How Did we Change\", a number-two single.\n\nTrack listing\n\"2 Happy 2 Soon\"\n\"How Did We Change\"\n\"I Can't Say I'm Sorry\"\n\"When I Hear You Say My Name\"\n\"Wherever You Are\"\n\"I'm Not Alone\"\n\"Bring My Baby Back\"\n\"She's So\"\n\"Freeway\"\n\"Knockin' on Heaven's Door\"\n\"Everything Changes\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2007 albums\nErik Segerstedt albums",
"Fattitude is a documentary film by Lindsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman. The movie is about fat discrimination and its main objective is to make the general public more aware of the prejudice that fat people experience. The movie propagates the fat acceptance movement—a social movement that seeks to change anti-fat bias in social attitudes. The film was financed by running a successful crowdfunding campaign at the website Kickstarter in which 1,073 backers pledged $44,140 to help bring this project to life.\n\nThe documentary informs people about what the filmmakers call fat shaming and fat hatred. The documentary also hopes to inspire people to speak out about the prejudice they face or the mistreatment of others.\n\nControversy\nAfter start the Kickstarter campaign, Averill and Lieberman became the target of heavy trolling and harassment from anonymous users on 4chan and other web forums, and received rape and death threats. People ordered pizzas delivered to Averill's home, and they were forced to change their phone numbers due to the number of hateful calls.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n \n\nAmerican documentary films\nAmerican films\n2017 films\n2017 documentary films"
] |
[
"William Beveridge",
"Report on social insurance",
"What was the report on social insurance?",
"It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid",
"Was this report helpful?",
"He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living \"below which no one should be allowed to fall\".",
"did he help bring about change?",
"fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health."
] | C_237643feedba46959fb07be350fab269_0 | what struggles did he face? | 5 | What struggles did William Beveridge face? | William Beveridge | An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly. The Report to the Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health. Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods. Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed how this goal might be gained. Alternative measures for achieving it included Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society. CANNOTANSWER | He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry | William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services (known as the Beveridge Report) served as the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.
He built his career as an expert on unemployment insurance. He served on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges, and later as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford.
Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security, his most notable works being: Unemployment: A Problem of Industry (1909), Planning Under Socialism (1936), Full Employment in a Free Society (1944), Pillars of Security (1943), Power and Influence (1953) and A Defence of Free Learning (1959). He was elected in a 1944 by-election as a Liberal MP (for Berwick-upon-Tweed); following his defeat in the 1945 general election, he was elevated to the House of Lords where he served as the leader of the Liberal peers.
Early life and education
Beveridge, the eldest son of Henry Beveridge, an Indian Civil Service officer and District Judge, and scholar Annette Ackroyd, was born in Rangpur, British India (now Rangpur, Bangladesh), on 5 March 1879.
Beveridge's mother had, with Elizabeth Malleson, founded the Working Women's College in Queen Square, London in 1864. She met and married Henry Beveridge in Calcutta where she had gone in 1873 to open a school for Indian girls. William Beveridge was educated at Charterhouse, a leading public school near the market town of Godalming in Surrey, followed by Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he studied Mathematics and Classics, obtaining a first class degree in both. He later studied law.
While Beveridge's mother had been a member of the Stourbridge Unitarian community, his father was an early humanist and positivist activist and "an ardent disciple" of the French philosopher Auguste Comte. Comte's ideas of a secular religion of humanity were a prominent influence in the household and would exert a lasting influence on Beveridge's thinking. Beveridge himself became a "materialist agnostic", in his words.
Life and career
After leaving university, Beveridge initially became a lawyer. He became interested in the social services and wrote about the subject for the Morning Post newspaper. His interest in the causes of unemployment began in 1903 when he worked at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London. There he worked closely with Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb and was influenced by their theories of social reform, becoming active in promoting old age pensions, free school meals, and campaigning for a national system of labour exchanges.
In 1908, now considered to be Britain's leading authority on unemployment insurance, he was introduced by Beatrice Webb to Winston Churchill, who had recently been promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. Churchill invited Beveridge to join the Board of Trade, and he organised the implementation of the national system of labour exchanges and National Insurance to combat unemployment and poverty. During the First World War he was involved in mobilising and controlling manpower. After the war, he was knighted and made permanent secretary to the Ministry of Food.
In 1919 he left the civil service to become director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Over the next few years he served on several commissions and committees on social policy. He was so highly influenced by the Fabian Society socialists – in particular by Beatrice Webb, with whom he worked on the 1909 Poor Laws report – that he could be considered one of their number. He published academic economic works including his early work on unemployment (1909). The Fabians made him a director of the LSE in 1919, a post he retained until 1937. During his time as Director, he jousted with Edwin Cannan and Lionel Robbins, who were trying to steer the LSE away from its Fabian roots. From 1929 he led the International scientific committee on price history, contributing a large historical study, Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century (1939).
In 1933 he helped set up the Academic Assistance Council. This helped prominent academics who had been dismissed from their posts on grounds of race, religion or political position to escape Nazi persecution. In 1937 Beveridge was appointed Master of University College, Oxford.
Wartime work
Three years later, Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour in the wartime National government, invited Beveridge to take charge of the Welfare department of his Ministry. Beveridge refused, but declared an interest in organising British manpower in wartime (Beveridge had come to favour a strong system of centralised planning). Bevin was reluctant to let Beveridge have his way but did commission him to work on a relatively unimportant manpower survey from June 1940 and so Beveridge became a temporary civil servant. Neither Bevin nor the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Sir Thomas Phillips liked working with Beveridge as both found him conceited.
His work on manpower culminated in his chairmanship of the Committee on Skilled Men in the Services which reported to the War Cabinet in August and October 1941. Two recommendations of the committee were implemented: Army recruits were enlisted for their first six weeks into the General Service Corps, so that their subsequent posting could take account of their skills and the Army's needs; and the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was created.
Report on social insurance and views on full employment
An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly.
The report to Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health.
Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods.
Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed the view that it was "absurd" to "look to individual employers for maintenance of demand and full employment." These things must be "undertaken by the State under the supervision and pressure of democracy." Measures for achieving full-employment might include Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society.
Later career
Later in 1944, Beveridge, who had recently joined the Liberal Party, was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election to succeed George Charles Grey, who had died on the battlefield in Normandy, France, on the first day of Operation Bluecoat on 30 July 1944. Beveridge briefly served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, during which time he was prominent in the Radical Action group, which called for the party to withdraw from the war-time electoral pact and adopt more radical policies. However, he lost his seat at the 1945 general election, when he was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Robert Thorp, by a majority of 1,962 votes.
Clement Attlee and the Labour Party defeated Winston Churchill's Conservative Party in that election and the new Labour Government began the process of implementing Beveridge's proposals that provided the basis of the modern Welfare State. Attlee announced he would introduce the Welfare State outlined in the 1942 Beveridge Report. This included the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide "social security" so that the population would be protected from the "cradle to the grave". The new system was partly built upon the National Insurance scheme set up by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer and future Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1911.
In 1946, Beveridge was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Beveridge, of Tuggal in the County of Northumberland, and eventually became leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. He was the author of Power and Influence (1953). He was the President of the charity Attend (then the National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1952 to 1962.
Eugenics
Beveridge was a member of the Eugenics Society, which promoted the study of methods to 'improve' the human race by controlling reproduction. In 1909, he proposed that men who could not work should be supported by the state "but with complete and permanent loss of all citizen rights – including not only the franchise but civil freedom and fatherhood." Whilst director of the London School of Economics, Beveridge attempted to create a Department of Social Biology. Though never fully established, Lancelot Hogben, a fierce anti-eugenicist, was named its chair. Former LSE director John Ashworth speculated that discord between those in favour and those against the serious study of eugenics led to Beveridge's departure from the school in 1937.
In the 1940s, Beveridge credited the Eugenics Society with promoting the children's allowance, which was incorporated into his 1942 report. However, whilst he held views in support of eugenics, he did not believe the report had any overall "eugenic value". Professor Danny Dorling said that "there is not even the faintest hint" of eugenic thought in the report.
Dennis Sewell states that "On the day the House of Commons met to debate the Beveridge Report in 1943, its author slipped out of the gallery early in the evening to address a meeting of the Eugenics Society at the Mansion House. ... His report he was keen to reassure them, was eugenic in intent and would prove so in effect. ... The idea of child allowances had been developed within the society with the twin aims of encouraging the educated professional classes to have more children than they currently did and, at the same time, to limit the number of children born to poor households. For both effects to be properly stimulated, the allowance needed to be graded: middle-class parents receiving more generous payments than working-class parents. ... The Home Secretary had that very day signalled that the government planned a flat rate of child allowance. But Beveridge, alluding to the problem of an overall declining birth rate, argued that even the flat rate would be eugenic. Nevertheless, he held out hope for the purists." 'Sir William made it clear that it was in his view not only possible but desirable that graded family allowance schemes, applicable to families in the higher income brackets, be administered concurrently with his flat rate scheme,' reported the Eugenics Review.
Personal life
Beveridge married the mathematician Janet Philip, daughter of William Philip and widow of David Mair, in 1942. They had worked together in the civil service and at LSE, and she was instrumental in the drafting and publicising of the Beveridge Report.
He died at his home on 16 March 1963, aged 84, and was buried in Thockrington churchyard, on the Northumbrian moors. His barony became extinct upon his death. His last words were "I have a thousand things to do".
Commemoration
Beveridge Street in the Christchurch Central City was named for William Beveridge. It was one of 120 streets that were renamed in 1948 by Peter Fraser's Labour Government of New Zealand.
In November 2018, English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque commemorating Beveridge at 27 Bedford Gardens in Campden Hill, London W8 7EF where he lived from 1914 until 1921.
University College, Oxford's society for students studying and tutors involved in the study of Philosophy, Politics and Economics was recently renamed the Beveridge Society in his honour.
Works
Unemployment: A problem of industry, 1909. online (Archive.org)
'Wages in the Winchester Manors', Economic History Review, Vol. VII, 1936–37.
Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century, 1939.
Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942. (The Beveridge Report)
The Pillars of Security and Other War-Time Essays and Addresses, 1943, republished 2014.
Full Employment in a Free Society, 1944.
The Economics of Full Employment, 1944.
Why I am a Liberal, 1945.
The Price of Peace, 1945.
Power and Influence, 1953.
"India Called Them," George Allen & Unwin, 1947
Plan for Britain: A Collection of Essays prepared for the Fabian Society by G. D. H. Cole, Aneurin Bevan, Jim Griffiths, L. F. Easterbrook, Sir William Beveridge, and Harold J. Laski (Not illustrated with 127 text pages).
'Westminster Wages in the Manorial Era', Economic History Review, 2nd Series, Vol. VIII, 1955.
See also
Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee's Health Minister
Beveridge curve – the relationship between unemployment and the job vacancy rate
List of liberal theorists
List of British university chancellors and vice-chancellors
List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service
List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Resources
Jose Harris, William Beveridge: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1997. .
Julien Demade, Produire un fait scientifique. Beveridge et le Comité international d'histoire des prix, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2018. .
William Beveridge's archives are held at the London School of Economics.
Photographs of William Beveridge held by LSE Archives
Donald Markwell, John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace, Oxford University Press, 2006.
References
Further reading
Addison, Paul. The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (1977) pp 211–28.
Harris, Jose. William Beveridge: a biography (1997) online.
Hills, John et al. eds. Beveridge and Social Security: an International Retrospective (1994)
Robertson, David Brian. "Policy entrepreneurs and policy divergence: John R. Commons and William Beveridge." Social Service Review 62.3 (1988): 504–531.
Sugita, Yoneyuki. "The Beveridge Report and Japan." Social work in public health 29.2 (2014): 148–161.
Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and its implementation: A revolutionary project?." Histoire@ Politique 3 (2014): 24–37. online
Primary sources
Williams, Ioan, and Karel Williams, eds. A Beveridge Reader (2014); (Works of William H. Beveridge).
External links
Sir William Beveridge Foundation
Spartacus Educational on William Beveridge and The Beveridge Report
Full text of the report
BBC information
BBC Radio 4, Great Lives – Downloadable 30 minute discussion of William Beveridge
Catalogue of William Beveridge's papers at the London School of Economics (LSE Archives)
Cataloguing the Beveridge papers at LSE Archives
1879 births
1963 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British agnostics
British humanists
British economists
British reformers
British social liberals
Civil servants in the Board of Trade
English people of Scottish descent
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Masters of University College, Oxford
People educated at Charterhouse School
People associated with the London School of Economics
Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Food
Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
British social reformers
UK MPs 1935–1945
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Peers created by George VI | true | [
"Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies is a 2009 book by the theologian, philosopher, and cultural commentator David Bentley Hart. The book explores what Hart identifies as historical and popular misconceptions of Christianity's detractors.\n\nContent\nHart explores the role of Christianity and its interactions with other religions, arguing that Christianity differs from religious cults and faiths of the time. He states it has changed, forming the basis of modern culture while dealing with the impact of the gradual decline that began with the separation of Church and state, as well as the age of war that he says resulted.\n\nHart attempts to explain the people, history, events, and reasons behind what he sees as Christianity's rise, achievements, mistakes, and recent decline in the face of materialism and the power struggles of world leaders. Additionally, he aims to debunk what he says are popular historical myths used to attack Christianity.\n\nOn 27 May 2011, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, awarded the book the Michael Ramsey Prize in Theology.\n\nThere is also a Finnish translation (2010) by Perussanoma press.\n\nReferences\n\nHistory of Christianity texts\nBooks about atheism\nChristian apologetic works\nCriticism of atheism\n2009 non-fiction books",
"Trophy Kids is a 2013 film directed by Christopher Bell. It depicts a number of families where parents push their children excessively in sport. The film premiered on HBO on December 4, 2013.\n\nSynopsis\nFrom the director of the film Bigger, Stronger, Faster* comes an intense look at the overbearing parents in sports. The film asks the question \"Do we want what's best for our children? Or do we just want them to be the best?\" Parts of this film were used in the premier of Peter Berg's HBO series State of Play.\n\nCast\n\nReception\nThe documentary received positive reviews as it shined a light on the struggles and stresses that these children face.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2013 television films\n2013 films\nAmerican television films\nAmerican documentary films\nAmerican films\nEnglish-language films\n2013 documentary films"
] |
[
"William Beveridge",
"Report on social insurance",
"What was the report on social insurance?",
"It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid",
"Was this report helpful?",
"He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living \"below which no one should be allowed to fall\".",
"did he help bring about change?",
"fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health.",
"what struggles did he face?",
"He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry"
] | C_237643feedba46959fb07be350fab269_0 | did they listen to him? | 6 | Did the conservatives and other sceptics listen to William Beveridge? | William Beveridge | An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly. The Report to the Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health. Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods. Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed how this goal might be gained. Alternative measures for achieving it included Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society. CANNOTANSWER | Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. | William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services (known as the Beveridge Report) served as the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.
He built his career as an expert on unemployment insurance. He served on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges, and later as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford.
Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security, his most notable works being: Unemployment: A Problem of Industry (1909), Planning Under Socialism (1936), Full Employment in a Free Society (1944), Pillars of Security (1943), Power and Influence (1953) and A Defence of Free Learning (1959). He was elected in a 1944 by-election as a Liberal MP (for Berwick-upon-Tweed); following his defeat in the 1945 general election, he was elevated to the House of Lords where he served as the leader of the Liberal peers.
Early life and education
Beveridge, the eldest son of Henry Beveridge, an Indian Civil Service officer and District Judge, and scholar Annette Ackroyd, was born in Rangpur, British India (now Rangpur, Bangladesh), on 5 March 1879.
Beveridge's mother had, with Elizabeth Malleson, founded the Working Women's College in Queen Square, London in 1864. She met and married Henry Beveridge in Calcutta where she had gone in 1873 to open a school for Indian girls. William Beveridge was educated at Charterhouse, a leading public school near the market town of Godalming in Surrey, followed by Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he studied Mathematics and Classics, obtaining a first class degree in both. He later studied law.
While Beveridge's mother had been a member of the Stourbridge Unitarian community, his father was an early humanist and positivist activist and "an ardent disciple" of the French philosopher Auguste Comte. Comte's ideas of a secular religion of humanity were a prominent influence in the household and would exert a lasting influence on Beveridge's thinking. Beveridge himself became a "materialist agnostic", in his words.
Life and career
After leaving university, Beveridge initially became a lawyer. He became interested in the social services and wrote about the subject for the Morning Post newspaper. His interest in the causes of unemployment began in 1903 when he worked at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London. There he worked closely with Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb and was influenced by their theories of social reform, becoming active in promoting old age pensions, free school meals, and campaigning for a national system of labour exchanges.
In 1908, now considered to be Britain's leading authority on unemployment insurance, he was introduced by Beatrice Webb to Winston Churchill, who had recently been promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. Churchill invited Beveridge to join the Board of Trade, and he organised the implementation of the national system of labour exchanges and National Insurance to combat unemployment and poverty. During the First World War he was involved in mobilising and controlling manpower. After the war, he was knighted and made permanent secretary to the Ministry of Food.
In 1919 he left the civil service to become director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Over the next few years he served on several commissions and committees on social policy. He was so highly influenced by the Fabian Society socialists – in particular by Beatrice Webb, with whom he worked on the 1909 Poor Laws report – that he could be considered one of their number. He published academic economic works including his early work on unemployment (1909). The Fabians made him a director of the LSE in 1919, a post he retained until 1937. During his time as Director, he jousted with Edwin Cannan and Lionel Robbins, who were trying to steer the LSE away from its Fabian roots. From 1929 he led the International scientific committee on price history, contributing a large historical study, Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century (1939).
In 1933 he helped set up the Academic Assistance Council. This helped prominent academics who had been dismissed from their posts on grounds of race, religion or political position to escape Nazi persecution. In 1937 Beveridge was appointed Master of University College, Oxford.
Wartime work
Three years later, Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour in the wartime National government, invited Beveridge to take charge of the Welfare department of his Ministry. Beveridge refused, but declared an interest in organising British manpower in wartime (Beveridge had come to favour a strong system of centralised planning). Bevin was reluctant to let Beveridge have his way but did commission him to work on a relatively unimportant manpower survey from June 1940 and so Beveridge became a temporary civil servant. Neither Bevin nor the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Sir Thomas Phillips liked working with Beveridge as both found him conceited.
His work on manpower culminated in his chairmanship of the Committee on Skilled Men in the Services which reported to the War Cabinet in August and October 1941. Two recommendations of the committee were implemented: Army recruits were enlisted for their first six weeks into the General Service Corps, so that their subsequent posting could take account of their skills and the Army's needs; and the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was created.
Report on social insurance and views on full employment
An opportunity for Bevin to ease Beveridge out presented itself in May 1941 when Minister of Health Ernest Brown announced the formation of a committee of officials to survey existing social insurance and allied services, and to make recommendations. Although Brown had made the announcement, the inquiry had largely been urged by Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood, and Bevin suggested to Greenwood making Beveridge chairman of the committee. Beveridge, at first uninterested and seeing the committee as a distraction from his work on manpower, accepted only reluctantly.
The report to Parliament on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in November 1942. It proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". It recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the "five giants on the road of reconstruction" of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Beveridge included as one of three fundamental assumptions the fact that there would be a National Health Service of some sort, a policy already being worked on in the Ministry of Health.
Beveridge's arguments were widely accepted. He appealed to conservatives and other sceptics by arguing that welfare institutions would increase the competitiveness of British industry in the post-war period, not only by shifting labour costs like healthcare and pensions out of corporate ledgers and onto the public account but also by producing healthier, wealthier and thus more motivated and productive workers who would also serve as a great source of demand for British goods.
Beveridge saw full employment (defined as unemployment of no more than 3%) as the pivot of the social welfare programme he expressed in the 1942 report. Full Employment in a Free Society, written in 1944 expressed the view that it was "absurd" to "look to individual employers for maintenance of demand and full employment." These things must be "undertaken by the State under the supervision and pressure of democracy." Measures for achieving full-employment might include Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice, and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. He believed that the discovery of objective socio-economic laws could solve the problems of society.
Later career
Later in 1944, Beveridge, who had recently joined the Liberal Party, was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election to succeed George Charles Grey, who had died on the battlefield in Normandy, France, on the first day of Operation Bluecoat on 30 July 1944. Beveridge briefly served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, during which time he was prominent in the Radical Action group, which called for the party to withdraw from the war-time electoral pact and adopt more radical policies. However, he lost his seat at the 1945 general election, when he was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Robert Thorp, by a majority of 1,962 votes.
Clement Attlee and the Labour Party defeated Winston Churchill's Conservative Party in that election and the new Labour Government began the process of implementing Beveridge's proposals that provided the basis of the modern Welfare State. Attlee announced he would introduce the Welfare State outlined in the 1942 Beveridge Report. This included the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide "social security" so that the population would be protected from the "cradle to the grave". The new system was partly built upon the National Insurance scheme set up by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer and future Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1911.
In 1946, Beveridge was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Beveridge, of Tuggal in the County of Northumberland, and eventually became leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. He was the author of Power and Influence (1953). He was the President of the charity Attend (then the National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1952 to 1962.
Eugenics
Beveridge was a member of the Eugenics Society, which promoted the study of methods to 'improve' the human race by controlling reproduction. In 1909, he proposed that men who could not work should be supported by the state "but with complete and permanent loss of all citizen rights – including not only the franchise but civil freedom and fatherhood." Whilst director of the London School of Economics, Beveridge attempted to create a Department of Social Biology. Though never fully established, Lancelot Hogben, a fierce anti-eugenicist, was named its chair. Former LSE director John Ashworth speculated that discord between those in favour and those against the serious study of eugenics led to Beveridge's departure from the school in 1937.
In the 1940s, Beveridge credited the Eugenics Society with promoting the children's allowance, which was incorporated into his 1942 report. However, whilst he held views in support of eugenics, he did not believe the report had any overall "eugenic value". Professor Danny Dorling said that "there is not even the faintest hint" of eugenic thought in the report.
Dennis Sewell states that "On the day the House of Commons met to debate the Beveridge Report in 1943, its author slipped out of the gallery early in the evening to address a meeting of the Eugenics Society at the Mansion House. ... His report he was keen to reassure them, was eugenic in intent and would prove so in effect. ... The idea of child allowances had been developed within the society with the twin aims of encouraging the educated professional classes to have more children than they currently did and, at the same time, to limit the number of children born to poor households. For both effects to be properly stimulated, the allowance needed to be graded: middle-class parents receiving more generous payments than working-class parents. ... The Home Secretary had that very day signalled that the government planned a flat rate of child allowance. But Beveridge, alluding to the problem of an overall declining birth rate, argued that even the flat rate would be eugenic. Nevertheless, he held out hope for the purists." 'Sir William made it clear that it was in his view not only possible but desirable that graded family allowance schemes, applicable to families in the higher income brackets, be administered concurrently with his flat rate scheme,' reported the Eugenics Review.
Personal life
Beveridge married the mathematician Janet Philip, daughter of William Philip and widow of David Mair, in 1942. They had worked together in the civil service and at LSE, and she was instrumental in the drafting and publicising of the Beveridge Report.
He died at his home on 16 March 1963, aged 84, and was buried in Thockrington churchyard, on the Northumbrian moors. His barony became extinct upon his death. His last words were "I have a thousand things to do".
Commemoration
Beveridge Street in the Christchurch Central City was named for William Beveridge. It was one of 120 streets that were renamed in 1948 by Peter Fraser's Labour Government of New Zealand.
In November 2018, English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque commemorating Beveridge at 27 Bedford Gardens in Campden Hill, London W8 7EF where he lived from 1914 until 1921.
University College, Oxford's society for students studying and tutors involved in the study of Philosophy, Politics and Economics was recently renamed the Beveridge Society in his honour.
Works
Unemployment: A problem of industry, 1909. online (Archive.org)
'Wages in the Winchester Manors', Economic History Review, Vol. VII, 1936–37.
Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century, 1939.
Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942. (The Beveridge Report)
The Pillars of Security and Other War-Time Essays and Addresses, 1943, republished 2014.
Full Employment in a Free Society, 1944.
The Economics of Full Employment, 1944.
Why I am a Liberal, 1945.
The Price of Peace, 1945.
Power and Influence, 1953.
"India Called Them," George Allen & Unwin, 1947
Plan for Britain: A Collection of Essays prepared for the Fabian Society by G. D. H. Cole, Aneurin Bevan, Jim Griffiths, L. F. Easterbrook, Sir William Beveridge, and Harold J. Laski (Not illustrated with 127 text pages).
'Westminster Wages in the Manorial Era', Economic History Review, 2nd Series, Vol. VIII, 1955.
See also
Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee's Health Minister
Beveridge curve – the relationship between unemployment and the job vacancy rate
List of liberal theorists
List of British university chancellors and vice-chancellors
List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service
List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
Resources
Jose Harris, William Beveridge: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1997. .
Julien Demade, Produire un fait scientifique. Beveridge et le Comité international d'histoire des prix, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2018. .
William Beveridge's archives are held at the London School of Economics.
Photographs of William Beveridge held by LSE Archives
Donald Markwell, John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace, Oxford University Press, 2006.
References
Further reading
Addison, Paul. The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (1977) pp 211–28.
Harris, Jose. William Beveridge: a biography (1997) online.
Hills, John et al. eds. Beveridge and Social Security: an International Retrospective (1994)
Robertson, David Brian. "Policy entrepreneurs and policy divergence: John R. Commons and William Beveridge." Social Service Review 62.3 (1988): 504–531.
Sugita, Yoneyuki. "The Beveridge Report and Japan." Social work in public health 29.2 (2014): 148–161.
Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and its implementation: A revolutionary project?." Histoire@ Politique 3 (2014): 24–37. online
Primary sources
Williams, Ioan, and Karel Williams, eds. A Beveridge Reader (2014); (Works of William H. Beveridge).
External links
Sir William Beveridge Foundation
Spartacus Educational on William Beveridge and The Beveridge Report
Full text of the report
BBC information
BBC Radio 4, Great Lives – Downloadable 30 minute discussion of William Beveridge
Catalogue of William Beveridge's papers at the London School of Economics (LSE Archives)
Cataloguing the Beveridge papers at LSE Archives
1879 births
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Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
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Peers created by George VI | true | [
"Listen to Your Heart may refer to:\n\nFilm and television\nListen to Your Heart (1983 film), an American romantic comedy\nListen to Your Heart (2010 film), an American romantic drama\nThe Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart, an American dating reality television series\n\nMusic\nListen to Your Heart (album), by DHT, 2005\n\"Listen to Your Heart\" (Lisa Stansfield song), 1983\n\"Listen to Your Heart\" (Roxette song), 1988; covered by DHT, 2004\n\"Listen to Your Heart\" (Sonia song), 1989\n\"Listen to Your Heart\", a song by Alicia Keys from Girl on Fire, 2012\n\"Listen to Your Heart\", a song by Little River Band from Get Lucky, 1990\n\"Listen to Your Heart\", a song by the Maine from Black & White, 2010\n\"Listen to Your Heart\", a song by Rui En, 2003\n\nSee also\n\"Ascolta il tuo cuore\" (lit. \"Listen to your heart\"), a 1997 song by Laura Pausini\n\"Listen to Your Heartbeat\", a song by Friends, representing Sweden at Eurovision 2001\n\"Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)\", a 1971 song by the Stylistics; covered by Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross, 1974\nListen to My Heart (disambiguation)",
"Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear is a 2013 horror anthology film that was directed by Eric England (Taste), Nick Everhart (Smell), Emily Hagins (Touch), Miko Hughes (See), Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton (Listen). The anthology was originally broadcast on the Chiller network on May 31, 2013 and was released onto DVD and Blu-ray on October 22 of the same year.\n\nSynopsis\nThe film was composed of five short films and did not have a wraparound story, instead linking the shorts together with the mysterious company Watershed, a company with sinister intentions.\n\nSmell\nSmell (directed by Nick Everhart) follows a depressed man by the name of Seth (Corey Scott Rutledge). He's in a job he doesn't like and his despondence over his recent breakup has caused him to neglect himself. When a mysterious door to door saleslady offers him a cologne that can change everything for him, Seth takes her up on the offer. Her only warning is that he shouldn't use too much of it. Excited when the cologne starts making him more successful at work and love, Seth is soon horrified when the cologne's side effects start to work on him.\n\nSee\nSee (directed by Miko Hughes) follows Dr. Tom (Ted Yudain), an optometrist that is able to see through the eyes of his patients. This is initially fun for him until he discovers that one of his patients is experiencing domestic abuse at the hand of her boyfriend (Lowell Byers). Tom tries to intervene by using his ability to cause the boyfriend to experience hellish visions, but this soon backfires.\n\nTouch\nTouch (directed by Emily Hagins) follows a young blind boy that must go search for help after his parents are wounded in a car accident. In his desperation he comes across a killer who has an aversion to being touched (Lowell Byers), and who is living in a set of abandoned buildings.\n\nTaste\nTaste (directed by Eric England) is centered upon Aaron (Doug Roland), a hacker that finds himself in a large corporate building at the bequest of Watershed businesswoman Lacey (Symba Smith), who wants to interview him. He's offered a lucrative job, but refuses and is instead treated to a deadly encounter.\n\nListen\nListen (directed by Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton) is a found footage short that follows two men making a movie about Listen, My Children, a song that has the ability to kill. They manage to find footage of a doctor conducting experiments with the song and ultimately end up playing the song for others.\n\nReception\nCritical reception for the film has been mixed. Twitch Film commented that like many other anthologies, some of the shorts were \"duds\" but that overall the shorts were \"fairly consistent\". Reviews from Bloody Disgusting were divided, with one reviewer criticizing the film as being \"more predictable than terrifying\" while the other reviewer stated that it was a \"mixed bag, but a completely watchable one straight through.\" Shock Till You Drop panned the first three shorts (Smell, See, and Touch) as they felt that viewers could \"definitely skip the first three and not miss anything\" while praising the final two (Taste and Listen).\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2013 horror films\nAmerican horror anthology films\nAmerican films\nFilms directed by Eric England\nFilms directed by Nick Everhart\nFilms directed by Jesse Holland\nFilms directed by Miko Hughes\nFilms directed by Emily Hagins\nFilms directed by Andy Mitton\n2013 films"
] |
[
"Electric Light Orchestra",
"2001-2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions"
] | C_c34ba5e0279a482b95b3bcb771670842_1 | Did they come up with any original work during this time? | 1 | Did Electric Light Orchestra come up with any original work during 2001-2013? | Electric Light Orchestra | For the next six years, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North". On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live - The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion - Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011. Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of new recordings of ELO's greatest hits by Lynne; along with a new song "Point of No Return", released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave. These new 2012 albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks. Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin. CANNOTANSWER | The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. | The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including two LPs that reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986 Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became the Orchestra. Apart from a brief reunion in the early 2000s, ELO remained largely inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO.
During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide, and collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits (20) without a number one single of any band in US chart history. In 2017, the key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
History
1970–1973: Formation and early albums
In 1968, Roy Wood — guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the Move — had an idea to form a new band that would use violins, cellos, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, taking rock music in the direction to "pick up where the Beatles left off". The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race, was excited by the concept. When Trevor Burton left the Move in February 1969, Lynne was asked by Wood to join, only to say no, as he was still focused on finding success with his band. But in January 1970, when Carl Wayne quit the band, Lynne accepted Wood's second invitation to join, on the condition that they focus their energy on the new project.
On 12 July 1970, when Wood added multiple cellos to a Lynne-penned song intended to be a Move B-side, the new concept became a reality and "10538 Overture" became the first Electric Light Orchestra song. The original plan was to end The Move following the release of the Looking On album at the end of 1970, crossing over to the new unit in the new year, but to help finance the fledgling band, one further Move album, Message from the Country, was also recorded during the lengthy ELO recordings and released in mid-1971. The resulting debut album The Electric Light Orchestra was released in December 1971. Only the trio of Wood, Lynne and Bevan played on all songs, with Bill Hunt supplying the French Horn parts and Steve Woolam playing violin. It was released in the United States in March 1972 as No Answer. The name was chosen after a record company secretary had tried to ring the UK company to get the name of the album. They were unavailable so she left a note reading "No answer". "10538 Overture" became a UK top-ten hit. With both band's albums in the stores simultaneously, the Move and ELO both appeared on television during this period.
ELO's debut concert took place on 16 April 1972 at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon, Surrey, with a line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, Bill Hunt (keyboards/French horn), Andy Craig (cello), Mike Edwards (cello), Wilfred Gibson (violin), Hugh McDowell (cello), and Richard Tandy (bass). However, this line-up did not last for long. First Craig departed, and then Wood, during the recordings for the band's second LP. Taking Hunt and McDowell with him, Wood left the band to form Wizzard. Both cited problems with their manager, Don Arden, who Wood felt failed in his role, and an unsatisfactory tour of Italy, where the cellos and violins could not be heard over the electric instruments. However, Arden would manage Wizzard, despite Wood's negative comments towards Arden. Despite predictions from the music press that the band would fold without Wood, who had been the driving force behind the creation of ELO, Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan, Edwards, Gibson and Tandy (who had switched from bass to keyboards to replace Hunt) remaining from the previous line-up, and new recruits Mike de Albuquerque and Colin Walker joining the band on bass and cello, respectively.
The new line-up performed at the 1972 Reading Festival on 12 August 1972. Barcus Berry instrument pick-ups, now sported by the band's string trio, allowed them to have proper amplification on stage for their instruments, which had previously been all but drowned out by the electrified instruments. The band released their second album ELO 2 in early 1973, which produced their second UK top 10 and their first US chart single, an elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven" (which also incorporated the first movement of Beethoven's own Fifth Symphony). ELO also made their first appearance on American Bandstand. During the recording of the third album, Gibson was let go after a dispute over money, Mik Kaminski joined as violinist, and Walker left since touring was keeping him away from his family too much. Remaining cellist Edwards finished the cello parts for the album. The resulting album, On the Third Day, was released in late 1973, with the American version featuring the popular single "Showdown". After leaving Wizzard, Hugh McDowell returned as the group's second cellist, also in late 1973, in time to appear on the On the Third Day cover in some regions, despite not having played on the album.
1974–1982: Global success and concept albums
For the band's fourth album, Eldorado, a concept album about a daydreamer, Lynne stopped multi-tracking strings and hired Louis Clark as string arranger with an orchestra and choir. ELO's string players still continued to perform on recordings, however. The first single off the album, "Can't Get It Out of My Head", became their first US top 10 hit, and Eldorado, A Symphony became ELO's first gold album. Mike de Albuquerque departed the band during the recording sessions as he wished to spend more time with his family, and consequently much of the bass on the album was performed by Lynne.
Following the release of Eldorado, Kelly Groucutt was recruited as bassist and in early 1975, Melvyn Gale replaced Edwards on cello. The line-up stabilised as the band took to a decidedly more accessible sound. ELO had become successful in the US at this point and the group was a star attraction on the stadium and arena circuit, and regularly appeared on The Midnight Special more than any other band in that show's history with four appearances (in 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977).
Face the Music was released in 1975, producing the hit singles "Evil Woman", their third UK top 10, and "Strange Magic". The opening instrumental "Fire on High", with its mix of strings and acoustic guitars, saw heavy exposure as the theme music for the American television programme CBS Sports Spectacular in the mid-1970s. The group toured extensively from 3 February to 13 April 1976, playing 68 shows in 76 days in the US.
Their sixth album, the platinum selling A New World Record, became their first UK top 10 album when it was released in 1976. It contained the hit singles "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Rockaria!" and "Do Ya", the last a re-recording of a Move song recorded for that group's final single. The band toured in support in the US only from September 1976 to April 1977 with a break in December, then an American Music Awards show appearance on 31 January 1977, plus a one-off gig in San Diego in August 1977. Casey Kasem said that the Electric Light Orchestra is the "World's first touring rock 'n' roll chamber group" before he played "Livin' Thing" at #28.
A New World Record was followed by a multi-platinum selling album, the double-LP Out of the Blue, in 1977. Out of the Blue featured the singles "Turn to Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Mr. Blue Sky", and "Wild West Hero", each becoming a hit in the United Kingdom. The band then set out on a nine-month, 92-date world tour, with an enormous set and a hugely expensive space ship stage with fog machines and a laser display. In the United States the concerts were billed as The Big Night and were their largest to date, with 62,000 people seeing them at Cleveland Stadium. The Big Night went on to become the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point (1978). The band played at London's Wembley Arena for eight straight sold-out nights during the tour, another record at that time.
During an Australian tour in early 1978, Electric Light Orchestra were presented with 9 platinum awards for the albums Out of the Blue and New World Record.
In 1979, the multi-platinum album Discovery was released, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart. Although the biggest hit on the album (and ELO's biggest hit overall) was the rock song "Don't Bring Me Down", the album was noted for its heavy disco influence. Discovery also produced the hits "Shine a Little Love", their first and only No. 1 hit from 1972 to the present with any of the four major or minor US singles charts on Radio & Records (R&R), "Last Train to London", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp". Another song, "Midnight Blue", was released as a single in southeast Asia. The band recorded promotional videos for all the songs on the album.
By the end of 1979, ELO had reached the peak of their stardom, selling millions of albums and singles, and even inspiring a parody/tribute song on the Randy Newman album Born Again, titled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band". During 1979, Jeff Lynne also turned down an invitation for ELO to headline the August 1979 Knebworth Festival concerts. That allowed Led Zeppelin the chance to headline instead.
In 1980, Jeff Lynne was asked to write for the soundtrack of the musical film Xanadu and provided half of the songs, with the other half written by John Farrar and performed by the film's star Olivia Newton-John. The film performed poorly at the box office, but the soundtrack did exceptionally well, eventually going double platinum. The album spawned hit singles from both Newton-John ("Magic", a No. 1 hit in the United States, and "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard) and ELO ("I'm Alive", which went gold, "All Over the World" and "Don't Walk Away"). The title track, performed by both Newton-John and ELO, is ELO's only song to top the singles chart in the United Kingdom. More than a quarter of a century later, Xanadu, a Broadway musical based on the film, opened on 10 July 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre to uniformly good reviews. It received four Tony Award nominations. The musical received its UK premiere in London in October 2015. Casey Kasem called The Electric Light Orchestra a "seven-man supergroup" and "amazing" for hitting the top 40 a remarkable six times in a one-year period from August 1979 to August 1980 before playing "All Over the World" at #23.
In 1981, ELO's sound changed again with the science fiction concept album Time, a throwback to earlier, more progressive rock albums like Eldorado. With the string section now departed, synthesisers took a dominating role, as was the trend in the larger music scene of the time; although studio strings were present on some of the tracks conducted by Rainer Pietsch, the overall soundscape had a more electronic feel in keeping with the futuristic nature of the album. Time topped the UK charts for two weeks and was the last ELO studio album to be certified platinum in the United Kingdom until Alone in the Universe in 2015. Singles from the album included "Hold On Tight", "Twilight", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Here Is the News" and "Ticket to the Moon". However, the release of the single for "Rain Is Falling" in 1982 was the band's first single in the US to fail to reach the Billboard Top 200 since 1975, and the release of "The Way Life's Meant to Be" similarly was their first single in the UK to fail to chart since 1976. The band embarked on their last world tour to promote the LP. For the tour, Kaminski returned to the line-up on violin, whilst Louis Clark (synthesizers) and Dave Morgan (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals) also joined the on stage lineup. Clark had previously handled string arrangements for the band.
1983–1986: Secret Messages, Balance of Power, disbanding
Jeff Lynne wanted to follow Time with a double album, but CBS blocked his plan on the grounds that a double vinyl album would be too expensive in the oil crisis and not sell as well as a single record, so as a result, the new album was edited down from double album to a single disc and released as Secret Messages in 1983 (many of the out-takes were later released on Afterglow or as b-sides of singles). The album was a hit in the UK reaching the top 5; but its release was undermined by a string of bad news that there would be no tour to promote the LP. Lynne, discouraged by the dwindling crowds on the Time tour, CBS's order to cut Secret Messages down to one disc, and his falling out with manager Don Arden (he would eventually leave Arden and Jet by 1985), decided to end ELO in late 1983. Drummer Bevan moved on to play drums for Black Sabbath and bassist Groucutt, unhappy with no touring income that year, decided to sue Lynne and Jet Records in November 1983, eventually resulting in a settlement for the sum of £300,000 (equivalent to £994,300 in 2018). Secret Messages debuted at number four in the United Kingdom, but it fell off the charts, failing to catch fire with a lack of hit singles in the UK (though "Rock 'n' Roll Is King" was a sizeable hit in UK, the US and Australia) and a lukewarm media response.
That same year, Lynne moved into production work, having already produced two tracks for Dave Edmunds' album Information, and he would go on to produce six cuts from his next one, Riff Raff, in 1984 and one cut on the Everly Brothers reunion album EB 84. He also composed a track for former ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog's 1985 album Eyes of a Woman.
Lynne and Tandy went on to record tracks for the 1984 Electric Dreams soundtrack under Lynne's name; however, Lynne was contractually obliged to make one more ELO album. So Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1984 and 1985 as a three-piece (with Christian Schneider playing saxophone on some tracks and Lynne again doubling on bass in addition to his usual guitar in the absence of an official bass player) to record Balance of Power, released early in 1986 after some delays. Though the single "Calling America" placed in the Top 30 in the United Kingdom (number 28) and Top 20 in the States, subsequent singles failed to chart. The album lacked actual classical strings, which were replaced once again by synthesizers, played by Tandy and Lynne. However, despite being a 3-piece, much of the album was made by Lynne alone, with Tandy and Bevan giving their additions later.
The band was then rejoined by Kaminski, Clark and Morgan, adding Martin Smith on bass guitar, and proceeded to perform a small number of live ELO performances in 1986, including shows in England and Germany along with US appearances on American Bandstand, Solid Gold, then at Disneyland that summer. The Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 was a charity concert organised by Bevan in ELO's hometown of Birmingham on 15 March 1986, and ELO performed. A hint of Lynne's future was seen when George Harrison appeared onstage during the encore at Heartbeat, joining in the all-star jam of "Johnny B. Goode". ELO's last performance for several years occurred on 13 July 1986 in Stuttgart, Germany playing as opening act to Rod Stewart. With Lynne no longer under contractual obligation to attend further scheduled performances, ELO effectively disbanded after that final show in Stuttgart in 1986, but there was no announcement made of it for the next two years, during which George Harrison's Lynne-produced album Cloud Nine and the pair's follow-up (with Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty as Traveling Wilburys) Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 were released.
1989–1999: ELO Part II
Bev Bevan (under an agreement with Lynne, who co-owned the ELO name with him) continued on in 1989 as ELO Part II, initially with no other former ELO members, but with ELO's main orchestra conductor, Louis Clark. Bevan also recruited Eric Troyer, Pete Haycock, and Neil Lockwood. ELO Part II released their debut album Electric Light Orchestra Part Two in May 1991. Mik Kaminski, Kelly Groucutt and Hugh McDowell, at the time working in a group called OrKestra, joined the group for their first tour in 1991. While McDowell did not stay, Groucutt and Kaminski became fully-fledged members. In 1994, after the departure of Haycock and Lockwood, the remaining five recorded Moment of Truth with their newest member, Phil Bates. This lineup toured extensively up to 1999. Bevan retired from the lineup in 1999 and sold his share of the ELO name to Jeff Lynne in 2000, after Lynne had expressed his dismay that in certain areas the band were billed as 'ELO', rather than with '...Part II' added, suggesting it was the original outfit. After Bevan left, the band continued after they changed its name to The Orchestra. In 2001 The Orchestra released their debut album No Rewind.
2000–2001: Reformation
Lynne's comeback with ELO began in 2000 with the release of a retrospective box set, Flashback, containing three CDs of remastered tracks and a handful of out-takes and unfinished works, most notably a new version of ELO's only UK number one hit "Xanadu". In 2001 Zoom, ELO's first album since 1986, was released. Though billed and marketed as an ELO album, the only returning member other than Lynne was Tandy, who performed on one track. Guest musicians included former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Upon completion of the album, Lynne reformed the band with completely new members, including his then-girlfriend Rosie Vela (who had released her own album, Zazu, in 1986) and announced that ELO would tour again. Former ELO member Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for two television live performances: VH1 Storytellers and a PBS concert shot at CBS Television City, later titled Zoom Tour Live and released on DVD. Besides Lynne, Tandy and Vela, the new live ELO lineup included Gregg Bissonette (drums, backing vocals), Matt Bissonette (bass guitar, backing vocals), Marc Mann (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Peggy Baldwin (cello), and Sarah O'Brien (cello). However, the planned tour was cancelled, reportedly due to poor ticket sales.
2001–2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions
From 2001 to 2007, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North".
On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live – The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion – Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011.
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of re-recordings of ELO's greatest hits, performed by Lynne exclusively, along with a new song titled "Point of No Return". Released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave, these new albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks.
Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr. Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin.
2014–present: Jeff Lynne's ELO
The success of the Children in Need performance was followed by support from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who had Lynne as his on-air guest and asked his listeners if they wanted to see ELO perform. The 50,000 tickets for the resulting BBC Radio 2's "Festival in a Day" in Hyde Park on 14 September 2014 sold out in 15 minutes. Billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO", Lynne and Tandy were backed by the Take That/Gary Barlow band from the Children in Need concert, led by Mike Stevens and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Lynne chose to use the name as a response to ELO offshoot, tribute and imitation bands, (ELO Part II, The Orchestra, OrKestra and the Music of ELO) who repeatedly used the ELO name for promoting their own tours, justified or not. Chereene Allen was again the lead violinist for the band. The development of modern digital processing added a smoother finish to the work, which led Lynne to reconsider his preference for studio work, hinting at a UK tour in 2015.
On 8 February 2015, Jeff Lynne's ELO played at the Grammy Awards for the first time. They performed a medley of "Evil Woman" and "Mr. Blue Sky" with Ed Sheeran, who introduced them as "A man and a band who I love".
On 10 September 2015, it was announced that a new ELO album would be released. The album was to be under the moniker of Jeff Lynne's ELO, with the band signed to Columbia Records. Alone in the Universe was released on 13 November 2015. The album was ELO's first album of new material since 2001's Zoom. The first track, and single, "When I Was a Boy" was made available for streaming on the same day and a music video for the song was also released. A small promotional tour followed the album's release which saw Jeff Lynne's ELO perform a full concert for BBC Radio 2 along with their first two shows in the United States in 30 years, both which sold out very quickly. Jeff Lynne's ELO also made rare US television appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS This Morning. A 19-date European tour was announced for 2016, with the band playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on 26 June 2016.
In 2017 they played their "Alone in the Universe" tour. That same year, on 7 April, they played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they were inducted during the 32nd Annual Induction Ceremony.
The band continued to tour in 2018 in North America and Europe. A video was created for the City of Birmingham which used the original recording of "Mr. Blue Sky" as its music; this was played at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony during the handover presentation of Birmingham 2022.
On 3 August 2018, Secret Messages was reissued "as originally conceived" as a double album. It included several cut tracks, such as the CD exclusive bonus track "Time After Time", B-side exclusives "Buildings Have Eyes" and "After All", the Afterglow exclusives "Mandalay" and "Hello My Old Friend", and the 2001 reissue exclusives "Endless Lies" and "No Way Out".
On 22 October 2018 Lynne announced that Jeff Lynne's ELO would embark on a 2019 North American tour from June to August 2019.
ELO released their 14th album, From Out of Nowhere, on 1 November 2019. While a tour from the album was announced to begin in October 2020, the official Jeff Lynne's ELO Twitter page then later announced that the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legacy and influence
According to music journalist Simon Price, ELO was
In November 2016, Jeff Lynne's ELO won Band of the Year at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. In October 2016, ELO were nominated for the 2017 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. It was the first time the Hall had announced in advance the members of bands who would be inducted; the members of ELO listed were Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Richard Tandy. On 20 December 2016, it was announced ELO had been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Personnel
Principal members
Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, cello, drums, percussion (1970–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–present)
Roy Wood – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, oboe, bassoon (1970–1972)
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1970–1983, 1985–1986)
Richard Tandy – piano, keyboards, synthesizer, bass, guitar, backing vocals (1972–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–2016, 2019–present)
Discography
The Electric Light Orchestra (1971)
ELO 2 (1973)
On the Third Day (1973)
Eldorado (1974)
Face the Music (1975)
A New World Record (1976)
Out of the Blue (1977)
Discovery (1979)
Xanadu (1980) (with Olivia Newton-John) (soundtrack album)
Time (1981) (credited as ELO)
Secret Messages (1983)
Balance of Power (1986)
Zoom (2001)
Alone in the Universe (2015) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
From Out of Nowhere (2019) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
Notes
References
Further reading
Bevan, Bev The Electric Light Orchestra Story (London: Mushroom, 1980)
Van der Kiste, John Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, before and after (Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2015)
External links
Electric Light Orchestra – The official Facebook page by Legacy Recordings.
Electric Light Orchestra Legacy Recordings site – ELO's page at their record label.
Jeff Lynne's ELO – The official Jeff Lynne website.
Jeff Lynne Song Database
ELO|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
The Move
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Musical groups reestablished in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2014
Progressive pop musicians
Symphonic rock groups
Harvest Records artists
Warner Records artists
United Artists Records artists
Jet Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
British soft rock music groups | true | [
"Beyond Flavor is Original Flavor's second and final album was recorded in 1993 and released in early 1994. Its first single, \"Can I Get Open,\" featured Jay-Z (who was unsigned at the time). The group disbanded after this album released, but they did begin work with Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z, Damon Dash and Kareem Burke.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\n1993 albums\nAlbums produced by Ski Beatz\nAtlantic Records albums\nOriginal Flavor albums",
"The Astroscan was a wide-field 4⅛\" clear-inch (105mm) diameter reflecting telescope, originally produced by the Edmund Scientific Corporation, that was for sale from 1976 to 2013.\n\nDesign\nThe Astroscan had a Newtonian reflector layout with a 4⅛\" clear-inch (105mm) diameter f/4.2 aluminized and overcoated borosilicate glass parabolic primary mirror with a focal length of 17½ inches (445mm). The telescope's secondary mirror was mounted on a flat optical window at the front of the tube. Edmund designer Norman Sperling and optical engineer Mike Simmons came up with the basic design and Peter Bressler Design Associates did the detailed work on this simple introductory telescope. Rather than using a more traditional equatorial or altazimuth mount the Astroscan features a spherical housing around the primary reflector which sat in a cast aluminum cradle. The design was durable and allowed for simple operation by novice amateur astronomers; it won an Industrial Design Award in 1976. The telescope body was made from high impact acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic and was equipped with a carrying strap to aid portability. \n\nBecause it was targeted at the novice market the telescope had its limitations: The general design was for low power hand-held or wide-angle work, the short f/4 focal ratio did not allow for high magnification without the image degrading, and the primary mirror was factory aligned with no provisions for adjustment. The Astroscan came with 15 mm and 28 mm focal length RKE eyepieces, giving it a magnification of 30X and 16X respectively, with a 3.0° field of view using the 28 mm eyepiece, and a 1.6° with the 15 mm.\n\nHistory\nWhen Edmund Scientific introduced the telescope in 1976 they called it \"The Edmund Wide-Field Telescope\" with a Part Number \"2001\" Edmund had a public contest which ran until November 15, 1976, to come up with a name. The winning name was \"Astroscan 2001\". The \"2001\" part of the name was dropped over time.\n\nThe Astroscan continued to be available after Edmund Scientific was acquired by Science Kit and Boreal Laboratories in 2001 with the telescope for sale on the \"Edmund Scientific\" website. Production and sales of the telescope ceased in 2013 when the mold for the plastic body broke. In 2016 the Edmund Scientific website, now called Scientifics Direct, began offering a more common format altitude-azimuth mounted 4.5 inch table-top Newtonian telescope labeled the \"Astroscan Millennium\". There are reports of a Kickstarter campaign by one of the original Astroscan creators to fund production of a new version based on the original Astroscan telescope. Scientifics Direct expected to have the Astroscan back in production in early 2017.\nScientifics Direct's website stated they would reintroduce the original Astroscan design in late 2020. At this time the production of the Original Astroscan will be placed on hold until the quality and price point can be comparable to the original.\n\nSee the Astroscan Millennium for a comparable price point and wide-field telescope.\n\nSee also\n Infinite-axis telescope\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Cleaning the Optics of the Edmund Astro-Scan Telescope\nReview of the Astroscan \"Edmund Scientific Astroscan telescope\" from 30 April 2004\nAstroscan Memories by Norman Sperling, January 15, 2011\n\nTelescopes\nAmateur astronomy"
] |
[
"Electric Light Orchestra",
"2001-2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions",
"Did they come up with any original work during this time?",
"The first was \"Surrender\" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976."
] | C_c34ba5e0279a482b95b3bcb771670842_1 | Was there anything that came in higher on the UK Singles Chart? | 2 | Was there anything that came in higher on the UK Singles Chart than "Surrender" by Electric Light Orchestra during 2001-2013? ? | Electric Light Orchestra | For the next six years, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North". On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live - The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion - Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011. Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of new recordings of ELO's greatest hits by Lynne; along with a new song "Point of No Return", released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave. These new 2012 albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks. Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin. CANNOTANSWER | some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North". | The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including two LPs that reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986 Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became the Orchestra. Apart from a brief reunion in the early 2000s, ELO remained largely inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO.
During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide, and collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits (20) without a number one single of any band in US chart history. In 2017, the key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
History
1970–1973: Formation and early albums
In 1968, Roy Wood — guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the Move — had an idea to form a new band that would use violins, cellos, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, taking rock music in the direction to "pick up where the Beatles left off". The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race, was excited by the concept. When Trevor Burton left the Move in February 1969, Lynne was asked by Wood to join, only to say no, as he was still focused on finding success with his band. But in January 1970, when Carl Wayne quit the band, Lynne accepted Wood's second invitation to join, on the condition that they focus their energy on the new project.
On 12 July 1970, when Wood added multiple cellos to a Lynne-penned song intended to be a Move B-side, the new concept became a reality and "10538 Overture" became the first Electric Light Orchestra song. The original plan was to end The Move following the release of the Looking On album at the end of 1970, crossing over to the new unit in the new year, but to help finance the fledgling band, one further Move album, Message from the Country, was also recorded during the lengthy ELO recordings and released in mid-1971. The resulting debut album The Electric Light Orchestra was released in December 1971. Only the trio of Wood, Lynne and Bevan played on all songs, with Bill Hunt supplying the French Horn parts and Steve Woolam playing violin. It was released in the United States in March 1972 as No Answer. The name was chosen after a record company secretary had tried to ring the UK company to get the name of the album. They were unavailable so she left a note reading "No answer". "10538 Overture" became a UK top-ten hit. With both band's albums in the stores simultaneously, the Move and ELO both appeared on television during this period.
ELO's debut concert took place on 16 April 1972 at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon, Surrey, with a line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, Bill Hunt (keyboards/French horn), Andy Craig (cello), Mike Edwards (cello), Wilfred Gibson (violin), Hugh McDowell (cello), and Richard Tandy (bass). However, this line-up did not last for long. First Craig departed, and then Wood, during the recordings for the band's second LP. Taking Hunt and McDowell with him, Wood left the band to form Wizzard. Both cited problems with their manager, Don Arden, who Wood felt failed in his role, and an unsatisfactory tour of Italy, where the cellos and violins could not be heard over the electric instruments. However, Arden would manage Wizzard, despite Wood's negative comments towards Arden. Despite predictions from the music press that the band would fold without Wood, who had been the driving force behind the creation of ELO, Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan, Edwards, Gibson and Tandy (who had switched from bass to keyboards to replace Hunt) remaining from the previous line-up, and new recruits Mike de Albuquerque and Colin Walker joining the band on bass and cello, respectively.
The new line-up performed at the 1972 Reading Festival on 12 August 1972. Barcus Berry instrument pick-ups, now sported by the band's string trio, allowed them to have proper amplification on stage for their instruments, which had previously been all but drowned out by the electrified instruments. The band released their second album ELO 2 in early 1973, which produced their second UK top 10 and their first US chart single, an elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven" (which also incorporated the first movement of Beethoven's own Fifth Symphony). ELO also made their first appearance on American Bandstand. During the recording of the third album, Gibson was let go after a dispute over money, Mik Kaminski joined as violinist, and Walker left since touring was keeping him away from his family too much. Remaining cellist Edwards finished the cello parts for the album. The resulting album, On the Third Day, was released in late 1973, with the American version featuring the popular single "Showdown". After leaving Wizzard, Hugh McDowell returned as the group's second cellist, also in late 1973, in time to appear on the On the Third Day cover in some regions, despite not having played on the album.
1974–1982: Global success and concept albums
For the band's fourth album, Eldorado, a concept album about a daydreamer, Lynne stopped multi-tracking strings and hired Louis Clark as string arranger with an orchestra and choir. ELO's string players still continued to perform on recordings, however. The first single off the album, "Can't Get It Out of My Head", became their first US top 10 hit, and Eldorado, A Symphony became ELO's first gold album. Mike de Albuquerque departed the band during the recording sessions as he wished to spend more time with his family, and consequently much of the bass on the album was performed by Lynne.
Following the release of Eldorado, Kelly Groucutt was recruited as bassist and in early 1975, Melvyn Gale replaced Edwards on cello. The line-up stabilised as the band took to a decidedly more accessible sound. ELO had become successful in the US at this point and the group was a star attraction on the stadium and arena circuit, and regularly appeared on The Midnight Special more than any other band in that show's history with four appearances (in 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977).
Face the Music was released in 1975, producing the hit singles "Evil Woman", their third UK top 10, and "Strange Magic". The opening instrumental "Fire on High", with its mix of strings and acoustic guitars, saw heavy exposure as the theme music for the American television programme CBS Sports Spectacular in the mid-1970s. The group toured extensively from 3 February to 13 April 1976, playing 68 shows in 76 days in the US.
Their sixth album, the platinum selling A New World Record, became their first UK top 10 album when it was released in 1976. It contained the hit singles "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Rockaria!" and "Do Ya", the last a re-recording of a Move song recorded for that group's final single. The band toured in support in the US only from September 1976 to April 1977 with a break in December, then an American Music Awards show appearance on 31 January 1977, plus a one-off gig in San Diego in August 1977. Casey Kasem said that the Electric Light Orchestra is the "World's first touring rock 'n' roll chamber group" before he played "Livin' Thing" at #28.
A New World Record was followed by a multi-platinum selling album, the double-LP Out of the Blue, in 1977. Out of the Blue featured the singles "Turn to Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Mr. Blue Sky", and "Wild West Hero", each becoming a hit in the United Kingdom. The band then set out on a nine-month, 92-date world tour, with an enormous set and a hugely expensive space ship stage with fog machines and a laser display. In the United States the concerts were billed as The Big Night and were their largest to date, with 62,000 people seeing them at Cleveland Stadium. The Big Night went on to become the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point (1978). The band played at London's Wembley Arena for eight straight sold-out nights during the tour, another record at that time.
During an Australian tour in early 1978, Electric Light Orchestra were presented with 9 platinum awards for the albums Out of the Blue and New World Record.
In 1979, the multi-platinum album Discovery was released, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart. Although the biggest hit on the album (and ELO's biggest hit overall) was the rock song "Don't Bring Me Down", the album was noted for its heavy disco influence. Discovery also produced the hits "Shine a Little Love", their first and only No. 1 hit from 1972 to the present with any of the four major or minor US singles charts on Radio & Records (R&R), "Last Train to London", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp". Another song, "Midnight Blue", was released as a single in southeast Asia. The band recorded promotional videos for all the songs on the album.
By the end of 1979, ELO had reached the peak of their stardom, selling millions of albums and singles, and even inspiring a parody/tribute song on the Randy Newman album Born Again, titled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band". During 1979, Jeff Lynne also turned down an invitation for ELO to headline the August 1979 Knebworth Festival concerts. That allowed Led Zeppelin the chance to headline instead.
In 1980, Jeff Lynne was asked to write for the soundtrack of the musical film Xanadu and provided half of the songs, with the other half written by John Farrar and performed by the film's star Olivia Newton-John. The film performed poorly at the box office, but the soundtrack did exceptionally well, eventually going double platinum. The album spawned hit singles from both Newton-John ("Magic", a No. 1 hit in the United States, and "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard) and ELO ("I'm Alive", which went gold, "All Over the World" and "Don't Walk Away"). The title track, performed by both Newton-John and ELO, is ELO's only song to top the singles chart in the United Kingdom. More than a quarter of a century later, Xanadu, a Broadway musical based on the film, opened on 10 July 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre to uniformly good reviews. It received four Tony Award nominations. The musical received its UK premiere in London in October 2015. Casey Kasem called The Electric Light Orchestra a "seven-man supergroup" and "amazing" for hitting the top 40 a remarkable six times in a one-year period from August 1979 to August 1980 before playing "All Over the World" at #23.
In 1981, ELO's sound changed again with the science fiction concept album Time, a throwback to earlier, more progressive rock albums like Eldorado. With the string section now departed, synthesisers took a dominating role, as was the trend in the larger music scene of the time; although studio strings were present on some of the tracks conducted by Rainer Pietsch, the overall soundscape had a more electronic feel in keeping with the futuristic nature of the album. Time topped the UK charts for two weeks and was the last ELO studio album to be certified platinum in the United Kingdom until Alone in the Universe in 2015. Singles from the album included "Hold On Tight", "Twilight", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Here Is the News" and "Ticket to the Moon". However, the release of the single for "Rain Is Falling" in 1982 was the band's first single in the US to fail to reach the Billboard Top 200 since 1975, and the release of "The Way Life's Meant to Be" similarly was their first single in the UK to fail to chart since 1976. The band embarked on their last world tour to promote the LP. For the tour, Kaminski returned to the line-up on violin, whilst Louis Clark (synthesizers) and Dave Morgan (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals) also joined the on stage lineup. Clark had previously handled string arrangements for the band.
1983–1986: Secret Messages, Balance of Power, disbanding
Jeff Lynne wanted to follow Time with a double album, but CBS blocked his plan on the grounds that a double vinyl album would be too expensive in the oil crisis and not sell as well as a single record, so as a result, the new album was edited down from double album to a single disc and released as Secret Messages in 1983 (many of the out-takes were later released on Afterglow or as b-sides of singles). The album was a hit in the UK reaching the top 5; but its release was undermined by a string of bad news that there would be no tour to promote the LP. Lynne, discouraged by the dwindling crowds on the Time tour, CBS's order to cut Secret Messages down to one disc, and his falling out with manager Don Arden (he would eventually leave Arden and Jet by 1985), decided to end ELO in late 1983. Drummer Bevan moved on to play drums for Black Sabbath and bassist Groucutt, unhappy with no touring income that year, decided to sue Lynne and Jet Records in November 1983, eventually resulting in a settlement for the sum of £300,000 (equivalent to £994,300 in 2018). Secret Messages debuted at number four in the United Kingdom, but it fell off the charts, failing to catch fire with a lack of hit singles in the UK (though "Rock 'n' Roll Is King" was a sizeable hit in UK, the US and Australia) and a lukewarm media response.
That same year, Lynne moved into production work, having already produced two tracks for Dave Edmunds' album Information, and he would go on to produce six cuts from his next one, Riff Raff, in 1984 and one cut on the Everly Brothers reunion album EB 84. He also composed a track for former ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog's 1985 album Eyes of a Woman.
Lynne and Tandy went on to record tracks for the 1984 Electric Dreams soundtrack under Lynne's name; however, Lynne was contractually obliged to make one more ELO album. So Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1984 and 1985 as a three-piece (with Christian Schneider playing saxophone on some tracks and Lynne again doubling on bass in addition to his usual guitar in the absence of an official bass player) to record Balance of Power, released early in 1986 after some delays. Though the single "Calling America" placed in the Top 30 in the United Kingdom (number 28) and Top 20 in the States, subsequent singles failed to chart. The album lacked actual classical strings, which were replaced once again by synthesizers, played by Tandy and Lynne. However, despite being a 3-piece, much of the album was made by Lynne alone, with Tandy and Bevan giving their additions later.
The band was then rejoined by Kaminski, Clark and Morgan, adding Martin Smith on bass guitar, and proceeded to perform a small number of live ELO performances in 1986, including shows in England and Germany along with US appearances on American Bandstand, Solid Gold, then at Disneyland that summer. The Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 was a charity concert organised by Bevan in ELO's hometown of Birmingham on 15 March 1986, and ELO performed. A hint of Lynne's future was seen when George Harrison appeared onstage during the encore at Heartbeat, joining in the all-star jam of "Johnny B. Goode". ELO's last performance for several years occurred on 13 July 1986 in Stuttgart, Germany playing as opening act to Rod Stewart. With Lynne no longer under contractual obligation to attend further scheduled performances, ELO effectively disbanded after that final show in Stuttgart in 1986, but there was no announcement made of it for the next two years, during which George Harrison's Lynne-produced album Cloud Nine and the pair's follow-up (with Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty as Traveling Wilburys) Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 were released.
1989–1999: ELO Part II
Bev Bevan (under an agreement with Lynne, who co-owned the ELO name with him) continued on in 1989 as ELO Part II, initially with no other former ELO members, but with ELO's main orchestra conductor, Louis Clark. Bevan also recruited Eric Troyer, Pete Haycock, and Neil Lockwood. ELO Part II released their debut album Electric Light Orchestra Part Two in May 1991. Mik Kaminski, Kelly Groucutt and Hugh McDowell, at the time working in a group called OrKestra, joined the group for their first tour in 1991. While McDowell did not stay, Groucutt and Kaminski became fully-fledged members. In 1994, after the departure of Haycock and Lockwood, the remaining five recorded Moment of Truth with their newest member, Phil Bates. This lineup toured extensively up to 1999. Bevan retired from the lineup in 1999 and sold his share of the ELO name to Jeff Lynne in 2000, after Lynne had expressed his dismay that in certain areas the band were billed as 'ELO', rather than with '...Part II' added, suggesting it was the original outfit. After Bevan left, the band continued after they changed its name to The Orchestra. In 2001 The Orchestra released their debut album No Rewind.
2000–2001: Reformation
Lynne's comeback with ELO began in 2000 with the release of a retrospective box set, Flashback, containing three CDs of remastered tracks and a handful of out-takes and unfinished works, most notably a new version of ELO's only UK number one hit "Xanadu". In 2001 Zoom, ELO's first album since 1986, was released. Though billed and marketed as an ELO album, the only returning member other than Lynne was Tandy, who performed on one track. Guest musicians included former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Upon completion of the album, Lynne reformed the band with completely new members, including his then-girlfriend Rosie Vela (who had released her own album, Zazu, in 1986) and announced that ELO would tour again. Former ELO member Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for two television live performances: VH1 Storytellers and a PBS concert shot at CBS Television City, later titled Zoom Tour Live and released on DVD. Besides Lynne, Tandy and Vela, the new live ELO lineup included Gregg Bissonette (drums, backing vocals), Matt Bissonette (bass guitar, backing vocals), Marc Mann (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Peggy Baldwin (cello), and Sarah O'Brien (cello). However, the planned tour was cancelled, reportedly due to poor ticket sales.
2001–2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions
From 2001 to 2007, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North".
On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live – The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion – Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011.
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of re-recordings of ELO's greatest hits, performed by Lynne exclusively, along with a new song titled "Point of No Return". Released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave, these new albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks.
Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr. Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin.
2014–present: Jeff Lynne's ELO
The success of the Children in Need performance was followed by support from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who had Lynne as his on-air guest and asked his listeners if they wanted to see ELO perform. The 50,000 tickets for the resulting BBC Radio 2's "Festival in a Day" in Hyde Park on 14 September 2014 sold out in 15 minutes. Billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO", Lynne and Tandy were backed by the Take That/Gary Barlow band from the Children in Need concert, led by Mike Stevens and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Lynne chose to use the name as a response to ELO offshoot, tribute and imitation bands, (ELO Part II, The Orchestra, OrKestra and the Music of ELO) who repeatedly used the ELO name for promoting their own tours, justified or not. Chereene Allen was again the lead violinist for the band. The development of modern digital processing added a smoother finish to the work, which led Lynne to reconsider his preference for studio work, hinting at a UK tour in 2015.
On 8 February 2015, Jeff Lynne's ELO played at the Grammy Awards for the first time. They performed a medley of "Evil Woman" and "Mr. Blue Sky" with Ed Sheeran, who introduced them as "A man and a band who I love".
On 10 September 2015, it was announced that a new ELO album would be released. The album was to be under the moniker of Jeff Lynne's ELO, with the band signed to Columbia Records. Alone in the Universe was released on 13 November 2015. The album was ELO's first album of new material since 2001's Zoom. The first track, and single, "When I Was a Boy" was made available for streaming on the same day and a music video for the song was also released. A small promotional tour followed the album's release which saw Jeff Lynne's ELO perform a full concert for BBC Radio 2 along with their first two shows in the United States in 30 years, both which sold out very quickly. Jeff Lynne's ELO also made rare US television appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS This Morning. A 19-date European tour was announced for 2016, with the band playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on 26 June 2016.
In 2017 they played their "Alone in the Universe" tour. That same year, on 7 April, they played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they were inducted during the 32nd Annual Induction Ceremony.
The band continued to tour in 2018 in North America and Europe. A video was created for the City of Birmingham which used the original recording of "Mr. Blue Sky" as its music; this was played at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony during the handover presentation of Birmingham 2022.
On 3 August 2018, Secret Messages was reissued "as originally conceived" as a double album. It included several cut tracks, such as the CD exclusive bonus track "Time After Time", B-side exclusives "Buildings Have Eyes" and "After All", the Afterglow exclusives "Mandalay" and "Hello My Old Friend", and the 2001 reissue exclusives "Endless Lies" and "No Way Out".
On 22 October 2018 Lynne announced that Jeff Lynne's ELO would embark on a 2019 North American tour from June to August 2019.
ELO released their 14th album, From Out of Nowhere, on 1 November 2019. While a tour from the album was announced to begin in October 2020, the official Jeff Lynne's ELO Twitter page then later announced that the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legacy and influence
According to music journalist Simon Price, ELO was
In November 2016, Jeff Lynne's ELO won Band of the Year at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. In October 2016, ELO were nominated for the 2017 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. It was the first time the Hall had announced in advance the members of bands who would be inducted; the members of ELO listed were Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Richard Tandy. On 20 December 2016, it was announced ELO had been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Personnel
Principal members
Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, cello, drums, percussion (1970–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–present)
Roy Wood – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, oboe, bassoon (1970–1972)
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1970–1983, 1985–1986)
Richard Tandy – piano, keyboards, synthesizer, bass, guitar, backing vocals (1972–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–2016, 2019–present)
Discography
The Electric Light Orchestra (1971)
ELO 2 (1973)
On the Third Day (1973)
Eldorado (1974)
Face the Music (1975)
A New World Record (1976)
Out of the Blue (1977)
Discovery (1979)
Xanadu (1980) (with Olivia Newton-John) (soundtrack album)
Time (1981) (credited as ELO)
Secret Messages (1983)
Balance of Power (1986)
Zoom (2001)
Alone in the Universe (2015) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
From Out of Nowhere (2019) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
Notes
References
Further reading
Bevan, Bev The Electric Light Orchestra Story (London: Mushroom, 1980)
Van der Kiste, John Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, before and after (Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2015)
External links
Electric Light Orchestra – The official Facebook page by Legacy Recordings.
Electric Light Orchestra Legacy Recordings site – ELO's page at their record label.
Jeff Lynne's ELO – The official Jeff Lynne website.
Jeff Lynne Song Database
ELO|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
The Move
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Musical groups reestablished in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2014
Progressive pop musicians
Symphonic rock groups
Harvest Records artists
Warner Records artists
United Artists Records artists
Jet Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
British soft rock music groups | true | [
"The Inspirational Choir of the Pentecostal First Born Church of the Living God, later the name was shortened to The Inspirational Choir, were a gospel choir based in London, England. The choir was founded by John Francis, who also co-founded the London Community Gospel Choir. Their recording career began as backing vocalists for Madness on their single \"Wings Of A Dove\", which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. They later produced their own single, which reached No. 36 in the UK Singles Chart and a studio album, which reached No. 59 in the UK Album Chart.\n\nHistory\nThe choir was founded in the early 1980s by John Francis, who also the co-founded of the London Community Gospel Choir. Francis was brought up in the church and his father was the pastor of a church in Islington, London.\n\nThe Inspirational Choir of the Pentecostal First Born Church of the Living God first appeared on a Channel 4 television gospel talent show called Black On Black. They came second but that led onto Madness wanting the choir to sing backing vocals on a demo of \"Wings Of A Dove\". Francis agreed with the lyrics and also to sing on the demo, and then went onto record the song which climbed to number two in the UK Singles Chart, and number 1 in the Irish Singles Chart.\n\nStiff Records subsequently signed the choir up and they recorded Clean Heart, a five-track EP of traditional gospel, which also included the single \"Pick Me Up\". It was produced by Madness' producers, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. In 1985 the choir was signed by Portrait Records, a sister label of CBS Records, and they persuaded the choir to shorten the choir's name to The Inspirational Choir. They released two singles, \"Abide with Me\", which reached number 36 in the UK Singles Chart and \"I've Got A Feeling\", which came from their debut album, Sweet Inspiration. The album reached number 59 in the UK Album Chart.\n\nThe choir's live appearances included performing at the London Palladium, the Festival Hall, the Bristol Concert Hall, and at the Glastonbury Festival. Francis also presented Britain's first gospel TV show People Get Ready! for UK based artists. In 1989 the choir recorded a live album, A Charge To Keep, although it wasn't until nearly two years later that it was released. By the early 1990s Francis had moved on and founded the Ruach Ministries.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n Sweet Inspiration. (Portrait, 1985) Reached No.59 in the UK Albums Chart\nHigher & Higher (CBS, 1986)\n\nLive albums\nA Charge To Keep (Opal Records, June 1991)\n\nEPs\nClean Heart (Stiff, 1983)\n\nSingles\n\"Pick Me Up\" b/w \"Do Not Pass Me By\" (Stiff, Nov 1983) \n\"Abide with Me\" b/w \"Sweet Holy Spirit\" (Portrait, Dec 1984) Reached No. 36 in the UK Singles Chart \n\"I've Got a Feeling\" b/w \"Right There\" (Portrait, Sept 1985)\n\"One Love (People Get Ready)\" b/w \"Right There\" (Portrait, Feb 1986)\n\"(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher\" b/w \"Amazing Grace\" (Portrait, Nov 1986)\n\nReferences\n\nGospel music groups\nLondon choirs\nMusical groups from London\nStiff Records artists\nCBS Records artists",
"\"Looking for Me\" is a song by British producer Paul Woolford and American producer Diplo, featuring vocals from American singer Kareen Lomax. It was released as a single on 24 June 2020, and has peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart.\n\nBackground\nBefore the song came about, Lomax messaged Diplo on Instagram, with hopes to be featured on one of his productions. Paul Woolford also revealed that he was working on a collaboration with Diplo in January 2020.\n\nThe song was released through Diplo's record label, Higher Ground and features vocals by American singer Kareen Lomax.\n\nChart performance\n\"Looking for Me\" first entered the UK Singles Chart top 100 in July 2020, making its debut at number 74 and reaching the top 40 in its fourth week on the chart. It took a further five weeks to make it to the top 10, during which time it also topped the UK Trending Chart. It reached its peak of four on the week dated 1 October, spending two weeks there.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n2020 singles\n2020 songs\nDiplo songs\nIrish Singles Chart number-one singles"
] |
[
"Electric Light Orchestra",
"2001-2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions",
"Did they come up with any original work during this time?",
"The first was \"Surrender\" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976.",
"Was there anything that came in higher on the UK Singles Chart?",
"some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was \"Latitude 88 North\"."
] | C_c34ba5e0279a482b95b3bcb771670842_1 | How did it do? | 3 | How did "Latitude 88 North" by Electric Light Orchestra do? | Electric Light Orchestra | For the next six years, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North". On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live - The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion - Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011. Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of new recordings of ELO's greatest hits by Lynne; along with a new song "Point of No Return", released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave. These new 2012 albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks. Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including two LPs that reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986 Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became the Orchestra. Apart from a brief reunion in the early 2000s, ELO remained largely inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO.
During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide, and collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits (20) without a number one single of any band in US chart history. In 2017, the key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
History
1970–1973: Formation and early albums
In 1968, Roy Wood — guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the Move — had an idea to form a new band that would use violins, cellos, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, taking rock music in the direction to "pick up where the Beatles left off". The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race, was excited by the concept. When Trevor Burton left the Move in February 1969, Lynne was asked by Wood to join, only to say no, as he was still focused on finding success with his band. But in January 1970, when Carl Wayne quit the band, Lynne accepted Wood's second invitation to join, on the condition that they focus their energy on the new project.
On 12 July 1970, when Wood added multiple cellos to a Lynne-penned song intended to be a Move B-side, the new concept became a reality and "10538 Overture" became the first Electric Light Orchestra song. The original plan was to end The Move following the release of the Looking On album at the end of 1970, crossing over to the new unit in the new year, but to help finance the fledgling band, one further Move album, Message from the Country, was also recorded during the lengthy ELO recordings and released in mid-1971. The resulting debut album The Electric Light Orchestra was released in December 1971. Only the trio of Wood, Lynne and Bevan played on all songs, with Bill Hunt supplying the French Horn parts and Steve Woolam playing violin. It was released in the United States in March 1972 as No Answer. The name was chosen after a record company secretary had tried to ring the UK company to get the name of the album. They were unavailable so she left a note reading "No answer". "10538 Overture" became a UK top-ten hit. With both band's albums in the stores simultaneously, the Move and ELO both appeared on television during this period.
ELO's debut concert took place on 16 April 1972 at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon, Surrey, with a line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, Bill Hunt (keyboards/French horn), Andy Craig (cello), Mike Edwards (cello), Wilfred Gibson (violin), Hugh McDowell (cello), and Richard Tandy (bass). However, this line-up did not last for long. First Craig departed, and then Wood, during the recordings for the band's second LP. Taking Hunt and McDowell with him, Wood left the band to form Wizzard. Both cited problems with their manager, Don Arden, who Wood felt failed in his role, and an unsatisfactory tour of Italy, where the cellos and violins could not be heard over the electric instruments. However, Arden would manage Wizzard, despite Wood's negative comments towards Arden. Despite predictions from the music press that the band would fold without Wood, who had been the driving force behind the creation of ELO, Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan, Edwards, Gibson and Tandy (who had switched from bass to keyboards to replace Hunt) remaining from the previous line-up, and new recruits Mike de Albuquerque and Colin Walker joining the band on bass and cello, respectively.
The new line-up performed at the 1972 Reading Festival on 12 August 1972. Barcus Berry instrument pick-ups, now sported by the band's string trio, allowed them to have proper amplification on stage for their instruments, which had previously been all but drowned out by the electrified instruments. The band released their second album ELO 2 in early 1973, which produced their second UK top 10 and their first US chart single, an elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven" (which also incorporated the first movement of Beethoven's own Fifth Symphony). ELO also made their first appearance on American Bandstand. During the recording of the third album, Gibson was let go after a dispute over money, Mik Kaminski joined as violinist, and Walker left since touring was keeping him away from his family too much. Remaining cellist Edwards finished the cello parts for the album. The resulting album, On the Third Day, was released in late 1973, with the American version featuring the popular single "Showdown". After leaving Wizzard, Hugh McDowell returned as the group's second cellist, also in late 1973, in time to appear on the On the Third Day cover in some regions, despite not having played on the album.
1974–1982: Global success and concept albums
For the band's fourth album, Eldorado, a concept album about a daydreamer, Lynne stopped multi-tracking strings and hired Louis Clark as string arranger with an orchestra and choir. ELO's string players still continued to perform on recordings, however. The first single off the album, "Can't Get It Out of My Head", became their first US top 10 hit, and Eldorado, A Symphony became ELO's first gold album. Mike de Albuquerque departed the band during the recording sessions as he wished to spend more time with his family, and consequently much of the bass on the album was performed by Lynne.
Following the release of Eldorado, Kelly Groucutt was recruited as bassist and in early 1975, Melvyn Gale replaced Edwards on cello. The line-up stabilised as the band took to a decidedly more accessible sound. ELO had become successful in the US at this point and the group was a star attraction on the stadium and arena circuit, and regularly appeared on The Midnight Special more than any other band in that show's history with four appearances (in 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977).
Face the Music was released in 1975, producing the hit singles "Evil Woman", their third UK top 10, and "Strange Magic". The opening instrumental "Fire on High", with its mix of strings and acoustic guitars, saw heavy exposure as the theme music for the American television programme CBS Sports Spectacular in the mid-1970s. The group toured extensively from 3 February to 13 April 1976, playing 68 shows in 76 days in the US.
Their sixth album, the platinum selling A New World Record, became their first UK top 10 album when it was released in 1976. It contained the hit singles "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Rockaria!" and "Do Ya", the last a re-recording of a Move song recorded for that group's final single. The band toured in support in the US only from September 1976 to April 1977 with a break in December, then an American Music Awards show appearance on 31 January 1977, plus a one-off gig in San Diego in August 1977. Casey Kasem said that the Electric Light Orchestra is the "World's first touring rock 'n' roll chamber group" before he played "Livin' Thing" at #28.
A New World Record was followed by a multi-platinum selling album, the double-LP Out of the Blue, in 1977. Out of the Blue featured the singles "Turn to Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Mr. Blue Sky", and "Wild West Hero", each becoming a hit in the United Kingdom. The band then set out on a nine-month, 92-date world tour, with an enormous set and a hugely expensive space ship stage with fog machines and a laser display. In the United States the concerts were billed as The Big Night and were their largest to date, with 62,000 people seeing them at Cleveland Stadium. The Big Night went on to become the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point (1978). The band played at London's Wembley Arena for eight straight sold-out nights during the tour, another record at that time.
During an Australian tour in early 1978, Electric Light Orchestra were presented with 9 platinum awards for the albums Out of the Blue and New World Record.
In 1979, the multi-platinum album Discovery was released, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart. Although the biggest hit on the album (and ELO's biggest hit overall) was the rock song "Don't Bring Me Down", the album was noted for its heavy disco influence. Discovery also produced the hits "Shine a Little Love", their first and only No. 1 hit from 1972 to the present with any of the four major or minor US singles charts on Radio & Records (R&R), "Last Train to London", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp". Another song, "Midnight Blue", was released as a single in southeast Asia. The band recorded promotional videos for all the songs on the album.
By the end of 1979, ELO had reached the peak of their stardom, selling millions of albums and singles, and even inspiring a parody/tribute song on the Randy Newman album Born Again, titled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band". During 1979, Jeff Lynne also turned down an invitation for ELO to headline the August 1979 Knebworth Festival concerts. That allowed Led Zeppelin the chance to headline instead.
In 1980, Jeff Lynne was asked to write for the soundtrack of the musical film Xanadu and provided half of the songs, with the other half written by John Farrar and performed by the film's star Olivia Newton-John. The film performed poorly at the box office, but the soundtrack did exceptionally well, eventually going double platinum. The album spawned hit singles from both Newton-John ("Magic", a No. 1 hit in the United States, and "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard) and ELO ("I'm Alive", which went gold, "All Over the World" and "Don't Walk Away"). The title track, performed by both Newton-John and ELO, is ELO's only song to top the singles chart in the United Kingdom. More than a quarter of a century later, Xanadu, a Broadway musical based on the film, opened on 10 July 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre to uniformly good reviews. It received four Tony Award nominations. The musical received its UK premiere in London in October 2015. Casey Kasem called The Electric Light Orchestra a "seven-man supergroup" and "amazing" for hitting the top 40 a remarkable six times in a one-year period from August 1979 to August 1980 before playing "All Over the World" at #23.
In 1981, ELO's sound changed again with the science fiction concept album Time, a throwback to earlier, more progressive rock albums like Eldorado. With the string section now departed, synthesisers took a dominating role, as was the trend in the larger music scene of the time; although studio strings were present on some of the tracks conducted by Rainer Pietsch, the overall soundscape had a more electronic feel in keeping with the futuristic nature of the album. Time topped the UK charts for two weeks and was the last ELO studio album to be certified platinum in the United Kingdom until Alone in the Universe in 2015. Singles from the album included "Hold On Tight", "Twilight", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Here Is the News" and "Ticket to the Moon". However, the release of the single for "Rain Is Falling" in 1982 was the band's first single in the US to fail to reach the Billboard Top 200 since 1975, and the release of "The Way Life's Meant to Be" similarly was their first single in the UK to fail to chart since 1976. The band embarked on their last world tour to promote the LP. For the tour, Kaminski returned to the line-up on violin, whilst Louis Clark (synthesizers) and Dave Morgan (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals) also joined the on stage lineup. Clark had previously handled string arrangements for the band.
1983–1986: Secret Messages, Balance of Power, disbanding
Jeff Lynne wanted to follow Time with a double album, but CBS blocked his plan on the grounds that a double vinyl album would be too expensive in the oil crisis and not sell as well as a single record, so as a result, the new album was edited down from double album to a single disc and released as Secret Messages in 1983 (many of the out-takes were later released on Afterglow or as b-sides of singles). The album was a hit in the UK reaching the top 5; but its release was undermined by a string of bad news that there would be no tour to promote the LP. Lynne, discouraged by the dwindling crowds on the Time tour, CBS's order to cut Secret Messages down to one disc, and his falling out with manager Don Arden (he would eventually leave Arden and Jet by 1985), decided to end ELO in late 1983. Drummer Bevan moved on to play drums for Black Sabbath and bassist Groucutt, unhappy with no touring income that year, decided to sue Lynne and Jet Records in November 1983, eventually resulting in a settlement for the sum of £300,000 (equivalent to £994,300 in 2018). Secret Messages debuted at number four in the United Kingdom, but it fell off the charts, failing to catch fire with a lack of hit singles in the UK (though "Rock 'n' Roll Is King" was a sizeable hit in UK, the US and Australia) and a lukewarm media response.
That same year, Lynne moved into production work, having already produced two tracks for Dave Edmunds' album Information, and he would go on to produce six cuts from his next one, Riff Raff, in 1984 and one cut on the Everly Brothers reunion album EB 84. He also composed a track for former ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog's 1985 album Eyes of a Woman.
Lynne and Tandy went on to record tracks for the 1984 Electric Dreams soundtrack under Lynne's name; however, Lynne was contractually obliged to make one more ELO album. So Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1984 and 1985 as a three-piece (with Christian Schneider playing saxophone on some tracks and Lynne again doubling on bass in addition to his usual guitar in the absence of an official bass player) to record Balance of Power, released early in 1986 after some delays. Though the single "Calling America" placed in the Top 30 in the United Kingdom (number 28) and Top 20 in the States, subsequent singles failed to chart. The album lacked actual classical strings, which were replaced once again by synthesizers, played by Tandy and Lynne. However, despite being a 3-piece, much of the album was made by Lynne alone, with Tandy and Bevan giving their additions later.
The band was then rejoined by Kaminski, Clark and Morgan, adding Martin Smith on bass guitar, and proceeded to perform a small number of live ELO performances in 1986, including shows in England and Germany along with US appearances on American Bandstand, Solid Gold, then at Disneyland that summer. The Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 was a charity concert organised by Bevan in ELO's hometown of Birmingham on 15 March 1986, and ELO performed. A hint of Lynne's future was seen when George Harrison appeared onstage during the encore at Heartbeat, joining in the all-star jam of "Johnny B. Goode". ELO's last performance for several years occurred on 13 July 1986 in Stuttgart, Germany playing as opening act to Rod Stewart. With Lynne no longer under contractual obligation to attend further scheduled performances, ELO effectively disbanded after that final show in Stuttgart in 1986, but there was no announcement made of it for the next two years, during which George Harrison's Lynne-produced album Cloud Nine and the pair's follow-up (with Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty as Traveling Wilburys) Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 were released.
1989–1999: ELO Part II
Bev Bevan (under an agreement with Lynne, who co-owned the ELO name with him) continued on in 1989 as ELO Part II, initially with no other former ELO members, but with ELO's main orchestra conductor, Louis Clark. Bevan also recruited Eric Troyer, Pete Haycock, and Neil Lockwood. ELO Part II released their debut album Electric Light Orchestra Part Two in May 1991. Mik Kaminski, Kelly Groucutt and Hugh McDowell, at the time working in a group called OrKestra, joined the group for their first tour in 1991. While McDowell did not stay, Groucutt and Kaminski became fully-fledged members. In 1994, after the departure of Haycock and Lockwood, the remaining five recorded Moment of Truth with their newest member, Phil Bates. This lineup toured extensively up to 1999. Bevan retired from the lineup in 1999 and sold his share of the ELO name to Jeff Lynne in 2000, after Lynne had expressed his dismay that in certain areas the band were billed as 'ELO', rather than with '...Part II' added, suggesting it was the original outfit. After Bevan left, the band continued after they changed its name to The Orchestra. In 2001 The Orchestra released their debut album No Rewind.
2000–2001: Reformation
Lynne's comeback with ELO began in 2000 with the release of a retrospective box set, Flashback, containing three CDs of remastered tracks and a handful of out-takes and unfinished works, most notably a new version of ELO's only UK number one hit "Xanadu". In 2001 Zoom, ELO's first album since 1986, was released. Though billed and marketed as an ELO album, the only returning member other than Lynne was Tandy, who performed on one track. Guest musicians included former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Upon completion of the album, Lynne reformed the band with completely new members, including his then-girlfriend Rosie Vela (who had released her own album, Zazu, in 1986) and announced that ELO would tour again. Former ELO member Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for two television live performances: VH1 Storytellers and a PBS concert shot at CBS Television City, later titled Zoom Tour Live and released on DVD. Besides Lynne, Tandy and Vela, the new live ELO lineup included Gregg Bissonette (drums, backing vocals), Matt Bissonette (bass guitar, backing vocals), Marc Mann (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Peggy Baldwin (cello), and Sarah O'Brien (cello). However, the planned tour was cancelled, reportedly due to poor ticket sales.
2001–2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions
From 2001 to 2007, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North".
On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live – The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion – Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011.
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of re-recordings of ELO's greatest hits, performed by Lynne exclusively, along with a new song titled "Point of No Return". Released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave, these new albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks.
Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr. Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin.
2014–present: Jeff Lynne's ELO
The success of the Children in Need performance was followed by support from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who had Lynne as his on-air guest and asked his listeners if they wanted to see ELO perform. The 50,000 tickets for the resulting BBC Radio 2's "Festival in a Day" in Hyde Park on 14 September 2014 sold out in 15 minutes. Billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO", Lynne and Tandy were backed by the Take That/Gary Barlow band from the Children in Need concert, led by Mike Stevens and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Lynne chose to use the name as a response to ELO offshoot, tribute and imitation bands, (ELO Part II, The Orchestra, OrKestra and the Music of ELO) who repeatedly used the ELO name for promoting their own tours, justified or not. Chereene Allen was again the lead violinist for the band. The development of modern digital processing added a smoother finish to the work, which led Lynne to reconsider his preference for studio work, hinting at a UK tour in 2015.
On 8 February 2015, Jeff Lynne's ELO played at the Grammy Awards for the first time. They performed a medley of "Evil Woman" and "Mr. Blue Sky" with Ed Sheeran, who introduced them as "A man and a band who I love".
On 10 September 2015, it was announced that a new ELO album would be released. The album was to be under the moniker of Jeff Lynne's ELO, with the band signed to Columbia Records. Alone in the Universe was released on 13 November 2015. The album was ELO's first album of new material since 2001's Zoom. The first track, and single, "When I Was a Boy" was made available for streaming on the same day and a music video for the song was also released. A small promotional tour followed the album's release which saw Jeff Lynne's ELO perform a full concert for BBC Radio 2 along with their first two shows in the United States in 30 years, both which sold out very quickly. Jeff Lynne's ELO also made rare US television appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS This Morning. A 19-date European tour was announced for 2016, with the band playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on 26 June 2016.
In 2017 they played their "Alone in the Universe" tour. That same year, on 7 April, they played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they were inducted during the 32nd Annual Induction Ceremony.
The band continued to tour in 2018 in North America and Europe. A video was created for the City of Birmingham which used the original recording of "Mr. Blue Sky" as its music; this was played at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony during the handover presentation of Birmingham 2022.
On 3 August 2018, Secret Messages was reissued "as originally conceived" as a double album. It included several cut tracks, such as the CD exclusive bonus track "Time After Time", B-side exclusives "Buildings Have Eyes" and "After All", the Afterglow exclusives "Mandalay" and "Hello My Old Friend", and the 2001 reissue exclusives "Endless Lies" and "No Way Out".
On 22 October 2018 Lynne announced that Jeff Lynne's ELO would embark on a 2019 North American tour from June to August 2019.
ELO released their 14th album, From Out of Nowhere, on 1 November 2019. While a tour from the album was announced to begin in October 2020, the official Jeff Lynne's ELO Twitter page then later announced that the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legacy and influence
According to music journalist Simon Price, ELO was
In November 2016, Jeff Lynne's ELO won Band of the Year at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. In October 2016, ELO were nominated for the 2017 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. It was the first time the Hall had announced in advance the members of bands who would be inducted; the members of ELO listed were Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Richard Tandy. On 20 December 2016, it was announced ELO had been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Personnel
Principal members
Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, cello, drums, percussion (1970–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–present)
Roy Wood – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, oboe, bassoon (1970–1972)
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1970–1983, 1985–1986)
Richard Tandy – piano, keyboards, synthesizer, bass, guitar, backing vocals (1972–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–2016, 2019–present)
Discography
The Electric Light Orchestra (1971)
ELO 2 (1973)
On the Third Day (1973)
Eldorado (1974)
Face the Music (1975)
A New World Record (1976)
Out of the Blue (1977)
Discovery (1979)
Xanadu (1980) (with Olivia Newton-John) (soundtrack album)
Time (1981) (credited as ELO)
Secret Messages (1983)
Balance of Power (1986)
Zoom (2001)
Alone in the Universe (2015) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
From Out of Nowhere (2019) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
Notes
References
Further reading
Bevan, Bev The Electric Light Orchestra Story (London: Mushroom, 1980)
Van der Kiste, John Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, before and after (Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2015)
External links
Electric Light Orchestra – The official Facebook page by Legacy Recordings.
Electric Light Orchestra Legacy Recordings site – ELO's page at their record label.
Jeff Lynne's ELO – The official Jeff Lynne website.
Jeff Lynne Song Database
ELO|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
The Move
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Musical groups reestablished in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2014
Progressive pop musicians
Symphonic rock groups
Harvest Records artists
Warner Records artists
United Artists Records artists
Jet Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
British soft rock music groups | false | [
"The Migraine Disability Assessment Test (MIDAS) is a test used by doctors to determine how severely migraines affect a patient's life. Patients are asked questions about the frequency and duration of their headaches, as well as how often these headaches limited their ability to participate in activities at work, at school, or at home.\n\nThe test was evaluated by the professional journal Neurology in 2001; it was found to be both reliable and valid.\n\nQuestions\nThe MIDAS contains the following questions:\n\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss work or school because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last 3 months was your productivity at work or school reduced by half or more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 1 where you missed work or school.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you not do household work because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last three months was your productivity in household work reduced by half of more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 3 where you did not do household work.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss family, social or leisure activities because of your headaches?\n\nThe patient's score consists of the total of these five questions. Additionally, there is a section for patients to share with their doctors:\n\nWhat your Physician will need to know about your headache:\n\nA. On how many days in the last 3 months did you have a headache?\n(If a headache lasted more than 1 day, count each day.)\t\n\nB. On a scale of 0 - 10, on average how painful were these headaches? \n(where 0 = no pain at all and 10 = pain as bad as it can be.)\n\nScoring\nOnce scored, the test gives the patient an idea of how debilitating his/her migraines are based on this scale:\n\n0 to 5, MIDAS Grade I, Little or no disability \n\n6 to 10, MIDAS Grade II, Mild disability\n\n11 to 20, MIDAS Grade III, Moderate disability\n\n21+, MIDAS Grade IV, Severe disability\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMigraine Treatment\n\nMigraine",
"\"How Do I Deal\" is a song by American actress Jennifer Love Hewitt from the soundtrack to the film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. The song was released as a single on November 17, 1998, with an accompanying music video. The single became Hewitt's one and only appearance on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at number 59 in a seven-week run. Although not a big success in America, the single reached number five in New Zealand and peaked at number eight in Australia, where it is certified gold.\n\nTrack listings\nUS CD, 7-inch, and cassette single\n \"How Do I Deal\" (single version) – 3:23\n \"Try to Say Goodbye\" (performed by Jory Eve) – 3:36\n\nEuropean CD single\n \"How Do I Deal\" – 3:24\n \"Sugar Is Sweeter\" (performed by CJ Bolland) – 5:34\n\nAustralian CD single\n \"How Do I Deal\" – 3:23\n \"Sugar Is Sweeter\" (Danny Saber Remix featuring Justin Warfield, performed by CJ Bolland) – 4:57\n \"Try to Say Goodbye\" (performed by Jory Eve) – 3:35\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n143 Records singles\n1998 songs\n1999 singles\nJennifer Love Hewitt songs\nI Know What You Did Last Summer (franchise)\nMusic videos directed by Joseph Kahn\nSong recordings produced by Bruce Fairbairn\nSong recordings produced by David Foster\nSongs written for films\nWarner Records singles"
] |
[
"Electric Light Orchestra",
"2001-2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions",
"Did they come up with any original work during this time?",
"The first was \"Surrender\" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976.",
"Was there anything that came in higher on the UK Singles Chart?",
"some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was \"Latitude 88 North\".",
"How did it do?",
"I don't know."
] | C_c34ba5e0279a482b95b3bcb771670842_1 | How well did the reunions do in this timeframe? | 4 | How well did Electric Light Orchestra's reunions do during 2001-2013? | Electric Light Orchestra | For the next six years, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North". On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live - The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion - Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011. Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of new recordings of ELO's greatest hits by Lynne; along with a new song "Point of No Return", released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave. These new 2012 albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks. Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin. CANNOTANSWER | Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr Blue Sky" | The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including two LPs that reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986 Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became the Orchestra. Apart from a brief reunion in the early 2000s, ELO remained largely inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO.
During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide, and collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits (20) without a number one single of any band in US chart history. In 2017, the key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
History
1970–1973: Formation and early albums
In 1968, Roy Wood — guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the Move — had an idea to form a new band that would use violins, cellos, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, taking rock music in the direction to "pick up where the Beatles left off". The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race, was excited by the concept. When Trevor Burton left the Move in February 1969, Lynne was asked by Wood to join, only to say no, as he was still focused on finding success with his band. But in January 1970, when Carl Wayne quit the band, Lynne accepted Wood's second invitation to join, on the condition that they focus their energy on the new project.
On 12 July 1970, when Wood added multiple cellos to a Lynne-penned song intended to be a Move B-side, the new concept became a reality and "10538 Overture" became the first Electric Light Orchestra song. The original plan was to end The Move following the release of the Looking On album at the end of 1970, crossing over to the new unit in the new year, but to help finance the fledgling band, one further Move album, Message from the Country, was also recorded during the lengthy ELO recordings and released in mid-1971. The resulting debut album The Electric Light Orchestra was released in December 1971. Only the trio of Wood, Lynne and Bevan played on all songs, with Bill Hunt supplying the French Horn parts and Steve Woolam playing violin. It was released in the United States in March 1972 as No Answer. The name was chosen after a record company secretary had tried to ring the UK company to get the name of the album. They were unavailable so she left a note reading "No answer". "10538 Overture" became a UK top-ten hit. With both band's albums in the stores simultaneously, the Move and ELO both appeared on television during this period.
ELO's debut concert took place on 16 April 1972 at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon, Surrey, with a line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, Bill Hunt (keyboards/French horn), Andy Craig (cello), Mike Edwards (cello), Wilfred Gibson (violin), Hugh McDowell (cello), and Richard Tandy (bass). However, this line-up did not last for long. First Craig departed, and then Wood, during the recordings for the band's second LP. Taking Hunt and McDowell with him, Wood left the band to form Wizzard. Both cited problems with their manager, Don Arden, who Wood felt failed in his role, and an unsatisfactory tour of Italy, where the cellos and violins could not be heard over the electric instruments. However, Arden would manage Wizzard, despite Wood's negative comments towards Arden. Despite predictions from the music press that the band would fold without Wood, who had been the driving force behind the creation of ELO, Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan, Edwards, Gibson and Tandy (who had switched from bass to keyboards to replace Hunt) remaining from the previous line-up, and new recruits Mike de Albuquerque and Colin Walker joining the band on bass and cello, respectively.
The new line-up performed at the 1972 Reading Festival on 12 August 1972. Barcus Berry instrument pick-ups, now sported by the band's string trio, allowed them to have proper amplification on stage for their instruments, which had previously been all but drowned out by the electrified instruments. The band released their second album ELO 2 in early 1973, which produced their second UK top 10 and their first US chart single, an elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven" (which also incorporated the first movement of Beethoven's own Fifth Symphony). ELO also made their first appearance on American Bandstand. During the recording of the third album, Gibson was let go after a dispute over money, Mik Kaminski joined as violinist, and Walker left since touring was keeping him away from his family too much. Remaining cellist Edwards finished the cello parts for the album. The resulting album, On the Third Day, was released in late 1973, with the American version featuring the popular single "Showdown". After leaving Wizzard, Hugh McDowell returned as the group's second cellist, also in late 1973, in time to appear on the On the Third Day cover in some regions, despite not having played on the album.
1974–1982: Global success and concept albums
For the band's fourth album, Eldorado, a concept album about a daydreamer, Lynne stopped multi-tracking strings and hired Louis Clark as string arranger with an orchestra and choir. ELO's string players still continued to perform on recordings, however. The first single off the album, "Can't Get It Out of My Head", became their first US top 10 hit, and Eldorado, A Symphony became ELO's first gold album. Mike de Albuquerque departed the band during the recording sessions as he wished to spend more time with his family, and consequently much of the bass on the album was performed by Lynne.
Following the release of Eldorado, Kelly Groucutt was recruited as bassist and in early 1975, Melvyn Gale replaced Edwards on cello. The line-up stabilised as the band took to a decidedly more accessible sound. ELO had become successful in the US at this point and the group was a star attraction on the stadium and arena circuit, and regularly appeared on The Midnight Special more than any other band in that show's history with four appearances (in 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977).
Face the Music was released in 1975, producing the hit singles "Evil Woman", their third UK top 10, and "Strange Magic". The opening instrumental "Fire on High", with its mix of strings and acoustic guitars, saw heavy exposure as the theme music for the American television programme CBS Sports Spectacular in the mid-1970s. The group toured extensively from 3 February to 13 April 1976, playing 68 shows in 76 days in the US.
Their sixth album, the platinum selling A New World Record, became their first UK top 10 album when it was released in 1976. It contained the hit singles "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Rockaria!" and "Do Ya", the last a re-recording of a Move song recorded for that group's final single. The band toured in support in the US only from September 1976 to April 1977 with a break in December, then an American Music Awards show appearance on 31 January 1977, plus a one-off gig in San Diego in August 1977. Casey Kasem said that the Electric Light Orchestra is the "World's first touring rock 'n' roll chamber group" before he played "Livin' Thing" at #28.
A New World Record was followed by a multi-platinum selling album, the double-LP Out of the Blue, in 1977. Out of the Blue featured the singles "Turn to Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Mr. Blue Sky", and "Wild West Hero", each becoming a hit in the United Kingdom. The band then set out on a nine-month, 92-date world tour, with an enormous set and a hugely expensive space ship stage with fog machines and a laser display. In the United States the concerts were billed as The Big Night and were their largest to date, with 62,000 people seeing them at Cleveland Stadium. The Big Night went on to become the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point (1978). The band played at London's Wembley Arena for eight straight sold-out nights during the tour, another record at that time.
During an Australian tour in early 1978, Electric Light Orchestra were presented with 9 platinum awards for the albums Out of the Blue and New World Record.
In 1979, the multi-platinum album Discovery was released, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart. Although the biggest hit on the album (and ELO's biggest hit overall) was the rock song "Don't Bring Me Down", the album was noted for its heavy disco influence. Discovery also produced the hits "Shine a Little Love", their first and only No. 1 hit from 1972 to the present with any of the four major or minor US singles charts on Radio & Records (R&R), "Last Train to London", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp". Another song, "Midnight Blue", was released as a single in southeast Asia. The band recorded promotional videos for all the songs on the album.
By the end of 1979, ELO had reached the peak of their stardom, selling millions of albums and singles, and even inspiring a parody/tribute song on the Randy Newman album Born Again, titled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band". During 1979, Jeff Lynne also turned down an invitation for ELO to headline the August 1979 Knebworth Festival concerts. That allowed Led Zeppelin the chance to headline instead.
In 1980, Jeff Lynne was asked to write for the soundtrack of the musical film Xanadu and provided half of the songs, with the other half written by John Farrar and performed by the film's star Olivia Newton-John. The film performed poorly at the box office, but the soundtrack did exceptionally well, eventually going double platinum. The album spawned hit singles from both Newton-John ("Magic", a No. 1 hit in the United States, and "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard) and ELO ("I'm Alive", which went gold, "All Over the World" and "Don't Walk Away"). The title track, performed by both Newton-John and ELO, is ELO's only song to top the singles chart in the United Kingdom. More than a quarter of a century later, Xanadu, a Broadway musical based on the film, opened on 10 July 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre to uniformly good reviews. It received four Tony Award nominations. The musical received its UK premiere in London in October 2015. Casey Kasem called The Electric Light Orchestra a "seven-man supergroup" and "amazing" for hitting the top 40 a remarkable six times in a one-year period from August 1979 to August 1980 before playing "All Over the World" at #23.
In 1981, ELO's sound changed again with the science fiction concept album Time, a throwback to earlier, more progressive rock albums like Eldorado. With the string section now departed, synthesisers took a dominating role, as was the trend in the larger music scene of the time; although studio strings were present on some of the tracks conducted by Rainer Pietsch, the overall soundscape had a more electronic feel in keeping with the futuristic nature of the album. Time topped the UK charts for two weeks and was the last ELO studio album to be certified platinum in the United Kingdom until Alone in the Universe in 2015. Singles from the album included "Hold On Tight", "Twilight", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Here Is the News" and "Ticket to the Moon". However, the release of the single for "Rain Is Falling" in 1982 was the band's first single in the US to fail to reach the Billboard Top 200 since 1975, and the release of "The Way Life's Meant to Be" similarly was their first single in the UK to fail to chart since 1976. The band embarked on their last world tour to promote the LP. For the tour, Kaminski returned to the line-up on violin, whilst Louis Clark (synthesizers) and Dave Morgan (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals) also joined the on stage lineup. Clark had previously handled string arrangements for the band.
1983–1986: Secret Messages, Balance of Power, disbanding
Jeff Lynne wanted to follow Time with a double album, but CBS blocked his plan on the grounds that a double vinyl album would be too expensive in the oil crisis and not sell as well as a single record, so as a result, the new album was edited down from double album to a single disc and released as Secret Messages in 1983 (many of the out-takes were later released on Afterglow or as b-sides of singles). The album was a hit in the UK reaching the top 5; but its release was undermined by a string of bad news that there would be no tour to promote the LP. Lynne, discouraged by the dwindling crowds on the Time tour, CBS's order to cut Secret Messages down to one disc, and his falling out with manager Don Arden (he would eventually leave Arden and Jet by 1985), decided to end ELO in late 1983. Drummer Bevan moved on to play drums for Black Sabbath and bassist Groucutt, unhappy with no touring income that year, decided to sue Lynne and Jet Records in November 1983, eventually resulting in a settlement for the sum of £300,000 (equivalent to £994,300 in 2018). Secret Messages debuted at number four in the United Kingdom, but it fell off the charts, failing to catch fire with a lack of hit singles in the UK (though "Rock 'n' Roll Is King" was a sizeable hit in UK, the US and Australia) and a lukewarm media response.
That same year, Lynne moved into production work, having already produced two tracks for Dave Edmunds' album Information, and he would go on to produce six cuts from his next one, Riff Raff, in 1984 and one cut on the Everly Brothers reunion album EB 84. He also composed a track for former ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog's 1985 album Eyes of a Woman.
Lynne and Tandy went on to record tracks for the 1984 Electric Dreams soundtrack under Lynne's name; however, Lynne was contractually obliged to make one more ELO album. So Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1984 and 1985 as a three-piece (with Christian Schneider playing saxophone on some tracks and Lynne again doubling on bass in addition to his usual guitar in the absence of an official bass player) to record Balance of Power, released early in 1986 after some delays. Though the single "Calling America" placed in the Top 30 in the United Kingdom (number 28) and Top 20 in the States, subsequent singles failed to chart. The album lacked actual classical strings, which were replaced once again by synthesizers, played by Tandy and Lynne. However, despite being a 3-piece, much of the album was made by Lynne alone, with Tandy and Bevan giving their additions later.
The band was then rejoined by Kaminski, Clark and Morgan, adding Martin Smith on bass guitar, and proceeded to perform a small number of live ELO performances in 1986, including shows in England and Germany along with US appearances on American Bandstand, Solid Gold, then at Disneyland that summer. The Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 was a charity concert organised by Bevan in ELO's hometown of Birmingham on 15 March 1986, and ELO performed. A hint of Lynne's future was seen when George Harrison appeared onstage during the encore at Heartbeat, joining in the all-star jam of "Johnny B. Goode". ELO's last performance for several years occurred on 13 July 1986 in Stuttgart, Germany playing as opening act to Rod Stewart. With Lynne no longer under contractual obligation to attend further scheduled performances, ELO effectively disbanded after that final show in Stuttgart in 1986, but there was no announcement made of it for the next two years, during which George Harrison's Lynne-produced album Cloud Nine and the pair's follow-up (with Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty as Traveling Wilburys) Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 were released.
1989–1999: ELO Part II
Bev Bevan (under an agreement with Lynne, who co-owned the ELO name with him) continued on in 1989 as ELO Part II, initially with no other former ELO members, but with ELO's main orchestra conductor, Louis Clark. Bevan also recruited Eric Troyer, Pete Haycock, and Neil Lockwood. ELO Part II released their debut album Electric Light Orchestra Part Two in May 1991. Mik Kaminski, Kelly Groucutt and Hugh McDowell, at the time working in a group called OrKestra, joined the group for their first tour in 1991. While McDowell did not stay, Groucutt and Kaminski became fully-fledged members. In 1994, after the departure of Haycock and Lockwood, the remaining five recorded Moment of Truth with their newest member, Phil Bates. This lineup toured extensively up to 1999. Bevan retired from the lineup in 1999 and sold his share of the ELO name to Jeff Lynne in 2000, after Lynne had expressed his dismay that in certain areas the band were billed as 'ELO', rather than with '...Part II' added, suggesting it was the original outfit. After Bevan left, the band continued after they changed its name to The Orchestra. In 2001 The Orchestra released their debut album No Rewind.
2000–2001: Reformation
Lynne's comeback with ELO began in 2000 with the release of a retrospective box set, Flashback, containing three CDs of remastered tracks and a handful of out-takes and unfinished works, most notably a new version of ELO's only UK number one hit "Xanadu". In 2001 Zoom, ELO's first album since 1986, was released. Though billed and marketed as an ELO album, the only returning member other than Lynne was Tandy, who performed on one track. Guest musicians included former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Upon completion of the album, Lynne reformed the band with completely new members, including his then-girlfriend Rosie Vela (who had released her own album, Zazu, in 1986) and announced that ELO would tour again. Former ELO member Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for two television live performances: VH1 Storytellers and a PBS concert shot at CBS Television City, later titled Zoom Tour Live and released on DVD. Besides Lynne, Tandy and Vela, the new live ELO lineup included Gregg Bissonette (drums, backing vocals), Matt Bissonette (bass guitar, backing vocals), Marc Mann (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Peggy Baldwin (cello), and Sarah O'Brien (cello). However, the planned tour was cancelled, reportedly due to poor ticket sales.
2001–2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions
From 2001 to 2007, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North".
On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live – The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion – Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011.
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of re-recordings of ELO's greatest hits, performed by Lynne exclusively, along with a new song titled "Point of No Return". Released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave, these new albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks.
Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr. Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin.
2014–present: Jeff Lynne's ELO
The success of the Children in Need performance was followed by support from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who had Lynne as his on-air guest and asked his listeners if they wanted to see ELO perform. The 50,000 tickets for the resulting BBC Radio 2's "Festival in a Day" in Hyde Park on 14 September 2014 sold out in 15 minutes. Billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO", Lynne and Tandy were backed by the Take That/Gary Barlow band from the Children in Need concert, led by Mike Stevens and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Lynne chose to use the name as a response to ELO offshoot, tribute and imitation bands, (ELO Part II, The Orchestra, OrKestra and the Music of ELO) who repeatedly used the ELO name for promoting their own tours, justified or not. Chereene Allen was again the lead violinist for the band. The development of modern digital processing added a smoother finish to the work, which led Lynne to reconsider his preference for studio work, hinting at a UK tour in 2015.
On 8 February 2015, Jeff Lynne's ELO played at the Grammy Awards for the first time. They performed a medley of "Evil Woman" and "Mr. Blue Sky" with Ed Sheeran, who introduced them as "A man and a band who I love".
On 10 September 2015, it was announced that a new ELO album would be released. The album was to be under the moniker of Jeff Lynne's ELO, with the band signed to Columbia Records. Alone in the Universe was released on 13 November 2015. The album was ELO's first album of new material since 2001's Zoom. The first track, and single, "When I Was a Boy" was made available for streaming on the same day and a music video for the song was also released. A small promotional tour followed the album's release which saw Jeff Lynne's ELO perform a full concert for BBC Radio 2 along with their first two shows in the United States in 30 years, both which sold out very quickly. Jeff Lynne's ELO also made rare US television appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS This Morning. A 19-date European tour was announced for 2016, with the band playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on 26 June 2016.
In 2017 they played their "Alone in the Universe" tour. That same year, on 7 April, they played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they were inducted during the 32nd Annual Induction Ceremony.
The band continued to tour in 2018 in North America and Europe. A video was created for the City of Birmingham which used the original recording of "Mr. Blue Sky" as its music; this was played at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony during the handover presentation of Birmingham 2022.
On 3 August 2018, Secret Messages was reissued "as originally conceived" as a double album. It included several cut tracks, such as the CD exclusive bonus track "Time After Time", B-side exclusives "Buildings Have Eyes" and "After All", the Afterglow exclusives "Mandalay" and "Hello My Old Friend", and the 2001 reissue exclusives "Endless Lies" and "No Way Out".
On 22 October 2018 Lynne announced that Jeff Lynne's ELO would embark on a 2019 North American tour from June to August 2019.
ELO released their 14th album, From Out of Nowhere, on 1 November 2019. While a tour from the album was announced to begin in October 2020, the official Jeff Lynne's ELO Twitter page then later announced that the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legacy and influence
According to music journalist Simon Price, ELO was
In November 2016, Jeff Lynne's ELO won Band of the Year at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. In October 2016, ELO were nominated for the 2017 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. It was the first time the Hall had announced in advance the members of bands who would be inducted; the members of ELO listed were Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Richard Tandy. On 20 December 2016, it was announced ELO had been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Personnel
Principal members
Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, cello, drums, percussion (1970–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–present)
Roy Wood – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, oboe, bassoon (1970–1972)
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1970–1983, 1985–1986)
Richard Tandy – piano, keyboards, synthesizer, bass, guitar, backing vocals (1972–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–2016, 2019–present)
Discography
The Electric Light Orchestra (1971)
ELO 2 (1973)
On the Third Day (1973)
Eldorado (1974)
Face the Music (1975)
A New World Record (1976)
Out of the Blue (1977)
Discovery (1979)
Xanadu (1980) (with Olivia Newton-John) (soundtrack album)
Time (1981) (credited as ELO)
Secret Messages (1983)
Balance of Power (1986)
Zoom (2001)
Alone in the Universe (2015) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
From Out of Nowhere (2019) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
Notes
References
Further reading
Bevan, Bev The Electric Light Orchestra Story (London: Mushroom, 1980)
Van der Kiste, John Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, before and after (Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2015)
External links
Electric Light Orchestra – The official Facebook page by Legacy Recordings.
Electric Light Orchestra Legacy Recordings site – ELO's page at their record label.
Jeff Lynne's ELO – The official Jeff Lynne website.
Jeff Lynne Song Database
ELO|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
The Move
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Musical groups reestablished in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2014
Progressive pop musicians
Symphonic rock groups
Harvest Records artists
Warner Records artists
United Artists Records artists
Jet Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
British soft rock music groups | false | [
"The Princeton Reunions are an annual college reunion event held every year on the weekend before commencement at Princeton University. Known simply as \"Reunions\", this event brings back to campus upwards of 25,000 alumni and guests for a four-day celebration featuring large outdoor tents, elaborate costumes, sporting events, alumni and faculty presentations, fireworks, and bands from rock to swing.\n\nHistory \n\nA Princeton Companion places the advent of Princeton reunions shortly after the end of the Civil War. The 1890s (especially the University's 150th anniversary in 1896) saw increasing interest, although it was not until the 1950s that Reunions took on today's level of organization, particularly with respect to on-campus housing for returning alums.\n\nThe P-rade \nThe Alumni Parade, known today as the P-rade, is the capstone of the Reunions weekend. Held on Saturday, it is the last major event — save for the fireworks display (introduced in 1996 in celebration of the 250th year since the University's founding.) The 25th Reunion class heads the parade; they are led by the Princeton University Band, which plays traditional songs such as Going Back to Nassau Hall.\n\nThe P-rade then proceeds with members of each class from oldest to youngest, accompanied by spouses, children, family members, and even pets. Alumni of the Graduate School normally take the place of the 25th reunion in the sequence. In 2000 and 2001, to celebrate the centennial of the Graduate College, the Graduate School alumni marched immediately behind the 25th Reunion class. Each year, the University president honors the oldest returning alumnus by presenting him with a silver cane donated by the class of 1923. The bearer of that cane from 2002 to 2005 was Leonard Ernst '25, and in 2001 and from 2006 to 2012, the bearer was fellow '25 graduate Malcolm Warnock, who was 107 at his final Reunion appearance in 2012. Ernst, Warnock, and most older alumni are typically chauffeured along the parade route by golf carts, but in 2001, the then-96-year-old Warnock impressed everyone by walking the last segment of the P-rade, waving his cane toward an appreciative crowd. In 2016, cane recipient Joseph Schein '37 (who received the cane again the next year), walked the entire route with the cane at age 101.\n\nClasses celebrating a major reunion (multiples of five—5th, 10th, and so on) often wear themed costumes, which have ranged from Roman legionnaires to firefighters and Uncle Sam lookalikes. Costumes and themes are often completely unrelated to Princeton or the year the class graduated.\n\nFrequently, classes will hire musical groups, such as the Mummers, local high school marching bands, and a calliope, to lead them through the parade.\n\nThe P-Rade begins on Nassau Street, enters the campus through FitzRandolph Gate in front of Nassau Hall, then proceeds through Cannon Green. Until the early 1990s, the route continued across McCosh Walk, through 1879 Arch, down Prospect Avenue, and finished on the baseball field. However, because of escalating public liability and insurance costs, the University moved the P-Rade route to stay only on the private property of the University. Some think the University also felt that too many alumni would stop off at their eating clubs on Prospect Avenue before finishing the P-Rade, and so it changed (and shortened) the route so that it does not leave campus. Currently, after crossing Cannon Green, the P-Rade proceeds down Elm Drive through the center of campus, and onto Poe Field. The Classes are arranged on both sides of the entire route, so that each cheers its elders, then falls in line to march past those younger. The P-rade ends as the graduating seniors race onto Poe Field under review of the President of the University, and are then formally welcomed as alumni/ae.\n\nClosing Ceremonies \n\nAn outdoor orchestra concert and an elaborate evening fireworks display set to music, first held to celebrate the university's 250th anniversary in 1996, but repeated every year since by popular demand, is held the Saturday evening of Reunions. This can be seen as a closing ceremony of Reunions; however, the Reunions parties do not officially end until 2 a.m. that night, and low-key brunches are often held Sunday morning, at which point Reunions Weekend fades into Commencement Weekend.\n\nUnofficially, after the tents close, the party moves to the eating clubs on Prospect Avenue and will go until sunrise, especially Saturday night.\n\nTrivia \nAs older classes march by in the P-rade, younger classes greet them by shouting an old, traditional Princeton cheer called a locomotive. The format of the cheer (for the Class of 2008, for example) is \"Hip! Hip! Rah! Rah! Rah! Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Sis! Sis! Sis! Boom! Boom! Boom! Ah! Oh-Eight! Oh-Eight! Oh-Eight!\". The older class then traditionally returns the locomotive cheer to the younger class. This is a variant on one of the oldest college cheers, the \"Princeton Locomotive,\" dating to the late 1870s or early 1880s.\nNoted Princeton Reunions participants in 2017 included Jeff Bezos and Ted Cruz.\nNoted Princeton Reunions participants in 2014 included David E. Kelley and William Clay Ford Jr., returning for their 35th Reunion, Donald Rumsfeld, returning for his 60th Reunion, and Bill Frist, returning for his 40th.\nNoted Princeton Reunions participants in 2012 included Brooke Shields, returning for her 25th Reunion.\nNoted Princeton Reunions participants in 2005 included Ralph Nader, returning for his 50th Reunion.\nEach senior class designs and distributes a decorated (and often personalized) canvas \"beer jacket.\" Beer jackets are so named because they were originally worn to protect the wearers' clothing from beer. Since 2002, the administration has renamed these as \"Class Jackets\" for politically correct reasons, but students continue to refer to them as \"beer jackets.\" Modern incarnations are also designed with voluminous inner pockets to conceal and carry beer cans. The jackets also serve to distinguish seniors from other underclassmen, a custom that dates to the days when seniors were afforded special privileges.\nFor the 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th Reunions, each class designs a new costume. Over the years, costumes have included cowboys, tigers, astronauts, toreadors, soldiers, mountain-climbers, clowns, sailors, ANZACs, beetles, chefs, firemen, pirates, toga-clad Romans, and a 50-person-long \"centipede.\"\n At the 25th Reunion (which marches at the front of the P-rade, immediately following the University leadership and the Princeton University Band), class members receive class blazers. These range from blue blazers with a class logo to various variants of orange-and-black stripes (including a noted striped jacket worn by the parent/grandparent classes of 1933, 1958 and 1983), or various custom designs with class numerals, names of classmates and other icons.\nIn 2005, there were 74 classes in the P-rade, beginning with the Class of 1925.\nIn 2012, the Class of 1925 was once again the oldest class represented, with Malcolm Warnock '25, age 107, the recipient of the \"Class of 1923 Cane\" awarded to the oldest alumnus from the oldest returning class. Warnock returned for many Reunions, becoming the first person ever to participate in the P-Rade at his 84th, 85th, and 86th Reunions.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nOfficial Princeton Reunions website\nAnnual (unofficial) reports on Princeton Reunions\nPrinceton Reunions Photo Gallery\nP-rade photos from the 60's and on\nHistory of Reunions and the P-Rade\n\nPrinceton University\nReunions",
"The Migraine Disability Assessment Test (MIDAS) is a test used by doctors to determine how severely migraines affect a patient's life. Patients are asked questions about the frequency and duration of their headaches, as well as how often these headaches limited their ability to participate in activities at work, at school, or at home.\n\nThe test was evaluated by the professional journal Neurology in 2001; it was found to be both reliable and valid.\n\nQuestions\nThe MIDAS contains the following questions:\n\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss work or school because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last 3 months was your productivity at work or school reduced by half or more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 1 where you missed work or school.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you not do household work because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last three months was your productivity in household work reduced by half of more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 3 where you did not do household work.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss family, social or leisure activities because of your headaches?\n\nThe patient's score consists of the total of these five questions. Additionally, there is a section for patients to share with their doctors:\n\nWhat your Physician will need to know about your headache:\n\nA. On how many days in the last 3 months did you have a headache?\n(If a headache lasted more than 1 day, count each day.)\t\n\nB. On a scale of 0 - 10, on average how painful were these headaches? \n(where 0 = no pain at all and 10 = pain as bad as it can be.)\n\nScoring\nOnce scored, the test gives the patient an idea of how debilitating his/her migraines are based on this scale:\n\n0 to 5, MIDAS Grade I, Little or no disability \n\n6 to 10, MIDAS Grade II, Mild disability\n\n11 to 20, MIDAS Grade III, Moderate disability\n\n21+, MIDAS Grade IV, Severe disability\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMigraine Treatment\n\nMigraine"
] |
[
"Electric Light Orchestra",
"2001-2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions",
"Did they come up with any original work during this time?",
"The first was \"Surrender\" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976.",
"Was there anything that came in higher on the UK Singles Chart?",
"some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was \"Latitude 88 North\".",
"How did it do?",
"I don't know.",
"How well did the reunions do in this timeframe?",
"Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, \"Livin' Thing\" and \"Mr Blue Sky\""
] | C_c34ba5e0279a482b95b3bcb771670842_1 | Was this the only time they reunited? | 5 | Was November 12, 2013 the only time Jeff Lynne and Tandy reunited? | Electric Light Orchestra | For the next six years, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North". On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live - The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion - Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011. Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of new recordings of ELO's greatest hits by Lynne; along with a new song "Point of No Return", released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave. These new 2012 albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks. Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including two LPs that reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986 Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became the Orchestra. Apart from a brief reunion in the early 2000s, ELO remained largely inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO.
During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide, and collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits (20) without a number one single of any band in US chart history. In 2017, the key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
History
1970–1973: Formation and early albums
In 1968, Roy Wood — guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the Move — had an idea to form a new band that would use violins, cellos, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, taking rock music in the direction to "pick up where the Beatles left off". The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race, was excited by the concept. When Trevor Burton left the Move in February 1969, Lynne was asked by Wood to join, only to say no, as he was still focused on finding success with his band. But in January 1970, when Carl Wayne quit the band, Lynne accepted Wood's second invitation to join, on the condition that they focus their energy on the new project.
On 12 July 1970, when Wood added multiple cellos to a Lynne-penned song intended to be a Move B-side, the new concept became a reality and "10538 Overture" became the first Electric Light Orchestra song. The original plan was to end The Move following the release of the Looking On album at the end of 1970, crossing over to the new unit in the new year, but to help finance the fledgling band, one further Move album, Message from the Country, was also recorded during the lengthy ELO recordings and released in mid-1971. The resulting debut album The Electric Light Orchestra was released in December 1971. Only the trio of Wood, Lynne and Bevan played on all songs, with Bill Hunt supplying the French Horn parts and Steve Woolam playing violin. It was released in the United States in March 1972 as No Answer. The name was chosen after a record company secretary had tried to ring the UK company to get the name of the album. They were unavailable so she left a note reading "No answer". "10538 Overture" became a UK top-ten hit. With both band's albums in the stores simultaneously, the Move and ELO both appeared on television during this period.
ELO's debut concert took place on 16 April 1972 at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon, Surrey, with a line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, Bill Hunt (keyboards/French horn), Andy Craig (cello), Mike Edwards (cello), Wilfred Gibson (violin), Hugh McDowell (cello), and Richard Tandy (bass). However, this line-up did not last for long. First Craig departed, and then Wood, during the recordings for the band's second LP. Taking Hunt and McDowell with him, Wood left the band to form Wizzard. Both cited problems with their manager, Don Arden, who Wood felt failed in his role, and an unsatisfactory tour of Italy, where the cellos and violins could not be heard over the electric instruments. However, Arden would manage Wizzard, despite Wood's negative comments towards Arden. Despite predictions from the music press that the band would fold without Wood, who had been the driving force behind the creation of ELO, Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan, Edwards, Gibson and Tandy (who had switched from bass to keyboards to replace Hunt) remaining from the previous line-up, and new recruits Mike de Albuquerque and Colin Walker joining the band on bass and cello, respectively.
The new line-up performed at the 1972 Reading Festival on 12 August 1972. Barcus Berry instrument pick-ups, now sported by the band's string trio, allowed them to have proper amplification on stage for their instruments, which had previously been all but drowned out by the electrified instruments. The band released their second album ELO 2 in early 1973, which produced their second UK top 10 and their first US chart single, an elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven" (which also incorporated the first movement of Beethoven's own Fifth Symphony). ELO also made their first appearance on American Bandstand. During the recording of the third album, Gibson was let go after a dispute over money, Mik Kaminski joined as violinist, and Walker left since touring was keeping him away from his family too much. Remaining cellist Edwards finished the cello parts for the album. The resulting album, On the Third Day, was released in late 1973, with the American version featuring the popular single "Showdown". After leaving Wizzard, Hugh McDowell returned as the group's second cellist, also in late 1973, in time to appear on the On the Third Day cover in some regions, despite not having played on the album.
1974–1982: Global success and concept albums
For the band's fourth album, Eldorado, a concept album about a daydreamer, Lynne stopped multi-tracking strings and hired Louis Clark as string arranger with an orchestra and choir. ELO's string players still continued to perform on recordings, however. The first single off the album, "Can't Get It Out of My Head", became their first US top 10 hit, and Eldorado, A Symphony became ELO's first gold album. Mike de Albuquerque departed the band during the recording sessions as he wished to spend more time with his family, and consequently much of the bass on the album was performed by Lynne.
Following the release of Eldorado, Kelly Groucutt was recruited as bassist and in early 1975, Melvyn Gale replaced Edwards on cello. The line-up stabilised as the band took to a decidedly more accessible sound. ELO had become successful in the US at this point and the group was a star attraction on the stadium and arena circuit, and regularly appeared on The Midnight Special more than any other band in that show's history with four appearances (in 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977).
Face the Music was released in 1975, producing the hit singles "Evil Woman", their third UK top 10, and "Strange Magic". The opening instrumental "Fire on High", with its mix of strings and acoustic guitars, saw heavy exposure as the theme music for the American television programme CBS Sports Spectacular in the mid-1970s. The group toured extensively from 3 February to 13 April 1976, playing 68 shows in 76 days in the US.
Their sixth album, the platinum selling A New World Record, became their first UK top 10 album when it was released in 1976. It contained the hit singles "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Rockaria!" and "Do Ya", the last a re-recording of a Move song recorded for that group's final single. The band toured in support in the US only from September 1976 to April 1977 with a break in December, then an American Music Awards show appearance on 31 January 1977, plus a one-off gig in San Diego in August 1977. Casey Kasem said that the Electric Light Orchestra is the "World's first touring rock 'n' roll chamber group" before he played "Livin' Thing" at #28.
A New World Record was followed by a multi-platinum selling album, the double-LP Out of the Blue, in 1977. Out of the Blue featured the singles "Turn to Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Mr. Blue Sky", and "Wild West Hero", each becoming a hit in the United Kingdom. The band then set out on a nine-month, 92-date world tour, with an enormous set and a hugely expensive space ship stage with fog machines and a laser display. In the United States the concerts were billed as The Big Night and were their largest to date, with 62,000 people seeing them at Cleveland Stadium. The Big Night went on to become the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point (1978). The band played at London's Wembley Arena for eight straight sold-out nights during the tour, another record at that time.
During an Australian tour in early 1978, Electric Light Orchestra were presented with 9 platinum awards for the albums Out of the Blue and New World Record.
In 1979, the multi-platinum album Discovery was released, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart. Although the biggest hit on the album (and ELO's biggest hit overall) was the rock song "Don't Bring Me Down", the album was noted for its heavy disco influence. Discovery also produced the hits "Shine a Little Love", their first and only No. 1 hit from 1972 to the present with any of the four major or minor US singles charts on Radio & Records (R&R), "Last Train to London", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp". Another song, "Midnight Blue", was released as a single in southeast Asia. The band recorded promotional videos for all the songs on the album.
By the end of 1979, ELO had reached the peak of their stardom, selling millions of albums and singles, and even inspiring a parody/tribute song on the Randy Newman album Born Again, titled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band". During 1979, Jeff Lynne also turned down an invitation for ELO to headline the August 1979 Knebworth Festival concerts. That allowed Led Zeppelin the chance to headline instead.
In 1980, Jeff Lynne was asked to write for the soundtrack of the musical film Xanadu and provided half of the songs, with the other half written by John Farrar and performed by the film's star Olivia Newton-John. The film performed poorly at the box office, but the soundtrack did exceptionally well, eventually going double platinum. The album spawned hit singles from both Newton-John ("Magic", a No. 1 hit in the United States, and "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard) and ELO ("I'm Alive", which went gold, "All Over the World" and "Don't Walk Away"). The title track, performed by both Newton-John and ELO, is ELO's only song to top the singles chart in the United Kingdom. More than a quarter of a century later, Xanadu, a Broadway musical based on the film, opened on 10 July 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre to uniformly good reviews. It received four Tony Award nominations. The musical received its UK premiere in London in October 2015. Casey Kasem called The Electric Light Orchestra a "seven-man supergroup" and "amazing" for hitting the top 40 a remarkable six times in a one-year period from August 1979 to August 1980 before playing "All Over the World" at #23.
In 1981, ELO's sound changed again with the science fiction concept album Time, a throwback to earlier, more progressive rock albums like Eldorado. With the string section now departed, synthesisers took a dominating role, as was the trend in the larger music scene of the time; although studio strings were present on some of the tracks conducted by Rainer Pietsch, the overall soundscape had a more electronic feel in keeping with the futuristic nature of the album. Time topped the UK charts for two weeks and was the last ELO studio album to be certified platinum in the United Kingdom until Alone in the Universe in 2015. Singles from the album included "Hold On Tight", "Twilight", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Here Is the News" and "Ticket to the Moon". However, the release of the single for "Rain Is Falling" in 1982 was the band's first single in the US to fail to reach the Billboard Top 200 since 1975, and the release of "The Way Life's Meant to Be" similarly was their first single in the UK to fail to chart since 1976. The band embarked on their last world tour to promote the LP. For the tour, Kaminski returned to the line-up on violin, whilst Louis Clark (synthesizers) and Dave Morgan (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals) also joined the on stage lineup. Clark had previously handled string arrangements for the band.
1983–1986: Secret Messages, Balance of Power, disbanding
Jeff Lynne wanted to follow Time with a double album, but CBS blocked his plan on the grounds that a double vinyl album would be too expensive in the oil crisis and not sell as well as a single record, so as a result, the new album was edited down from double album to a single disc and released as Secret Messages in 1983 (many of the out-takes were later released on Afterglow or as b-sides of singles). The album was a hit in the UK reaching the top 5; but its release was undermined by a string of bad news that there would be no tour to promote the LP. Lynne, discouraged by the dwindling crowds on the Time tour, CBS's order to cut Secret Messages down to one disc, and his falling out with manager Don Arden (he would eventually leave Arden and Jet by 1985), decided to end ELO in late 1983. Drummer Bevan moved on to play drums for Black Sabbath and bassist Groucutt, unhappy with no touring income that year, decided to sue Lynne and Jet Records in November 1983, eventually resulting in a settlement for the sum of £300,000 (equivalent to £994,300 in 2018). Secret Messages debuted at number four in the United Kingdom, but it fell off the charts, failing to catch fire with a lack of hit singles in the UK (though "Rock 'n' Roll Is King" was a sizeable hit in UK, the US and Australia) and a lukewarm media response.
That same year, Lynne moved into production work, having already produced two tracks for Dave Edmunds' album Information, and he would go on to produce six cuts from his next one, Riff Raff, in 1984 and one cut on the Everly Brothers reunion album EB 84. He also composed a track for former ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog's 1985 album Eyes of a Woman.
Lynne and Tandy went on to record tracks for the 1984 Electric Dreams soundtrack under Lynne's name; however, Lynne was contractually obliged to make one more ELO album. So Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1984 and 1985 as a three-piece (with Christian Schneider playing saxophone on some tracks and Lynne again doubling on bass in addition to his usual guitar in the absence of an official bass player) to record Balance of Power, released early in 1986 after some delays. Though the single "Calling America" placed in the Top 30 in the United Kingdom (number 28) and Top 20 in the States, subsequent singles failed to chart. The album lacked actual classical strings, which were replaced once again by synthesizers, played by Tandy and Lynne. However, despite being a 3-piece, much of the album was made by Lynne alone, with Tandy and Bevan giving their additions later.
The band was then rejoined by Kaminski, Clark and Morgan, adding Martin Smith on bass guitar, and proceeded to perform a small number of live ELO performances in 1986, including shows in England and Germany along with US appearances on American Bandstand, Solid Gold, then at Disneyland that summer. The Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 was a charity concert organised by Bevan in ELO's hometown of Birmingham on 15 March 1986, and ELO performed. A hint of Lynne's future was seen when George Harrison appeared onstage during the encore at Heartbeat, joining in the all-star jam of "Johnny B. Goode". ELO's last performance for several years occurred on 13 July 1986 in Stuttgart, Germany playing as opening act to Rod Stewart. With Lynne no longer under contractual obligation to attend further scheduled performances, ELO effectively disbanded after that final show in Stuttgart in 1986, but there was no announcement made of it for the next two years, during which George Harrison's Lynne-produced album Cloud Nine and the pair's follow-up (with Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty as Traveling Wilburys) Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 were released.
1989–1999: ELO Part II
Bev Bevan (under an agreement with Lynne, who co-owned the ELO name with him) continued on in 1989 as ELO Part II, initially with no other former ELO members, but with ELO's main orchestra conductor, Louis Clark. Bevan also recruited Eric Troyer, Pete Haycock, and Neil Lockwood. ELO Part II released their debut album Electric Light Orchestra Part Two in May 1991. Mik Kaminski, Kelly Groucutt and Hugh McDowell, at the time working in a group called OrKestra, joined the group for their first tour in 1991. While McDowell did not stay, Groucutt and Kaminski became fully-fledged members. In 1994, after the departure of Haycock and Lockwood, the remaining five recorded Moment of Truth with their newest member, Phil Bates. This lineup toured extensively up to 1999. Bevan retired from the lineup in 1999 and sold his share of the ELO name to Jeff Lynne in 2000, after Lynne had expressed his dismay that in certain areas the band were billed as 'ELO', rather than with '...Part II' added, suggesting it was the original outfit. After Bevan left, the band continued after they changed its name to The Orchestra. In 2001 The Orchestra released their debut album No Rewind.
2000–2001: Reformation
Lynne's comeback with ELO began in 2000 with the release of a retrospective box set, Flashback, containing three CDs of remastered tracks and a handful of out-takes and unfinished works, most notably a new version of ELO's only UK number one hit "Xanadu". In 2001 Zoom, ELO's first album since 1986, was released. Though billed and marketed as an ELO album, the only returning member other than Lynne was Tandy, who performed on one track. Guest musicians included former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Upon completion of the album, Lynne reformed the band with completely new members, including his then-girlfriend Rosie Vela (who had released her own album, Zazu, in 1986) and announced that ELO would tour again. Former ELO member Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for two television live performances: VH1 Storytellers and a PBS concert shot at CBS Television City, later titled Zoom Tour Live and released on DVD. Besides Lynne, Tandy and Vela, the new live ELO lineup included Gregg Bissonette (drums, backing vocals), Matt Bissonette (bass guitar, backing vocals), Marc Mann (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Peggy Baldwin (cello), and Sarah O'Brien (cello). However, the planned tour was cancelled, reportedly due to poor ticket sales.
2001–2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions
From 2001 to 2007, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North".
On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live – The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion – Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011.
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of re-recordings of ELO's greatest hits, performed by Lynne exclusively, along with a new song titled "Point of No Return". Released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave, these new albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks.
Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr. Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin.
2014–present: Jeff Lynne's ELO
The success of the Children in Need performance was followed by support from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who had Lynne as his on-air guest and asked his listeners if they wanted to see ELO perform. The 50,000 tickets for the resulting BBC Radio 2's "Festival in a Day" in Hyde Park on 14 September 2014 sold out in 15 minutes. Billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO", Lynne and Tandy were backed by the Take That/Gary Barlow band from the Children in Need concert, led by Mike Stevens and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Lynne chose to use the name as a response to ELO offshoot, tribute and imitation bands, (ELO Part II, The Orchestra, OrKestra and the Music of ELO) who repeatedly used the ELO name for promoting their own tours, justified or not. Chereene Allen was again the lead violinist for the band. The development of modern digital processing added a smoother finish to the work, which led Lynne to reconsider his preference for studio work, hinting at a UK tour in 2015.
On 8 February 2015, Jeff Lynne's ELO played at the Grammy Awards for the first time. They performed a medley of "Evil Woman" and "Mr. Blue Sky" with Ed Sheeran, who introduced them as "A man and a band who I love".
On 10 September 2015, it was announced that a new ELO album would be released. The album was to be under the moniker of Jeff Lynne's ELO, with the band signed to Columbia Records. Alone in the Universe was released on 13 November 2015. The album was ELO's first album of new material since 2001's Zoom. The first track, and single, "When I Was a Boy" was made available for streaming on the same day and a music video for the song was also released. A small promotional tour followed the album's release which saw Jeff Lynne's ELO perform a full concert for BBC Radio 2 along with their first two shows in the United States in 30 years, both which sold out very quickly. Jeff Lynne's ELO also made rare US television appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS This Morning. A 19-date European tour was announced for 2016, with the band playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on 26 June 2016.
In 2017 they played their "Alone in the Universe" tour. That same year, on 7 April, they played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they were inducted during the 32nd Annual Induction Ceremony.
The band continued to tour in 2018 in North America and Europe. A video was created for the City of Birmingham which used the original recording of "Mr. Blue Sky" as its music; this was played at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony during the handover presentation of Birmingham 2022.
On 3 August 2018, Secret Messages was reissued "as originally conceived" as a double album. It included several cut tracks, such as the CD exclusive bonus track "Time After Time", B-side exclusives "Buildings Have Eyes" and "After All", the Afterglow exclusives "Mandalay" and "Hello My Old Friend", and the 2001 reissue exclusives "Endless Lies" and "No Way Out".
On 22 October 2018 Lynne announced that Jeff Lynne's ELO would embark on a 2019 North American tour from June to August 2019.
ELO released their 14th album, From Out of Nowhere, on 1 November 2019. While a tour from the album was announced to begin in October 2020, the official Jeff Lynne's ELO Twitter page then later announced that the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legacy and influence
According to music journalist Simon Price, ELO was
In November 2016, Jeff Lynne's ELO won Band of the Year at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. In October 2016, ELO were nominated for the 2017 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. It was the first time the Hall had announced in advance the members of bands who would be inducted; the members of ELO listed were Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Richard Tandy. On 20 December 2016, it was announced ELO had been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Personnel
Principal members
Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, cello, drums, percussion (1970–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–present)
Roy Wood – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, oboe, bassoon (1970–1972)
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1970–1983, 1985–1986)
Richard Tandy – piano, keyboards, synthesizer, bass, guitar, backing vocals (1972–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–2016, 2019–present)
Discography
The Electric Light Orchestra (1971)
ELO 2 (1973)
On the Third Day (1973)
Eldorado (1974)
Face the Music (1975)
A New World Record (1976)
Out of the Blue (1977)
Discovery (1979)
Xanadu (1980) (with Olivia Newton-John) (soundtrack album)
Time (1981) (credited as ELO)
Secret Messages (1983)
Balance of Power (1986)
Zoom (2001)
Alone in the Universe (2015) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
From Out of Nowhere (2019) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
Notes
References
Further reading
Bevan, Bev The Electric Light Orchestra Story (London: Mushroom, 1980)
Van der Kiste, John Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, before and after (Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2015)
External links
Electric Light Orchestra – The official Facebook page by Legacy Recordings.
Electric Light Orchestra Legacy Recordings site – ELO's page at their record label.
Jeff Lynne's ELO – The official Jeff Lynne website.
Jeff Lynne Song Database
ELO|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
The Move
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Musical groups reestablished in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2014
Progressive pop musicians
Symphonic rock groups
Harvest Records artists
Warner Records artists
United Artists Records artists
Jet Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
British soft rock music groups | false | [
"Friends Reunited was a portfolio of social networking websites based upon the themes of reunion with research, dating and job-hunting. The first and eponymous website was created by a husband-and-wife team in the classic back-bedroom Internet start-up; it was the first online social network to achieve prominence in Britain, and it weathered the dotcom bust.\n\nEach site worked on the principle of user-generated content through which registered users were able to post information about themselves which could be searched by other users. A double-blind email system allowed contact between users. Formerly, the site cost £7.50 per year to use but it was later free of charge.\n\nThe main Friends Reunited site aimed to reunite people who had in common a school, university, address, workplace, sports club or armed service; the sister site Genes Reunited enabled members to pool their family trees and identify common ancestors; the Dating and Jobs sister sites linked members with similar attributes, interests and/or locations.\n\nFriends Reunited branding was attached to CD collections of nostalgic popular music, and television programmes broadcast on the ITV network, which owned the site until August 2009. A book of members' stories was published in 2003 by Virgin Books, and a song about (and named after) the site was released by The Hussys in 2006.\n\nFollowing ITV's sale of the site to DC Thomson's Brightsolid subsidiary in 2009, the company relaunched Friends Reunited in March 2012 with a new emphasis on nostalgia and memories.\n\nOn 18 January 2016, Friends Reunited announced that it would be closing down the website after 16 years of operation. On 26 February 2016 the site closed down.\n\nHistory\n\nEstablishment\nThe website was conceived by Julie and Steve Pankhurst of Barnet, Hertfordshire and their friend Jason Porter in 1999. Julie Pankhurst's curiosity about the current status of old school friends inspired her to develop the website, exploiting a gap in the UK market following the success of US website Classmates.com. Friends Reunited was officially launched in June 2000. By the end of the year, it had 3,000 members, and a year later this had increased to 2.5 million.\n\nITV ownership\nBy December 2005, Friends Reunited had over 15 million members and was bought by British TV company ITV plc for £120 million ($208 million), plus further payments of up to £55 million based on its performance up to 2009.\n\nFriends Reunited had become popular enough that its uses went beyond the intentions of its founders. According to the Register, potential employers used entries to screen job applicants. Friends Reunited has been used by bitter partners to exact revenge on those who have abandoned them and users have been sued for comments made on Friends Reunited about other people. Friends Reunited features prominently in Ben Elton's detective novel Past Mortem (2004). The website launched a series of television advertisements for the first time in early 2007.\n\nIn 2007, ITV Chairman Michael Grade described the site as \"the sweet spot\" of the internet and stated that \"Friends Reunited is one of the great undersung jewels in the crown ... one of the most important bits of ITV going forward, a massive presence, and profitable\" That year the site made a profit of £22 million, but its market valuation had fallen sharply from the £175 million paid by ITV in 2005, and it achieved growth in UK traffic of only 1.2%, compared to Facebook’s 2,393% and Bebo's 173%.\n\nIn March 2008, after losing 47% of unique users in the previous 12 months, the site dropped the subscription fee required to contact members, but the decline continued.\n\nBrightsolid ownership\nOn 4 March 2009, ITV announced that it would sell Friends Reunited as part of wider restructuring and disposal of non-core assets. In August 2009 it was announced that Friends Reunited had been sold for £25 million to Brightsolid Limited, a firm which is owned by DC Thomson, a Dundee-based publisher. Following regulatory approval, the sale was completed on 25 March 2010.\n\nOn 15 December 2011, DC Thomson estimated that Friends Reunited was worth only £5.2 million, a fifth of the price it paid to ITV two years previously.\n\nThe site was relaunched in March 2012, with the focus shifting from reuniting with school friends to being a place where people collect and share memories of the past.\n\nOn 1 October 2013, under the guidance of new CEO Annelies van den Belt, Brightsolid Online Publishing was rebranded as DC Thomson Family History (which, in turn, became Findmypast), focusing on its core family history brands. As a result of this, Friends Reunited was no longer considered an integral part of the direction and was to be re-incubated elsewhere in the DC Thomson company.\n\nOn 18 January 2016, Friends Reunited revealed that it would be closing down the website after 16 years of operation.\n\nSee also\n List of social networking websites\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nFriends Reunited (Archive copy)\n\nBritish social networking websites\nInternet properties established in 2000\n2000 establishments in the United Kingdom\nInternet properties disestablished in 2016\n2016 disestablishments in the United Kingdom\nDefunct social networking services",
"Genes Reunited, originally known as Genes Connected, is a genealogy website that was launched in the UK in 2003 as a sister-site to Friends Reunited. It has over 13 million members and over 780 million names listed.\n\nHistory\nSteve and Julie Pankhurst, the creators of Friends Reunited originally formed Genes Connected in 2003 as a sister-site to Friends Reunited, It was later rebranded as Genes Reunited and was sold to ITV in 2005. Genes Reunited was part of the group that was sold to Brightsolid in 2009.\n\nIt is now one of the family history brands, including findmypast, that are owned by DC Thomson\n\nFeatures\nMembers are able to build their family tree by posting it on the site and investigating which ancestors they share with other members. They can also search historical records, such as census records from England, Wales and Scotland and birth, marriage and death records dating from 1837 to 2006. Online community boards give members the opportunity to chat and share advice. They can also upload and share family photos and documents. Each name added to a family tree is given a profile where all information can be stored.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal link\nGenes Reunited website\n\nBritish genealogy websites"
] |
[
"Electric Light Orchestra",
"2001-2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions",
"Did they come up with any original work during this time?",
"The first was \"Surrender\" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976.",
"Was there anything that came in higher on the UK Singles Chart?",
"some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was \"Latitude 88 North\".",
"How did it do?",
"I don't know.",
"How well did the reunions do in this timeframe?",
"Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, \"Livin' Thing\" and \"Mr Blue Sky\"",
"Was this the only time they reunited?",
"I don't know."
] | C_c34ba5e0279a482b95b3bcb771670842_1 | What was reissued during this time? | 6 | What did Jeff Lynne and Tandy reissue during 2013? | Electric Light Orchestra | For the next six years, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North". On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live - The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion - Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011. Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of new recordings of ELO's greatest hits by Lynne; along with a new song "Point of No Return", released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave. These new 2012 albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks. Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin. CANNOTANSWER | announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. | The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including two LPs that reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986 Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became the Orchestra. Apart from a brief reunion in the early 2000s, ELO remained largely inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO.
During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide, and collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits (20) without a number one single of any band in US chart history. In 2017, the key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
History
1970–1973: Formation and early albums
In 1968, Roy Wood — guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the Move — had an idea to form a new band that would use violins, cellos, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, taking rock music in the direction to "pick up where the Beatles left off". The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race, was excited by the concept. When Trevor Burton left the Move in February 1969, Lynne was asked by Wood to join, only to say no, as he was still focused on finding success with his band. But in January 1970, when Carl Wayne quit the band, Lynne accepted Wood's second invitation to join, on the condition that they focus their energy on the new project.
On 12 July 1970, when Wood added multiple cellos to a Lynne-penned song intended to be a Move B-side, the new concept became a reality and "10538 Overture" became the first Electric Light Orchestra song. The original plan was to end The Move following the release of the Looking On album at the end of 1970, crossing over to the new unit in the new year, but to help finance the fledgling band, one further Move album, Message from the Country, was also recorded during the lengthy ELO recordings and released in mid-1971. The resulting debut album The Electric Light Orchestra was released in December 1971. Only the trio of Wood, Lynne and Bevan played on all songs, with Bill Hunt supplying the French Horn parts and Steve Woolam playing violin. It was released in the United States in March 1972 as No Answer. The name was chosen after a record company secretary had tried to ring the UK company to get the name of the album. They were unavailable so she left a note reading "No answer". "10538 Overture" became a UK top-ten hit. With both band's albums in the stores simultaneously, the Move and ELO both appeared on television during this period.
ELO's debut concert took place on 16 April 1972 at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon, Surrey, with a line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, Bill Hunt (keyboards/French horn), Andy Craig (cello), Mike Edwards (cello), Wilfred Gibson (violin), Hugh McDowell (cello), and Richard Tandy (bass). However, this line-up did not last for long. First Craig departed, and then Wood, during the recordings for the band's second LP. Taking Hunt and McDowell with him, Wood left the band to form Wizzard. Both cited problems with their manager, Don Arden, who Wood felt failed in his role, and an unsatisfactory tour of Italy, where the cellos and violins could not be heard over the electric instruments. However, Arden would manage Wizzard, despite Wood's negative comments towards Arden. Despite predictions from the music press that the band would fold without Wood, who had been the driving force behind the creation of ELO, Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan, Edwards, Gibson and Tandy (who had switched from bass to keyboards to replace Hunt) remaining from the previous line-up, and new recruits Mike de Albuquerque and Colin Walker joining the band on bass and cello, respectively.
The new line-up performed at the 1972 Reading Festival on 12 August 1972. Barcus Berry instrument pick-ups, now sported by the band's string trio, allowed them to have proper amplification on stage for their instruments, which had previously been all but drowned out by the electrified instruments. The band released their second album ELO 2 in early 1973, which produced their second UK top 10 and their first US chart single, an elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven" (which also incorporated the first movement of Beethoven's own Fifth Symphony). ELO also made their first appearance on American Bandstand. During the recording of the third album, Gibson was let go after a dispute over money, Mik Kaminski joined as violinist, and Walker left since touring was keeping him away from his family too much. Remaining cellist Edwards finished the cello parts for the album. The resulting album, On the Third Day, was released in late 1973, with the American version featuring the popular single "Showdown". After leaving Wizzard, Hugh McDowell returned as the group's second cellist, also in late 1973, in time to appear on the On the Third Day cover in some regions, despite not having played on the album.
1974–1982: Global success and concept albums
For the band's fourth album, Eldorado, a concept album about a daydreamer, Lynne stopped multi-tracking strings and hired Louis Clark as string arranger with an orchestra and choir. ELO's string players still continued to perform on recordings, however. The first single off the album, "Can't Get It Out of My Head", became their first US top 10 hit, and Eldorado, A Symphony became ELO's first gold album. Mike de Albuquerque departed the band during the recording sessions as he wished to spend more time with his family, and consequently much of the bass on the album was performed by Lynne.
Following the release of Eldorado, Kelly Groucutt was recruited as bassist and in early 1975, Melvyn Gale replaced Edwards on cello. The line-up stabilised as the band took to a decidedly more accessible sound. ELO had become successful in the US at this point and the group was a star attraction on the stadium and arena circuit, and regularly appeared on The Midnight Special more than any other band in that show's history with four appearances (in 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977).
Face the Music was released in 1975, producing the hit singles "Evil Woman", their third UK top 10, and "Strange Magic". The opening instrumental "Fire on High", with its mix of strings and acoustic guitars, saw heavy exposure as the theme music for the American television programme CBS Sports Spectacular in the mid-1970s. The group toured extensively from 3 February to 13 April 1976, playing 68 shows in 76 days in the US.
Their sixth album, the platinum selling A New World Record, became their first UK top 10 album when it was released in 1976. It contained the hit singles "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Rockaria!" and "Do Ya", the last a re-recording of a Move song recorded for that group's final single. The band toured in support in the US only from September 1976 to April 1977 with a break in December, then an American Music Awards show appearance on 31 January 1977, plus a one-off gig in San Diego in August 1977. Casey Kasem said that the Electric Light Orchestra is the "World's first touring rock 'n' roll chamber group" before he played "Livin' Thing" at #28.
A New World Record was followed by a multi-platinum selling album, the double-LP Out of the Blue, in 1977. Out of the Blue featured the singles "Turn to Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Mr. Blue Sky", and "Wild West Hero", each becoming a hit in the United Kingdom. The band then set out on a nine-month, 92-date world tour, with an enormous set and a hugely expensive space ship stage with fog machines and a laser display. In the United States the concerts were billed as The Big Night and were their largest to date, with 62,000 people seeing them at Cleveland Stadium. The Big Night went on to become the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point (1978). The band played at London's Wembley Arena for eight straight sold-out nights during the tour, another record at that time.
During an Australian tour in early 1978, Electric Light Orchestra were presented with 9 platinum awards for the albums Out of the Blue and New World Record.
In 1979, the multi-platinum album Discovery was released, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart. Although the biggest hit on the album (and ELO's biggest hit overall) was the rock song "Don't Bring Me Down", the album was noted for its heavy disco influence. Discovery also produced the hits "Shine a Little Love", their first and only No. 1 hit from 1972 to the present with any of the four major or minor US singles charts on Radio & Records (R&R), "Last Train to London", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp". Another song, "Midnight Blue", was released as a single in southeast Asia. The band recorded promotional videos for all the songs on the album.
By the end of 1979, ELO had reached the peak of their stardom, selling millions of albums and singles, and even inspiring a parody/tribute song on the Randy Newman album Born Again, titled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band". During 1979, Jeff Lynne also turned down an invitation for ELO to headline the August 1979 Knebworth Festival concerts. That allowed Led Zeppelin the chance to headline instead.
In 1980, Jeff Lynne was asked to write for the soundtrack of the musical film Xanadu and provided half of the songs, with the other half written by John Farrar and performed by the film's star Olivia Newton-John. The film performed poorly at the box office, but the soundtrack did exceptionally well, eventually going double platinum. The album spawned hit singles from both Newton-John ("Magic", a No. 1 hit in the United States, and "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard) and ELO ("I'm Alive", which went gold, "All Over the World" and "Don't Walk Away"). The title track, performed by both Newton-John and ELO, is ELO's only song to top the singles chart in the United Kingdom. More than a quarter of a century later, Xanadu, a Broadway musical based on the film, opened on 10 July 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre to uniformly good reviews. It received four Tony Award nominations. The musical received its UK premiere in London in October 2015. Casey Kasem called The Electric Light Orchestra a "seven-man supergroup" and "amazing" for hitting the top 40 a remarkable six times in a one-year period from August 1979 to August 1980 before playing "All Over the World" at #23.
In 1981, ELO's sound changed again with the science fiction concept album Time, a throwback to earlier, more progressive rock albums like Eldorado. With the string section now departed, synthesisers took a dominating role, as was the trend in the larger music scene of the time; although studio strings were present on some of the tracks conducted by Rainer Pietsch, the overall soundscape had a more electronic feel in keeping with the futuristic nature of the album. Time topped the UK charts for two weeks and was the last ELO studio album to be certified platinum in the United Kingdom until Alone in the Universe in 2015. Singles from the album included "Hold On Tight", "Twilight", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Here Is the News" and "Ticket to the Moon". However, the release of the single for "Rain Is Falling" in 1982 was the band's first single in the US to fail to reach the Billboard Top 200 since 1975, and the release of "The Way Life's Meant to Be" similarly was their first single in the UK to fail to chart since 1976. The band embarked on their last world tour to promote the LP. For the tour, Kaminski returned to the line-up on violin, whilst Louis Clark (synthesizers) and Dave Morgan (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals) also joined the on stage lineup. Clark had previously handled string arrangements for the band.
1983–1986: Secret Messages, Balance of Power, disbanding
Jeff Lynne wanted to follow Time with a double album, but CBS blocked his plan on the grounds that a double vinyl album would be too expensive in the oil crisis and not sell as well as a single record, so as a result, the new album was edited down from double album to a single disc and released as Secret Messages in 1983 (many of the out-takes were later released on Afterglow or as b-sides of singles). The album was a hit in the UK reaching the top 5; but its release was undermined by a string of bad news that there would be no tour to promote the LP. Lynne, discouraged by the dwindling crowds on the Time tour, CBS's order to cut Secret Messages down to one disc, and his falling out with manager Don Arden (he would eventually leave Arden and Jet by 1985), decided to end ELO in late 1983. Drummer Bevan moved on to play drums for Black Sabbath and bassist Groucutt, unhappy with no touring income that year, decided to sue Lynne and Jet Records in November 1983, eventually resulting in a settlement for the sum of £300,000 (equivalent to £994,300 in 2018). Secret Messages debuted at number four in the United Kingdom, but it fell off the charts, failing to catch fire with a lack of hit singles in the UK (though "Rock 'n' Roll Is King" was a sizeable hit in UK, the US and Australia) and a lukewarm media response.
That same year, Lynne moved into production work, having already produced two tracks for Dave Edmunds' album Information, and he would go on to produce six cuts from his next one, Riff Raff, in 1984 and one cut on the Everly Brothers reunion album EB 84. He also composed a track for former ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog's 1985 album Eyes of a Woman.
Lynne and Tandy went on to record tracks for the 1984 Electric Dreams soundtrack under Lynne's name; however, Lynne was contractually obliged to make one more ELO album. So Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1984 and 1985 as a three-piece (with Christian Schneider playing saxophone on some tracks and Lynne again doubling on bass in addition to his usual guitar in the absence of an official bass player) to record Balance of Power, released early in 1986 after some delays. Though the single "Calling America" placed in the Top 30 in the United Kingdom (number 28) and Top 20 in the States, subsequent singles failed to chart. The album lacked actual classical strings, which were replaced once again by synthesizers, played by Tandy and Lynne. However, despite being a 3-piece, much of the album was made by Lynne alone, with Tandy and Bevan giving their additions later.
The band was then rejoined by Kaminski, Clark and Morgan, adding Martin Smith on bass guitar, and proceeded to perform a small number of live ELO performances in 1986, including shows in England and Germany along with US appearances on American Bandstand, Solid Gold, then at Disneyland that summer. The Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 was a charity concert organised by Bevan in ELO's hometown of Birmingham on 15 March 1986, and ELO performed. A hint of Lynne's future was seen when George Harrison appeared onstage during the encore at Heartbeat, joining in the all-star jam of "Johnny B. Goode". ELO's last performance for several years occurred on 13 July 1986 in Stuttgart, Germany playing as opening act to Rod Stewart. With Lynne no longer under contractual obligation to attend further scheduled performances, ELO effectively disbanded after that final show in Stuttgart in 1986, but there was no announcement made of it for the next two years, during which George Harrison's Lynne-produced album Cloud Nine and the pair's follow-up (with Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty as Traveling Wilburys) Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 were released.
1989–1999: ELO Part II
Bev Bevan (under an agreement with Lynne, who co-owned the ELO name with him) continued on in 1989 as ELO Part II, initially with no other former ELO members, but with ELO's main orchestra conductor, Louis Clark. Bevan also recruited Eric Troyer, Pete Haycock, and Neil Lockwood. ELO Part II released their debut album Electric Light Orchestra Part Two in May 1991. Mik Kaminski, Kelly Groucutt and Hugh McDowell, at the time working in a group called OrKestra, joined the group for their first tour in 1991. While McDowell did not stay, Groucutt and Kaminski became fully-fledged members. In 1994, after the departure of Haycock and Lockwood, the remaining five recorded Moment of Truth with their newest member, Phil Bates. This lineup toured extensively up to 1999. Bevan retired from the lineup in 1999 and sold his share of the ELO name to Jeff Lynne in 2000, after Lynne had expressed his dismay that in certain areas the band were billed as 'ELO', rather than with '...Part II' added, suggesting it was the original outfit. After Bevan left, the band continued after they changed its name to The Orchestra. In 2001 The Orchestra released their debut album No Rewind.
2000–2001: Reformation
Lynne's comeback with ELO began in 2000 with the release of a retrospective box set, Flashback, containing three CDs of remastered tracks and a handful of out-takes and unfinished works, most notably a new version of ELO's only UK number one hit "Xanadu". In 2001 Zoom, ELO's first album since 1986, was released. Though billed and marketed as an ELO album, the only returning member other than Lynne was Tandy, who performed on one track. Guest musicians included former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Upon completion of the album, Lynne reformed the band with completely new members, including his then-girlfriend Rosie Vela (who had released her own album, Zazu, in 1986) and announced that ELO would tour again. Former ELO member Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for two television live performances: VH1 Storytellers and a PBS concert shot at CBS Television City, later titled Zoom Tour Live and released on DVD. Besides Lynne, Tandy and Vela, the new live ELO lineup included Gregg Bissonette (drums, backing vocals), Matt Bissonette (bass guitar, backing vocals), Marc Mann (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Peggy Baldwin (cello), and Sarah O'Brien (cello). However, the planned tour was cancelled, reportedly due to poor ticket sales.
2001–2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions
From 2001 to 2007, Harvest and Epic/Legacy reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was "Surrender" which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North".
On 9 August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released Live – The Early Years in the UK as a DVD compilation that included Fusion – Live in London (1976) along with never before released live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on a German TV show Rockpalast (1974). The US had a slightly edited release on 24 August 2010. The Essential Electric Light Orchestra artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011.
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of re-recordings of ELO's greatest hits, performed by Lynne exclusively, along with a new song titled "Point of No Return". Released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album release Long Wave, these new albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album Zoom and Lynne's debut solo album Armchair Theatre, originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album, Electric Light Orchestra Live, showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks.
Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr. Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin.
2014–present: Jeff Lynne's ELO
The success of the Children in Need performance was followed by support from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who had Lynne as his on-air guest and asked his listeners if they wanted to see ELO perform. The 50,000 tickets for the resulting BBC Radio 2's "Festival in a Day" in Hyde Park on 14 September 2014 sold out in 15 minutes. Billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO", Lynne and Tandy were backed by the Take That/Gary Barlow band from the Children in Need concert, led by Mike Stevens and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Lynne chose to use the name as a response to ELO offshoot, tribute and imitation bands, (ELO Part II, The Orchestra, OrKestra and the Music of ELO) who repeatedly used the ELO name for promoting their own tours, justified or not. Chereene Allen was again the lead violinist for the band. The development of modern digital processing added a smoother finish to the work, which led Lynne to reconsider his preference for studio work, hinting at a UK tour in 2015.
On 8 February 2015, Jeff Lynne's ELO played at the Grammy Awards for the first time. They performed a medley of "Evil Woman" and "Mr. Blue Sky" with Ed Sheeran, who introduced them as "A man and a band who I love".
On 10 September 2015, it was announced that a new ELO album would be released. The album was to be under the moniker of Jeff Lynne's ELO, with the band signed to Columbia Records. Alone in the Universe was released on 13 November 2015. The album was ELO's first album of new material since 2001's Zoom. The first track, and single, "When I Was a Boy" was made available for streaming on the same day and a music video for the song was also released. A small promotional tour followed the album's release which saw Jeff Lynne's ELO perform a full concert for BBC Radio 2 along with their first two shows in the United States in 30 years, both which sold out very quickly. Jeff Lynne's ELO also made rare US television appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS This Morning. A 19-date European tour was announced for 2016, with the band playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on 26 June 2016.
In 2017 they played their "Alone in the Universe" tour. That same year, on 7 April, they played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they were inducted during the 32nd Annual Induction Ceremony.
The band continued to tour in 2018 in North America and Europe. A video was created for the City of Birmingham which used the original recording of "Mr. Blue Sky" as its music; this was played at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony during the handover presentation of Birmingham 2022.
On 3 August 2018, Secret Messages was reissued "as originally conceived" as a double album. It included several cut tracks, such as the CD exclusive bonus track "Time After Time", B-side exclusives "Buildings Have Eyes" and "After All", the Afterglow exclusives "Mandalay" and "Hello My Old Friend", and the 2001 reissue exclusives "Endless Lies" and "No Way Out".
On 22 October 2018 Lynne announced that Jeff Lynne's ELO would embark on a 2019 North American tour from June to August 2019.
ELO released their 14th album, From Out of Nowhere, on 1 November 2019. While a tour from the album was announced to begin in October 2020, the official Jeff Lynne's ELO Twitter page then later announced that the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legacy and influence
According to music journalist Simon Price, ELO was
In November 2016, Jeff Lynne's ELO won Band of the Year at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. In October 2016, ELO were nominated for the 2017 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. It was the first time the Hall had announced in advance the members of bands who would be inducted; the members of ELO listed were Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Richard Tandy. On 20 December 2016, it was announced ELO had been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Personnel
Principal members
Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, cello, drums, percussion (1970–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–present)
Roy Wood – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, oboe, bassoon (1970–1972)
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1970–1983, 1985–1986)
Richard Tandy – piano, keyboards, synthesizer, bass, guitar, backing vocals (1972–1983, 1985–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–2016, 2019–present)
Discography
The Electric Light Orchestra (1971)
ELO 2 (1973)
On the Third Day (1973)
Eldorado (1974)
Face the Music (1975)
A New World Record (1976)
Out of the Blue (1977)
Discovery (1979)
Xanadu (1980) (with Olivia Newton-John) (soundtrack album)
Time (1981) (credited as ELO)
Secret Messages (1983)
Balance of Power (1986)
Zoom (2001)
Alone in the Universe (2015) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
From Out of Nowhere (2019) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
Notes
References
Further reading
Bevan, Bev The Electric Light Orchestra Story (London: Mushroom, 1980)
Van der Kiste, John Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, before and after (Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2015)
External links
Electric Light Orchestra – The official Facebook page by Legacy Recordings.
Electric Light Orchestra Legacy Recordings site – ELO's page at their record label.
Jeff Lynne's ELO – The official Jeff Lynne website.
Jeff Lynne Song Database
ELO|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
The Move
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Musical groups reestablished in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2014
Progressive pop musicians
Symphonic rock groups
Harvest Records artists
Warner Records artists
United Artists Records artists
Jet Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
British soft rock music groups | true | [
"Keiser av en Dimensjon Ukjent (lit. Emperor of a Dimension Unknown) is the third full-length album from Norwegian solo artist Mortiis, which was released in 1995.\nIt initially came on a golden CD, whereas the LP was a picture disc wrapped in a giant poster. This album was limited to 500 numbered copies. The LP was reissued for the US by The Ajna Offensive, with new artwork. It was limited to 300 copies, also coming with a booklet. It had previews of the then forthcoming book Secrets of My Kingdom.\n\nOn January 9, 2007, the CD was once again reissued, this time on Projekt Records.\n\nReisene Til Grotter Og Ødemarker\nReisene Til Grotter Og Ødemarker (trans. \"The Journeys to Grottoes and Wastelands\") was also a music video released in 1996. This was the first video by Mortiis, and was filmed at Bohus Fortress in Sweden. There are 2,000 copies available of the VHS. The video was reissued on DVD in 2018, including a booklet of behind the scenes photography taken during filming.\n\nTrack listing\n\"Reisene Til Grotter Og Ødemarker\" (The Journeys to Grottoes and Wastelands) - 24:47\n\"Keiser Av En Dimensjon Ukjent\" (Emperor Of A Dimension Unknown) - 27:48\n\nReferences\n\nMortiis albums\n1995 albums",
"Trúbrot were an Icelandic psychedelic/progressive rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.\n\nHistory\nThe band was formed in 1969 as an Icelandic supergroup composed of members of the bands Hljómar and Flowers. Their eponymous first album was released that same year, a collection of orchestral and organ-backed pop songs which included covers of The Beatles's \"Things We Said Today\", The Supremes's \"My World Is Empty Without You\" and Jose Feliciano's \"Rain\", as well as a five-minute mini-opera \"Elskaðu Náungann\", which was based on Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser.\n\nWhile the first album is entirely in Icelandic, later albums featured more English singing, which was at the time controversial in Iceland. 1971's Lifun came in an octagonal cover.\n\nSeveral members of this band would become part of the group Náttúra, who released one album in 1972. Trúbrot itself broke up in 1973.\n\nMembers\nShady Owens - vocals\nGunnar Þórðarson - guitar, flute, vocals\nKarl Sighvatsson - organ, piano\nRúnar Júlíusson - vocals, bass\nGunnar Jökull Hákonarson - drums, vocals\nMagnús Kjartansson - piano, organ, vocals\nÓlafur Garðarsson - drums\n\nDiscography\nTrúbrot (Fálkinn/EMI, 1969; Reissued on CD, Steinar, 1992; Reissued on LP + CD, Shadoks Music, 2010)\nUndir Áhrifum (Fálkinn/Parlophone, 1970; Reissued on CD, Steinar, 1992; Reissued on LP + CD, Shadoks Music, 2010)\nLifun (Tónaútgáfan, 1971; Reissued on CD, Geimsteinn, 1991; Reissued on LP + CD, Shadoks Music, 2011)\nMandala (Private Press, 1972; Reissued on CD, Geimsteinn, 1996; Reissued on LP + CD, Shadoks Music, 2011)\n\nReferences\n\nIcelandic progressive rock groups\nPsychedelic rock music groups"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth"
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | What was his wealth | 1 | What was Donald Trump's wealth in the Topic: Donald Trump, Wealth? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century presidents of the United States
American billionaires
American casino industry businesspeople
American Christians
American conspiracy theorists
American hoteliers
American investors
American nationalists
American people of German descent
American people of Scottish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American reality television producers
American television hosts
Articles containing video clips
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
Far-right politicians in the United States
Florida Republicans
Fordham University alumni
Impeached presidents of the United States
New York Military Academy alumni
New York (state) Democrats
New York (state) Independents
New York (state) Republicans
People stripped of honorary degrees
Politicians from Queens, New York
Presidents of the United States
Reform Party of the United States of America politicians
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Right-wing populism in the United States
Television personalities from Queens, New York
Television producers from Queens, New York
Time 100
Time Person of the Year
The Trump Organization employees
Donald
United States Football League executives
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"CIBC Wealth Management is the brokerage division of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The CIBC prefers to use phrases like \"wealth-building\" and \"wealth management\" to describe its investment services. Like most banks, their financial products include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, managed portfolios, guaranteed investments, and credit. And like most retail businesses, they give free advice to their customers on what to buy.\n\nIn 2003, this division managed $193 billion in client assets and made $205 million of profit.\n\nWealth Management was headed by Gerald T. McCaughey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CIBC World Markets and Vice Chair for Wealth Management. On July 31, 2014, CIBC announced the appointment of Victor Dodig as President and CEO which took effect on September 15, 2014.\n\nThis division was once called Wood Gundy and was once the biggest performing unit for CIBC.\n\nReferences \n\nCIBC annual report 2003\n\nCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce",
"Trusteeship is a socio-economic philosophy that was propounded by Mahatma Gandhi. It provides a means by which the wealthy people would be the trustees of trusts that looked after the welfare of the people in general. This concept was condemned by socialists as being in favor of the landlords, feudal princes and the capitalists, opposed to socialist theories.\nGandhi believed that the wealthy people could be persuaded to part with their wealth to help the poor. Putting it in Gandhiji's words \"Supposing I have come by a fair amount of wealth – either by way of legacy, or by means of trade and industry – I must know that all that wealth does not belong to me; what belongs to me is the right to an honourable livelihood by millions of others. The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used for the welfare of the community.\"\nGandhi along with his followers, after their release from\nprison formulated a \"simple\" and a \"practical\" formula where Trusteeship was explained. A draft practical trusteeship formula was prepared by Gandhi’s co-workers, Narhari Parikh and Kishorelal Mashruwala and it was fine-tuned by M.L. Dantwala.\n\nInfluences\nThe founder of the Tata Group, J.R.D. Tata was influenced by Gandhi's idea of\ntrusteeship. He developed his personal and professional life based on this idea.\n\nSee also\nGandhism\nGandhian Socialism\n\nFootnotes\n\nPolitical history of India\nGandhism\nIndian political philosophy"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000."
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | How did he get so much money | 2 | How did Donald Trump get so much money? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
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Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"How Did This Get Made? (HDTGM) is a podcast on the Earwolf network. It is hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas. Each episode, which typically has a different guest, features the deconstruction and mockery of outlandish and bad films.\n\nFormat\nThe hosts and guest make jokes about the films as well as attempt to unscramble plots. After discussing the film, Scheer reads \"second opinions\" in the form of five-star reviews posted online by Amazon.com users. The hosts also often make recommendations on if the film is worth watching. The show is released every two weeks.\n\nDuring the show's off week a \".5\" episode (also known as a \"minisode\") is uploaded. These episodes feature Scheer's \"explanation hopeline\" where he answers questions from fans who call in, the movie for the next week is announced, Scheer reads corrections and omissions from the message board regarding last week's episode, and he opens fan mail and provides his recommendations on books, movies, TV shows etc. that he is enjoying.\n\nSome full episodes are recorded in front of a live audience and include a question and answer session and original \"second opinion\" theme songs sung by fans. Not all content from the live shows is included in the final released episode - about 30 minutes of each live show is edited out.\n\nHistory\nHow Did This Get Made? began after Scheer and Raphael saw the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Later, the pair talked to Mantzoukas about the movie and joked about the idea for starting a bad movie podcast. , Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has never been covered on the podcast.\n\nAwards\nIn 2019, How Did This Get Made? won a Webby Award in the category of Podcasts – Television & Film.\n\nIn 2020, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nIn 2022, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nSpinoffs\n\nHow Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories\nBetween February and September 2017, a 17-episode spin-off series of the podcast was released. Entitled How Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories, author Blake J. Harris would interview people involved with the movies discussed on the podcast. Guests on the show included director Mel Brooks, who served as executive producer on Solarbabies, and screenwriter Dan Gordon, who wrote Surf Ninjas.\n\nUnspooled\nIn May 2018, Scheer began a new podcast with Amy Nicholson titled Unspooled that is also devoted to movies. Unlike HDTGM?, however, Unspooled looks at films deemed good enough for the updated 2007 edition of the AFI Top 100. This is often referenced in How Did This Get Made? by Mantzoukas and Raphael, who are comically annoyed at how they were not invited to host the podcast, instead being subjected to the bad films that HDTGM covers.\n\nHow Did This Get Played?\nIn June 2019, the Earwolf network launched the podcast How Did This Get Played?, hosted by Doughboys host Nick Wiger and former Saturday Night Live writer Heather Anne Campbell. The podcast is positioned as the video game equivalent of HDTGM?, where Wiger and Campbell review widely panned video games.\n\nEpisodes\n\nAdaptation\nThe program was adapted in France in 2014 under the title 2 heures de perdues (http://www.2hdp.fr/ and available on Spotify and iTunes), a podcast in which several friends meet to analyze bad films in the same style (mainly American, French, and British films). The show then ends with a reading of comments found on AlloCiné (biggest French-speaking cinema website) or Amazon.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n How Did This Get Made on Earwolf\n\nAudio podcasts\nEarwolf\nFilm and television podcasts\nComedy and humor podcasts\n2010 podcast debuts",
"The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness is a personal finance book written by Dave Ramsey that was first published in 2003. An updated edition was published in 2007 and 2013. It teaches an effective way of getting out of debt, staying out of debt, and corrects myths about money.\n\nSummary \nThe Total Money Makeover teaches how to get out of debt, how to budget, and corrects money myths. The book teaches the seven \"baby steps\" to follow in order to achieve financial stability, planning ahead for upcoming financial events, like retirement, and shares stories of individuals and couples that have done so successfully using The Total Money Makeover. \n\nThe seven baby steps are:\n Save a $1,000 beginner emergency fund.\n Get out of debt using the debt snowball. This means to list all your debts arranging them by smallest to largest amount. Make only the minimum payments on all except the smallest debt. Use any available money to pay as much as possible to the smallest debt. When the smallest debt is paid off add that money to the payments of your next smallest debt. Repeat until all debts except your house are paid off.\n Save a proper emergency fund that is 3-6 months of expenses.\n Invest 15% of household income for retirement.\n Save for your children's college.\n Pay off your home early.\n Build wealth and be generous.\n\nReception \nAs of August 2017, over five million copies have been sold and the book has been on The Wall Street Journal bestsellers list for over 500 weeks.\n\nJamie Johnson's review for Bankrate stated that, \"If you've been struggling with debt and need a step-by-step plan for how to pay it off, The Total Money Makeover gives you precisely that.\"\n\nKathleen Elkins and Libby Kane wrote for the Business Insider, \"Financial guru Dave Ramsey doesn't shower his readers with quick fixes in The Total Money Makeover. He provides a bold approach to finance matters and gets to the bottom of money problems: you.\"\n\nReferences \n\n2003 non-fiction books\nSelf-help books\nPersonal finance"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side."
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Aside from his wealth, are there any other interesting aspects about the article, Donald Trump, Wealth? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century presidents of the United States
American billionaires
American casino industry businesspeople
American Christians
American conspiracy theorists
American hoteliers
American investors
American nationalists
American people of German descent
American people of Scottish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American reality television producers
American television hosts
Articles containing video clips
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
Far-right politicians in the United States
Florida Republicans
Fordham University alumni
Impeached presidents of the United States
New York Military Academy alumni
New York (state) Democrats
New York (state) Independents
New York (state) Republicans
People stripped of honorary degrees
Politicians from Queens, New York
Presidents of the United States
Reform Party of the United States of America politicians
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Right-wing populism in the United States
Television personalities from Queens, New York
Television producers from Queens, New York
Time 100
Time Person of the Year
The Trump Organization employees
Donald
United States Football League executives
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid."
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | Who was his father | 4 | Who was Donald Trump's father? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century presidents of the United States
American billionaires
American casino industry businesspeople
American Christians
American conspiracy theorists
American hoteliers
American investors
American nationalists
American people of German descent
American people of Scottish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American reality television producers
American television hosts
Articles containing video clips
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
Far-right politicians in the United States
Florida Republicans
Fordham University alumni
Impeached presidents of the United States
New York Military Academy alumni
New York (state) Democrats
New York (state) Independents
New York (state) Republicans
People stripped of honorary degrees
Politicians from Queens, New York
Presidents of the United States
Reform Party of the United States of America politicians
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Right-wing populism in the United States
Television personalities from Queens, New York
Television producers from Queens, New York
Time 100
Time Person of the Year
The Trump Organization employees
Donald
United States Football League executives
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"Glayton M. Modise (13 August 1940–9 February 2016) was the leader of one of Africa's mega churches, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Glayton was the only son of Frederick Samuel Modise (1914–1998) who founded the IPHC in 1962. After his father's death in 1998, Glayton took over the church until his death on 9 February 2016. Modise also was Co-consecrator of International Minister A. Louise Bonaparte of USA into the Office of Bishop.\n\nEarly life\nModise was born in Soweto, South Africa and initially was under the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) where his father was a minister. After his father received his calling in 1962 to start preaching the Gospel, Modise was one of the people who oversaw some of the smaller branches and the growth of the church. After his father died in 1998, the church grew exponentially.\n\nBeliefs\nModise claimed to have seen a vision from God, who instructed him to purchase a hill in Cape Town, South Africa and rename the hill Mount Zion. The hill, which was known as Blaauwberg Hill, was purchased for R100 million and was renamed Mount Zion. Glayton also continued his father's legacy of having a bursary scheme; the bursary scheme was known as FS Modise bursary scheme but was later renamed to FS Modise MG bursary scheme.\n\nReferences\n\n1940 births\n2016 deaths",
"Thihathura II of Ava (; February 1474 – 4 March 1501) was the joint-king of Ava who co-reigned with his father Minkhaung II for 15 years. When he was just six, his father ascended to the Ava throne and he was made heir-apparent. In 1485, the 11-year-old was made a co-regent. He lived in the same palace with his father, and displayed a white umbrella as a symbol of sovereignty. He co-ruled with his father for 15 years but died a month earlier than his father. Minkhaung, who faced numerous rebellions throughout his reign, made his son joint-king because he wanted to retain loyalty of his son. Minkhaung outlived his son, died in March 1501 and was succeeded by his younger son Shwenankyawshin (Narapati II).\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n \n \n \n\nBurmese monarchs\nAva dynasty\n1474 births\n1501 deaths\n15th-century Burmese monarchs"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.",
"Who was his father",
"Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death."
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | What else happen with his family | 5 | Other than what you have mentioned, what else happened with Donald Trump's family in the article, Donald Trump, Wealth? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century presidents of the United States
American billionaires
American casino industry businesspeople
American Christians
American conspiracy theorists
American hoteliers
American investors
American nationalists
American people of German descent
American people of Scottish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American reality television producers
American television hosts
Articles containing video clips
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
Far-right politicians in the United States
Florida Republicans
Fordham University alumni
Impeached presidents of the United States
New York Military Academy alumni
New York (state) Democrats
New York (state) Independents
New York (state) Republicans
People stripped of honorary degrees
Politicians from Queens, New York
Presidents of the United States
Reform Party of the United States of America politicians
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Right-wing populism in the United States
Television personalities from Queens, New York
Television producers from Queens, New York
Time 100
Time Person of the Year
The Trump Organization employees
Donald
United States Football League executives
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"\"Worst That Could Happen\" is a song with lyrics and music written by singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb. Originally recorded by the 5th Dimension on their 1967 album of nearly all-Jimmy Webb songs, The Magic Garden, \"Worst That Could Happen\" was later recorded by The Brooklyn Bridge and reached the Billboard Hot 100's top 40, at #38 on January 4, 1969, peaking at #3 on February 1-8, 1969.\n\nThe song tells about a man wishing well to a woman with whom he is still in love, but because the man was unwilling to settle down, she left him and is about to marry someone else who is more stable; the singer accepts the marriage but still feels that it is \"the worst (thing) that could happen to (him)\". It has been stated that, along with \"MacArthur Park\" and \"By the Time I Get to Phoenix\", \"Worst That Could Happen\" is about a relationship that Webb had had with a woman named Susan.\n\nThe song is noted for the quoting of Mendelssohn's \"Wedding March\" from the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is heard at the end.\n\nAccording to BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) the legal title of the song is \"Worst That Could Happen.\"\n\nThe Brooklyn Bridge version appeared on the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001, attacks.\n\nChart history\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nOther cover versions\n B.J. Thomas on his 1969 LP, Young And In Love.\n The Lettermen in 1969 on their I Have Dreamed album.\n Hajji Alejandro recorded a Tagalog version titled “Panakip-Butas” in 1977 in his Hajji album. It was released as a single and was a big hit in the Philippines.\n Jimmy Webb on his 1996 album Ten Easy Pieces.\n\nSee also\n List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States\n\nReferences\n\n1967 songs\n1968 debut singles\nThe 5th Dimension songs\nJohnny Maestro songs\nSongs written by Jimmy Webb\nBuddah Records singles\nSongs about marriage",
"Puzhayozhukum Vazhi is a 1985 Indian Malayalam film, directed by M. Krishnan Nair and produced by Joly Paulson. The film stars Venu Nagavally, Mammootty, Jagathy Sreekumar and Prameela in the lead roles. The film has a musical score by Raveendran.\n\nPlot \nThe movie starts with the intro of the college. Hari is a fan of poems and poets. He is also a poet. Rema is very much impressed with his voice and music, but she never says so directly. Even Hari too loved her. Meanwhile, Gopan tries his best to trap her. But she is not that type of girl. Gopan gets very nervous when he sees her with Hari. He sets up plans to put a boundary in between them. Gopan challenges Hari that he will have her in his hotel room. He sets up a mimic and deceives Hari. Hari feels disappointed and starts to drink liquor. But later he understands the reality and apologizes to her. One day, Rema goes to see his friend's boyfriend to convey a message. Hari sees her and loses all his hope, because he knows about him. He skips from the affair and goes home. Gopan tries to molest her before the college days are over in his hotel room. But fortunately she escapes. \n\nThen the story fast forwards about two years. Gopan has gone to the Gulf. He came back as a business hunk. Hari has refused all proposals because his mind is filled with Rema. Upon his mother's pressure, he goes and sees a girl. Accidentally that is Rema. Hari decides to marry her. Things change fast and Hari eventually forgets the past and they have a pretty good married life. Aravindan and family were his neighbor. When all is going fine, one day the dark knight comes into Rema's life again. It is Gopan. Rema is terribly worried as to what may happen to her life. So what may happen to Rema's life? Is Gopan still a rogue? Anything else hidden in this super hit script?\n\nCast\nVenu Nagavally as Hari\nMammootty as Gopan\nJagathy Sreekumar\nPrameela\nAmbika as Rema\nAnuradha\nLalu Alex as Aravindan\n\nSoundtrack\nThe music was composed by Raveendran and the lyrics were written by Rappal Sukumaramenon and Poovachal Khader.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1985 films\nIndian films\n1980s Malayalam-language films\nFilms directed by M. Krishnan Nair"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.",
"Who was his father",
"Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death.",
"What else happen with his family",
"Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II,"
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | What else stood out in this article | 6 | In addition to what you have already mentioned, what else stood out in the article, Donald Trump, Wealth? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century presidents of the United States
American billionaires
American casino industry businesspeople
American Christians
American conspiracy theorists
American hoteliers
American investors
American nationalists
American people of German descent
American people of Scottish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American reality television producers
American television hosts
Articles containing video clips
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
Far-right politicians in the United States
Florida Republicans
Fordham University alumni
Impeached presidents of the United States
New York Military Academy alumni
New York (state) Democrats
New York (state) Independents
New York (state) Republicans
People stripped of honorary degrees
Politicians from Queens, New York
Presidents of the United States
Reform Party of the United States of America politicians
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Right-wing populism in the United States
Television personalities from Queens, New York
Television producers from Queens, New York
Time 100
Time Person of the Year
The Trump Organization employees
Donald
United States Football League executives
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"This article lists Sinn Féin's election results in UK parliamentary elections.\n\nSummary of general election performance\n\nNotes\nFor the 1918 election, MPs are given out of the Ireland total. For subsequent elections, MP totals are for Northern Ireland.\n\nFour Sinn Féin candidates were elected in two constituencies each, so Sinn Féin actually had 69 out of 101 Irish MPs. In what was to become Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin won 3 seats out of a possible 30.\n\nElection results\n\nBy-elections 1906–1910\n\nBy-elections, 1910–1918\n\n1918 general election\n\nCork City was a two-seat constituency, and both Sinn Féin candidate were elected.\n\nBy-elections, 1918–22\n\n1924 general election\n\n1950 general election\n\nMcAteer stood as an independent republican candidate.\n\n1955 general election\n\nBy-elections, 1955–59\n\n1959 general election\n\n1964 general election\nThese Sinn Féin members stood as Independent Republican candidates.\n\n1966 general election\nThese Sinn Féin members stood as Independent Republican candidates.\n\nBy-elections, 1979–83\nThese Sinn Féin members stood as Anti H-Block candidates.\n\n1983 general election\n\nBy-elections, 1983–87\n\n1987 general election\n\nBy-elections, 1987–92\n\n1992 general election\n\n1997 general election\n\nBy-elections, 1997–2001\n\n2001 general election\n\n2005 general election\n\n2010 general election\n\nBy-elections, 2010–15\n\n2015 general election\n\n2017 general election\n\nBy-elections, 2017–2019\n\n2019 general election\nSinn Féin did not stand candidates in Belfast East, Belfast South or North Down in order to aid anti-Brexit and anti-Democratic Unionist Party candidates in those constituencies.\n\nFootnotes\n\nReferences\n\nF. W. S. Craig, Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987\n\nSinn Féin\nElection results by party in the United Kingdom",
"AbdulWahab al-Awdi عبد الوهاب العودي (born 10 August 1978) is a poet, and economist from Yemen.\n\nMember of the Yemeni Writers Union, his poems and writings have appeared in different local and international literary newspapers and Reviews. He has published two poetic works: «Maqamat I» (Ministry of Culture, Yemen, 2004), and «Maqamat II» (Ministry of Youth, Yemen, 2005) a State Incentive award-winning work. He also has compiled and edited the Anthology of the Contemporary Antiwar Arabic Poetry], in four volumes set.\n\nHe is one of the most active Yemeni writers who stood against war in Sa’da, and human rights violations in southern Yemen, as well as all over the country. He believes in real democracy and a modern civil state for a better Yemen.\n\nHe holds Master of Economics, Major Public Finance, from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), at Tokyo, Japan 2011, and B.A. degree in English Language and Literature from Sana'a University (2002).\n\nExternal links\n Yemeni Anti-war researcher and poet reaches out\n Ares.. What else?\n News about the Anthology of Antiwar Arabic Poetry\n Selected poems from AbdulWahab's State Award-winning poetry book\n Maqamaat, selected poems\n Odes to Joy and Hope\n\nPoems published in the prominent London-based al-Quds al-Arabi Newspaper\n\n Ode to Loneliness\n Confessions\n Seductions of Clay and other Poems\n Poem to my Sweetheart\n Music of the Dreary Flute\n Passion of Flame and other poems \n Chant of Silence\n Ares.. What else? (in al-Quds al-Aqabi)\n Selected Poems\n\nReferences\n\nYemeni poets\n1978 births\nLiving people\nSanaa University alumni"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.",
"Who was his father",
"Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death.",
"What else happen with his family",
"Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II,",
"What else stood out in this article",
"Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his"
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | Called his what | 7 | Florida pastor Paula White was called Donald Trump's what? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century presidents of the United States
American billionaires
American casino industry businesspeople
American Christians
American conspiracy theorists
American hoteliers
American investors
American nationalists
American people of German descent
American people of Scottish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American reality television producers
American television hosts
Articles containing video clips
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
Far-right politicians in the United States
Florida Republicans
Fordham University alumni
Impeached presidents of the United States
New York Military Academy alumni
New York (state) Democrats
New York (state) Independents
New York (state) Republicans
People stripped of honorary degrees
Politicians from Queens, New York
Presidents of the United States
Reform Party of the United States of America politicians
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Right-wing populism in the United States
Television personalities from Queens, New York
Television producers from Queens, New York
Time 100
Time Person of the Year
The Trump Organization employees
Donald
United States Football League executives
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"\"What Is This Thing Called Love?\" is a song written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recorded by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal. It is the second single from the singer's fourth solo album, All True Man (1991). The song's distinctive backing vocals were performed by Lisa Keith. Following the successful chart performances of the All True Man single \"All True Man\", \"What Is This Thing Called Love?\" was released as the album's second single.\n\nRelease\nAlexander O'Neal's 19th hit single and it reached #53 in the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the single reached #21 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.\n\nTrack listing\n 12\" Maxi (45 73804) \n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Classic 12\" Mix)\" - 8:20\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Classic Radio Mix)\" - 3:37\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (LP Edit)\" - 3:58\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Red Zone Mix)\" - 5:41\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Instrumental Mix)\" - 5:58\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Reprise)\" - 2:13\n\n 7\" Single (656731 7) / Cassette Single (656731 4)\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love?\" - 4:08\n\"Crying Overtime\" - 4:55\n\n CD Single (656731 2)\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Album Version)\" - 6:04\n\"The Lovers (Extended Version)\" - 7:02\n\"If You Were Here Tonight\" - 6:08\n\n CD Single (656731 9) \n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Classic 12\" Mix)\" - 8:20\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Classic Radio Mix)\" - 3:37\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Red Zone Mix)\" - 5:41\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Reprise)\" - 2:13\n\n Cassette Single (35T 73810) \n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Classic Radio Mix)\" - 3:37\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love? (Dee Instrumental Mix)\" - 5:58\n\nPersonnel\nCredits are adapted from the album's liner notes.\n\n Alexander O'Neal - lead vocals \n Jimmy Jam - acoustic piano, keyboards, synthesizer, drum programming, rhythm & vocal arrangements\n Terry Lewis - rhythm & vocal arrangements, backing vocals\n Lee Blaskey - string arrangements\n Susie Allard - strings\n Mynra Rian - strings\n Joanna Shelton - strings\n Carolyn Daws - strings\n Mary Bahr - strings\n Lea Foli - strings\n Julia Persilz - strings\n Hyacinthe Tlucek - strings\n Maricia Peck - strings\n Jeanne Ekhold - strings\n Luara Sewell - strings\n Rudolph Lekhter - strings\n Lisa Keith - backing vocals\n\nCharts\n\nHistory\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love?\" had its bass-line sampled in the 2018 Kanye West and Lil Pump song, \"I Love It\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1991 singles\nAlexander O'Neal songs\nSongs written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis\n1991 songs\nSong recordings produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis\nTabu Records singles",
"Samuel Johnson, better known by his stage name Samwell, is an American entertainer whose 2007 video \"What What (In the Butt)\" made him an Internet celebrity.\n\nEarly years\nSamwell was born in Greenville, South Carolina. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.\n\nCareer\nSamwell is unsigned, but for a time his \"What What (In the Butt)\" was licensed through Fatboy Slim's record label, Southern Fried Records. The \"What What (In the Butt)\" video is licensed through Brownmark Films.\n\nThe song was used extensively in the South Park season 12 episode \"Canada on Strike\", which featured a re-creation of the What What video.\n\nIn April 2008 Samwell appeared on the BBC television show Lily Allen and Friends for an interview and performed a live version of \"What What (In the Butt)\" with choreographed dancers.\n\nSamwell played Adonis in the 2009 feature film Modus Operandi and plays the Communications Officer in 2014's Hamlet A.D.D..\n\nIn March 2010 Special Entertainment released an iPhone App called Shaky Advice from Samwell that functions much like a Magic 8 Ball, with video clips of Samwell giving advice.\n\nIn June 2010 Samwell appeared on an episode of Comedy Central's Tosh.0, a television show about viral videos. The segment told the story of how the \"What What\" video was created, followed by an acoustic duet version of the song by Samwell and Josh Homme, lead singer for Queens Of The Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures. In a June 2 interview, host Daniel Tosh called Samwell one of the best guests he's had on the show, saying, \"I'll tell you who I loved the 'What What In The Butt' guy. It couldn't have been more of a delight.\" In September 2010 Samwell appeared on Tosh.0 a second time when he was nominated for the Season Two MVP Award.\n\nSamwell has a live phone call service called Special Greetings from Samwell which is available through his official website.\n\nSamwell released a string of videos after What What (In the Butt), including a Safe Sex PSA called Protect Respect, music videos, interview videos, and a number of comedic sketch videos.\n\nSee also\n List of YouTube personalities\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial Website\n\n1979 births\nLiving people\nAfrican-American male actors\nAmerican male actors\nAfrican-American male singer-songwriters\nAmerican electronic musicians\nAmerican Internet celebrities\nUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni\n21st-century African-American male singers"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.",
"Who was his father",
"Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death.",
"What else happen with his family",
"Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II,",
"What else stood out in this article",
"Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his",
"Called his what",
"called his \"closest spiritual confidant\". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list"
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | Released a list of what | 8 | What did Emmanuel Lemelson release a list of in 2016? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
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Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"This is a list of the highest-paid athletes in the world as ranked by Forbes magazine.\n\nAll-time list (2017)\nThe following is a list showing the highest-paid athletes of modern times, measured in United States dollars, as of 2017:\n\nThe list is only about modern time athletes. For example, Gaius Appuleius Diocles, a Roman Chariot racer, is said to have earned 35,863,120 sesterces, by one estimation over $15 billion in today's dollars. This means he would be the best paid athlete of all time, derived from an extrapolation that his wealth would have been enough to fund the entire Roman Army for more than two months, \"the apt comparison is what it takes to pay the wages of the American armed forces for the same period.\"\n\n2021 list \nThe 2021 list:\n\n2020 list \nThe 2020 list:\n\n2010–2019 list \nThe 2010–2019 list:\n\n2019 list\nThe 2019 list:\n\n2018 list\nThe 2018 list:\n\n2017 list\nThe 2017 list:\n\n2016 list\nThe 2016 list:\n\n2015 list\nThe 2015 list was released on 10 June 2015.\n\n2014 list\nThe 2014 list was released on 11 June 2014.\n\n2013 list\n\nThe 2013 list was released on 5 June 2013.\n\n2012 list\n\nThe 2012 list was released on 18 June 2012.\n\nSee also \n List of professional sports leagues by revenue\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n The World's Highest-Paid Athletes List - Forbes\n\nathletes\nLists of people by magazine appearance\nHighest-paid athletes\nIncome of sportspeople\nForbes list of athletes",
"\"Resolution\" is a song by American singer-songwriter Nick Lachey, released as the third and final single from his second solo album What's Left of Me in 2006. An exclusive EP of the song, titled Resolution (Full Band Mix) - EP, was released on iTunes on February 20, 2007. The single went for adds at mainstream radio in January 2007. The song was not released as a full single because Lachey at the time was working on his third studio album (he later released A Father's Lullaby and re-formed 98 Degrees), and as a result the song only peaked #77 on the Billboard Pop 100 and failed to match up to the success of \"What's Left of Me\". The original version of \"Resolution\" that appears on What's Left of Me was recorded as a demo, on the day it was written. Jive loved it so much, they insisted on it being the final version on the record.\n\nTrack list\nResolution (Full Band Mix) - EP:\n\"Resolution\" (full band version)\n\"What's Left of Me\" (The Passengerz remix) [radio edit]\n\"What's Left of Me\" (Jack D. Elliot remix)\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n2006 singles\nNick Lachey songs\nSongs written by Lindy Robbins\nSongs written by Nick Lachey\nSongs written by Jess Cates\nSongs written by Rob Wells"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.",
"Who was his father",
"Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death.",
"What else happen with his family",
"Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II,",
"What else stood out in this article",
"Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his",
"Called his what",
"called his \"closest spiritual confidant\". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list",
"Released a list of what",
"a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion"
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | His daughter conversion what | 9 | What did Ivanka Trump convert to? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century presidents of the United States
American billionaires
American casino industry businesspeople
American Christians
American conspiracy theorists
American hoteliers
American investors
American nationalists
American people of German descent
American people of Scottish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American reality television producers
American television hosts
Articles containing video clips
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
Far-right politicians in the United States
Florida Republicans
Fordham University alumni
Impeached presidents of the United States
New York Military Academy alumni
New York (state) Democrats
New York (state) Independents
New York (state) Republicans
People stripped of honorary degrees
Politicians from Queens, New York
Presidents of the United States
Reform Party of the United States of America politicians
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Right-wing populism in the United States
Television personalities from Queens, New York
Television producers from Queens, New York
Time 100
Time Person of the Year
The Trump Organization employees
Donald
United States Football League executives
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"Leila; or, The Siege of Granada is a historical romance novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton published in 1838. \n\nThe novel is set in Granada, Spain at the end of the Middle Ages — beginning in the summer of 1491. It was originally published in an expensive form, with many engraved illustrations. The preface to the 1860 edition explains that the novel has been less popular than his other works of fiction due to the prejudice against literary works that are thought to owe their value, in part, to the illustrations.\n\nPlot\nIn Leila, as the double title suggests, there is a double storyline: the domestic story of the daughter (Leila) and the public story of the nation. Leila's father, Almamen, switches allegiances between Christian and Moor in what eventually becomes the famous Siege of Granada. Almamen attempts to guard his daughter's Jewish heritage by keeping her away from her Moorish lover, Muza. He inadvertently delivers her into the hands of the Christian monarchs, and Leila is subjected to the procedures of conversion by the queen's intermediary, Donna Inez. In the double story line, the conquest of Muslim Granada runs parallel to the conversion of the Jewish Leila. The characters meet at the altar of a convent in which Leila is about to take her vows as a nun, and her father kills her. The domestic plot parallels the Christianization of Spain.\n\nReferences\n\nNovels by Edward Bulwer-Lytton\n1838 novels",
"Conversion or convert may refer to:\n\nArts, entertainment, and media\n \"Conversion\" (Doctor Who audio), an episode of the audio drama Cyberman\n \"Conversion\" (Stargate Atlantis), an episode of the television series\n \"The Conversion\" (The Outer Limits), a 1995 episode of the television series\n\nBusiness and marketing\n Conversion funnel, the path a consumer takes through the web toward or near a desired action or conversion\n Conversion marketing, when a website's visitors take a desired action\n Converting timber to commercial lumber\n\nComputing, science, and technology\n Conversion of units, conversion between different units of measurement\n\nComputing and telecommunication\n CHS conversion of data storage, mapping cylinder/head/sector tuples to linear base address\n CPS conversion, in computer science, changing the form of continuation-passing\n Code conversion, in telecommunication, converting from one code to another\n convert (command), a command-line utility in the Windows NT operating system\n Convert, a command-line (graphics) image manipulation utility that is part of ImageMagick\n Data conversion, conversion of computer data from one format to another\n Transcoding, analog-to-analog or digital-to-digital conversion of one video encoding to another\n Type conversion, in computer science, changing the data type of a value into another data type\n\nOther sciences\n Conversion (chemistry), the ratio of selectivity to yield or the change of a molecule\n Electric vehicle conversion, modification of a conventional vehicle to battery electric\n Energy conversion, the process of changing one form of energy to another\n Internal conversion, a radioactive decay process\n\nEconomics, finance, and property law\n Conversion (exchange), the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another\n Conversion (law), a voluntary act by one person inconsistent with the ownership rights of another\n Conversion (options), an options-trading strategy in options arbitrage\n Economic conversion, a technical, economic and political process for moving from military to civilian markets\n Equitable conversion, a change in the nature of property so that real property is treated as personal property\n\nPsychiatry\n Conversion disorder, a condition in which neurological symptoms arise without a definable organic cause\n Conversion therapy, a pseudo-scientific treatment to turn a homo- or bisexual person into a heterosexual person\n\nReligion\n Religious conversion, the adoption of a new religious identity\n Deathbed conversion, a form of religious conversion \n Forced conversion, forced adoption of a new religious identity \n Marital conversion, a form of religious conversion \n Secondary conversion, a form of religious conversion \n Psychology of religious conversion, psychological aspect of religious conversion \n Conversion to Buddhism, religious conversion to Buddhism\n Conversion to Christianity, religious conversion to Christianity\n Conversion of Paul the Apostle, personal conversion of Paul of Tarsus\n Conversion of Constantine, personal conversion of emperor Constantine\n Conversion to Catholicism, religious conversion to the Catholicism\n Conversion of non-Christian places of worship into churches, conversion into churches\n Conversion to Hinduism, religious conversion to Hinduism\n Conversion to Islam, religious conversion to Islam\n Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam, conversion within Islam in Iran\n Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques, conversion into mosques\n Conversion to Judaism, religious conversion to Judaism\n Conversion of the Jews, religious conversion of the Jewish people\n History of Jewish conversion to Christianity, conversion of the Jews to Christianity\n\nSports\n Conversion (gridiron football), in American or Canadian football an opportunity to score an additional point following a touchdown\nTwo-point conversion, a gridiron football conversion to score two points\n Track and field athletics, an estimate of what a performance which has been measured in one system of measurements would have been if it had been measured in the other system\n Try#Conversion, in rugby, a kick at goal to convert a try into a larger set of points\n\nOther uses\n Conversion (barn), conversion of old farming barns to commercial or residential use\n Conversion (logic), reversing the two parts of a categorical or implicational statement\n Conversion (word formation), the creation of a word from an existing word without any change in form\n Miniature conversion, altering the appearance of a miniature or model from the standard version\n\nSee also\n Converter (disambiguation)\n Template:Convert, a template for converting units within Wikipedia articles\n Translation (disambiguation)"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.",
"Who was his father",
"Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death.",
"What else happen with his family",
"Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II,",
"What else stood out in this article",
"Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his",
"Called his what",
"called his \"closest spiritual confidant\". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list",
"Released a list of what",
"a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion",
"His daughter conversion what",
"Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: \"I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that.\""
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | What else was important in this article | 10 | In addition to everything mentioned above, what else was important in the article, Donald Trump, Wealth? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century presidents of the United States
American billionaires
American casino industry businesspeople
American Christians
American conspiracy theorists
American hoteliers
American investors
American nationalists
American people of German descent
American people of Scottish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American reality television producers
American television hosts
Articles containing video clips
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
Far-right politicians in the United States
Florida Republicans
Fordham University alumni
Impeached presidents of the United States
New York Military Academy alumni
New York (state) Democrats
New York (state) Independents
New York (state) Republicans
People stripped of honorary degrees
Politicians from Queens, New York
Presidents of the United States
Reform Party of the United States of America politicians
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Right-wing populism in the United States
Television personalities from Queens, New York
Television producers from Queens, New York
Time 100
Time Person of the Year
The Trump Organization employees
Donald
United States Football League executives
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"\"What Else Is There?\" is the third single from the Norwegian duo Röyksopp's second album The Understanding. It features the vocals of Karin Dreijer from the Swedish electronica duo The Knife. The album was released in the UK with the help of Astralwerks.\n\nThe single was used in an O2 television advertisement in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia during 2008. It was also used in the 2006 film Cashback and the 2007 film, Meet Bill. Trentemøller's remix of \"What Else is There?\" was featured in an episode of the HBO show Entourage.\n\nThe song was covered by extreme metal band Enslaved as a bonus track for their album E.\n\nThe song was listed as the 375th best song of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media.\n\nOfficial versions\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Album Version) – 5:17\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Radio Edit) – 3:38\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Jacques Lu Cont Radio Mix) – 3:46\n\"What Else Is There?\" (The Emperor Machine Vocal Version) – 8:03\n\"What Else Is There?\" (The Emperor Machine Dub Version) – 7:51\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Mix) – 8:25\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Edit) – 4:50\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Remix) (Radio Edit) – 3:06\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Trentemøller Remix) – 7:42\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Vitalic Remix) – 5:14\n\nResponse\nThe single was officially released on 5 December 2005 in the UK. The single had a limited release on 21 November 2005 to promote the upcoming album. On the UK Singles Chart, it peaked at number 32, while on the UK Dance Chart, it reached number one.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Martin de Thurah. It features Norwegian model Marianne Schröder who is shown lip-syncing Dreijer's voice. Schröder is depicted as a floating woman traveling across stormy landscapes and within empty houses. Dreijer makes a cameo appearance as a woman wearing an Elizabethan ruff while dining alone at a festive table.\n\nMovie spots\n\nThe song is also featured in the movie Meet Bill as characters played by Jessica Alba and Aaron Eckhart smoke marijuana while listening to it. It is also part of the end credits music of the film Cashback.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2005 singles\nRöyksopp songs\nAstralwerks singles\nSongs written by Svein Berge\nSongs written by Torbjørn Brundtland\n2004 songs\nSongs written by Roger Greenaway\nSongs written by Olof Dreijer\nSongs written by Karin Dreijer",
"Else Alfelt (16 September 1910 – 9 August 1974) was a Danish artist who specialized in abstract paintings. She was one of two female members of the CoBrA movement. She was married to Carl-Henning Pedersen, another prominent CoBrA member.\n\nEarly life and education\nAlfelt was born in Copenhagen to the parents Carl Valdemar Ahlefeldt (1882–1954) and Edith Alexandra Regine Julie Thomsen (1893–1938). She began to paint in an early age and remained self-taught as an artist. When her parents divorced while Else was very young, she was sent away to an orphanage by her father’s new wife. Alfelt learned to paint around age 12 by trying to capture staff and other children at the orphanage.\n\nAt age 15, Alfelt attended the Technical School in Copenhagen for two years. Her training worked to prepare her to apply to the Art Academy in Copenhagen where she was ultimately turned down. According to her museum website, “the rejection was made on the grounds that she already possessed the necessary painting skills.”\nIn 1933, when Alfelt was 23 years old, she attended the International Folk High School in Elsinore. There, she met her future husband Carl-Henning Pederson. They married very quickly, and their daughter Vibeke Alfelt was born in 1934. From about 1934 to 1937, the couple struggled financially but felt inspired still, so they would paint over used canvases in order to continue their craft. This was how Pederson allegedly began painting, by being given a used canvas from his wife and instructed to make it his own.\n\nCareer\n\nAhlefeldt submitted her work to the annual Autumn Salon of Danish artists (Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling) from 1929, but her work was not accepted until 1936, when she exhibited two naturalistic portraits. Soon after this, Alfelt's painting style shifted to a completely abstract idiom of meditative and colorful prismatic compositions.\n\nAlfelt was involved with the major avant-garde art movements in Denmark from the 1930s through the 1950s. She took part in Linien (The Line, 1934-1939), the artists' collective and art journal that was the first conduit of French Surrealism to Denmark. Under the German occupation of Denmark during World War Two, Alfelt was an integral component of Helhesten (The Hell-Horse, 1941-1944), the artists' group and art journal co-founded by Asger Jorn as a harbinger of experimental art and implicit cultural-political resistance. She was also an important member of CoBrA (1948-1951) after the war.\n\nAlfelt's work explored motifs such as spirals, mountains, and spheres, which she linked to expressions of \"inner space\". Alfelt was directly inspired by nature, specifically mountains, which she sought out on her many travels, such as her trip to Lapland 1945 and Japan in 1967. In addition to paintings she also produced several mosaics.\n\nShe was awarded the Tagea Brandt Rejselegat in 1961.\n\nNotable artworks\n\nPosthumous Exhibitions \n“Else Alfelt- The Flower of the Universe” – Carl Henning Pederson og Else Alfelts Museum; 2018.\n\nAlfelt was inspired by travels to Japan to incorporate Zen Buddhism into her artistic style, resulting in 100 meditative paintings all named “Flower of the Universe.” These paintings were all made from Since she created them while traveling to Japan, each piece was composed on paper since it was lightweight and easy to transport.\n\n“Abstract Women- Else Alfelt and Marianne Grønnow” – Carl Henning Pederson og Else Alfelts museum; March 2015-August 2015.\nAbstract women documents two Danish abstract female painters who have gone overlooked by history, and overshadowed by their husbands’ works. While the two artists vary greatly in style and technique, the CHPEA museum brings them together for this exhibition to bring attention to the ways their art challenges established societal norms.\n\nLegacy\n'Carl Henning Pedersen og Else Alfelts Museum' outside Herning. Else Alfelts Vej in the Ørestad district of Copenhagen is named after her. In September 2010, the museum displayed a large-scale exhibition called “Else Alfelt – The Aesthetics of Emptiness.” The exhibition was shown for five months to celebrate what would have been Alfelt’s 100th birthday. The museum page description of the event calls her “one of the most significant women artists in Danish modernism.”\n\nSee also\nList of Danish painters\nList of Danish women artists\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n'Carl Henning Pedersen og Else Alfelts Museum' - Else Alfelt \nElse Alfelt in Kunstindeks Danmark \n\n1910 births\n1974 deaths\n20th-century Danish painters\n20th-century Danish women artists\nAbstract painters\nArtists from Copenhagen\nDanish watercolourists\nDanish women painters\nRecipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal\nWomen watercolorists"
] |
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wealth",
"What was his wealth",
"When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.",
"How did he get so much money",
"Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.",
"Who was his father",
"Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death.",
"What else happen with his family",
"Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II,",
"What else stood out in this article",
"Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his",
"Called his what",
"called his \"closest spiritual confidant\". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list",
"Released a list of what",
"a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion",
"His daughter conversion what",
"Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: \"I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that.\"",
"What else was important in this article",
"Trump said that he began his career with \"a small loan of one million dollars\" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in"
] | C_6ba6ff5191e040bbb7bab479d0692ba5_1 | In what? | 11 | Donald Trump appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in what? | Donald Trump | Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush. On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments. The company was later renamed The Trump Organization, after Donald Trump took charge in 1971. Trump's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid. Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens. Trump's uncle John was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer. Trump's ancestors were Lutheran on his father's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland. His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and had his Confirmation there. In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church (an affiliate of the Reformed Church in America) in Manhattan. The pastor at that church, Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and The Art of Living, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993. Trump, who is Presbyterian, has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life. Trump says he receives Holy Communion, but that he does not ask God for forgiveness. While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible." The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure". Trump has had associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant". In 2015, he received a blessing from Greek Orthodox priest Emmanuel Lemelson and in 2016, he released a list of his religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, and others. Referring to his daughter Ivanka's conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Kushner, Trump said: "I have a Jewish daughter; and I am very honored by that." Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father. He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s he became a billionaire, and he made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989, but he was absent from the Forbes 400 list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993. His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings, and their children. When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000. The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission (FEC) financial disclosure form and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars". In his presidential announcement speech, he said his wealth would make him less indebted to large campaign donors. Forbes called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014. After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his Forbes estimate by $125 million. Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign. Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016 still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015. The release of the Access Hollywood tapes in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand, but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from becoming president. In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.) making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016 Bloomberg News had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination, whereas Forbes had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier. The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property and of his personal brand. CANNOTANSWER | in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate. During the late 1980s | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies.
Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president with no prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.
Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He initiated a trade war with China that negatively impacted the U.S. economy. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which they then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted him on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
Personal life
Early life
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the borough of Queens in New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a B.S. in economics. In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968 a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve. In October 1968, he was classified , a conditional medical deferment, and in 1972, he was reclassified due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They have three children, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. He and Maples have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). They married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1999. Tiffany was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church. The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to the family until his death in 1993. Trump has described him as a mentor. In 2015, the church stated Trump "is not an active member". In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.
Health
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, because exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy."
In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter, and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.
Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. Trump returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.
Wealth
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth. His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing mandatory financial disclosure forms with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 and $3.1 billion in 2018. In its 2021 billionaires ranking, it was $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world), making him one of the wealthiest officeholders in American history.
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported in 2018 that Trump, using the pseudonym "John Barron" and claiming to be a Trump Organization official, called him in 1984 to falsely assert that he owned "in excess of ninety percent" of the Trump family's business, to secure a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father, and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York tax department began investigating. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest losers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million.
Over twenty years, Trump lost hundreds of millions of dollars and deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lowered them to $750. In the last decade, he balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.
As of October 2020, Trump has over $1 billion in debts, secured by his assets. He owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Bank of China, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.
Business career
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father Fred's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, he became president of the company and began using The Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.
Manhattan developments
Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged by Fred Trump, who also joined Hyatt in guaranteeing $70 million in bank construction financing. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.
In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a loan of $425 million from a consortium of banks. Two years later, the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection, and a reorganization plan was approved in 1992. In 1995, Trump lost the hotel to Citibank and investors from Singapore and Saudi Arabia, who assumed $300 million of the debt.
In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later also known as the Trump Building, and renovated it. In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance completion of the project, Riverside South.
Mar-a-Lago
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.
Atlantic City casinos
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. Trump had earlier bought a hotel and casino in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million. On completion in 1985, it became Trump Castle. His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.
Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. It went bankrupt in 1989. Reorganizing left him with half his initial stake and required him to personally guarantee future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold his failing Trump Shuttle airline, his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked, and other businesses.
In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004, 2009, and 2014, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
Golf courses
The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide .
Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.
Branding and licensing
The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than fifty licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.
Side ventures
In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (where they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.
Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
In the late 1980s, Trump mimicked the actions of Wall Street's so-called corporate raiders. Trump began to purchase significant blocks of shares in various public companies, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the defunct Eastern Air Lines shuttle, with 21 planes and landing rights in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He financed the purchase with $380 million from 22 banks, rebranded the operation the Trump Shuttle, and operated it until 1992. Trump failed to earn a profit with the airline and sold it to USAir.
In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units and then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015,
Trump University
In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law, its name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. In the foundation's final years its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014. The foundation gave to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.
In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York State attorney general's office said the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed all its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
Legal affairs and bankruptcies
Fixer Roy Cohn served as Trump's lawyer and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump and Cohn lost that case when the countersuit was dismissed and the government's case went forward. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.
While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.
During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion, but in the aftermath of his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks declined to lend to him, with only Deutsche Bank still willing to lend money. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. In response, Trump sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chairman Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures. In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena, and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply. Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings, arguing that Congress was attempting to usurp the "exercise of law-enforcement authority that the Constitution reserves to the executive branch".
Media career
Books
Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz. According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon." Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.
Film and television
Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.
Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s. He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. On The Apprentice, Trump played the role of a chief executive, and contestants competed for a year of employment at the Trump Organization. On The Celebrity Apprentice, celebrities competed to win money for charities. On both shows, Trump eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired."
Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in February 2021 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists." Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.
Pre-presidential political career
Trump's political party affiliation changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987, a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican in 2009, unaffiliated in 2011, and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, advocating peace in Central America, accelerated nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union, and reduction of the federal budget deficit by making American allies pay "their fair share" for military defense. He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.
2000 presidential campaign and 2011 hints at presidential run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
2016 presidential campaign
Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number of them were false. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has." Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.
Republican primaries
Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016. After a landslide win in Indiana in May, Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.
General election campaign
Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign but in early July her lead narrowed. In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the Republican National Convention.
Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.
Campaign rhetoric and political positions
Trump's political positions and rhetoric were right-wing populist. Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly." while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign. Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream, pandered to white supremacists, retweeted racist Twitter accounts, and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or white supremacists. After a public uproar, he disavowed Duke and the KKK. In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.
Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".
Support from the far-right
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back". In an interview after the election, Trump said that he did not want to "energize the group" and that he disavowed them.
Financial disclosures
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.
Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.
In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Election to the presidency
On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides. Trump received nearly 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.
Trump's victory was a political upset. Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.
Trump won 30 states; included were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been part of what was considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump was the oldest person to take office as president at the time of his inauguration. He is also the first president who did not serve in the military or hold any government office prior to becoming president.
Trump's election victory sparked numerous protests. On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches. Marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just nine days after his inauguration.
Presidency (2017–2021)
Early actions
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, authorizing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.
Conflicts of interest
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and a business associate. However Trump continued to profit from his businesses and continued to have knowledge of how his administration's policies affected his businesses. Though Trump said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.
Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated. The plaintiffs said that Trump's business interests could allow foreign governments to influence him. Trump called the clause "phony". After Trump's term had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Domestic policy
Economy
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.
In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the Affordable Care Act's individual requirement to obtain health insurance. The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6% lower than projected.
Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75trillion by the end of his term; the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high. Trump also failed to deliver the $1 billion infrastructure spending plan he had campaigned on.
Trump was the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce, by 3 million, than when he took office.
Energy and climate
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40% and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.
Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels; under Trump, natural gas expanded, but coal continued to decline.
Deregulation
On January 30, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that for every new regulation administrative agencies issue "at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination". Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.
Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, among them a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "made after requests by the regulated industries."
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the ACA in a party-line vote but repeal proposals were narrowly voted down in the Senate after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Trump scaled back the implementation of the ACA through Executive Orders 13765 and 13813. Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment. The 2017 tax bill signed by Trump effectively repealed the ACA's individual health insurance mandate in 2019, and a budget bill Trump signed in 2019 repealed the Cadillac plan tax. Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA; in fact, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire ACA, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the lawsuit had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020 he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.
Trump's policies in response to the opioid epidemic were widely criticized as ineffectual and harmful. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a new record of 50,052 deaths in 2019.
Social issues
Trump said in 2016 that he was committed to appointing "pro-life" justices, pledging to appoint justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade. He also said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue; in March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.
Trump said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but this was abandoned in November 2019. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.
Under Trump, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Pardons and commutations
Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; and conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking. Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations; those receiving pardons include Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and three former Republican congressmen. Amongst those to receive sentence commutation were former Detroit mayor and Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police brutality protesters. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, later apologized for accompanying Trump on the walk and thereby "creat[ing] the perception of the military involved in domestic politics".
Immigration
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States, and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13, though research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.
From 2018 onwards, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border, to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum, and from 2020 used the public charge rule to restrict immigrants using government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards. Trump has reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year. Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.
Travel ban
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented. He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning. Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports. Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal judge blocked its implementation nationwide. On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, but was again blocked by federal judges in three states. In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials. After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017, and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.
Family separation at border
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border while attempting to enter the U.S, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017. In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted. This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors. Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage. Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he proceeded to sign an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together, unless the administration judged that doing so would harm the child. On June 26, 2018, a federal judge concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification; the judge ordered for the families to be reunited, and family separations stopped, except in the cases where the parent(s) are judged unfit to take care of the child, or if there is parental approval. Despite the federal court order, the Trump administration continued to practice family separations, with more than a thousand migrant children separated.
Trump wall and government shutdown
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.
In 2018, Trump refused to extend government funding unless Congress allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall, resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay. Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall. The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard border fencing. Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes. The House and the Senate attempted to block Trump's national emergency declaration, but there were not enough votes for a veto override. Legal challenges of the fund diversions resulted in $2.5 billion of wall funding originally meant for anti-drug programs being approved and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction being blocked.
Foreign policy
Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He espoused isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist views. His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist and authoritarian governments. Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty, a lack of a consistent foreign policy, and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.
Trump questioned the need for NATO, criticized the U.S.'s NATO allies, and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.
Trade
Trump is a skeptic of trade liberalization, adopting these views in the 1980s, and sharply criticized NAFTA during the Republican primary campaign in 2015. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. On several occasions, Trump said incorrectly that these import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury. Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the deficit reached its highest level in 12 years under his administration. Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S. As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure; sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran; significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars; and classified China as a currency manipulator. Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader. After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March.
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations. In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, In 2018, the USA provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention. Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union and the Arab League.
Afghanistan
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later, reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government. By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS," contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria. The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS. One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area, and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area. Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. Analysts determined Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon since the withdrawal.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other people. Trump publicly threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, or react "in a disproportionate manner" if Iran retaliated. Several days later, Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike against two U.S. airbases in Iraq and accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport. Trump downplayed the severity of the missile strike and the brain injuries sustained by service members, denying them Purple Heart awards.
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement and would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
North Korea
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen". In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong-un. After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.
Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil. Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day. While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, but opposed some actions of the Russian government. The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump also supported a potential return of Russia to the G7 and never brought up Russia's alleged bounties against American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance. After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Personnel
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Close personal aides to Trump including Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out. Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly. Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him. Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier. At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.
Two of Trump's 15 original Cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Tillerson as Secretary of State with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy. In 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct.
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).
Judiciary
After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in 2014, only 28.6 percent of judicial nominees were confirmed, "the lowest percentage of confirmations from 1977 to 2018". At the end of the Obama presidency, 105 judgeships were vacant.
Trump appointed 226 Article III federal judges, including 54 federal appellate judges. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rapidly confirmed Trump's judicial appointees, shifting the federal judiciary to the right. The appointees were overwhelmingly white men and younger on average than the appointees of Trump's predecessors. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society.
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2016, Senate Republicans had taken the unprecedented step of refusing to consider Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016, arguing that the seat should not be filled in an election year. Gorsuch was confirmed to the seat in 2017 in a mostly party-line vote of 54–45, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" (a historic change to Senate rules removing the 60-vote threshold for advancing Supreme Court nominations) to defeat a Democratic filibuster. Trump nominated Kavanaugh in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy; the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a mostly party-line vote of 50–48, after a bitter confirmation battle centered on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denied. Five weeks before the November 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eight days before the election, after 60 million Americans had already voted, Senate Republicans confirmed Barrett to the Supreme Court without any Democratic votes. Many observers strongly criticized the confirmation, arguing that it was a gross violation of the precedent Republicans set in 2016.
As president, Trump disparaged courts and judges whom he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts have drawn rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, who are concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
COVID-19 pandemic
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over. At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Instead, throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic. Trump continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials had repeatedly told him that vaccine development would take 12–18 months. Trump also falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad. The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States. In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly-optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO. By mid-April 2020, some national news agencies began limiting live coverage of his daily press briefings, with The Washington Post reporting that "propagandistic and false statements from Trump alternate with newsworthy pronouncements from members of his White House Coronavirus Task Force, particularly coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci". The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19; the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue. By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half. In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic. He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization. Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic. In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021. The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".
Testing
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad". The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists. The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening. In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses. Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus. By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally. Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless". He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.
Political pressure on health agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments or speeding up the approval of vaccines. Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication. Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.
Outbreak at the White House
On October 2, 2020, Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a severe case of the disease while continuing to downplay the virus. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election. Democratic challenger Joe Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election. Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response. In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths. A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
Investigations
After he assumed the presidency, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve Congressional investigations.
Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a company set up by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election. Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017. Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014. Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016. Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019, but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.
Investigations of Russian election interference
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
The links between Trump associates and Russian officials were widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, were connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump. Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine. After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
The Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign was launched in July 2016 during the campaign season. After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. Crossfire Hurricane was folded into the Mueller investigation, but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the other investigation while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue it.
Special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign." He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia’s 2016 election interference". The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.
Trump denied collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. He sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind. He bemoaned the recusal of Attorney General Sessions on Russia matters, stating that Sessions should have stopped the investigation.
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr had mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions, confusing the public. Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report revealed sweeping Russian interference and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing they would politically benefit.
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, but opted not to make any "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination. Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted, and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court. The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws". The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases. Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts, deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and Michael Flynn. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents. In February 2020, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".
First impeachment
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, adding that the White House had attempted to cover-up the incident. The whistleblower stated that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip. Trump later confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry in September. The Trump administration subsequently released a memorandum of the July 25 phone call, confirming that after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate and to discuss these matters with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election. In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress. After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020. On January 22, the Republican Senate majority rejected amendments proposed by the Democratic minority to call witnesses and subpoena documents; evidence collected during the House impeachment proceedings was entered into the Senate record.
For three days, January 22–24, the House impeachment managers presented their case to the Senate. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress. They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote. The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican Senate majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one of the charges, the abuse of power.
Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.
2020 presidential election
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash. By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. In July Trump raised the idea of delaying the election. When in August the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and shifted to appeals to racism.
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.
Election aftermath
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory. After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump said, "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud. Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials. After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders, Republican state and federal legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election.
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.
2021 Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse, where he called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell". Trump's speech started at noon. By 12:30p.m., rally attendees had gathered outside the Capitol, and at 1p.m., his supporters pushed past police barriers onto Capitol grounds. Trump's speech ended at 1:10p.m., and many supporters marched to the Capitol as he had urged, joining the crowd there. Around 2:15p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6p.m., "go home with love & in peace", but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special", while still complaining that the election was stolen. After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning. There were many injuries, and five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Second impeachment
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. The impeachment, which was the most rapid in history, followed an unsuccessful bipartisan effort to strip Trump of his powers and duties via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.
Senate Democrats asked to begin the trial immediately, while Trump was still in office, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the plan. On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president. Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, though some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional). Included in the latter group was McConnell, who said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day" but "constitutionally not eligible for conviction".
Post-presidency (2021–present)
Since his term ended, Trump has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.
Since leaving the presidency, Trump has been the subject of several probes into both his business dealings and his actions during the presidency. In February 2021, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Brad Raffensperger. Separately, the New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting civil and criminal investigations into Trump's business activities, the criminal investigation in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. On July 1, 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". The organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was arraigned on grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges.
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics and in reporting. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor, and Trump endorsed candidates such as Mark Finchem and Jody Hice, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results and are running for statewide secretary of state positions, which would put them in charge of the 2024 elections.
On June 6, 2021, Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.
In February 2021, Trump registered a company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Public profile
Approval ratings
Trump was the only president to never reach a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll dating to 1938. The approval ratings showed a record partisan gap: 88 percent among Republicans, 7 percent among Democrats. Until September 2020, the ratings were unusually stable, reaching a high of 49 percent and a low of 35 percent. Trump finished his term with a record-low approval rating of between 29 percent and 34 percent (the lowest of any president since modern polling began) and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency.
In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for most admired man in 2019, and was named most admired in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1948, Trump is the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between the years 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in only 29, most of them non-democracies, with approval of US leadership plummeting among US allies and G7 countries. Overall ratings were similar to those in the last two years of the George W. Bush presidency. By mid-2020, only 16% of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in Trump, a lower score than those historically accorded to Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.
C-SPAN, which conducted surveys of presidential leadership each time the administration changed since 2000, ranked Trump fourth–lowest overall in their 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, with Trump rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills.
Social media
Trump's social media presence attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in 2009. He frequently tweeted during the 2016 election campaign and as president, until his ban in the final days of his term. Over twelve years, Trump posted around 57,000 tweets, often using Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public and sidelining the press. In June 2017, a White House press secretary said that Trump's tweets were official presidential statements. Trump often announced terminations of administration officials and cabinet members over Twitter.
After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checking warnings in May 2020. In response, Trump tweeted that "Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives [sic] voices" and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". In the days after the storming of the United States Capitol, Trump was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Twitter blocked attempts by Trump and his staff to circumvent the ban through the use of others' accounts. The loss of Trump's social media megaphone, including his 88.7 million Twitter followers, diminished his ability to shape events, and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In May 2021, an advisory group to Facebook evaluated that site's indefinite ban of Trump and concluded that it had been justified at the time but should be re-evaluated in six months. In June 2021, Facebook suspended the account for two years. Later in June, Trump joined the video platform Rumble and began to post the messages of his website blog on the Twitter account of a spokesperson. Trump's attempts to re-establish a social media presence were unsuccessful. In May 2021 he launched a blog that had low readership and was closed after less than a month.
Relationship with the press
Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s, and continued to seek media attention throughout his career, sustaining a "love–hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries. New York Times writer Amy Chozick wrote in 2018 that Trump's media dominance enthralled the public and created "must-see TV."
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". In 2018, journalist Lesley Stahl recounted Trump's saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".
As president, Trump privately and publicly mused about revoking the press credentials of journalists he viewed as critical. His administration moved to revoke the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. In 2019, a member of the foreign press reported many of the same concerns as those of media in the U.S., expressing concern that a normalization process by reporters and media results in an inaccurate characterization of Trump. The Trump White House held about a hundred formal press briefings in 2017, declining by half during 2018 and to two in 2019.
Trump also deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.
False statements
As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks to an extent unprecedented in American politics. His falsehoods became a distinctive part of his political identity.
Trump's false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements made by Trump over his four-year term. Trump's falsehoods increased in frequency over time, rising from about 6 false or misleading claims per day in his first year as president to 16 per day in his second year to 22 per day in his third year to 39 per day in his final year. He reached 10,000 false or misleading claims 27 months into his term; 20,000 false or misleading claims 14 months later, and 30,000 false or misleading claims five months later.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his claims of a large crowd size during his inauguration. Others had more far-reaching effects, such as Trump's promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID‑19 in a press conference and on Twitter in March 2020. The claims had consequences worldwide, such as a shortage of these drugs in the United States and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served Trump's domestic political purposes. As a matter of principle, Trump does not apologize for his falsehoods.
Despite the frequency of Trump's falsehoods, the media rarely referred to them as lies. The first time The Washington Post did so was in August 2018, when it declared that some of Trump's misstatements, in particular those concerning hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, were lies.
In 2020, Trump was a significant source of disinformation on voting and the COVID-19 pandemic. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices served to weaken public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.
Some view the nature and frequency of Trump's falsehoods as having profound and corrosive consequences on democracy. James Pfiffner, professor of policy and government at George Mason University, wrote in 2019 that Trump lies differently from previous presidents, because he offers "egregious false statements that are demonstrably contrary to well-known facts"; these lies are the "most important" of all Trump lies. By calling facts into question, people will be unable to properly evaluate their government, with beliefs or policy irrationally settled by "political power"; this erodes liberal democracy, wrote Pfiffner.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including Obama birtherism, the Clinton Body Count theory, QAnon, the Global warming hoax theory, Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz, linking talk show host Joe Scarborough to the death of a staffer, alleged foul-play in the death of Antonin Scalia, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and that Osama bin Laden was alive and Obama and Biden had members of Navy SEAL Team 6 killed. In at least two instances Trump clarified to press that he also believed the conspiracy theory in question.
During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump has promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat including dead people voting, voting machines changing or deleting Trump votes, fraudulent mail-in voting, throwing out Trump votes, and "finding" suitcases full of Biden votes.
Racial views
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been considered racist. He repeatedly denied this, saying: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world." In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.
Trump relaunched his political career in 2011 as a leading proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States. In April 2011, Trump claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later saying this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. and falsely claimed the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In 2017, he reportedly still expressed birther views in private.
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists". His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries". His remarks were condemned as racist.
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they "came from". Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments". White nationalist publications and social media sites praised his remarks, which continued over the following days. Trump continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
Misogyny and allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to media and on social media. He made lewd comments, demeaned women's looks, and called them names, such as 'dog', 'crazed, 'crying lowlife', 'face of a pig', or 'horseface'.
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump is heard bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab 'em by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
At least twenty-six women, including his first wife, have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. There were allegations of rape, violence, being kissed and groped without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants. In 2016, he denied all accusations, calling them "false smears" and alleging a conspiracy against him and the American people.
Incitement of violence
Research suggests Trump's rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against members of minority groups.
Popular culture
Trump has been the subject of parody, comedy, and caricature on television, in movies, and in comics. Trump was named in hundreds of hip hop songs since the 1980s, mostly positive. Mentions turned largely negative and pejorative after he began running for office in 2015.
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
Archive of Donald Trump's Tweets
Trump's news blog
Donald Trump collected news and commentary from The New York Times
Donald Trump on the Internet Archive
Talking About Donald Trump at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Donald Trump's page on WhiteHouse.gov
Trumpism
1946 births
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WWE Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"What's in a Name? may refer to:\n A quote from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare\n \"What's in a Name?\" (short story), a 1956 short story by Isaac Asimov\n What's in a Name? (play), a 2010 French comedy play\n What's in a Name? (1934 film), a British comedy film\n What's in a Name? (2012 film), a French-Belgian comedy film\n What's in a Name (album), an album by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich",
"\"What's in It for Me\" is a song by John Berry.\n\nWhat's in It for Me may also refer to:\n\n \"What's in It for Me\" (Amy Diamond song), 2005\n \"What's in It for Me\", a song by Faith Hill from Breathe\n \"What's in It for Me\", a song by The Walkmen from Bows + Arrows\n \"What's in It for Me?\", a song by Hoodoo Gurus from Purity of Essence"
] |
[
"Terry Gilliam",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"
] | C_716b12024b594fe99a6bfeb63a501d7a_0 | Did GIlliam direct The imaginarium? | 1 | Did GIlliam direct The imaginarium? | Terry Gilliam | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London. On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back. The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations. The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter. CANNOTANSWER | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, | Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British film director, screenwriter, animator, actor, comedian and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Tideland (2005), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). The only Monty Python member not born in Britain, he became a naturalised British subject in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006.
Gilliam was born in Minnesota, but spent his high school and college years in Los Angeles. He started his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. He joined Monty Python as the animator of their works, but eventually became a full member and was given acting roles. He became a feature film director in the 1970s. Most of his films explore the theme of imagination and its importance to life, express his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarianism, and feature characters facing dark or paranoid situations. His own scripts feature black comedy and tragicomedic elements, as well as surprise endings.
In 1988, Gilliam and the other Monty Python members received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.
Early life
Gilliam was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Beatrice (née Vance) and James Hall Gilliam. His father was a travelling salesman for Folgers before becoming a carpenter. Soon after, they moved to nearby Medicine Lake, Minnesota. In 1952, the family moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Panorama City. Gilliam attended Birmingham High School, where he was the president of his class and senior prom king, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" having achieved straight A grades. During high school, he began to avidly read Mad magazine, then edited by Harvey Kurtzman, which would later influence Gilliam's work.
Gilliam graduated from Occidental College in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 2003 he told Salman Rushdie about defining experiences in the 1960s that set the foundations for his views on the world:
Career
Animation
Gilliam began his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. One of his early photographic strips for the US magazine Help! featured future Python cast member John Cleese. When Help! folded, Gilliam went to Europe, jokingly announcing in the final issue that he was "being transferred to the European branch" of the magazine, which did not exist. Moving to England, he animated sequences for the children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set which ran from 1967 to 1969, and which also featured Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
Monty Python
Gilliam was a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus from its outset, credited at first as an animator (his name was listed separately after the other five in the closing credits) and later as a full member. His cartoons linked the show's sketches together and defined the group's visual language in other media, such as LP and book covers and the title sequences of their films. His animations mix his own art, characterised by soft gradients and odd, bulbous shapes, with backgrounds and moving cutouts from antique photographs, mostly from the Victorian era.
In 1978, Gilliam published Animations of Mortality, an illustrated, tongue-in-cheek, semi-autobiographical how-to guide to his animation techniques and the visual language in them.
Gilliam co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Jones; Gilliam was responsible for photography, while Jones guided the actors' performances. He also appeared in several sketches, though he rarely had main roles and did considerably less acting in the sketches. Gilliam did, however, have some notable sketch roles, such as Cardinal Fang of the Spanish Inquisition; the bespectacled commenter who said, "I can't add anything to that!" in the sketch "Election Night Special"; Kevin Garibaldi, the brat on the couch shouting "I want more beans!" in the sketch "Most Awful Family in Britain 1974" (episode 45); the Screaming Queen in a cape and mask in "The Visitors"; and Percy Bysshe Shelley in "Ant Poetry Reading". More frequently, he played parts that no one else wanted to play, generally because they required a lot of makeup or uncomfortable costumes, such as a recurring knight in armour who ended sketches by walking on and hitting one of the other characters over the head with a plucked chicken. He took a number of roles in the films, including both Patsy and The Old Man From Scene 24 in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the jailer in Monty Python's Life of Brian. He also designed the covers of most of the Monty Python albums, including Another Monty Python Record, The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief, Monty Python Live at Drury Lane, and all of their film soundtrack albums. Katy Hepburn, a freelance designer and graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, also worked with Gilliam.
Directing
With the gradual breakup of the Python troupe between Life of Brian in 1979 and The Meaning of Life in 1983, Gilliam became a screenwriter and director, building upon the experience he had acquired during the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He says he used to think of his films in terms of trilogies, starting with Time Bandits: the "Trilogy of Imagination" (written by Gilliam) about "the ages of man" in Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). All are about the "craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible." All three movies focus on these struggles and attempts to escape them through imagination; Time Bandits through the eyes of a child, Brazil through the eyes of a man in his thirties, and Munchausen, through the eyes of an elderly man. In the summer of 1986, he cut away ties from Arnon Milchan and 20th Century Fox started directing the latter through his own new Prominent Films banner independently.
In the 1990s, Gilliam directed a trilogy of Americana: The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), which played on North American soil and, while still surreal, had fewer fantastical plots than his previous trilogy.
Themes and philosophy
As for his philosophical background in screenwriting and directing, Gilliam said on the TV show First Hand on RoundhouseTV, "There's so many film schools, so many media courses which I actually am opposed to. Because I think it's more important to be educated, to read, to learn things, because if you're gonna be in the media and if you'll have to say things, you have to know things. If you only know about cameras and 'the media', what're you gonna be talking about except cameras and the media? So it's better learning about philosophy and art and architecture [and] literature, these are the things to be concentrating on it seems to me. Then, you can fly...!"
Gilliam's films are usually imaginative fantasies. His long-time co-writer Charles McKeown commented, "the theme of imagination, and the importance of imagination, to how you live and how you think and so on ... that's very much a Terry theme." Most of Gilliam's films include plotlines that seem to occur partly or completely in the characters' imaginations, raising questions about the definition of identity and sanity. He often shows his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarian regimes. He also distinguishes "higher" and "lower" layers of society, with a disturbing and ironic style. His films usually feature a fight or struggle against a great power which may be an emotional situation, a human-made idol, or even the person himself, and the situations do not always end happily. There is often a dark, paranoid atmosphere and unusual characters who used to be normal members of society. His scripts feature black comedy and often end with a dark tragicomic twist.
Gilliam is fascinated with the Baroque period because of the pronounced struggle between spirituality and rationality in that era. There is often a rich baroqueness and dichotomous eclecticism about his films, with, for instance, high-tech computer monitors equipped with low-tech magnifying lenses in Brazil and a red knight covered with flapping bits of cloth in The Fisher King. He also is given to incongruous juxtapositions of beauty and ugliness or antique and modern. Regarding Gilliam's theme of modernity's struggle between spirituality and rationality whereas the individual may become dominated by a tyrannical, soulless machinery of disenchanted society, the film critic Keith James Hamel observed a specific affinity of Gilliam's films with the writings of the historian Arnold Toynbee and the sociologist Max Weber, specifically the latter's concept of the "iron cage" of rationality.
Look and style
Gilliam's films have a distinctive look, not only in mise-en-scène but even more so in photography, often recognisable from just a short clip; to create a surreal atmosphere of psychological unrest and a world out of balance, he frequently uses unusual camera angles, particularly low-angle shots, high-angle shots, and Dutch angles. Roger Ebert said that "his world is always hallucinatory in its richness of detail". Most of his movies are shot almost entirely with rectilinear ultra-wide-angle lenses with focal lengths of 28 mm or less to achieve a distinctive style defined by extreme perspective distortion and extremely deep focus. Gilliam's long-time director of photography Nicola Pecorini has said, "with Terry and me, a long lens means something between a 40 mm and a 65 mm." This attitude markedly differs from the common definition in photography, by which 40 to 65 mm is the focal length of a normal lens, resembling the natural human field of view, unlike Gilliam's signature style, defined by extreme perspective distortion due to his usual choice of focal length. The 14 mm lens has become informally known as "The Gilliam" among filmmakers because of his frequent use of it at least since Brazil. Gilliam has explained his preference for using wide-angle lenses in his films:
In another interview, Gilliam mentioned, in relation to the 9.8 mm Kinoptic lens he had first used on Brazil, that wide-angle lenses make small film sets "look big". The widest lens he has used so far is an 8 mm Zeiss lens employed in filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Production problems
Gilliam has made a few extremely expensive movies beset with production problems. After the lengthy quarrelling with Universal Studios over Brazil, Gilliam's next picture, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, cost around US$46 million, and then earned only about US$8 million in US ticket sales. The film saw no wide domestic release from Columbia Pictures, which was in the process of being sold at the time.
In the mid-1990s, Gilliam and Charles McKeown developed a script for Time Bandits 2, a project that was never produced because several of the original actors had died. Gilliam also attempted to direct a version of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, which collapsed due to disagreements over its budget and the choice of a lead actor.
Gilliam attempted twice to adapt Alan Moore's Watchmen comics into a film, in 1989 and 1996. Both attempts were unsuccessful. Gilliam said it was unfilmable.
In 1999, Gilliam attempted to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, budgeted at US$32.1 million, among the highest-budgeted films to use only European financing; but in the first week of shooting, the actor playing Don Quixote (Jean Rochefort) suffered a herniated disc, and a flood severely damaged the set. The film was cancelled, resulting in an insurance claim of US$15 million. Despite the cancellation, the aborted project did yield the documentary Lost in La Mancha, produced from film from a second crew that had been hired by Gilliam to document the making of Quixote. After the cancellation, both Gilliam and the film's co-lead, Johnny Depp, wanted to revive the project. The insurance company involved in the failed first attempt withheld the rights to the screenplay for several years but the production was restarted in 2008.
From 2002 to 2006, Gilliam tried to get funding for an adaptation of Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, with Robin Williams and Johnny Depp rumored as possible stars, but movie studios found the apocalyptic theme unacceptable in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, and funding never materialized.
More recently, unforeseeable problems again befell a Gilliam project when the actor Heath Ledger died in New York City during the filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Abandoned clip art project
Fifteen years after the publication of Gilliam's Animations of Mortality, between the release of the CD-ROM game Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time in 1994, which used many of Gilliam's animation templates, and the making of Gilliam's film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Gilliam was in negotiations with Enteractive, a software company, to tentatively release in the autumn of 1996 a CD-ROM under the same title as his 1978 book, containing all of his thousands of 1970s animation templates as license-free clip arts for people to create their own flash animations, but the project hovered in limbo for years, probably because Enteractive was about to downsize greatly in mid-1996 and changed its focus from CD-ROM multimedia presentations to internet business solutions and web hosting in 1997 (in the introduction to their 2004 book Terry Gilliam: Interviews, David Sterrit and Lucille Rhodes claimed that the internet had overwhelmed the "computer-communications market" and gave this as the reason that the Animations of Mortality CD-ROM never materialised). Around the time of Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the project had changed into the idea of releasing his 1970s animation templates as a license-free download of Adobe After Effects or similar files.
Box office
Gilliam's first successful feature, Time Bandits (1981), earned more than eight times its original budget in the United States alone. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), although commercially unsuccessful, was nominated for four Oscars and won three BAFTA Awards, among several other Prizes in Europe. The Fisher King (1991), his first film not to feature a member of the Monty Python troupe, had a budget of $24 million and grossed more than $41 million at United States box office. 12 Monkeys grossed more than US$168 million worldwide. The Brothers Grimm, despite a mixed critical reception, grossed over US$105 million worldwide. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with a budget of $30 million, has been an international commercial success, grossing over $60 million in worldwide theatrical release.
According to Box Office Mojo, his films have grossed an average of $21,602,510.
Recurring collaborators
Gilliam has worked frequently with actors Heath Ledger, Jeff Bridges, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams, Christopher Plummer, Katherine Helmond, and Jonathan Pryce.
Gilliam and Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, is a fan of Gilliam's work. Consequently, he was Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2000, but Warner Bros. ultimately chose Chris Columbus for the job. In response to this decision, Gilliam said that "I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian." In 2006, Gilliam said that he found Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to be "really good... much closer to what I would've done." In retrospect, however, Gilliam has stated that he wouldn't have liked to direct any Potter film. In a 2005 interview with Total Film, he said that he would not enjoy working on such an expensive project because of interference from studio executives.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, director David Yates paid homage to Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil, portraying the Death Eater–infiltrated Ministry of Magic in a fashion reminiscent of Gilliam's totalitarian bureaucracy.
Secret Tournament
In 2002, Gilliam directed a series of television advertisements called "Secret Tournament". Part of Nike's 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, the advertisements feature a secret three-on-three tournament between the world's best football players, including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry, who are inside a huge tanker ship. The advertisements are accompanied with a remixed version of the Elvis Presley song "A Little Less Conversation".
Slava's Diabolo
In 2006, Gilliam directed the stage show Slava's Diabolo, created and staged by the Russian clown artist Slava Polunin. The show combined Polunin's clown style, characterised by deep nonverbal expression and interaction with the audience, with Gilliam's rich visuals and surrealistic imagery. The show premiered at the Noga Hall of the Gesher Theatre in Jaffa, Israel.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London.
On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back.
The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations.
The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter.
The Zero Theorem
In July 2012, Gilliam revealed plans for a film which would be shot in Bucharest, Romania. He denied that it would be Don Quixote but refused to give any further details. The actor David Walliams reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam to play a part in it and was told that he'd have to "be willing to work with Johnny Depp and fly to Bucharest where the movie is to be filmed." Depp, to that point, had made no mention of his involvement but was seen in Bucharest around the same time in mid-July as Romanian news outlets reported Gilliam was staying in the city for negotiations on studio work with the Romanian film production company MediaPro Studios. On 13 August 2012, this project was announced to be The Zero Theorem, set to start shooting in Bucharest on 22 October, produced by Dean Zanuck (son of the late Richard D. Zanuck, who was originally to produce the film in 2009), with worldwide sales handled by Voltage Pictures, Toronto, and starring the Academy Award–winner Christoph Waltz in the lead (replacing Billy Bob Thornton, who had been attached to the project in 2009). The Zero Theorem premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013.
Opera director
Gilliam made his opera debut at London's English National Opera (ENO) in May 2011, directing The Damnation of Faust, by Hector Berlioz. The production received positive reviews in the British press On 16 September 2012, the production opened at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent, Belgium, in the opera's original French-language version and received praise from critics and audiences alike. After a number of performances in Ghent, the production moved to the opera house in Antwerp for sold-out run of performances.
In June 2014, Gilliam followed up on his success with Faust with a new ENO production of another opera by Berlioz, the rarely performed Benvenuto Cellini.
Projects in development or shelved
Gilliam has several projects in various states of development, including an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy novel Good Omens. Other projects Gilliam has been trying to get off the ground since the 1990s are an adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (starring Mel Gibson); an adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which has been adapted as films several times before; and a script entitled The Defective Detective, which Gilliam wrote with Richard LaGravenese (who wrote The Fisher King). While promoting the US theatrical release of The Zero Theorem, Gilliam revealed he and LaGravenese were meeting to see if The Defective Detective script could be made into a miniseries. If this comes together, it would be the first time Gilliam has ever directed for television. Stanley Kubrick had Gilliam in mind to direct a sequel to Dr. Strangelove (1964). Gilliam also turned down offers to direct such films as Enemy Mine (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Forrest Gump (1994) and Braveheart (1995). He was even considered to direct The Truman Show (1998). Gilliam confirmed in a 2018 interview that he turned down the offer to direct one of the sequels to Alien (1979), though he did not specify which one of them.
It was rumoured that Gilliam may direct or be involved in the production of the animated band Gorillaz movie. In a September 2006 interview with Uncut, Damon Albarn was reported to have said, "we're making a film. We've got Terry Gilliam involved." However, in a more recent interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Jamie Hewlett, the co-creator of the band, stated that since the time of the previous interview, Damon's and his own interest in the film had lessened. In an August 2008 Observer interview, Gorillaz band members Albarn and Hewlett revealed the nature and title of the project, Journey to the West, a film adaptation of the opera of the same name, based on a 16th-century Chinese adventure story also known as Monkey. In January 2008, while on set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam stated that he was looking forward to the project, "But I'm still waiting to see a script!"
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
After regaining the rights to the screenplay of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam restarted preproduction in 2008, with Johnny Depp still attached to the project. The film was to be reshot completely, with Rochefort's role recast. Michael Palin reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam about stepping in for Rochefort and playing Don Quixote. However, Gilliam revealed on the Canadian talk show The Hour on 17 December 2009 that Robert Duvall had been cast to play Quixote, before the film was postponed once again. In January 2014, Gilliam wrote on Facebook that "Dreams of Don Quixote have begun again". At the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, it was confirmed that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was going to be made, with Michael Palin and Adam Driver in starring roles. In March 2017, filming finally began, with Driver and Jonathan Pryce starring. On 4 June 2017, Gilliam announced that the shooting of the film was complete.
The film premiered on 19 May 2018 as the closing film of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival (where it received a standing ovation), and was released in French theatres the same day.
Future projects
On 16 December 2010, Variety reported that Gilliam was to "godfather" a film called 1884, described as an animated steampunk parody of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, with several former Pythons lending their voices to the project; Gilliam was to be credited as "creative advisor".
During the second half of 2011, Gilliam and Paul Auster wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation of Auster's novel Mr. Vertigo.<ref>Fischer, Russ (2011). [https://www.slashfilm.com/terry-gilliam-crafting-script-based-paul-auster-mr-vertigo/ "Terry Gilliam Crafting a Script Based on Paul Auster Novel 'Mr. Vertigo"] Slashfilm.com. 28 July 2011</ref> In June 2018, Gilliam announced at the Brussels International Film Festival that he was working again on Mr. Vertigo, and that it might be his next film, and that he had Ralph Fiennes attached to star in it.Franklin, Garth (2018). "Gilliam's Next Could Be "Mr. Vertigo"". Dark Horizons. 1 July 2018.
As of 2014 he was in talks to make his first animated feature film with Laika, the studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman.
In October 2015, in a webchat hosted by The Guardian, Gilliam announced that he was working on "a TV series based on Time Bandits" and "another based on a script by Richard LaGravanese and I wrote after Fisher King, called The Defective Detective".
Charitable activities
Gilliam has been involved with a number of charitable and humanitarian causes. In 2009, he became a board member of Videre Est Credere (Latin for "to see is to believe"), a UK human rights charity. Videre describes itself as giving "local activists the equipment, training and support needed to safely capture compelling video evidence of human rights violations. This captured footage is verified, analysed and then distributed to those who can create change." He participates alongside movie producer Uri Fruchtmann, music producer Brian Eno and executive director of Greenpeace UK John Sauven.
Personal life
Gilliam has been married to British makeup artist Maggie Weston since 1973. She worked on Monty Python's Flying Circus, many of the Python films, and Gilliam's films up to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. They have three children: Amy Rainbow (born 1978), Holly Dubois (born October 1980) and Harry Thunder (born 3 April 1988), who have also appeared in or worked on several of his films.
In 1968, Gilliam obtained British citizenship. He held dual American and British citizenship for the next 38 years, until he renounced his American citizenship in January 2006. In an interview with Der Tagesspiegel, he described the action as a protest against then-President George W. Bush, and in an earlier interview with The A.V. Club, he also indicated that it was related to concerns about future tax liability for his wife and children. As a result of renouncing his citizenship, Gilliam was permitted to spend 30 days each year in the United States over the next 10 years, "less than any European". Holly followed suit, renouncing her American citizenship in 2017.
He maintains a residence in Italy near the Umbria–Tuscany border. He has been instrumental in establishing the annual Umbria Film Festival, held in the nearby town of Montone. Gilliam also resides in Highgate, London.
In 2009, Gilliam signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
On 8 September 2015, Variety mistakenly published a false obituary claiming that Gilliam had died.
In May 2018, Gilliam suffered a perforated medullary artery that was erroneously reported in the media as a stroke.
Filmography
Awards, nominations and honours
Academy Awards
BAFTA Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Saturn Awards
Other awards
Brazil (1985)
3 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
3 Silver Ribbons awarded by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design
Hugo Award nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Fisher King (1991)
Venice Film Festival Silver Lion Winner
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (Mercedes Ruehl)
4 Los Angeles Film Critics Association nominations Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Plummer), Best Screenplay
Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award Winner
12 Monkeys (1995)
Empire Award Best Director
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Venice Film Festival Official Selection
Tideland (2005)
San Sebastian Festival Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
2 Empire Awards nominations Best British Film, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Best Fantasy Film nomination by the Costume Designers Guild of America
British Independent Film Awards nomination for Best Achievement in Production
International Press Academy Satellite Award Best Costume Design, 3 more nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction & Production Design, Best Original Song
Voted Best Fantasy Film of the Year by readers of the Total Sci-Fi Online magazine.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
Magritte Award for Best Foreign Film in Coproduction
An asteroid, 9619 Terrygilliam, is named in his honour.
Gilliam was given the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 2009 for his contribution to motion picture arts.
Gilliam was also given a BAFTA Special Award in 1969 for the graphics and animations in Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Terry Gilliam was awarded the Fellowship of the Kermodes, by film critic Mark Kermode.
Gilliam was honoured with the Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity Award'' at the Camerimage film festival in Łódź, Poland in 2009.
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Knight (2013)
Raindance Film Festival announced on 13 August 2018 that he would be the next recipient of its Auteur Award for his contribution to UK film.
Inkpot Award (2009)
References
Further reading
External links
Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine
1940 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century British comedians
21st-century American comedians
21st-century British comedians
Animators from Minnesota
British animators
British film directors
American animated film directors
British male actors
American male comedians
British male comedians
American comics artists
British comics artists
British male comedy actors
American male comedy actors
American comedy writers
British comedy writers
American emigrants to the United Kingdom
BAFTA fellows
British opera directors
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Copywriters
Inkpot Award winners
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Fantasy film directors
Science fiction film directors
Film directors from Minnesota
Male actors from Minneapolis
Monty Python members
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Occidental College alumni
People from Hennepin County, Minnesota
People from Panorama City, Los Angeles
Former United States citizens
Stop motion animators
Film directors from Los Angeles
American surrealist artists
British surrealist artists
Surrealist filmmakers
Science fiction fans
Birmingham High School alumni | true | [
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a 2009 fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Charles McKeown. The film follows a travelling theatre troupe whose leader, having made a bet with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations and present them with a choice between self-fulfilling enlightenment or gratifying ignorance.\n\nThe film stars Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, though Ledger's death one-third of the way through filming caused production to be temporarily suspended. Ledger's role was recast with Depp, Law, and Farrell portraying transformations of Ledger's character as he travels through a dream world; the film marks Ledger's final film performance and was dedicated to him and co-producer William Vince.\n\nThe film made its world premiere during the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, out of competition. The film, which cost $30 million to make, grossed more than $60 million in its worldwide theatrical release.\n\nThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was nominated for two Academy Awards in the categories Best Art Direction (art directed by Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, and set decorated by Caroline Smith; lost to Avatar) and Best Costume Design (costumes designed by Monique Prudhomme; lost to The Young Victoria).\n\nPlot\nOutside a London pub, an elderly bearded sage named Doctor Parnassus runs a nearly-bankrupt travelling theatre troupe, which includes his teenage daughter Valentina, a sleight-of-hand expert and barker Anton, and a dwarf assistant Percy. The troupe's main attraction is a portal to a magical \"Imaginarium\", a surreal dream world that transforms according to its participants' own desires and offers them a choice between difficult self-fulfillment or easy ignorance. After a drunkard is swayed to the latter, Parnassus says he has lost \"another one\" to Mr. Nick, a suave personification of the Devil, who often appears without warning to taunt Parnassus and gloat over Parnassus's failures. He reminds Parnassus that in three days Valentina turns 16, and her soul will belong to Mr. Nick. Hundreds of years ago, Mr. Nick tricked Parnassus into accepting immortality, after making a wager similar to his current predicament.\n\nAs the troupe crosses a bridge, Anton notices someone hanging beneath it. After they rescue the man and revive him, he spits out a golden pipe that allowed him to continue breathing while being hanged; unwilling to explain his past, the man convinces his rescuers that he has amnesia. Parnassus sadly contemplates the impending loss of his daughter, and Mr. Nick visits him, revealing the identity of the rescued man: a disgraced philanthropist named Tony Shepard, who was being hanged by Russian gangsters for owing them money. Mr. Nick also offers Parnassus a new wager: Valentina can stay with Parnassus past the age of 16 if Parnassus can win five souls to the path of self-fulfillment before Mr. Nick can win five souls to the path of ignorance, all within the universe of the Imaginarium.\n\nThe newcomer Tony soon joins the troupe as a barker even more charismatic than Anton, who is becoming suspicious. Tony convinces the troupe to remodel the show into a more modern act. While performing, Tony lures a posh, affluent woman into the Imaginarium and follows her, where they enter a pastel-coloured dream-world representing the woman's imagination. The woman's imagination also changes Tony's face to one of her liking; Tony dances elegantly with her, and they notice a motel run by Mr. Nick, but Tony convinces the woman instead to take a gondola ride that wins the first soul for Parnassus. Tony falls back out of the Imaginarium, returning his face to normal. The woman exits shortly after and gives the troupe a vast sum of money as thanks for her marvellous experience. When three other women enter, each re-emerges elated; and thus Parnassus has won a total of four souls. However, Mr. Nick easily takes the souls of four Russian gangsters looking to hunt Tony down for his debts. They chase Tony into the Imaginarium and quickly fall into a trap laid by Mr. Nick. Thus, the score is tied: four to four.\n\nWith the bet nearing its end, Parnassus reluctantly reveals to Valentina her secret origins: after aging from immortality, Parnassus made a new pact with Mr. Nick to be youthful again, in order to win the heart of a woman he loved. In exchange, any child he fathered would become Mr. Nick's property at the age of 16. Valentina is horrified at her father's revelation. Meanwhile, having discovered that Tony is a fraudulent charity scammer who stole organs from orphans in developing countries and sold them to wealthy westerners, Anton confronts Tony, but Tony fights him off, pushes Valentina into the Imaginarium, and joins her. Influenced by Valentina's romantic desires, Tony's face changes to that of her dream lover, and they float along a beautiful river in a gondola, fulfilling their shared sexual feelings. A child in rags disrupts their serene boat trip, transitioning the scene to one of Tony as a philanthropist, speaking at a fundraiser for impoverished children. Anton, following the pair into the Imaginarium, appears in the form of an outspoken child and exposes Tony as a fraud. A mob of angry benefactors pursues Tony, and, as the landscape disintegrates, Anton confesses his love for Valentina before falling into a void.\n\nDistraught and angry over her father's bargain and a lifetime of hiding the truth from her, Valentina willingly gives her soul over to Mr. Nick. Disillusioned by the easy victory, Mr. Nick offers Parnassus yet another bargain: to trade Valentina's soul for Tony's. Therefore, as the mob approaches Tony to hang him, Parnassus presents Tony with his true sturdy golden pipe that will allow him to survive the hanging as well as a near-perfect but brittle replica. Parnassus hopes that Tony will choose wrong; indeed, Tony inserts the cheap replica in his windpipe and thus dies when the mob lynches him. Mr. Nick keeps his word, freeing Valentina's soul but not revealing her new location to Parnassus, who is abandoned to wander in despair for years, trapped in his own Imaginarium.\n\nOne day, Parnassus looks up to find himself a pitiful beggar back in London, when Valentina suddenly walks by him. He sees that she is now happily married to Anton, and they have a daughter. As Parnassus watches them through a window, his old assistant Percy walks up to him, dissuading him from interrupting Valentina's new cheerful life. Parnassus finally seems to be at peace, just knowing that his daughter is happy. Soon, Parnassus and Percy have teamed up again, presenting toy theatres of the Imaginarium and the troupe on a street corner. As Mr. Nick appears one final time to beckon Parnassus over to him for a new bargain, Percy quickly intervenes, ordering Parnassus back to work.\n\nCast\n\n Heath Ledger as Tony Shepard. When Ledger died in the midst of production, the role was recast for certain scenes to show portrayals of \"physically transformed versions\" of the character within the Imaginarium:\n Johnny Depp as Tony (first transformation)\n Jude Law as Tony (second transformation)\n Colin Farrell as Tony (third transformation)\n Christopher Plummer as Doctor Parnassus\n Andrew Garfield as Anton\n Verne Troyer as Percy\n Lily Cole as Valentina\n Tom Waits as Mr. Nick\n Paloma Faith as Sally\n Gwendoline Christie as Shopper\n Peter Stormare as The President\n Charles McKeown as Fairground Inspector\n Maggie Steed as Louis Vuitton Woman\n Mark Benton as Dad\n Simon Day as Uncle Bob\n Richard Riddell as Martin\n Montserrat Lombard as Sally's friend\n\nProduction\n\nWriting\nDirector Terry Gilliam and screenwriter Charles McKeown wrote the script for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, their first collaboration since The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). When he was approached with the basic concept by Gilliam, McKeown thought of the central character of Parnassus \"as a semi-eastern medicine man evolved\", and in retrospect he further said about the script's sensibilities, \"It is about the theme of imagination, and the importance of imagination, to how you live and how you think and so on. And that's very much a Terry theme. [...] I like the idea of storytelling being the thing that sustains the universe.\" Gilliam described the premise as a \"fun and humorous story about the consequences of our personal choices in life\", and explained his goal for the film: \"It's autobiographical. I'm trying to bring a bit of fantasticality to London, an antidote to modern lives. I loved this idea of an ancient travelling show offering the kind of storytelling and wonder that we used to get, to people who are just into shoot-em-up action films.\" Gilliam and McKeown based the character of Tony on former British prime minister Tony Blair, who \"would say the most insane things and probably he'd believe them himself\".\n\nGilliam repeatedly said in interviews that the character of Parnassus was meant autobiographically, a tale of an aging man with a vivid imagination in a world that doesn't listen any more. Still being caught in depression over the disruption of his last self-written project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, his constant struggle with the established studio system, as well as becoming aware of his progressing age, worried that he was going nowhere with his latest projects and that he might not have much time left, Gilliam put a number of references to sudden, tragic, and premature death into his script before the loss of Ledger became a reality. In fact, Gilliam felt compelled to emphasise time and again that upon the film's release many things might be mistaken as references to Ledger's fate but that the script wasn't changed apart from re-casting Tony with Depp, Farrell, and Law.\n\nFilming\nThe film received a budget of $25 million at first, but its final budget was about $30 million. For The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam and his cinematographer Nicola Pecorini went wider than ever before on focal length with a new 8mm Zeiss lens, unusual even for a Gilliam movie which are usually trademarked by wide-angle imagery. The widest lens that had been employed before on a Gilliam film had been a 9.8mm Kinoptik. Production of the remaining computer generated imagery effects shots were carried out in Vancouver.\n\nLondon filming\nProduction started in December 2007, beginning with various shots of the Imaginarium wagon moving about the London suburbs (to be more specific, Bounds Green, London) on the evening of 9 December. The carnival scenes were shot at Potters Field between 10 and 11 December; shooting then moved to the abandoned Battersea Power Station for three days, where the production had set up offices nearby. After a full day of set-up, the hanging scenes at Blackfriars Bridge were shot for three hours on the evening of 17 December.\n\nAt the same time that an intimate early scene between Andrew Garfield and Lily Cole was being shot on top of the travelling Imaginarium wagon, second unit work around London was also being done for several more nights, until 20 December; this change in schedule was to allow Heath Ledger a break to travel back to Australia to visit his family. After the entire cast returned from Christmas break, the production resumed shooting for 2008 back at Battersea for one full day; this was Tom Waits' first day on set, as he would mainly be required for the subsequent Vancouver shoot, not the London section. From 5–6 January, the production filmed scenes with the Imaginarium at Leadenhall Market; shooting on this sequence managed an average of 70 set-ups a day. The production had originally planned to shoot the Leadenhall scenes at Bond Street, but this was scrapped, due to security concerns.\n\nAfter various nighttime footage at a Homebase car park in New Southgate, and interiors behind the stage curtain (including reaction close-ups of Heath Ledger) shot at Bray Studios in Windsor, production finally wrapped in Clerkenwell, with shooting on the night of 18 January being Heath Ledger's last footage shot for the film; he returned to his New York City apartment over the weekend while the production regrouped, and was expected to appear on set in Vancouver after a week's break for the second stage of shooting.\n\nEffects of Heath Ledger's death\nProduction was halted by the death of Heath Ledger in New York City on 22 January 2008. Ledger's involvement had been a \"key factor\" in the film's financing. Gilliam was presiding over concept art when he was informed by a phone call that Ledger had died. His initial thought about the production was: \"The film's over, it's as simple as that.\" Although production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, Gilliam initially wanted to \"salvage\" the film by using computer-generated imagery to make Ledger's character magically change his appearance, perhaps into another character. He also wanted to dedicate the film to Ledger. The imagery would have been similar to transformation techniques seen on Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and those employed on Roy Scheider's performance in his posthumous release Iron Cross.\n\nEventually, actors Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law were cast to replace Heath Ledger in certain scenes, portraying the new idea of transformed versions of Ledger's character travelling through magical realms, while the footage shot with Ledger would remain in the film as his character's \"real-world\" appearance. Gilliam told Entertainment Weekly, \"Then we made the quantum leap: What if we get three actors to replace him? [...] Johnny was the first person I called. He said, 'Done. I'm there.' Same with Jude and Colin.\" Depp, a friend of Gilliam's who starred in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the aborted 1998 production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, had been compared to Ledger by cinematographer Nicola Pecorini. Law was also a friend of Ledger's and had been considered for the role of Tony, and Farrell had also been friends with Ledger.\n\nInitially, Tom Cruise expressed interest in being involved as another actor to replace Ledger, but Gilliam turned him down because Cruise had never been a close friend of Ledger. Gilliam stated, \"I just wanted to keep this [in the] family—it's as simple as that [...] There were people even offering to come and help, they didn't know Heath. It had to be in the family somehow, I don't know why; it was my attitude.\"\n\nOne scene planned for the Vancouver shooting with the Tony character was scrapped; two others were altered to accommodate Ledger's absence, a third was added to plan for Colin Farrell's role in the film, and a fourth, already in the script, had a prop of Farrell in a magazine added. A fifth, with close-ups of Ledger already filmed, scrapped any major dialogue from Tony and used a body and voice double, as detailed below.\n\nVancouver filming\n\nWith the role recast, and the script restructured accordingly, filming resumed in Vancouver on 24 February 2008, a month later than originally planned; this push-back in filming also required another film produced by Samuel Hadida, an adaptation of the video game Onimusha, to be delayed indefinitely. Exteriors required for the film's ending, featuring Christopher Plummer and Verne Troyer, were shot during this time; the location work also required the presence of Tom Waits (on the first day) and Lily Cole (on the second). All of Plummer's scenes, including exterior flashbacks shown early on in the film, had to be filmed first in the Vancouver schedule, within three weeks, as he was due to leave to begin filming on The Last Station, which was to start production in Germany on 7 April.\n\nAfter arriving in Vancouver on 26 February, Colin Farrell joined the cast and began practicing scenes with them for several weeks while Christopher Plummer's bluescreen and interior work was done, only beginning filming proper on 10 March. Farrell's work was the first of the Tonys to be done, as it was the only Imaginarium-based shooting that involved significant sets; the scenes at the charity ball were shot (at Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre), then the hanging scene, and finally the gondola sequence (rewritten from its original conception due to the now-compressed shooting schedule).\n\nJohnny Depp's shooting on the film was the hardest to incorporate into any of the new actors' schedules, due to his contractual obligation on Michael Mann's Public Enemies at the time; in the end, Gilliam had access to Depp for one day and three hours. All of the shots involving him had to be completed in one take, to fit into Depp's compressed time schedule.\n\nFinally, Jude Law arrived at the very end of shooting, on 2 April, to film the Imaginarium ladders sequence, which now required more dialogue than originally planned; a key scene in the Imaginarium wagon between Tony and the rest of the cast had been reserved for the Vancouver interior shooting, and so all of the dialogue (and, thus, narrative role of that scene) had to be funnelled into a conversation between Law and Andrew Garfield's characters in the Imaginarium. This conversation proved to be the last sequence shot for the film, and involved a set completely improvised, on the day, to look like the ground at Battersea; they did not have the budget for anything better, but the production crew came away quite impressed at how well it worked.\n\nFor the first two Imaginarium sequences, a double for Ledger, Zander Gladish, was used to ease the audience into the other actors as Tony; Gladish also doubled for Ledger in wide shots and masked close-ups for another, non-Imaginarium scene, where his character tries out various costumes. Gladish wore the character's mask for his shots, and did not speak, but is still credited for his work on the film.\n\nDepp, Farrell, and Law opted to redirect their wages for the role to Ledger's young daughter, Matilda, who had been left out of an old version of Ledger's will, and Gilliam altered the part of the credits saying \"A Terry Gilliam film\" to \"A film from Heath Ledger and friends.\"\n\nGilliam said in retrospect about the first transition from Ledger to Depp in the film:\n\nDepp said of the experience:\n\nJude Law also commented on the film:\n\nColin Farrell commented on the experience:\n\nPost-production\nPrincipal photography in Vancouver wrapped, as planned, on 15 April, but the production was soon beset by further tragedy when producer William Vince died of cancer, just two days after model shooting back in London had wrapped. Fellow producer Amy Gilliam, Terry's daughter, remembered, \"[Bill Vince] always said, 'If you get your film in the can, you'll be all right.' And I kind of believe that he stayed with us to know that happened.\" Eventually, while on post-production, Gilliam himself was hit by a car, resulting in a cracked vertebra. Gilliam recalled: \"So I thought, it was third time lucky – they just didn't get me. They got the star, the producer, and they were going for the director, and the fuckers failed on the last one. Whoever they are...\" \"They were going for the trinity [...] That would have been a tidy end to the whole thing. But they didn't kill me. I'm stuck here to tell the tale.\"\n\nGilliam finished editing the film by November 2008, and then work began on creating 647 computer generated imagery effects shots. As usual with his films, Gilliam found inspiration in particular painters for each CGI-generated scene inside the titular Imaginarium. According to Designing the Imaginarium published by CBSnews.com, the scene with Doctor Parnassus's attempted suicide related to the style of Odd Nerdrum, the Ladder World with Jude Law featuring \"rolling hills with simple trees\" was inspired by the art of Grant Wood, the kitsch landscape from the beginning of the sequence with Colin Farrell took inspiration from Maxfield Parrish, and Jose Maria Sert's mural of the Crucifixion in Rockefeller Center inspired the scene including the final minutes of Farrell's appearance in the film.\n\nAccording to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, post-production was finished on 31 March. After the production had finally come to a successful closure, Gilliam felt that \"[I] didn't make this film. Forces from above and below made it. It made itself. I don't worry anymore. It's got its own relentless momentum. It just needed some human sacrifice.\" \"It's made itself – I was just one pair of hands and there were many hands.\" \"Don't get me into my mystical mode ... but the film made itself and it was co-directed by Heath Ledger!\" \"The irony is that the choices that were forced upon us improved the movie, so it was as if Heath co-directed the movie, even co-wrote it.\" According to Gilliam, actor Colin Farrell also went on record for saying that he hadn't been simply playing the character of Tony, but that he was rather feeling like \"channeling Heath\".\n\nGilliam also positively recalled people's commitment to Ledger's memory: \"Everyone in the cast and everyone in the crew was determined that this film would be finished and everybody worked longer, harder and somehow we got through. It was really ... people's love for Heath that propelled this thing forward.\" \"All the actors already in the film had to change their schedules, and there wasn't a moment's hesitation. [...] They all said, 'We'll do what's necessary.' It's really a love letter to Heath by everybody involved. He was beloved by so many.\"\n\nLocations\nThe film opens with St Paul's Cathedral in the background (by the north bank of the Thames), and the first show is performed under the rail tracks at Green Dragon Court, directly next to Borough Market, with Southwark Cathedral in the background (in Borough, London, on the south bank of the Thames), where the drunken lout molests the performers and then enters the mirror. The next scene, with Tower Bridge in the background, is just east along the riverbank, by City Hall. Tony is found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge, and the very large disused building in which the following scene (and several later ones) occurs is the interior of Battersea power station, farther west along the south bank of the river.\n\nThe following scenes occur north of the Thames: the Homebase, DIY store at 3 Station Road, south of New Southgate railway station, in New Southgate, followed by the Horseshoe pub in Clerkenwell Close in Clerkenwell from which the wagon flees. The restyled show makes its debut in Leadenhall Market, where the stylish women gather to watch. Bray Studios near Windsor was used for model shooting and additional photography.\n\nThe remaining scenes were filmed in Vancouver. The fantasy scenes were filmed at Bridge Studios in Burnaby, while the charity gala occurs at the Orpheum Theatre, and the glass-walled \"mall\" is the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library, the curved arcade being the library's entrance foyer.\n\nMusic\nThe original motion picture soundtrack of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was composed by Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna who had previously worked on Gilliam's Tideland (2005). Gilliam wrote lyrics for the two songs \"We Love Violence\" and \"We Are the Children of the World\", the latter of which spoofed Michael Jackson's famous \"We Are the World\" and was nominated for a 2009 Satellite Award in the category \"Best Original Song\".\n\nThe song \"We Love Violence\", performed in the film by policemen in drag, was sung by Gilliam, Mick Audsley (who edited the film), the musician Ray Cooper, Ed Hall (who was also the Visual Effects Editor), and Andre Jacquemin (who was Supervising Sound & Design on the film).\n\nTrack listing\n\n \"Once Upon a Time\"\n \"The Imaginarium\"\n \"The Tack\"\n \"Tony's Tale of Woe\"\n \"The Monastery\"\n \"Book & Story\"\n \"Sympathy for the Hanged Man\"\n \"The First to Five Souls\"\n \"Escape from the Pub\"\n \"The River\"\n \"Suicide Attempt\"\n \"Tango Amongst the Lilies\"\n \"Victory in the Lilies\"\n \"Four Through the Mirror\"\n \"The Ladder World\"\n \"We Love Violence\"\n \"Top of the Wagon\"\n \"We Are the Children of the World\"\n \"Tony's World Collapses\"\n \"The Devil's Dance\"\n \"Tony's Salvation\"\n \"Parnassus Alone\"\n\nReception\nBefore The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was finished, the film had already received healthy interest from worldwide distributors and the film sold out across the world. However, the film received lukewarm response from many distributors in the United States. Gilliam said that Fox Searchlight Pictures and other distributors had declined to release the film in the US. Eventually, the film's US distribution rights were acquired by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group, which released the film in the US through Sony Pictures Classics. In fact, the US was the last territory in which the film was sold. (Gilliam said that his team asked for $4 million for selling the US rights, but eventually couldn't get it.)\n\nBox office\nAccording to Reuters, the film debuted at No. 3 on its first weekend at the UK box office. The film debuted at No. 2 in both France and Italy, generating the year's third-best box office return on an opening weekend in Italy. Said Roberto Proia, distribution chief of the film's Italian distributor Moviemax, about its surprisingly warm reception, \"Almost two years after his death, Ledger has a huge fanbase which, along with the rest of the stellar cast, certainly contributed hugely. [...] We also found out that teenagers massively love Gilliam, and we did not expect this. He really has rock star status.\" Eventually, the film had earned about $54,119,168 theatrically in the countries outside North America.\n\nThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus earned $415,233 on its North American limited opening Christmas weekend (25–27 December 2009), being presented in 48 theatres with an average of $8,651. The second weekend of Parnassus (1–3 January 2010) set an average of $7,684 with a gross of $368,836 which made for a total of $1,029,821 domestically. Releasing in 607 North American theatres, Parnassus took eleventh place on its opening wide release box office weekend (8–10 January 2010) with earnings of $1,762,637, an average of only $2,904 and a total of $2,989,290. Eventually, the film had earned $7,689,607 theatrically in North America.\n\nAccording to the working partner of William Vince, the film had already made its budget back even before it opened in North America.\n\nHome media\nThe film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom (Region 2) on 29 March 2010, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Supplementary material includes an audio commentary and an introduction by Gilliam, deleted scenes, wardrobe test for Heath Ledger, visual FX feature, and three featurettes titled \"Behind the Mirror\", \"Building the Temple\", and \"UK Premiere\".\n\nThe DVD and Blu-ray were released in the US on 27 April 2010. The film went on enjoying bigger success in US ancillary markets (the film generated more than $10,445,997 in US Blu-ray/DVD sales alone).\n\nCritical reception\nReview aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 64% of 197 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.97/10. The website's critical consensus is that \"Terry Gilliam remains as indulgent as ever, but The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus represents a return to the intoxicatingly imaginative, darkly beautiful power of his earlier work, with fine performances to match all the visual spectacle.\" Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 65 based on 30 reviews, indicating 'generally favourable reviews'. \n\nRoger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote, \"The story in Gilliam's fevered film is all over the map, as usual, but this time there's a reason. His wild inventions in character, costumes and CGI effects are accounted for by a plot that requires revolving worlds.\"\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n (archived)\n \n \n \n \n \n – Behind-the-scenes articles and exclusive interviews with cast and crew, by Phil Stubbs.\n\n2009 films\n2000s fantasy adventure films\n2000s mystery films\nBritish fantasy adventure films\nBritish films\nBritish mystery films\nCanadian fantasy adventure films\nCanadian films\nEnglish-language Canadian films\nCanadian mystery films\nEnglish-language films\nFilms directed by Terry Gilliam\nFilms scored by Jeff Danna\nFilms scored by Mychael Danna\nFilms shot at Bray Studios\nFilms shot in London\nFilms shot in Vancouver\nFilms with screenplays by Charles McKeown\nFilms with screenplays by Terry Gilliam\nFrench fantasy adventure films\nFrench films\nEnglish-language French films\nFrench mystery films\nSony Pictures Classics films\nMagic realism films\nThe Devil in film",
"During his long career, American-born British film director Terry Gilliam has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled. The following is a list of projects in roughly chronological order.\n\n1970s\n\nTheseus and the Minotaur\nRight after he finished Jabberwocky (1977), Gilliam’s next film project was going to be Theseus and the Minotaur, based on Greek mythology. The film was shelved when Gilliam chose to make Time Bandits (1981) instead.\n\n1980s\n\nEnemy Mine\nGilliam turned down the offer to direct Enemy Mine (1985).\n\nWho Framed Roger Rabbit\nGilliam also turned down the offer to direct Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). According to Gilliam, \"I passed on that one, but that didn’t matter because it was just at a stage when it was still just the book and I didn’t want to get into animation. I just read the book and said, ‘This is too much work.’ Pure laziness on my part.\" The film wound up being directed by Robert Zemeckis.\n\nWatchmen\nIn 1989, Gilliam and film producer Joel Silver unsuccessfully attempted to make a film adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen. Gilliam was reportedly Moore's first choice to direct the film. Gilliam tried to make the film again in 1996 but was unsuccessful.\n\n1990s\n\nA Scanner Darkly\nIn the early 1990s, Gilliam attempted to make a film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly.\n\nAlien sequel\nGilliam confirmed in 2018 that he turned down an offer to direct one of the sequels to Alien (1979). It is presumed he turned down Alien 3 (1992) even though Gilliam did not specify which of the sequels he was referring to.\n\nThe Defective Detective\nIn 1992, it was reported that Gilliam was going to make The Defective Detective next after The Fisher King (1991), only to abandon it in favor of making a Don Quixote film. Then, Gilliam worked on The Defective Detective again to only to reject it in favor of directing 12 Monkeys (1995) instead. Then, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1996 that Gilliam was working on The Defective Detective script with Richard LaGravenese. According to the L.A. Times, the story was \"about a middle-aged New York cop who’s having a nervous breakdown and ends up in a fantasy world.\" The film was to have been produced by Scott Rudin and Margie Simkin and be distributed by Paramount Pictures. Nicolas Cage was to star in the film. In addition to Cage, Bruce Willis, Cameron Diaz and Nick Nolte were attached to the project. Danny DeVito was also attached to the project. Gilliam claims that Sean Connery was also involved. In February 1997, Paramount put the film in turnaround.\n\nIn June 2015, Gilliam hinted that The Defective Detective could possibly be made as a miniseries from Amazon Prime Video. Variety reported in November that same year that Gilliam and LaGravenese regained the rights to the script from Paramount and \"reworked it as a six-hour miniseries.\"\n\nA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court\nIt was reported in 1993 that Gilliam was going to direct a film adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court for Warner Bros. and producer Jerry Weintraub, with the script written by Robert Mark Kamen. The film got cancelled when financing fell through.\n\nForrest Gump\nGilliam turned down the offer to direct Forrest Gump (1994).\n\nA Tale of Two Cities\nIn 1994, Gilliam attempted to make a film adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities with Mel Gibson starring. However, Gibson dropped out of the project in favor of directing and starring in Braveheart (1995). After Gibson left the project, Gilliam replaced him with Liam Neeson and attempted to make the film via half the initial budget to no avail. Madeleine Stowe was also attached to the project. The film was ultimately shelved due to budget and casting reasons. Gilliam then made 12 Monkeys (1995) instead. When asked in 2009 if he still expressed interest in making the film, Gilliam replied, \"Nah. That’s dead. That’s over.\"\n\nBraveheart\nGilliam turned down the offer to direct Braveheart (1995).\n\nSon of Strangelove\nIn 1995, Stanley Kubrick hired Terry Southern to write the script that would have been the sequel to Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove. The film was to have been titled Son of Stranglove and Kubrick wanted Gilliam to direct it. The script was never completed. Gilliam said in 2013, \"I was told after Kubrick died—by someone who had been dealing with him—that he had been interested in trying to do another ‘Strangelove’ with me directing. I never knew about that until after he died but I would have loved to.\"\n\nTime Bandits II\nIn 1996, Gilliam and Charles McKeown wrote two drafts of an unproduced script titled Time Bandits II, which would have been the sequel to Time Bandits (1981). Gilliam was to have produced the sequel and not direct it. In 2001, Gilliam and McKeown attempted to make Time Bandits II as a television miniseries for the Hallmark Channel.\n\nThe Truman Show\nGilliam was among the list of filmmakers considered to direct The Truman Show (1998) before Peter Weir assumed the position.\n\n2000s\n\nHarry Potter\nGilliam was reportedly J.K. Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), the first film of the Harry Potter movies. In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gilliam stated, \"J.K. Rowling and the producer wanted me. Then wiser people — studio heads — prevailed. I was the clear choice. At one point they approached Alan Parker and he said, ‘Why are you talking to me? Gilliam is the guy who should be doing this!’ But I knew I was never going to get the job.\" Gilliam was ultimately rejected by Warner Bros. Instead, the studio replaced Gilliam with Chris Columbus. Gilliam reportedly criticized the studio's decision of picking Columbus over him and stated, \"I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian.\"\n\nGilliam turned down the offer to direct Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), the sixth film of the series. When asked if he was interested in directing any of the Harry Potter movies, Gilliam replied, \"Warner Bros. had their chance the first time around, and they blew it. It's a factory job, that's what it is, and I know the way it's done. I've had too many friends work on those movies. I know the way it works, and that's not the way I work.\" In 2011, Gilliam expressed his regret entering into talks to direct the first Harry Potter film.\n\nGood Omens\nIn 2002, Gilliam attempted to direct a film adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens. Johnny Depp and Robin Williams were to have appeared in the film as the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale respectively. The film never came to fruition. According to Gilliam, the film was cancelled due to the then-occurring aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The story eventually appeared in 2019 under the same name, Good Omens (TV series), as a 6-episode series streaming on Amazon Prime Video and aired by BBC Two, but it was directed by Douglas Mackinnon, starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.\n\nThe Sandman\nIn 2007, Neil Gaiman expressed interest in having Gilliam direct a film adaptation of The Sandman.\n\nThe World Jones Made\nIn 2009, it was announced that Gilliam was going to adapt Philip K. Dick’s The World Jones Made into a feature film.\n\n2010s\n\n1884\nIn 2010, it was reported that Gilliam was to serve as a creative adviser for an unmade animated film titled 1884. The film has been described as a steampunk parody of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The film was to have used CGI and live action puppets. Gilliam was to produce the film and Tim Ollive was to direct it. The film never came to fruition.\n\nReferences\n\nGilliam, Terry\nWorks by Terry Gilliam"
] |
[
"Terry Gilliam",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus",
"Did GIlliam direct The imaginarium?",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam,"
] | C_716b12024b594fe99a6bfeb63a501d7a_0 | Who did he co-write with? | 2 | Who did Gilliam co-write The Imaginarium with? | Terry Gilliam | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London. On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back. The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations. The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter. CANNOTANSWER | his writing partner Charles McKeown. | Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British film director, screenwriter, animator, actor, comedian and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Tideland (2005), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). The only Monty Python member not born in Britain, he became a naturalised British subject in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006.
Gilliam was born in Minnesota, but spent his high school and college years in Los Angeles. He started his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. He joined Monty Python as the animator of their works, but eventually became a full member and was given acting roles. He became a feature film director in the 1970s. Most of his films explore the theme of imagination and its importance to life, express his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarianism, and feature characters facing dark or paranoid situations. His own scripts feature black comedy and tragicomedic elements, as well as surprise endings.
In 1988, Gilliam and the other Monty Python members received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.
Early life
Gilliam was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Beatrice (née Vance) and James Hall Gilliam. His father was a travelling salesman for Folgers before becoming a carpenter. Soon after, they moved to nearby Medicine Lake, Minnesota. In 1952, the family moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Panorama City. Gilliam attended Birmingham High School, where he was the president of his class and senior prom king, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" having achieved straight A grades. During high school, he began to avidly read Mad magazine, then edited by Harvey Kurtzman, which would later influence Gilliam's work.
Gilliam graduated from Occidental College in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 2003 he told Salman Rushdie about defining experiences in the 1960s that set the foundations for his views on the world:
Career
Animation
Gilliam began his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. One of his early photographic strips for the US magazine Help! featured future Python cast member John Cleese. When Help! folded, Gilliam went to Europe, jokingly announcing in the final issue that he was "being transferred to the European branch" of the magazine, which did not exist. Moving to England, he animated sequences for the children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set which ran from 1967 to 1969, and which also featured Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
Monty Python
Gilliam was a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus from its outset, credited at first as an animator (his name was listed separately after the other five in the closing credits) and later as a full member. His cartoons linked the show's sketches together and defined the group's visual language in other media, such as LP and book covers and the title sequences of their films. His animations mix his own art, characterised by soft gradients and odd, bulbous shapes, with backgrounds and moving cutouts from antique photographs, mostly from the Victorian era.
In 1978, Gilliam published Animations of Mortality, an illustrated, tongue-in-cheek, semi-autobiographical how-to guide to his animation techniques and the visual language in them.
Gilliam co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Jones; Gilliam was responsible for photography, while Jones guided the actors' performances. He also appeared in several sketches, though he rarely had main roles and did considerably less acting in the sketches. Gilliam did, however, have some notable sketch roles, such as Cardinal Fang of the Spanish Inquisition; the bespectacled commenter who said, "I can't add anything to that!" in the sketch "Election Night Special"; Kevin Garibaldi, the brat on the couch shouting "I want more beans!" in the sketch "Most Awful Family in Britain 1974" (episode 45); the Screaming Queen in a cape and mask in "The Visitors"; and Percy Bysshe Shelley in "Ant Poetry Reading". More frequently, he played parts that no one else wanted to play, generally because they required a lot of makeup or uncomfortable costumes, such as a recurring knight in armour who ended sketches by walking on and hitting one of the other characters over the head with a plucked chicken. He took a number of roles in the films, including both Patsy and The Old Man From Scene 24 in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the jailer in Monty Python's Life of Brian. He also designed the covers of most of the Monty Python albums, including Another Monty Python Record, The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief, Monty Python Live at Drury Lane, and all of their film soundtrack albums. Katy Hepburn, a freelance designer and graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, also worked with Gilliam.
Directing
With the gradual breakup of the Python troupe between Life of Brian in 1979 and The Meaning of Life in 1983, Gilliam became a screenwriter and director, building upon the experience he had acquired during the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He says he used to think of his films in terms of trilogies, starting with Time Bandits: the "Trilogy of Imagination" (written by Gilliam) about "the ages of man" in Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). All are about the "craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible." All three movies focus on these struggles and attempts to escape them through imagination; Time Bandits through the eyes of a child, Brazil through the eyes of a man in his thirties, and Munchausen, through the eyes of an elderly man. In the summer of 1986, he cut away ties from Arnon Milchan and 20th Century Fox started directing the latter through his own new Prominent Films banner independently.
In the 1990s, Gilliam directed a trilogy of Americana: The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), which played on North American soil and, while still surreal, had fewer fantastical plots than his previous trilogy.
Themes and philosophy
As for his philosophical background in screenwriting and directing, Gilliam said on the TV show First Hand on RoundhouseTV, "There's so many film schools, so many media courses which I actually am opposed to. Because I think it's more important to be educated, to read, to learn things, because if you're gonna be in the media and if you'll have to say things, you have to know things. If you only know about cameras and 'the media', what're you gonna be talking about except cameras and the media? So it's better learning about philosophy and art and architecture [and] literature, these are the things to be concentrating on it seems to me. Then, you can fly...!"
Gilliam's films are usually imaginative fantasies. His long-time co-writer Charles McKeown commented, "the theme of imagination, and the importance of imagination, to how you live and how you think and so on ... that's very much a Terry theme." Most of Gilliam's films include plotlines that seem to occur partly or completely in the characters' imaginations, raising questions about the definition of identity and sanity. He often shows his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarian regimes. He also distinguishes "higher" and "lower" layers of society, with a disturbing and ironic style. His films usually feature a fight or struggle against a great power which may be an emotional situation, a human-made idol, or even the person himself, and the situations do not always end happily. There is often a dark, paranoid atmosphere and unusual characters who used to be normal members of society. His scripts feature black comedy and often end with a dark tragicomic twist.
Gilliam is fascinated with the Baroque period because of the pronounced struggle between spirituality and rationality in that era. There is often a rich baroqueness and dichotomous eclecticism about his films, with, for instance, high-tech computer monitors equipped with low-tech magnifying lenses in Brazil and a red knight covered with flapping bits of cloth in The Fisher King. He also is given to incongruous juxtapositions of beauty and ugliness or antique and modern. Regarding Gilliam's theme of modernity's struggle between spirituality and rationality whereas the individual may become dominated by a tyrannical, soulless machinery of disenchanted society, the film critic Keith James Hamel observed a specific affinity of Gilliam's films with the writings of the historian Arnold Toynbee and the sociologist Max Weber, specifically the latter's concept of the "iron cage" of rationality.
Look and style
Gilliam's films have a distinctive look, not only in mise-en-scène but even more so in photography, often recognisable from just a short clip; to create a surreal atmosphere of psychological unrest and a world out of balance, he frequently uses unusual camera angles, particularly low-angle shots, high-angle shots, and Dutch angles. Roger Ebert said that "his world is always hallucinatory in its richness of detail". Most of his movies are shot almost entirely with rectilinear ultra-wide-angle lenses with focal lengths of 28 mm or less to achieve a distinctive style defined by extreme perspective distortion and extremely deep focus. Gilliam's long-time director of photography Nicola Pecorini has said, "with Terry and me, a long lens means something between a 40 mm and a 65 mm." This attitude markedly differs from the common definition in photography, by which 40 to 65 mm is the focal length of a normal lens, resembling the natural human field of view, unlike Gilliam's signature style, defined by extreme perspective distortion due to his usual choice of focal length. The 14 mm lens has become informally known as "The Gilliam" among filmmakers because of his frequent use of it at least since Brazil. Gilliam has explained his preference for using wide-angle lenses in his films:
In another interview, Gilliam mentioned, in relation to the 9.8 mm Kinoptic lens he had first used on Brazil, that wide-angle lenses make small film sets "look big". The widest lens he has used so far is an 8 mm Zeiss lens employed in filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Production problems
Gilliam has made a few extremely expensive movies beset with production problems. After the lengthy quarrelling with Universal Studios over Brazil, Gilliam's next picture, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, cost around US$46 million, and then earned only about US$8 million in US ticket sales. The film saw no wide domestic release from Columbia Pictures, which was in the process of being sold at the time.
In the mid-1990s, Gilliam and Charles McKeown developed a script for Time Bandits 2, a project that was never produced because several of the original actors had died. Gilliam also attempted to direct a version of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, which collapsed due to disagreements over its budget and the choice of a lead actor.
Gilliam attempted twice to adapt Alan Moore's Watchmen comics into a film, in 1989 and 1996. Both attempts were unsuccessful. Gilliam said it was unfilmable.
In 1999, Gilliam attempted to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, budgeted at US$32.1 million, among the highest-budgeted films to use only European financing; but in the first week of shooting, the actor playing Don Quixote (Jean Rochefort) suffered a herniated disc, and a flood severely damaged the set. The film was cancelled, resulting in an insurance claim of US$15 million. Despite the cancellation, the aborted project did yield the documentary Lost in La Mancha, produced from film from a second crew that had been hired by Gilliam to document the making of Quixote. After the cancellation, both Gilliam and the film's co-lead, Johnny Depp, wanted to revive the project. The insurance company involved in the failed first attempt withheld the rights to the screenplay for several years but the production was restarted in 2008.
From 2002 to 2006, Gilliam tried to get funding for an adaptation of Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, with Robin Williams and Johnny Depp rumored as possible stars, but movie studios found the apocalyptic theme unacceptable in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, and funding never materialized.
More recently, unforeseeable problems again befell a Gilliam project when the actor Heath Ledger died in New York City during the filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Abandoned clip art project
Fifteen years after the publication of Gilliam's Animations of Mortality, between the release of the CD-ROM game Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time in 1994, which used many of Gilliam's animation templates, and the making of Gilliam's film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Gilliam was in negotiations with Enteractive, a software company, to tentatively release in the autumn of 1996 a CD-ROM under the same title as his 1978 book, containing all of his thousands of 1970s animation templates as license-free clip arts for people to create their own flash animations, but the project hovered in limbo for years, probably because Enteractive was about to downsize greatly in mid-1996 and changed its focus from CD-ROM multimedia presentations to internet business solutions and web hosting in 1997 (in the introduction to their 2004 book Terry Gilliam: Interviews, David Sterrit and Lucille Rhodes claimed that the internet had overwhelmed the "computer-communications market" and gave this as the reason that the Animations of Mortality CD-ROM never materialised). Around the time of Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the project had changed into the idea of releasing his 1970s animation templates as a license-free download of Adobe After Effects or similar files.
Box office
Gilliam's first successful feature, Time Bandits (1981), earned more than eight times its original budget in the United States alone. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), although commercially unsuccessful, was nominated for four Oscars and won three BAFTA Awards, among several other Prizes in Europe. The Fisher King (1991), his first film not to feature a member of the Monty Python troupe, had a budget of $24 million and grossed more than $41 million at United States box office. 12 Monkeys grossed more than US$168 million worldwide. The Brothers Grimm, despite a mixed critical reception, grossed over US$105 million worldwide. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with a budget of $30 million, has been an international commercial success, grossing over $60 million in worldwide theatrical release.
According to Box Office Mojo, his films have grossed an average of $21,602,510.
Recurring collaborators
Gilliam has worked frequently with actors Heath Ledger, Jeff Bridges, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams, Christopher Plummer, Katherine Helmond, and Jonathan Pryce.
Gilliam and Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, is a fan of Gilliam's work. Consequently, he was Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2000, but Warner Bros. ultimately chose Chris Columbus for the job. In response to this decision, Gilliam said that "I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian." In 2006, Gilliam said that he found Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to be "really good... much closer to what I would've done." In retrospect, however, Gilliam has stated that he wouldn't have liked to direct any Potter film. In a 2005 interview with Total Film, he said that he would not enjoy working on such an expensive project because of interference from studio executives.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, director David Yates paid homage to Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil, portraying the Death Eater–infiltrated Ministry of Magic in a fashion reminiscent of Gilliam's totalitarian bureaucracy.
Secret Tournament
In 2002, Gilliam directed a series of television advertisements called "Secret Tournament". Part of Nike's 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, the advertisements feature a secret three-on-three tournament between the world's best football players, including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry, who are inside a huge tanker ship. The advertisements are accompanied with a remixed version of the Elvis Presley song "A Little Less Conversation".
Slava's Diabolo
In 2006, Gilliam directed the stage show Slava's Diabolo, created and staged by the Russian clown artist Slava Polunin. The show combined Polunin's clown style, characterised by deep nonverbal expression and interaction with the audience, with Gilliam's rich visuals and surrealistic imagery. The show premiered at the Noga Hall of the Gesher Theatre in Jaffa, Israel.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London.
On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back.
The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations.
The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter.
The Zero Theorem
In July 2012, Gilliam revealed plans for a film which would be shot in Bucharest, Romania. He denied that it would be Don Quixote but refused to give any further details. The actor David Walliams reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam to play a part in it and was told that he'd have to "be willing to work with Johnny Depp and fly to Bucharest where the movie is to be filmed." Depp, to that point, had made no mention of his involvement but was seen in Bucharest around the same time in mid-July as Romanian news outlets reported Gilliam was staying in the city for negotiations on studio work with the Romanian film production company MediaPro Studios. On 13 August 2012, this project was announced to be The Zero Theorem, set to start shooting in Bucharest on 22 October, produced by Dean Zanuck (son of the late Richard D. Zanuck, who was originally to produce the film in 2009), with worldwide sales handled by Voltage Pictures, Toronto, and starring the Academy Award–winner Christoph Waltz in the lead (replacing Billy Bob Thornton, who had been attached to the project in 2009). The Zero Theorem premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013.
Opera director
Gilliam made his opera debut at London's English National Opera (ENO) in May 2011, directing The Damnation of Faust, by Hector Berlioz. The production received positive reviews in the British press On 16 September 2012, the production opened at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent, Belgium, in the opera's original French-language version and received praise from critics and audiences alike. After a number of performances in Ghent, the production moved to the opera house in Antwerp for sold-out run of performances.
In June 2014, Gilliam followed up on his success with Faust with a new ENO production of another opera by Berlioz, the rarely performed Benvenuto Cellini.
Projects in development or shelved
Gilliam has several projects in various states of development, including an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy novel Good Omens. Other projects Gilliam has been trying to get off the ground since the 1990s are an adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (starring Mel Gibson); an adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which has been adapted as films several times before; and a script entitled The Defective Detective, which Gilliam wrote with Richard LaGravenese (who wrote The Fisher King). While promoting the US theatrical release of The Zero Theorem, Gilliam revealed he and LaGravenese were meeting to see if The Defective Detective script could be made into a miniseries. If this comes together, it would be the first time Gilliam has ever directed for television. Stanley Kubrick had Gilliam in mind to direct a sequel to Dr. Strangelove (1964). Gilliam also turned down offers to direct such films as Enemy Mine (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Forrest Gump (1994) and Braveheart (1995). He was even considered to direct The Truman Show (1998). Gilliam confirmed in a 2018 interview that he turned down the offer to direct one of the sequels to Alien (1979), though he did not specify which one of them.
It was rumoured that Gilliam may direct or be involved in the production of the animated band Gorillaz movie. In a September 2006 interview with Uncut, Damon Albarn was reported to have said, "we're making a film. We've got Terry Gilliam involved." However, in a more recent interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Jamie Hewlett, the co-creator of the band, stated that since the time of the previous interview, Damon's and his own interest in the film had lessened. In an August 2008 Observer interview, Gorillaz band members Albarn and Hewlett revealed the nature and title of the project, Journey to the West, a film adaptation of the opera of the same name, based on a 16th-century Chinese adventure story also known as Monkey. In January 2008, while on set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam stated that he was looking forward to the project, "But I'm still waiting to see a script!"
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
After regaining the rights to the screenplay of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam restarted preproduction in 2008, with Johnny Depp still attached to the project. The film was to be reshot completely, with Rochefort's role recast. Michael Palin reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam about stepping in for Rochefort and playing Don Quixote. However, Gilliam revealed on the Canadian talk show The Hour on 17 December 2009 that Robert Duvall had been cast to play Quixote, before the film was postponed once again. In January 2014, Gilliam wrote on Facebook that "Dreams of Don Quixote have begun again". At the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, it was confirmed that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was going to be made, with Michael Palin and Adam Driver in starring roles. In March 2017, filming finally began, with Driver and Jonathan Pryce starring. On 4 June 2017, Gilliam announced that the shooting of the film was complete.
The film premiered on 19 May 2018 as the closing film of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival (where it received a standing ovation), and was released in French theatres the same day.
Future projects
On 16 December 2010, Variety reported that Gilliam was to "godfather" a film called 1884, described as an animated steampunk parody of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, with several former Pythons lending their voices to the project; Gilliam was to be credited as "creative advisor".
During the second half of 2011, Gilliam and Paul Auster wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation of Auster's novel Mr. Vertigo.<ref>Fischer, Russ (2011). [https://www.slashfilm.com/terry-gilliam-crafting-script-based-paul-auster-mr-vertigo/ "Terry Gilliam Crafting a Script Based on Paul Auster Novel 'Mr. Vertigo"] Slashfilm.com. 28 July 2011</ref> In June 2018, Gilliam announced at the Brussels International Film Festival that he was working again on Mr. Vertigo, and that it might be his next film, and that he had Ralph Fiennes attached to star in it.Franklin, Garth (2018). "Gilliam's Next Could Be "Mr. Vertigo"". Dark Horizons. 1 July 2018.
As of 2014 he was in talks to make his first animated feature film with Laika, the studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman.
In October 2015, in a webchat hosted by The Guardian, Gilliam announced that he was working on "a TV series based on Time Bandits" and "another based on a script by Richard LaGravanese and I wrote after Fisher King, called The Defective Detective".
Charitable activities
Gilliam has been involved with a number of charitable and humanitarian causes. In 2009, he became a board member of Videre Est Credere (Latin for "to see is to believe"), a UK human rights charity. Videre describes itself as giving "local activists the equipment, training and support needed to safely capture compelling video evidence of human rights violations. This captured footage is verified, analysed and then distributed to those who can create change." He participates alongside movie producer Uri Fruchtmann, music producer Brian Eno and executive director of Greenpeace UK John Sauven.
Personal life
Gilliam has been married to British makeup artist Maggie Weston since 1973. She worked on Monty Python's Flying Circus, many of the Python films, and Gilliam's films up to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. They have three children: Amy Rainbow (born 1978), Holly Dubois (born October 1980) and Harry Thunder (born 3 April 1988), who have also appeared in or worked on several of his films.
In 1968, Gilliam obtained British citizenship. He held dual American and British citizenship for the next 38 years, until he renounced his American citizenship in January 2006. In an interview with Der Tagesspiegel, he described the action as a protest against then-President George W. Bush, and in an earlier interview with The A.V. Club, he also indicated that it was related to concerns about future tax liability for his wife and children. As a result of renouncing his citizenship, Gilliam was permitted to spend 30 days each year in the United States over the next 10 years, "less than any European". Holly followed suit, renouncing her American citizenship in 2017.
He maintains a residence in Italy near the Umbria–Tuscany border. He has been instrumental in establishing the annual Umbria Film Festival, held in the nearby town of Montone. Gilliam also resides in Highgate, London.
In 2009, Gilliam signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
On 8 September 2015, Variety mistakenly published a false obituary claiming that Gilliam had died.
In May 2018, Gilliam suffered a perforated medullary artery that was erroneously reported in the media as a stroke.
Filmography
Awards, nominations and honours
Academy Awards
BAFTA Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Saturn Awards
Other awards
Brazil (1985)
3 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
3 Silver Ribbons awarded by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design
Hugo Award nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Fisher King (1991)
Venice Film Festival Silver Lion Winner
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (Mercedes Ruehl)
4 Los Angeles Film Critics Association nominations Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Plummer), Best Screenplay
Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award Winner
12 Monkeys (1995)
Empire Award Best Director
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Venice Film Festival Official Selection
Tideland (2005)
San Sebastian Festival Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
2 Empire Awards nominations Best British Film, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Best Fantasy Film nomination by the Costume Designers Guild of America
British Independent Film Awards nomination for Best Achievement in Production
International Press Academy Satellite Award Best Costume Design, 3 more nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction & Production Design, Best Original Song
Voted Best Fantasy Film of the Year by readers of the Total Sci-Fi Online magazine.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
Magritte Award for Best Foreign Film in Coproduction
An asteroid, 9619 Terrygilliam, is named in his honour.
Gilliam was given the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 2009 for his contribution to motion picture arts.
Gilliam was also given a BAFTA Special Award in 1969 for the graphics and animations in Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Terry Gilliam was awarded the Fellowship of the Kermodes, by film critic Mark Kermode.
Gilliam was honoured with the Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity Award'' at the Camerimage film festival in Łódź, Poland in 2009.
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Knight (2013)
Raindance Film Festival announced on 13 August 2018 that he would be the next recipient of its Auteur Award for his contribution to UK film.
Inkpot Award (2009)
References
Further reading
External links
Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine
1940 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century British comedians
21st-century American comedians
21st-century British comedians
Animators from Minnesota
British animators
British film directors
American animated film directors
British male actors
American male comedians
British male comedians
American comics artists
British comics artists
British male comedy actors
American male comedy actors
American comedy writers
British comedy writers
American emigrants to the United Kingdom
BAFTA fellows
British opera directors
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Copywriters
Inkpot Award winners
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Fantasy film directors
Science fiction film directors
Film directors from Minnesota
Male actors from Minneapolis
Monty Python members
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Occidental College alumni
People from Hennepin County, Minnesota
People from Panorama City, Los Angeles
Former United States citizens
Stop motion animators
Film directors from Los Angeles
American surrealist artists
British surrealist artists
Surrealist filmmakers
Science fiction fans
Birmingham High School alumni | true | [
"Not Profane is a German music producer, songwriter and singer. He is known for regularly posting music videos on his Not Profane Channel on YouTube.\n\nAs a songwriter he wrote the Top 40 single Somebody Who Loves Me for the Dutch artist Jeronimo van Ballegoijen (known as Jeronimo) and produced another song Unheard on his album. He also co-wrote Movie Star for American teen star Carson Lueders. As an artist he produced, wrote and released singles with Tiffany Alvord – Our Balloons, Sandra Cires – Riki Raka and the Canadian twin sisters Carmen and Camille – Little Bit Of Love. His music videos reached several million unique views on YouTube and were on MTV, Viva, Bild.de and Mc Donald's TV.\n\nHis studio and company No Parade is based in Karlsruhe, Germany and directed and produced the No. 1 MTV Black Charts music video Hell Yeah in California by DJ Rapture ft. Jonn Hart & Milla.\n\nBackground\nNot Profane grew up in Karlsruhe, Germany and graduated Bachelor of Arts 2009 from Popakademie Mannheim University with a degree in Popmusicdesign – Producer.\n\nHe started playing tennis at an early age and always wanted to become a professional tennis player till he fell in love with music at the age of seventeen, because his mother and sister bought a piano. Without ever having lessons he started writing/producing own songs just by ear.\nBesides loving playing (Padel) Tennis, he is a Christian, believing in Jesus/Christ. He often uses and refers to these quotes in statements/posts: If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It! or With God All Things Are Possible!\n\nSound\nHis music/productions are primarily pop with urban/dance influences. He loves the work of songwriter and producer Max Martin and Dr. Luke. All of his productions start or include a specific whistle tone, which he only makes with his mouth sounding like a bird or police whistle.\n\nCareer\n\nCollaboration with – Caylana\nIn 2007 he got a DVD with TV Performances of a young girl from Bosnia-Herzegovina through a tennis friend. After watching the DVD he immediately flew Caylana to Germany to meet and record some demo tapes. Caylana was soon signed to his label and management company No Parade.\nSince then, they are working constantly on own original material in the studio.\n\nIn 2011, after Caylana moved to Germany, they started posting videos on YouTube. The first video was a cover of Nicole Scherzinger's Don't Hold Your Breath which has 445 thousand views to date and even gained interest by the management of Nicole Scherzinger.\nThey are best known for their cover of Flo Rida & Sia's Wild Ones which has had more than 800.000 views as of 29 July 2012\nNot Profane can count over 5 million views on his YouTube videos.\n\nOn 1 June 2012, Not Profane and Caylana released their first original single, Heart of a Lion written and produced by Not Profane on his record label No Parade. The video was directed, shot and cut almost entirely by himself. The song is lyrically related to sport and goals in life and was released one week before the UEFA Euro 2012 opening ceremony. The video appeared on several TV stations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and was also performed live on German TV.\n\nOn 14 December 2012, Caylana released her debut EP-Album, \"Something 'Bout Love\" including 8 tracks all written and produced by Not Profane. \"Sing With Me\", \"Who I Am\" and \"Something 'Bout Love\" are the latest singles that were released 2013 with an official music video on Not Profane's YouTube Channel.\n\nMusic and Fashion label, Video Production – No Parade\nIn 2012 he founded No Parade, a youth oriented music, video production company and fashion label with its premium headwear line, the Not Profane Caps. The first artists to manage are Caylana and Not Profane himself.\nNo Parade is releasing songs digitally on over 300 online music stores worldwide like iTunes, Musicload, Amazon & Co and is also producing music videos for various artists.\n\nProjects – songwriter/producer\nNot Profane had writing sessions with Charlie Mason (Ashley Tisdale, Miley Cyrus), Michelle Leonard, (No Angels, Sarah Connor), and also did productions/remixes for Slim of 112, Ahmir (#1 R&B Group in Boston on YouTube).\n\nOther credits, co-writes and productions include:\n\n Chris Meyer (Jörgen Elofsson | Co-Write)\n Jan van der Torn (Nsync, Snoop Dogg | Co-Write)\n Anders Fernette ( Top 10 Sweden | Co-Write)\n Nanna Martorell (Monrose, Sistanova | Co-Write)\n Alan Glas (Liberty-X, Earth Wind & Fire, Lighthouse Family | Co-Write)\n Maryanne Morgan (Mis-Teeq | Co-Write)\n Battlejuice ft. Atiba (Young Buck/G-Unit | Official Remix Production)\n Jesus on Extasy (#1 German Media Control Alternate Charts)\n Manuellsen (Album Production)\n Scola (Dru Hill | Official Remix Production)\n Kaye Styles (Album Production)\n No Angels (Pre-Demo-Production \"Life is a miracle\")\n\nDiscography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Music & Fashion Label Website\n\nGerman male musicians\nGerman songwriters\nGerman record producers",
"Numbers is the third studio album released by country music artist Jason Michael Carroll. It is Carroll's first album since he split up with Arista Nashville. It was released on July 25, 2011, exclusively through Cracker Barrel stores.\n\nContent\nThe first single from the album was the title track, which was the only song on the album Carroll did not write or co-write. With a peak of number 60 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, the song became the first single of Carroll's career to miss the top 40. Also included on the album is \"Alyssa Lies,\" a number 5 hit from his debut album Waitin' in the Country.\n\nTrack listing\nThe track listing was announced by Cracker Barrel on March 28, 2011.\n\nChart performance\n\nAlbum\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nJason Michael Carroll albums\n2011 albums\nCracker Barrel albums"
] |
[
"Terry Gilliam",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus",
"Did GIlliam direct The imaginarium?",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam,",
"Who did he co-write with?",
"his writing partner Charles McKeown."
] | C_716b12024b594fe99a6bfeb63a501d7a_0 | How did Gilliam approach making the film? | 3 | How did Gilliam approach making The Imaginarium? | Terry Gilliam | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London. On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back. The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations. The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British film director, screenwriter, animator, actor, comedian and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Tideland (2005), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). The only Monty Python member not born in Britain, he became a naturalised British subject in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006.
Gilliam was born in Minnesota, but spent his high school and college years in Los Angeles. He started his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. He joined Monty Python as the animator of their works, but eventually became a full member and was given acting roles. He became a feature film director in the 1970s. Most of his films explore the theme of imagination and its importance to life, express his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarianism, and feature characters facing dark or paranoid situations. His own scripts feature black comedy and tragicomedic elements, as well as surprise endings.
In 1988, Gilliam and the other Monty Python members received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.
Early life
Gilliam was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Beatrice (née Vance) and James Hall Gilliam. His father was a travelling salesman for Folgers before becoming a carpenter. Soon after, they moved to nearby Medicine Lake, Minnesota. In 1952, the family moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Panorama City. Gilliam attended Birmingham High School, where he was the president of his class and senior prom king, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" having achieved straight A grades. During high school, he began to avidly read Mad magazine, then edited by Harvey Kurtzman, which would later influence Gilliam's work.
Gilliam graduated from Occidental College in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 2003 he told Salman Rushdie about defining experiences in the 1960s that set the foundations for his views on the world:
Career
Animation
Gilliam began his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. One of his early photographic strips for the US magazine Help! featured future Python cast member John Cleese. When Help! folded, Gilliam went to Europe, jokingly announcing in the final issue that he was "being transferred to the European branch" of the magazine, which did not exist. Moving to England, he animated sequences for the children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set which ran from 1967 to 1969, and which also featured Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
Monty Python
Gilliam was a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus from its outset, credited at first as an animator (his name was listed separately after the other five in the closing credits) and later as a full member. His cartoons linked the show's sketches together and defined the group's visual language in other media, such as LP and book covers and the title sequences of their films. His animations mix his own art, characterised by soft gradients and odd, bulbous shapes, with backgrounds and moving cutouts from antique photographs, mostly from the Victorian era.
In 1978, Gilliam published Animations of Mortality, an illustrated, tongue-in-cheek, semi-autobiographical how-to guide to his animation techniques and the visual language in them.
Gilliam co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Jones; Gilliam was responsible for photography, while Jones guided the actors' performances. He also appeared in several sketches, though he rarely had main roles and did considerably less acting in the sketches. Gilliam did, however, have some notable sketch roles, such as Cardinal Fang of the Spanish Inquisition; the bespectacled commenter who said, "I can't add anything to that!" in the sketch "Election Night Special"; Kevin Garibaldi, the brat on the couch shouting "I want more beans!" in the sketch "Most Awful Family in Britain 1974" (episode 45); the Screaming Queen in a cape and mask in "The Visitors"; and Percy Bysshe Shelley in "Ant Poetry Reading". More frequently, he played parts that no one else wanted to play, generally because they required a lot of makeup or uncomfortable costumes, such as a recurring knight in armour who ended sketches by walking on and hitting one of the other characters over the head with a plucked chicken. He took a number of roles in the films, including both Patsy and The Old Man From Scene 24 in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the jailer in Monty Python's Life of Brian. He also designed the covers of most of the Monty Python albums, including Another Monty Python Record, The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief, Monty Python Live at Drury Lane, and all of their film soundtrack albums. Katy Hepburn, a freelance designer and graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, also worked with Gilliam.
Directing
With the gradual breakup of the Python troupe between Life of Brian in 1979 and The Meaning of Life in 1983, Gilliam became a screenwriter and director, building upon the experience he had acquired during the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He says he used to think of his films in terms of trilogies, starting with Time Bandits: the "Trilogy of Imagination" (written by Gilliam) about "the ages of man" in Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). All are about the "craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible." All three movies focus on these struggles and attempts to escape them through imagination; Time Bandits through the eyes of a child, Brazil through the eyes of a man in his thirties, and Munchausen, through the eyes of an elderly man. In the summer of 1986, he cut away ties from Arnon Milchan and 20th Century Fox started directing the latter through his own new Prominent Films banner independently.
In the 1990s, Gilliam directed a trilogy of Americana: The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), which played on North American soil and, while still surreal, had fewer fantastical plots than his previous trilogy.
Themes and philosophy
As for his philosophical background in screenwriting and directing, Gilliam said on the TV show First Hand on RoundhouseTV, "There's so many film schools, so many media courses which I actually am opposed to. Because I think it's more important to be educated, to read, to learn things, because if you're gonna be in the media and if you'll have to say things, you have to know things. If you only know about cameras and 'the media', what're you gonna be talking about except cameras and the media? So it's better learning about philosophy and art and architecture [and] literature, these are the things to be concentrating on it seems to me. Then, you can fly...!"
Gilliam's films are usually imaginative fantasies. His long-time co-writer Charles McKeown commented, "the theme of imagination, and the importance of imagination, to how you live and how you think and so on ... that's very much a Terry theme." Most of Gilliam's films include plotlines that seem to occur partly or completely in the characters' imaginations, raising questions about the definition of identity and sanity. He often shows his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarian regimes. He also distinguishes "higher" and "lower" layers of society, with a disturbing and ironic style. His films usually feature a fight or struggle against a great power which may be an emotional situation, a human-made idol, or even the person himself, and the situations do not always end happily. There is often a dark, paranoid atmosphere and unusual characters who used to be normal members of society. His scripts feature black comedy and often end with a dark tragicomic twist.
Gilliam is fascinated with the Baroque period because of the pronounced struggle between spirituality and rationality in that era. There is often a rich baroqueness and dichotomous eclecticism about his films, with, for instance, high-tech computer monitors equipped with low-tech magnifying lenses in Brazil and a red knight covered with flapping bits of cloth in The Fisher King. He also is given to incongruous juxtapositions of beauty and ugliness or antique and modern. Regarding Gilliam's theme of modernity's struggle between spirituality and rationality whereas the individual may become dominated by a tyrannical, soulless machinery of disenchanted society, the film critic Keith James Hamel observed a specific affinity of Gilliam's films with the writings of the historian Arnold Toynbee and the sociologist Max Weber, specifically the latter's concept of the "iron cage" of rationality.
Look and style
Gilliam's films have a distinctive look, not only in mise-en-scène but even more so in photography, often recognisable from just a short clip; to create a surreal atmosphere of psychological unrest and a world out of balance, he frequently uses unusual camera angles, particularly low-angle shots, high-angle shots, and Dutch angles. Roger Ebert said that "his world is always hallucinatory in its richness of detail". Most of his movies are shot almost entirely with rectilinear ultra-wide-angle lenses with focal lengths of 28 mm or less to achieve a distinctive style defined by extreme perspective distortion and extremely deep focus. Gilliam's long-time director of photography Nicola Pecorini has said, "with Terry and me, a long lens means something between a 40 mm and a 65 mm." This attitude markedly differs from the common definition in photography, by which 40 to 65 mm is the focal length of a normal lens, resembling the natural human field of view, unlike Gilliam's signature style, defined by extreme perspective distortion due to his usual choice of focal length. The 14 mm lens has become informally known as "The Gilliam" among filmmakers because of his frequent use of it at least since Brazil. Gilliam has explained his preference for using wide-angle lenses in his films:
In another interview, Gilliam mentioned, in relation to the 9.8 mm Kinoptic lens he had first used on Brazil, that wide-angle lenses make small film sets "look big". The widest lens he has used so far is an 8 mm Zeiss lens employed in filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Production problems
Gilliam has made a few extremely expensive movies beset with production problems. After the lengthy quarrelling with Universal Studios over Brazil, Gilliam's next picture, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, cost around US$46 million, and then earned only about US$8 million in US ticket sales. The film saw no wide domestic release from Columbia Pictures, which was in the process of being sold at the time.
In the mid-1990s, Gilliam and Charles McKeown developed a script for Time Bandits 2, a project that was never produced because several of the original actors had died. Gilliam also attempted to direct a version of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, which collapsed due to disagreements over its budget and the choice of a lead actor.
Gilliam attempted twice to adapt Alan Moore's Watchmen comics into a film, in 1989 and 1996. Both attempts were unsuccessful. Gilliam said it was unfilmable.
In 1999, Gilliam attempted to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, budgeted at US$32.1 million, among the highest-budgeted films to use only European financing; but in the first week of shooting, the actor playing Don Quixote (Jean Rochefort) suffered a herniated disc, and a flood severely damaged the set. The film was cancelled, resulting in an insurance claim of US$15 million. Despite the cancellation, the aborted project did yield the documentary Lost in La Mancha, produced from film from a second crew that had been hired by Gilliam to document the making of Quixote. After the cancellation, both Gilliam and the film's co-lead, Johnny Depp, wanted to revive the project. The insurance company involved in the failed first attempt withheld the rights to the screenplay for several years but the production was restarted in 2008.
From 2002 to 2006, Gilliam tried to get funding for an adaptation of Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, with Robin Williams and Johnny Depp rumored as possible stars, but movie studios found the apocalyptic theme unacceptable in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, and funding never materialized.
More recently, unforeseeable problems again befell a Gilliam project when the actor Heath Ledger died in New York City during the filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Abandoned clip art project
Fifteen years after the publication of Gilliam's Animations of Mortality, between the release of the CD-ROM game Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time in 1994, which used many of Gilliam's animation templates, and the making of Gilliam's film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Gilliam was in negotiations with Enteractive, a software company, to tentatively release in the autumn of 1996 a CD-ROM under the same title as his 1978 book, containing all of his thousands of 1970s animation templates as license-free clip arts for people to create their own flash animations, but the project hovered in limbo for years, probably because Enteractive was about to downsize greatly in mid-1996 and changed its focus from CD-ROM multimedia presentations to internet business solutions and web hosting in 1997 (in the introduction to their 2004 book Terry Gilliam: Interviews, David Sterrit and Lucille Rhodes claimed that the internet had overwhelmed the "computer-communications market" and gave this as the reason that the Animations of Mortality CD-ROM never materialised). Around the time of Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the project had changed into the idea of releasing his 1970s animation templates as a license-free download of Adobe After Effects or similar files.
Box office
Gilliam's first successful feature, Time Bandits (1981), earned more than eight times its original budget in the United States alone. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), although commercially unsuccessful, was nominated for four Oscars and won three BAFTA Awards, among several other Prizes in Europe. The Fisher King (1991), his first film not to feature a member of the Monty Python troupe, had a budget of $24 million and grossed more than $41 million at United States box office. 12 Monkeys grossed more than US$168 million worldwide. The Brothers Grimm, despite a mixed critical reception, grossed over US$105 million worldwide. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with a budget of $30 million, has been an international commercial success, grossing over $60 million in worldwide theatrical release.
According to Box Office Mojo, his films have grossed an average of $21,602,510.
Recurring collaborators
Gilliam has worked frequently with actors Heath Ledger, Jeff Bridges, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams, Christopher Plummer, Katherine Helmond, and Jonathan Pryce.
Gilliam and Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, is a fan of Gilliam's work. Consequently, he was Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2000, but Warner Bros. ultimately chose Chris Columbus for the job. In response to this decision, Gilliam said that "I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian." In 2006, Gilliam said that he found Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to be "really good... much closer to what I would've done." In retrospect, however, Gilliam has stated that he wouldn't have liked to direct any Potter film. In a 2005 interview with Total Film, he said that he would not enjoy working on such an expensive project because of interference from studio executives.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, director David Yates paid homage to Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil, portraying the Death Eater–infiltrated Ministry of Magic in a fashion reminiscent of Gilliam's totalitarian bureaucracy.
Secret Tournament
In 2002, Gilliam directed a series of television advertisements called "Secret Tournament". Part of Nike's 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, the advertisements feature a secret three-on-three tournament between the world's best football players, including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry, who are inside a huge tanker ship. The advertisements are accompanied with a remixed version of the Elvis Presley song "A Little Less Conversation".
Slava's Diabolo
In 2006, Gilliam directed the stage show Slava's Diabolo, created and staged by the Russian clown artist Slava Polunin. The show combined Polunin's clown style, characterised by deep nonverbal expression and interaction with the audience, with Gilliam's rich visuals and surrealistic imagery. The show premiered at the Noga Hall of the Gesher Theatre in Jaffa, Israel.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London.
On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back.
The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations.
The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter.
The Zero Theorem
In July 2012, Gilliam revealed plans for a film which would be shot in Bucharest, Romania. He denied that it would be Don Quixote but refused to give any further details. The actor David Walliams reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam to play a part in it and was told that he'd have to "be willing to work with Johnny Depp and fly to Bucharest where the movie is to be filmed." Depp, to that point, had made no mention of his involvement but was seen in Bucharest around the same time in mid-July as Romanian news outlets reported Gilliam was staying in the city for negotiations on studio work with the Romanian film production company MediaPro Studios. On 13 August 2012, this project was announced to be The Zero Theorem, set to start shooting in Bucharest on 22 October, produced by Dean Zanuck (son of the late Richard D. Zanuck, who was originally to produce the film in 2009), with worldwide sales handled by Voltage Pictures, Toronto, and starring the Academy Award–winner Christoph Waltz in the lead (replacing Billy Bob Thornton, who had been attached to the project in 2009). The Zero Theorem premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013.
Opera director
Gilliam made his opera debut at London's English National Opera (ENO) in May 2011, directing The Damnation of Faust, by Hector Berlioz. The production received positive reviews in the British press On 16 September 2012, the production opened at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent, Belgium, in the opera's original French-language version and received praise from critics and audiences alike. After a number of performances in Ghent, the production moved to the opera house in Antwerp for sold-out run of performances.
In June 2014, Gilliam followed up on his success with Faust with a new ENO production of another opera by Berlioz, the rarely performed Benvenuto Cellini.
Projects in development or shelved
Gilliam has several projects in various states of development, including an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy novel Good Omens. Other projects Gilliam has been trying to get off the ground since the 1990s are an adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (starring Mel Gibson); an adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which has been adapted as films several times before; and a script entitled The Defective Detective, which Gilliam wrote with Richard LaGravenese (who wrote The Fisher King). While promoting the US theatrical release of The Zero Theorem, Gilliam revealed he and LaGravenese were meeting to see if The Defective Detective script could be made into a miniseries. If this comes together, it would be the first time Gilliam has ever directed for television. Stanley Kubrick had Gilliam in mind to direct a sequel to Dr. Strangelove (1964). Gilliam also turned down offers to direct such films as Enemy Mine (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Forrest Gump (1994) and Braveheart (1995). He was even considered to direct The Truman Show (1998). Gilliam confirmed in a 2018 interview that he turned down the offer to direct one of the sequels to Alien (1979), though he did not specify which one of them.
It was rumoured that Gilliam may direct or be involved in the production of the animated band Gorillaz movie. In a September 2006 interview with Uncut, Damon Albarn was reported to have said, "we're making a film. We've got Terry Gilliam involved." However, in a more recent interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Jamie Hewlett, the co-creator of the band, stated that since the time of the previous interview, Damon's and his own interest in the film had lessened. In an August 2008 Observer interview, Gorillaz band members Albarn and Hewlett revealed the nature and title of the project, Journey to the West, a film adaptation of the opera of the same name, based on a 16th-century Chinese adventure story also known as Monkey. In January 2008, while on set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam stated that he was looking forward to the project, "But I'm still waiting to see a script!"
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
After regaining the rights to the screenplay of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam restarted preproduction in 2008, with Johnny Depp still attached to the project. The film was to be reshot completely, with Rochefort's role recast. Michael Palin reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam about stepping in for Rochefort and playing Don Quixote. However, Gilliam revealed on the Canadian talk show The Hour on 17 December 2009 that Robert Duvall had been cast to play Quixote, before the film was postponed once again. In January 2014, Gilliam wrote on Facebook that "Dreams of Don Quixote have begun again". At the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, it was confirmed that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was going to be made, with Michael Palin and Adam Driver in starring roles. In March 2017, filming finally began, with Driver and Jonathan Pryce starring. On 4 June 2017, Gilliam announced that the shooting of the film was complete.
The film premiered on 19 May 2018 as the closing film of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival (where it received a standing ovation), and was released in French theatres the same day.
Future projects
On 16 December 2010, Variety reported that Gilliam was to "godfather" a film called 1884, described as an animated steampunk parody of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, with several former Pythons lending their voices to the project; Gilliam was to be credited as "creative advisor".
During the second half of 2011, Gilliam and Paul Auster wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation of Auster's novel Mr. Vertigo.<ref>Fischer, Russ (2011). [https://www.slashfilm.com/terry-gilliam-crafting-script-based-paul-auster-mr-vertigo/ "Terry Gilliam Crafting a Script Based on Paul Auster Novel 'Mr. Vertigo"] Slashfilm.com. 28 July 2011</ref> In June 2018, Gilliam announced at the Brussels International Film Festival that he was working again on Mr. Vertigo, and that it might be his next film, and that he had Ralph Fiennes attached to star in it.Franklin, Garth (2018). "Gilliam's Next Could Be "Mr. Vertigo"". Dark Horizons. 1 July 2018.
As of 2014 he was in talks to make his first animated feature film with Laika, the studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman.
In October 2015, in a webchat hosted by The Guardian, Gilliam announced that he was working on "a TV series based on Time Bandits" and "another based on a script by Richard LaGravanese and I wrote after Fisher King, called The Defective Detective".
Charitable activities
Gilliam has been involved with a number of charitable and humanitarian causes. In 2009, he became a board member of Videre Est Credere (Latin for "to see is to believe"), a UK human rights charity. Videre describes itself as giving "local activists the equipment, training and support needed to safely capture compelling video evidence of human rights violations. This captured footage is verified, analysed and then distributed to those who can create change." He participates alongside movie producer Uri Fruchtmann, music producer Brian Eno and executive director of Greenpeace UK John Sauven.
Personal life
Gilliam has been married to British makeup artist Maggie Weston since 1973. She worked on Monty Python's Flying Circus, many of the Python films, and Gilliam's films up to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. They have three children: Amy Rainbow (born 1978), Holly Dubois (born October 1980) and Harry Thunder (born 3 April 1988), who have also appeared in or worked on several of his films.
In 1968, Gilliam obtained British citizenship. He held dual American and British citizenship for the next 38 years, until he renounced his American citizenship in January 2006. In an interview with Der Tagesspiegel, he described the action as a protest against then-President George W. Bush, and in an earlier interview with The A.V. Club, he also indicated that it was related to concerns about future tax liability for his wife and children. As a result of renouncing his citizenship, Gilliam was permitted to spend 30 days each year in the United States over the next 10 years, "less than any European". Holly followed suit, renouncing her American citizenship in 2017.
He maintains a residence in Italy near the Umbria–Tuscany border. He has been instrumental in establishing the annual Umbria Film Festival, held in the nearby town of Montone. Gilliam also resides in Highgate, London.
In 2009, Gilliam signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
On 8 September 2015, Variety mistakenly published a false obituary claiming that Gilliam had died.
In May 2018, Gilliam suffered a perforated medullary artery that was erroneously reported in the media as a stroke.
Filmography
Awards, nominations and honours
Academy Awards
BAFTA Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Saturn Awards
Other awards
Brazil (1985)
3 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
3 Silver Ribbons awarded by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design
Hugo Award nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Fisher King (1991)
Venice Film Festival Silver Lion Winner
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (Mercedes Ruehl)
4 Los Angeles Film Critics Association nominations Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Plummer), Best Screenplay
Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award Winner
12 Monkeys (1995)
Empire Award Best Director
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Venice Film Festival Official Selection
Tideland (2005)
San Sebastian Festival Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
2 Empire Awards nominations Best British Film, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Best Fantasy Film nomination by the Costume Designers Guild of America
British Independent Film Awards nomination for Best Achievement in Production
International Press Academy Satellite Award Best Costume Design, 3 more nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction & Production Design, Best Original Song
Voted Best Fantasy Film of the Year by readers of the Total Sci-Fi Online magazine.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
Magritte Award for Best Foreign Film in Coproduction
An asteroid, 9619 Terrygilliam, is named in his honour.
Gilliam was given the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 2009 for his contribution to motion picture arts.
Gilliam was also given a BAFTA Special Award in 1969 for the graphics and animations in Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Terry Gilliam was awarded the Fellowship of the Kermodes, by film critic Mark Kermode.
Gilliam was honoured with the Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity Award'' at the Camerimage film festival in Łódź, Poland in 2009.
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Knight (2013)
Raindance Film Festival announced on 13 August 2018 that he would be the next recipient of its Auteur Award for his contribution to UK film.
Inkpot Award (2009)
References
Further reading
External links
Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine
1940 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century British comedians
21st-century American comedians
21st-century British comedians
Animators from Minnesota
British animators
British film directors
American animated film directors
British male actors
American male comedians
British male comedians
American comics artists
British comics artists
British male comedy actors
American male comedy actors
American comedy writers
British comedy writers
American emigrants to the United Kingdom
BAFTA fellows
British opera directors
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Copywriters
Inkpot Award winners
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Fantasy film directors
Science fiction film directors
Film directors from Minnesota
Male actors from Minneapolis
Monty Python members
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Occidental College alumni
People from Hennepin County, Minnesota
People from Panorama City, Los Angeles
Former United States citizens
Stop motion animators
Film directors from Los Angeles
American surrealist artists
British surrealist artists
Surrealist filmmakers
Science fiction fans
Birmingham High School alumni | false | [
"During his long career, American-born British film director Terry Gilliam has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled. The following is a list of projects in roughly chronological order.\n\n1970s\n\nTheseus and the Minotaur\nRight after he finished Jabberwocky (1977), Gilliam’s next film project was going to be Theseus and the Minotaur, based on Greek mythology. The film was shelved when Gilliam chose to make Time Bandits (1981) instead.\n\n1980s\n\nEnemy Mine\nGilliam turned down the offer to direct Enemy Mine (1985).\n\nWho Framed Roger Rabbit\nGilliam also turned down the offer to direct Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). According to Gilliam, \"I passed on that one, but that didn’t matter because it was just at a stage when it was still just the book and I didn’t want to get into animation. I just read the book and said, ‘This is too much work.’ Pure laziness on my part.\" The film wound up being directed by Robert Zemeckis.\n\nWatchmen\nIn 1989, Gilliam and film producer Joel Silver unsuccessfully attempted to make a film adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen. Gilliam was reportedly Moore's first choice to direct the film. Gilliam tried to make the film again in 1996 but was unsuccessful.\n\n1990s\n\nA Scanner Darkly\nIn the early 1990s, Gilliam attempted to make a film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly.\n\nAlien sequel\nGilliam confirmed in 2018 that he turned down an offer to direct one of the sequels to Alien (1979). It is presumed he turned down Alien 3 (1992) even though Gilliam did not specify which of the sequels he was referring to.\n\nThe Defective Detective\nIn 1992, it was reported that Gilliam was going to make The Defective Detective next after The Fisher King (1991), only to abandon it in favor of making a Don Quixote film. Then, Gilliam worked on The Defective Detective again to only to reject it in favor of directing 12 Monkeys (1995) instead. Then, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1996 that Gilliam was working on The Defective Detective script with Richard LaGravenese. According to the L.A. Times, the story was \"about a middle-aged New York cop who’s having a nervous breakdown and ends up in a fantasy world.\" The film was to have been produced by Scott Rudin and Margie Simkin and be distributed by Paramount Pictures. Nicolas Cage was to star in the film. In addition to Cage, Bruce Willis, Cameron Diaz and Nick Nolte were attached to the project. Danny DeVito was also attached to the project. Gilliam claims that Sean Connery was also involved. In February 1997, Paramount put the film in turnaround.\n\nIn June 2015, Gilliam hinted that The Defective Detective could possibly be made as a miniseries from Amazon Prime Video. Variety reported in November that same year that Gilliam and LaGravenese regained the rights to the script from Paramount and \"reworked it as a six-hour miniseries.\"\n\nA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court\nIt was reported in 1993 that Gilliam was going to direct a film adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court for Warner Bros. and producer Jerry Weintraub, with the script written by Robert Mark Kamen. The film got cancelled when financing fell through.\n\nForrest Gump\nGilliam turned down the offer to direct Forrest Gump (1994).\n\nA Tale of Two Cities\nIn 1994, Gilliam attempted to make a film adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities with Mel Gibson starring. However, Gibson dropped out of the project in favor of directing and starring in Braveheart (1995). After Gibson left the project, Gilliam replaced him with Liam Neeson and attempted to make the film via half the initial budget to no avail. Madeleine Stowe was also attached to the project. The film was ultimately shelved due to budget and casting reasons. Gilliam then made 12 Monkeys (1995) instead. When asked in 2009 if he still expressed interest in making the film, Gilliam replied, \"Nah. That’s dead. That’s over.\"\n\nBraveheart\nGilliam turned down the offer to direct Braveheart (1995).\n\nSon of Strangelove\nIn 1995, Stanley Kubrick hired Terry Southern to write the script that would have been the sequel to Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove. The film was to have been titled Son of Stranglove and Kubrick wanted Gilliam to direct it. The script was never completed. Gilliam said in 2013, \"I was told after Kubrick died—by someone who had been dealing with him—that he had been interested in trying to do another ‘Strangelove’ with me directing. I never knew about that until after he died but I would have loved to.\"\n\nTime Bandits II\nIn 1996, Gilliam and Charles McKeown wrote two drafts of an unproduced script titled Time Bandits II, which would have been the sequel to Time Bandits (1981). Gilliam was to have produced the sequel and not direct it. In 2001, Gilliam and McKeown attempted to make Time Bandits II as a television miniseries for the Hallmark Channel.\n\nThe Truman Show\nGilliam was among the list of filmmakers considered to direct The Truman Show (1998) before Peter Weir assumed the position.\n\n2000s\n\nHarry Potter\nGilliam was reportedly J.K. Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), the first film of the Harry Potter movies. In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gilliam stated, \"J.K. Rowling and the producer wanted me. Then wiser people — studio heads — prevailed. I was the clear choice. At one point they approached Alan Parker and he said, ‘Why are you talking to me? Gilliam is the guy who should be doing this!’ But I knew I was never going to get the job.\" Gilliam was ultimately rejected by Warner Bros. Instead, the studio replaced Gilliam with Chris Columbus. Gilliam reportedly criticized the studio's decision of picking Columbus over him and stated, \"I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian.\"\n\nGilliam turned down the offer to direct Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), the sixth film of the series. When asked if he was interested in directing any of the Harry Potter movies, Gilliam replied, \"Warner Bros. had their chance the first time around, and they blew it. It's a factory job, that's what it is, and I know the way it's done. I've had too many friends work on those movies. I know the way it works, and that's not the way I work.\" In 2011, Gilliam expressed his regret entering into talks to direct the first Harry Potter film.\n\nGood Omens\nIn 2002, Gilliam attempted to direct a film adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens. Johnny Depp and Robin Williams were to have appeared in the film as the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale respectively. The film never came to fruition. According to Gilliam, the film was cancelled due to the then-occurring aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The story eventually appeared in 2019 under the same name, Good Omens (TV series), as a 6-episode series streaming on Amazon Prime Video and aired by BBC Two, but it was directed by Douglas Mackinnon, starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.\n\nThe Sandman\nIn 2007, Neil Gaiman expressed interest in having Gilliam direct a film adaptation of The Sandman.\n\nThe World Jones Made\nIn 2009, it was announced that Gilliam was going to adapt Philip K. Dick’s The World Jones Made into a feature film.\n\n2010s\n\n1884\nIn 2010, it was reported that Gilliam was to serve as a creative adviser for an unmade animated film titled 1884. The film has been described as a steampunk parody of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The film was to have used CGI and live action puppets. Gilliam was to produce the film and Tim Ollive was to direct it. The film never came to fruition.\n\nReferences\n\nGilliam, Terry\nWorks by Terry Gilliam",
"Lost in La Mancha is a 2002 documentary film about the making of Terry Gilliam's first attempt at The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. His effort was a film adaptation of the 1605/1615 novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The documentary was shot in 2000 during Gilliam's first attempt to make the film, as an intended work of the genre known as the \"making-of\". But Gilliam's failure to complete his film resulted in the documentary filmmakers retitling their work as Lost in la Mancha and releasing it independently.\n\nWritten and directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, Lost in La Mancha presents Gilliam's effort to make Don Quixote as a parallel to Quixote's quest to become a hero. It co-stars Johnny Depp, Jean Rochefort, and Vanessa Paradis, who were cast as stars for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. It is narrated by Jeff Bridges.\n\nGilliam ultimately succeeded in making The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, which was released in 2018. Fulton and Pepe have made a follow-up documentary, titled He Dreams of Giants, which covers Gilliam's entire scope of work on the Quixote project.\n\nBackground \nFinding the source material written by Miguel de Cervantes too vast, Gilliam and his co-writer decided to create their own version of the Quixote story. They made a major change inspired by Mark Twain's 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. They planned to have the character of Sancho Panza appear only early in the film. He was to be replaced by character Toby Grisoni, a 21st-century marketing executive thrown back through time, whom Don Quixote mistakes for Panza.\n\nGilliam was excited about the film, as he felt that the story of Don Quixote embodies many of his own themes (such as the individual versus society, the concept of sanity, etc.). He intended to film it entirely in Spain and other nations in Europe. Jean Rochefort was cast to play Don Quixote, in preparation for which he spent seven months learning English. Toby was to be played by Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis would have been his love interest.\n\nFulton and Pepe had previously filmed a making-of documentary about Giliam's earlier film 12 Monkeys.\n\nProduction \nLost in La Mancha explores how the film's production issues soon overran schedule and budget. Gilliam tells his crew not to be afraid to tell him that something is too complicated or expensive to be done, because he needs to be restrained sometimes. In another interview, he says he wants his films to be seen and enjoyed by the widest audience possible. But natural forces were more important than his excesses.\n\nOn the first day of shooting, the crew discovered that their outdoor filming location, in the area known as Bardenas Reales, was plagued by nearly constant noise from a nearby NATO aircraft target practice area. Gilliam decided to continue shooting footage, knowing that he could replace the audio in post-production. But during the second day of shooting, hail and a flash flood damaged equipment. In addition, it permanently changed the appearance of the location, where some shots had not yet been completed. The entire sequence would have to be reshot.\n\nMore significantly, days later it became apparent that Rochefort was injured. Within a week Gilliam learned that Rochefort had a herniated disc and would be unable to continue filming. This ended production completely, resulting in a record $15 million insurance claim. The insurance company owned the rights to the screenplay for several years, until they were transferred back to Gilliam. He restarted production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in 2008.\n\nKeith Fulton and Louis Pepe had previously made a documentary about the making of Gilliam's film 12 Monkeys titled The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys. They were strongly supported by Gilliam throughout their filming on the Don Quixote project. Gilliam reportedly often has people documenting the making of films so that should something go wrong, he has a record of the events from his perspective.\n\nReception\nReleased in 2002, Lost in La Mancha received very positive reception from critics. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of critics have given Lost in La Mancha a positive review based on 100 reviews, with an average rating of 7.53/10, making the film \"Certified fresh\" on the website's rating system. It also holds a \"Top Critics\" score of 89%. The website's critical consensus is \"A remarkable behind-the-scenes look at a movie that wasn't, Lost in La Mancha is an incisive, entertaining document of the difficulties inherent in the moviemaking process.\" On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\".\n\nCritic Leonard Maltin has described Lost in La Mancha as one of the best films about the process of film-making.\n\nIt was nominated for various awards, including a BAFTA Award and a Satellite Award for Best Documentary Film. It won a Satellite Award for Best Documentary DVD.\n\nSequel \nIn May 2018, a few days before the premiere of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Fulton and Pepe said they would release a follow-up documentary, to be titled He Dreams of Giants. It would cover the entire history of the film's making, with particular focus on what happened after the events depicted in Lost in La Mancha.\n\nPepe said that the film would be \"more introspective\" than Lost in La Mancha, saying, \n\"This is more a film about an internal struggle in an artist’s mind. What is it like for an artist to be standing on the brink of actually finishing this project finally? [...] Even on the set we would say the conflicts raging around Terry right now of making the movie are not nearly as interesting as what’s going on inside his head.\"\n\nThe film is in the editing process. The filmmakers have not said whether it will be a bonus feature on The Man Who Killed Don Quixotes home media release, or will be released independently, as was Lost in La Mancha.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\nDominguez, Julia. \"Luces, cámara… inacción en Lost in La Mancha: la realidad de una ficción que nunca existió.\" Cervantes 27.2 (2007): 23-42\n\nExternal links\n Official website\n \n \n\nBritish documentary films\nBritish films\n2002 films\n2002 documentary films\nFilms shot in Madrid\nFilms based on Don Quixote\nDocumentary films about unfinished films\nTerry Gilliam"
] |
[
"Terry Gilliam",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus",
"Did GIlliam direct The imaginarium?",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam,",
"Who did he co-write with?",
"his writing partner Charles McKeown.",
"How did Gilliam approach making the film?",
"I don't know."
] | C_716b12024b594fe99a6bfeb63a501d7a_0 | When did it come out? | 4 | When did The Imaginarium come out? | Terry Gilliam | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London. On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back. The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations. The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter. CANNOTANSWER | The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. | Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British film director, screenwriter, animator, actor, comedian and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Tideland (2005), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). The only Monty Python member not born in Britain, he became a naturalised British subject in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006.
Gilliam was born in Minnesota, but spent his high school and college years in Los Angeles. He started his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. He joined Monty Python as the animator of their works, but eventually became a full member and was given acting roles. He became a feature film director in the 1970s. Most of his films explore the theme of imagination and its importance to life, express his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarianism, and feature characters facing dark or paranoid situations. His own scripts feature black comedy and tragicomedic elements, as well as surprise endings.
In 1988, Gilliam and the other Monty Python members received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.
Early life
Gilliam was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Beatrice (née Vance) and James Hall Gilliam. His father was a travelling salesman for Folgers before becoming a carpenter. Soon after, they moved to nearby Medicine Lake, Minnesota. In 1952, the family moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Panorama City. Gilliam attended Birmingham High School, where he was the president of his class and senior prom king, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" having achieved straight A grades. During high school, he began to avidly read Mad magazine, then edited by Harvey Kurtzman, which would later influence Gilliam's work.
Gilliam graduated from Occidental College in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 2003 he told Salman Rushdie about defining experiences in the 1960s that set the foundations for his views on the world:
Career
Animation
Gilliam began his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. One of his early photographic strips for the US magazine Help! featured future Python cast member John Cleese. When Help! folded, Gilliam went to Europe, jokingly announcing in the final issue that he was "being transferred to the European branch" of the magazine, which did not exist. Moving to England, he animated sequences for the children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set which ran from 1967 to 1969, and which also featured Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
Monty Python
Gilliam was a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus from its outset, credited at first as an animator (his name was listed separately after the other five in the closing credits) and later as a full member. His cartoons linked the show's sketches together and defined the group's visual language in other media, such as LP and book covers and the title sequences of their films. His animations mix his own art, characterised by soft gradients and odd, bulbous shapes, with backgrounds and moving cutouts from antique photographs, mostly from the Victorian era.
In 1978, Gilliam published Animations of Mortality, an illustrated, tongue-in-cheek, semi-autobiographical how-to guide to his animation techniques and the visual language in them.
Gilliam co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Jones; Gilliam was responsible for photography, while Jones guided the actors' performances. He also appeared in several sketches, though he rarely had main roles and did considerably less acting in the sketches. Gilliam did, however, have some notable sketch roles, such as Cardinal Fang of the Spanish Inquisition; the bespectacled commenter who said, "I can't add anything to that!" in the sketch "Election Night Special"; Kevin Garibaldi, the brat on the couch shouting "I want more beans!" in the sketch "Most Awful Family in Britain 1974" (episode 45); the Screaming Queen in a cape and mask in "The Visitors"; and Percy Bysshe Shelley in "Ant Poetry Reading". More frequently, he played parts that no one else wanted to play, generally because they required a lot of makeup or uncomfortable costumes, such as a recurring knight in armour who ended sketches by walking on and hitting one of the other characters over the head with a plucked chicken. He took a number of roles in the films, including both Patsy and The Old Man From Scene 24 in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the jailer in Monty Python's Life of Brian. He also designed the covers of most of the Monty Python albums, including Another Monty Python Record, The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief, Monty Python Live at Drury Lane, and all of their film soundtrack albums. Katy Hepburn, a freelance designer and graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, also worked with Gilliam.
Directing
With the gradual breakup of the Python troupe between Life of Brian in 1979 and The Meaning of Life in 1983, Gilliam became a screenwriter and director, building upon the experience he had acquired during the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He says he used to think of his films in terms of trilogies, starting with Time Bandits: the "Trilogy of Imagination" (written by Gilliam) about "the ages of man" in Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). All are about the "craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible." All three movies focus on these struggles and attempts to escape them through imagination; Time Bandits through the eyes of a child, Brazil through the eyes of a man in his thirties, and Munchausen, through the eyes of an elderly man. In the summer of 1986, he cut away ties from Arnon Milchan and 20th Century Fox started directing the latter through his own new Prominent Films banner independently.
In the 1990s, Gilliam directed a trilogy of Americana: The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), which played on North American soil and, while still surreal, had fewer fantastical plots than his previous trilogy.
Themes and philosophy
As for his philosophical background in screenwriting and directing, Gilliam said on the TV show First Hand on RoundhouseTV, "There's so many film schools, so many media courses which I actually am opposed to. Because I think it's more important to be educated, to read, to learn things, because if you're gonna be in the media and if you'll have to say things, you have to know things. If you only know about cameras and 'the media', what're you gonna be talking about except cameras and the media? So it's better learning about philosophy and art and architecture [and] literature, these are the things to be concentrating on it seems to me. Then, you can fly...!"
Gilliam's films are usually imaginative fantasies. His long-time co-writer Charles McKeown commented, "the theme of imagination, and the importance of imagination, to how you live and how you think and so on ... that's very much a Terry theme." Most of Gilliam's films include plotlines that seem to occur partly or completely in the characters' imaginations, raising questions about the definition of identity and sanity. He often shows his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarian regimes. He also distinguishes "higher" and "lower" layers of society, with a disturbing and ironic style. His films usually feature a fight or struggle against a great power which may be an emotional situation, a human-made idol, or even the person himself, and the situations do not always end happily. There is often a dark, paranoid atmosphere and unusual characters who used to be normal members of society. His scripts feature black comedy and often end with a dark tragicomic twist.
Gilliam is fascinated with the Baroque period because of the pronounced struggle between spirituality and rationality in that era. There is often a rich baroqueness and dichotomous eclecticism about his films, with, for instance, high-tech computer monitors equipped with low-tech magnifying lenses in Brazil and a red knight covered with flapping bits of cloth in The Fisher King. He also is given to incongruous juxtapositions of beauty and ugliness or antique and modern. Regarding Gilliam's theme of modernity's struggle between spirituality and rationality whereas the individual may become dominated by a tyrannical, soulless machinery of disenchanted society, the film critic Keith James Hamel observed a specific affinity of Gilliam's films with the writings of the historian Arnold Toynbee and the sociologist Max Weber, specifically the latter's concept of the "iron cage" of rationality.
Look and style
Gilliam's films have a distinctive look, not only in mise-en-scène but even more so in photography, often recognisable from just a short clip; to create a surreal atmosphere of psychological unrest and a world out of balance, he frequently uses unusual camera angles, particularly low-angle shots, high-angle shots, and Dutch angles. Roger Ebert said that "his world is always hallucinatory in its richness of detail". Most of his movies are shot almost entirely with rectilinear ultra-wide-angle lenses with focal lengths of 28 mm or less to achieve a distinctive style defined by extreme perspective distortion and extremely deep focus. Gilliam's long-time director of photography Nicola Pecorini has said, "with Terry and me, a long lens means something between a 40 mm and a 65 mm." This attitude markedly differs from the common definition in photography, by which 40 to 65 mm is the focal length of a normal lens, resembling the natural human field of view, unlike Gilliam's signature style, defined by extreme perspective distortion due to his usual choice of focal length. The 14 mm lens has become informally known as "The Gilliam" among filmmakers because of his frequent use of it at least since Brazil. Gilliam has explained his preference for using wide-angle lenses in his films:
In another interview, Gilliam mentioned, in relation to the 9.8 mm Kinoptic lens he had first used on Brazil, that wide-angle lenses make small film sets "look big". The widest lens he has used so far is an 8 mm Zeiss lens employed in filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Production problems
Gilliam has made a few extremely expensive movies beset with production problems. After the lengthy quarrelling with Universal Studios over Brazil, Gilliam's next picture, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, cost around US$46 million, and then earned only about US$8 million in US ticket sales. The film saw no wide domestic release from Columbia Pictures, which was in the process of being sold at the time.
In the mid-1990s, Gilliam and Charles McKeown developed a script for Time Bandits 2, a project that was never produced because several of the original actors had died. Gilliam also attempted to direct a version of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, which collapsed due to disagreements over its budget and the choice of a lead actor.
Gilliam attempted twice to adapt Alan Moore's Watchmen comics into a film, in 1989 and 1996. Both attempts were unsuccessful. Gilliam said it was unfilmable.
In 1999, Gilliam attempted to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, budgeted at US$32.1 million, among the highest-budgeted films to use only European financing; but in the first week of shooting, the actor playing Don Quixote (Jean Rochefort) suffered a herniated disc, and a flood severely damaged the set. The film was cancelled, resulting in an insurance claim of US$15 million. Despite the cancellation, the aborted project did yield the documentary Lost in La Mancha, produced from film from a second crew that had been hired by Gilliam to document the making of Quixote. After the cancellation, both Gilliam and the film's co-lead, Johnny Depp, wanted to revive the project. The insurance company involved in the failed first attempt withheld the rights to the screenplay for several years but the production was restarted in 2008.
From 2002 to 2006, Gilliam tried to get funding for an adaptation of Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, with Robin Williams and Johnny Depp rumored as possible stars, but movie studios found the apocalyptic theme unacceptable in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, and funding never materialized.
More recently, unforeseeable problems again befell a Gilliam project when the actor Heath Ledger died in New York City during the filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Abandoned clip art project
Fifteen years after the publication of Gilliam's Animations of Mortality, between the release of the CD-ROM game Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time in 1994, which used many of Gilliam's animation templates, and the making of Gilliam's film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Gilliam was in negotiations with Enteractive, a software company, to tentatively release in the autumn of 1996 a CD-ROM under the same title as his 1978 book, containing all of his thousands of 1970s animation templates as license-free clip arts for people to create their own flash animations, but the project hovered in limbo for years, probably because Enteractive was about to downsize greatly in mid-1996 and changed its focus from CD-ROM multimedia presentations to internet business solutions and web hosting in 1997 (in the introduction to their 2004 book Terry Gilliam: Interviews, David Sterrit and Lucille Rhodes claimed that the internet had overwhelmed the "computer-communications market" and gave this as the reason that the Animations of Mortality CD-ROM never materialised). Around the time of Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the project had changed into the idea of releasing his 1970s animation templates as a license-free download of Adobe After Effects or similar files.
Box office
Gilliam's first successful feature, Time Bandits (1981), earned more than eight times its original budget in the United States alone. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), although commercially unsuccessful, was nominated for four Oscars and won three BAFTA Awards, among several other Prizes in Europe. The Fisher King (1991), his first film not to feature a member of the Monty Python troupe, had a budget of $24 million and grossed more than $41 million at United States box office. 12 Monkeys grossed more than US$168 million worldwide. The Brothers Grimm, despite a mixed critical reception, grossed over US$105 million worldwide. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with a budget of $30 million, has been an international commercial success, grossing over $60 million in worldwide theatrical release.
According to Box Office Mojo, his films have grossed an average of $21,602,510.
Recurring collaborators
Gilliam has worked frequently with actors Heath Ledger, Jeff Bridges, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams, Christopher Plummer, Katherine Helmond, and Jonathan Pryce.
Gilliam and Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, is a fan of Gilliam's work. Consequently, he was Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2000, but Warner Bros. ultimately chose Chris Columbus for the job. In response to this decision, Gilliam said that "I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian." In 2006, Gilliam said that he found Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to be "really good... much closer to what I would've done." In retrospect, however, Gilliam has stated that he wouldn't have liked to direct any Potter film. In a 2005 interview with Total Film, he said that he would not enjoy working on such an expensive project because of interference from studio executives.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, director David Yates paid homage to Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil, portraying the Death Eater–infiltrated Ministry of Magic in a fashion reminiscent of Gilliam's totalitarian bureaucracy.
Secret Tournament
In 2002, Gilliam directed a series of television advertisements called "Secret Tournament". Part of Nike's 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, the advertisements feature a secret three-on-three tournament between the world's best football players, including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry, who are inside a huge tanker ship. The advertisements are accompanied with a remixed version of the Elvis Presley song "A Little Less Conversation".
Slava's Diabolo
In 2006, Gilliam directed the stage show Slava's Diabolo, created and staged by the Russian clown artist Slava Polunin. The show combined Polunin's clown style, characterised by deep nonverbal expression and interaction with the audience, with Gilliam's rich visuals and surrealistic imagery. The show premiered at the Noga Hall of the Gesher Theatre in Jaffa, Israel.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London.
On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back.
The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations.
The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter.
The Zero Theorem
In July 2012, Gilliam revealed plans for a film which would be shot in Bucharest, Romania. He denied that it would be Don Quixote but refused to give any further details. The actor David Walliams reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam to play a part in it and was told that he'd have to "be willing to work with Johnny Depp and fly to Bucharest where the movie is to be filmed." Depp, to that point, had made no mention of his involvement but was seen in Bucharest around the same time in mid-July as Romanian news outlets reported Gilliam was staying in the city for negotiations on studio work with the Romanian film production company MediaPro Studios. On 13 August 2012, this project was announced to be The Zero Theorem, set to start shooting in Bucharest on 22 October, produced by Dean Zanuck (son of the late Richard D. Zanuck, who was originally to produce the film in 2009), with worldwide sales handled by Voltage Pictures, Toronto, and starring the Academy Award–winner Christoph Waltz in the lead (replacing Billy Bob Thornton, who had been attached to the project in 2009). The Zero Theorem premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013.
Opera director
Gilliam made his opera debut at London's English National Opera (ENO) in May 2011, directing The Damnation of Faust, by Hector Berlioz. The production received positive reviews in the British press On 16 September 2012, the production opened at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent, Belgium, in the opera's original French-language version and received praise from critics and audiences alike. After a number of performances in Ghent, the production moved to the opera house in Antwerp for sold-out run of performances.
In June 2014, Gilliam followed up on his success with Faust with a new ENO production of another opera by Berlioz, the rarely performed Benvenuto Cellini.
Projects in development or shelved
Gilliam has several projects in various states of development, including an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy novel Good Omens. Other projects Gilliam has been trying to get off the ground since the 1990s are an adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (starring Mel Gibson); an adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which has been adapted as films several times before; and a script entitled The Defective Detective, which Gilliam wrote with Richard LaGravenese (who wrote The Fisher King). While promoting the US theatrical release of The Zero Theorem, Gilliam revealed he and LaGravenese were meeting to see if The Defective Detective script could be made into a miniseries. If this comes together, it would be the first time Gilliam has ever directed for television. Stanley Kubrick had Gilliam in mind to direct a sequel to Dr. Strangelove (1964). Gilliam also turned down offers to direct such films as Enemy Mine (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Forrest Gump (1994) and Braveheart (1995). He was even considered to direct The Truman Show (1998). Gilliam confirmed in a 2018 interview that he turned down the offer to direct one of the sequels to Alien (1979), though he did not specify which one of them.
It was rumoured that Gilliam may direct or be involved in the production of the animated band Gorillaz movie. In a September 2006 interview with Uncut, Damon Albarn was reported to have said, "we're making a film. We've got Terry Gilliam involved." However, in a more recent interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Jamie Hewlett, the co-creator of the band, stated that since the time of the previous interview, Damon's and his own interest in the film had lessened. In an August 2008 Observer interview, Gorillaz band members Albarn and Hewlett revealed the nature and title of the project, Journey to the West, a film adaptation of the opera of the same name, based on a 16th-century Chinese adventure story also known as Monkey. In January 2008, while on set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam stated that he was looking forward to the project, "But I'm still waiting to see a script!"
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
After regaining the rights to the screenplay of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam restarted preproduction in 2008, with Johnny Depp still attached to the project. The film was to be reshot completely, with Rochefort's role recast. Michael Palin reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam about stepping in for Rochefort and playing Don Quixote. However, Gilliam revealed on the Canadian talk show The Hour on 17 December 2009 that Robert Duvall had been cast to play Quixote, before the film was postponed once again. In January 2014, Gilliam wrote on Facebook that "Dreams of Don Quixote have begun again". At the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, it was confirmed that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was going to be made, with Michael Palin and Adam Driver in starring roles. In March 2017, filming finally began, with Driver and Jonathan Pryce starring. On 4 June 2017, Gilliam announced that the shooting of the film was complete.
The film premiered on 19 May 2018 as the closing film of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival (where it received a standing ovation), and was released in French theatres the same day.
Future projects
On 16 December 2010, Variety reported that Gilliam was to "godfather" a film called 1884, described as an animated steampunk parody of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, with several former Pythons lending their voices to the project; Gilliam was to be credited as "creative advisor".
During the second half of 2011, Gilliam and Paul Auster wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation of Auster's novel Mr. Vertigo.<ref>Fischer, Russ (2011). [https://www.slashfilm.com/terry-gilliam-crafting-script-based-paul-auster-mr-vertigo/ "Terry Gilliam Crafting a Script Based on Paul Auster Novel 'Mr. Vertigo"] Slashfilm.com. 28 July 2011</ref> In June 2018, Gilliam announced at the Brussels International Film Festival that he was working again on Mr. Vertigo, and that it might be his next film, and that he had Ralph Fiennes attached to star in it.Franklin, Garth (2018). "Gilliam's Next Could Be "Mr. Vertigo"". Dark Horizons. 1 July 2018.
As of 2014 he was in talks to make his first animated feature film with Laika, the studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman.
In October 2015, in a webchat hosted by The Guardian, Gilliam announced that he was working on "a TV series based on Time Bandits" and "another based on a script by Richard LaGravanese and I wrote after Fisher King, called The Defective Detective".
Charitable activities
Gilliam has been involved with a number of charitable and humanitarian causes. In 2009, he became a board member of Videre Est Credere (Latin for "to see is to believe"), a UK human rights charity. Videre describes itself as giving "local activists the equipment, training and support needed to safely capture compelling video evidence of human rights violations. This captured footage is verified, analysed and then distributed to those who can create change." He participates alongside movie producer Uri Fruchtmann, music producer Brian Eno and executive director of Greenpeace UK John Sauven.
Personal life
Gilliam has been married to British makeup artist Maggie Weston since 1973. She worked on Monty Python's Flying Circus, many of the Python films, and Gilliam's films up to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. They have three children: Amy Rainbow (born 1978), Holly Dubois (born October 1980) and Harry Thunder (born 3 April 1988), who have also appeared in or worked on several of his films.
In 1968, Gilliam obtained British citizenship. He held dual American and British citizenship for the next 38 years, until he renounced his American citizenship in January 2006. In an interview with Der Tagesspiegel, he described the action as a protest against then-President George W. Bush, and in an earlier interview with The A.V. Club, he also indicated that it was related to concerns about future tax liability for his wife and children. As a result of renouncing his citizenship, Gilliam was permitted to spend 30 days each year in the United States over the next 10 years, "less than any European". Holly followed suit, renouncing her American citizenship in 2017.
He maintains a residence in Italy near the Umbria–Tuscany border. He has been instrumental in establishing the annual Umbria Film Festival, held in the nearby town of Montone. Gilliam also resides in Highgate, London.
In 2009, Gilliam signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
On 8 September 2015, Variety mistakenly published a false obituary claiming that Gilliam had died.
In May 2018, Gilliam suffered a perforated medullary artery that was erroneously reported in the media as a stroke.
Filmography
Awards, nominations and honours
Academy Awards
BAFTA Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Saturn Awards
Other awards
Brazil (1985)
3 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
3 Silver Ribbons awarded by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design
Hugo Award nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Fisher King (1991)
Venice Film Festival Silver Lion Winner
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (Mercedes Ruehl)
4 Los Angeles Film Critics Association nominations Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Plummer), Best Screenplay
Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award Winner
12 Monkeys (1995)
Empire Award Best Director
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Venice Film Festival Official Selection
Tideland (2005)
San Sebastian Festival Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
2 Empire Awards nominations Best British Film, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Best Fantasy Film nomination by the Costume Designers Guild of America
British Independent Film Awards nomination for Best Achievement in Production
International Press Academy Satellite Award Best Costume Design, 3 more nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction & Production Design, Best Original Song
Voted Best Fantasy Film of the Year by readers of the Total Sci-Fi Online magazine.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
Magritte Award for Best Foreign Film in Coproduction
An asteroid, 9619 Terrygilliam, is named in his honour.
Gilliam was given the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 2009 for his contribution to motion picture arts.
Gilliam was also given a BAFTA Special Award in 1969 for the graphics and animations in Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Terry Gilliam was awarded the Fellowship of the Kermodes, by film critic Mark Kermode.
Gilliam was honoured with the Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity Award'' at the Camerimage film festival in Łódź, Poland in 2009.
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Knight (2013)
Raindance Film Festival announced on 13 August 2018 that he would be the next recipient of its Auteur Award for his contribution to UK film.
Inkpot Award (2009)
References
Further reading
External links
Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine
1940 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century British comedians
21st-century American comedians
21st-century British comedians
Animators from Minnesota
British animators
British film directors
American animated film directors
British male actors
American male comedians
British male comedians
American comics artists
British comics artists
British male comedy actors
American male comedy actors
American comedy writers
British comedy writers
American emigrants to the United Kingdom
BAFTA fellows
British opera directors
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Copywriters
Inkpot Award winners
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Fantasy film directors
Science fiction film directors
Film directors from Minnesota
Male actors from Minneapolis
Monty Python members
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Occidental College alumni
People from Hennepin County, Minnesota
People from Panorama City, Los Angeles
Former United States citizens
Stop motion animators
Film directors from Los Angeles
American surrealist artists
British surrealist artists
Surrealist filmmakers
Science fiction fans
Birmingham High School alumni | true | [
"Was (Not Was) is the debut album by art-funk ensemble Was (Not Was); it was released in 1981.\nThe album was re-released with additional material in 2004 under the name Out Come the Freaks. The art direction was by Maverse Players.\n\nTrack listing\nAll tracks composed by David Was and Don Was; except where indicated\n\nSide A\n \"Out Come the Freaks\" – 5:41 vocals - Harry Bowens; spoken vocals - Marzanne McCants\n \"Where Did Your Heart Go?\" – 4:55 lead vocals - Sweet Pea Atkinson\n \"Tell Me That I'm Dreaming\" – 4:58 lead vocals - Harry Bowens\n \"Oh, Mr. Friction!\" – 3:31\n\nSide B\n \"Carry Me Back to Old Morocco\" (Was, Was, Doug Fieger) – 6:01\n \"It's an Attack!\" (Was, Was, David Goss) – 3:11 lead vocals - Sweet Pea Atkinson\n \"The Sky's Ablaze\" – 2:16\n \"Go...Now!\" (Was, Was, Ron Banks) – 5:34 lead vocals - Sweet Pea Atkinson\nSide B of the LP ends in a lock groove of Atkinson singing \"'Cause he says it hurts his neck\" (from \"Out Come the Freaks\"), looping on the last three words.\n\nOut Come the Freaks Track listing\n \"Wheel Me Out\" (Long Version) – 7:06\n \"Out Come the Freaks\" – 5:39\n \"Where Did Your Heart Go?\" – 4:57\n \"Tell Me That I'm Dreaming\" – 5:00\n \"Oh, Mr. Friction\" – 3:33\n \"Carry Me Back to Old Morocco\" – 6:01\n \"It's an Attack!\" – 3:10\n \"The Sky's Ablaze\" – 2:15\n \"Go...Now!\" – 5:30\n \"Hello Operator\" (Short Version) – 2:51\n \"Out Come the Freaks (Again)\" – 4:37\n \"Tell Me That I'm Dreaming\" (12\" Remix)\" – 7:48\n \"Out Come The Freaks\" (12\" Remix) – 7:10\n \"(Return to the Valley Of) Out Come the Freaks\" (Semi/Historic 1983 Version) – 4:20\n \"Christmas Time in Motor City\" – 2:55\n \"Out Come the Freaks\" (Dub Version) – 6:30\n\nPersonnel\nDavid Was - vocals, alto saxophone, piano\nDon Was - vocals, bass, vibraphone, Moog synthesizer, clavinet\nSir Harry Bowens - lead vocals on \"Out Come the Freaks\" and \"Tell Me That I'm Dreaming\"\nSweet Pea Atkinson - lead vocals on \"Where Did Your Heart Go?\", \"It's an Attack\" and \"Go...Now!\"\nBruce Nazarian, Ricardo Rouse, Wayne Kramer - guitar\nJervonny Collier, Lamont Johnson - bass \nBruce Nazarian - bass on \"Wheel Me Out\"\nFranklin K. Funklyn McCullers, Jerry Jones - drums\nLarry Fratangelo, Kevin Tschirhart - percussion\nCarl \"Butch\" Small - percussion, rap vocals\nGary Stuck, Jim Matthews, Les Chambers - additional percussion\nIrwin Krinsky - piano\nLuis Resto - piano, Oberheim OBX and ARP synthesizers\nRaymond Johnson, Mark Johnson - keyboards\nDavid McMurray - tenor, soprano and alto saxophone\nArmand Angeloni - tenor saxophone, piccolo flute\nMarcus Belgrave - trumpet, flugelhorn \nMack Pitt - mandolin\nCarol Hall, Carolyn Crawford, Kathy Kosins, Michelle Goulet, Sheila Horne - backing vocals\nAnthony Was, Kim Heron, Lamont Zodiac, Mark J. Norton, Mitchell Jacobs, Mrs. Martinez's Fifth Hour Vocal Music Class/Birney Middle School, Pam Schlom, Richard Pinkston, Rick Cushingberry, Rubin Weiss, Ruth Seymore, Tom Brzezina - additional vocals\nJohnny Allen - string arrangement on \"Where Did Your Heart Go?\"\nMichael Zilkha - Executive Producer\n\nReferences\n\n1981 debut albums\nWas (Not Was) albums\nAlbums produced by Don Was\nAlbums produced by David Was\nIsland Records albums\nZE Records albums",
"They Only Come Out at Night is 1984 dance single by Peter Brown. The single was his first number one on the dance chart, where it stayed for one week. \"They Only Come Out at Night\", also peaked at number fifty on the soul singles chart, but unlike previous Peter Brown entries, it did not make the Hot 100. It did, however, reach No. 102 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart.\n\nReferences\n\n1984 singles\n1984 songs"
] |
[
"Terry Gilliam",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus",
"Did GIlliam direct The imaginarium?",
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam,",
"Who did he co-write with?",
"his writing partner Charles McKeown.",
"How did Gilliam approach making the film?",
"I don't know.",
"When did it come out?",
"The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009."
] | C_716b12024b594fe99a6bfeb63a501d7a_0 | What was the response to the film? | 5 | What was the response to The Imaginarium? | Terry Gilliam | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London. On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back. The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations. The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter. CANNOTANSWER | $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations. | Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British film director, screenwriter, animator, actor, comedian and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Tideland (2005), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). The only Monty Python member not born in Britain, he became a naturalised British subject in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006.
Gilliam was born in Minnesota, but spent his high school and college years in Los Angeles. He started his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. He joined Monty Python as the animator of their works, but eventually became a full member and was given acting roles. He became a feature film director in the 1970s. Most of his films explore the theme of imagination and its importance to life, express his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarianism, and feature characters facing dark or paranoid situations. His own scripts feature black comedy and tragicomedic elements, as well as surprise endings.
In 1988, Gilliam and the other Monty Python members received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.
Early life
Gilliam was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Beatrice (née Vance) and James Hall Gilliam. His father was a travelling salesman for Folgers before becoming a carpenter. Soon after, they moved to nearby Medicine Lake, Minnesota. In 1952, the family moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Panorama City. Gilliam attended Birmingham High School, where he was the president of his class and senior prom king, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" having achieved straight A grades. During high school, he began to avidly read Mad magazine, then edited by Harvey Kurtzman, which would later influence Gilliam's work.
Gilliam graduated from Occidental College in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 2003 he told Salman Rushdie about defining experiences in the 1960s that set the foundations for his views on the world:
Career
Animation
Gilliam began his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. One of his early photographic strips for the US magazine Help! featured future Python cast member John Cleese. When Help! folded, Gilliam went to Europe, jokingly announcing in the final issue that he was "being transferred to the European branch" of the magazine, which did not exist. Moving to England, he animated sequences for the children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set which ran from 1967 to 1969, and which also featured Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
Monty Python
Gilliam was a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus from its outset, credited at first as an animator (his name was listed separately after the other five in the closing credits) and later as a full member. His cartoons linked the show's sketches together and defined the group's visual language in other media, such as LP and book covers and the title sequences of their films. His animations mix his own art, characterised by soft gradients and odd, bulbous shapes, with backgrounds and moving cutouts from antique photographs, mostly from the Victorian era.
In 1978, Gilliam published Animations of Mortality, an illustrated, tongue-in-cheek, semi-autobiographical how-to guide to his animation techniques and the visual language in them.
Gilliam co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Jones; Gilliam was responsible for photography, while Jones guided the actors' performances. He also appeared in several sketches, though he rarely had main roles and did considerably less acting in the sketches. Gilliam did, however, have some notable sketch roles, such as Cardinal Fang of the Spanish Inquisition; the bespectacled commenter who said, "I can't add anything to that!" in the sketch "Election Night Special"; Kevin Garibaldi, the brat on the couch shouting "I want more beans!" in the sketch "Most Awful Family in Britain 1974" (episode 45); the Screaming Queen in a cape and mask in "The Visitors"; and Percy Bysshe Shelley in "Ant Poetry Reading". More frequently, he played parts that no one else wanted to play, generally because they required a lot of makeup or uncomfortable costumes, such as a recurring knight in armour who ended sketches by walking on and hitting one of the other characters over the head with a plucked chicken. He took a number of roles in the films, including both Patsy and The Old Man From Scene 24 in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the jailer in Monty Python's Life of Brian. He also designed the covers of most of the Monty Python albums, including Another Monty Python Record, The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief, Monty Python Live at Drury Lane, and all of their film soundtrack albums. Katy Hepburn, a freelance designer and graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, also worked with Gilliam.
Directing
With the gradual breakup of the Python troupe between Life of Brian in 1979 and The Meaning of Life in 1983, Gilliam became a screenwriter and director, building upon the experience he had acquired during the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He says he used to think of his films in terms of trilogies, starting with Time Bandits: the "Trilogy of Imagination" (written by Gilliam) about "the ages of man" in Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). All are about the "craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible." All three movies focus on these struggles and attempts to escape them through imagination; Time Bandits through the eyes of a child, Brazil through the eyes of a man in his thirties, and Munchausen, through the eyes of an elderly man. In the summer of 1986, he cut away ties from Arnon Milchan and 20th Century Fox started directing the latter through his own new Prominent Films banner independently.
In the 1990s, Gilliam directed a trilogy of Americana: The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), which played on North American soil and, while still surreal, had fewer fantastical plots than his previous trilogy.
Themes and philosophy
As for his philosophical background in screenwriting and directing, Gilliam said on the TV show First Hand on RoundhouseTV, "There's so many film schools, so many media courses which I actually am opposed to. Because I think it's more important to be educated, to read, to learn things, because if you're gonna be in the media and if you'll have to say things, you have to know things. If you only know about cameras and 'the media', what're you gonna be talking about except cameras and the media? So it's better learning about philosophy and art and architecture [and] literature, these are the things to be concentrating on it seems to me. Then, you can fly...!"
Gilliam's films are usually imaginative fantasies. His long-time co-writer Charles McKeown commented, "the theme of imagination, and the importance of imagination, to how you live and how you think and so on ... that's very much a Terry theme." Most of Gilliam's films include plotlines that seem to occur partly or completely in the characters' imaginations, raising questions about the definition of identity and sanity. He often shows his opposition to bureaucracy and authoritarian regimes. He also distinguishes "higher" and "lower" layers of society, with a disturbing and ironic style. His films usually feature a fight or struggle against a great power which may be an emotional situation, a human-made idol, or even the person himself, and the situations do not always end happily. There is often a dark, paranoid atmosphere and unusual characters who used to be normal members of society. His scripts feature black comedy and often end with a dark tragicomic twist.
Gilliam is fascinated with the Baroque period because of the pronounced struggle between spirituality and rationality in that era. There is often a rich baroqueness and dichotomous eclecticism about his films, with, for instance, high-tech computer monitors equipped with low-tech magnifying lenses in Brazil and a red knight covered with flapping bits of cloth in The Fisher King. He also is given to incongruous juxtapositions of beauty and ugliness or antique and modern. Regarding Gilliam's theme of modernity's struggle between spirituality and rationality whereas the individual may become dominated by a tyrannical, soulless machinery of disenchanted society, the film critic Keith James Hamel observed a specific affinity of Gilliam's films with the writings of the historian Arnold Toynbee and the sociologist Max Weber, specifically the latter's concept of the "iron cage" of rationality.
Look and style
Gilliam's films have a distinctive look, not only in mise-en-scène but even more so in photography, often recognisable from just a short clip; to create a surreal atmosphere of psychological unrest and a world out of balance, he frequently uses unusual camera angles, particularly low-angle shots, high-angle shots, and Dutch angles. Roger Ebert said that "his world is always hallucinatory in its richness of detail". Most of his movies are shot almost entirely with rectilinear ultra-wide-angle lenses with focal lengths of 28 mm or less to achieve a distinctive style defined by extreme perspective distortion and extremely deep focus. Gilliam's long-time director of photography Nicola Pecorini has said, "with Terry and me, a long lens means something between a 40 mm and a 65 mm." This attitude markedly differs from the common definition in photography, by which 40 to 65 mm is the focal length of a normal lens, resembling the natural human field of view, unlike Gilliam's signature style, defined by extreme perspective distortion due to his usual choice of focal length. The 14 mm lens has become informally known as "The Gilliam" among filmmakers because of his frequent use of it at least since Brazil. Gilliam has explained his preference for using wide-angle lenses in his films:
In another interview, Gilliam mentioned, in relation to the 9.8 mm Kinoptic lens he had first used on Brazil, that wide-angle lenses make small film sets "look big". The widest lens he has used so far is an 8 mm Zeiss lens employed in filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Production problems
Gilliam has made a few extremely expensive movies beset with production problems. After the lengthy quarrelling with Universal Studios over Brazil, Gilliam's next picture, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, cost around US$46 million, and then earned only about US$8 million in US ticket sales. The film saw no wide domestic release from Columbia Pictures, which was in the process of being sold at the time.
In the mid-1990s, Gilliam and Charles McKeown developed a script for Time Bandits 2, a project that was never produced because several of the original actors had died. Gilliam also attempted to direct a version of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, which collapsed due to disagreements over its budget and the choice of a lead actor.
Gilliam attempted twice to adapt Alan Moore's Watchmen comics into a film, in 1989 and 1996. Both attempts were unsuccessful. Gilliam said it was unfilmable.
In 1999, Gilliam attempted to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, budgeted at US$32.1 million, among the highest-budgeted films to use only European financing; but in the first week of shooting, the actor playing Don Quixote (Jean Rochefort) suffered a herniated disc, and a flood severely damaged the set. The film was cancelled, resulting in an insurance claim of US$15 million. Despite the cancellation, the aborted project did yield the documentary Lost in La Mancha, produced from film from a second crew that had been hired by Gilliam to document the making of Quixote. After the cancellation, both Gilliam and the film's co-lead, Johnny Depp, wanted to revive the project. The insurance company involved in the failed first attempt withheld the rights to the screenplay for several years but the production was restarted in 2008.
From 2002 to 2006, Gilliam tried to get funding for an adaptation of Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, with Robin Williams and Johnny Depp rumored as possible stars, but movie studios found the apocalyptic theme unacceptable in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, and funding never materialized.
More recently, unforeseeable problems again befell a Gilliam project when the actor Heath Ledger died in New York City during the filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Abandoned clip art project
Fifteen years after the publication of Gilliam's Animations of Mortality, between the release of the CD-ROM game Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time in 1994, which used many of Gilliam's animation templates, and the making of Gilliam's film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Gilliam was in negotiations with Enteractive, a software company, to tentatively release in the autumn of 1996 a CD-ROM under the same title as his 1978 book, containing all of his thousands of 1970s animation templates as license-free clip arts for people to create their own flash animations, but the project hovered in limbo for years, probably because Enteractive was about to downsize greatly in mid-1996 and changed its focus from CD-ROM multimedia presentations to internet business solutions and web hosting in 1997 (in the introduction to their 2004 book Terry Gilliam: Interviews, David Sterrit and Lucille Rhodes claimed that the internet had overwhelmed the "computer-communications market" and gave this as the reason that the Animations of Mortality CD-ROM never materialised). Around the time of Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the project had changed into the idea of releasing his 1970s animation templates as a license-free download of Adobe After Effects or similar files.
Box office
Gilliam's first successful feature, Time Bandits (1981), earned more than eight times its original budget in the United States alone. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), although commercially unsuccessful, was nominated for four Oscars and won three BAFTA Awards, among several other Prizes in Europe. The Fisher King (1991), his first film not to feature a member of the Monty Python troupe, had a budget of $24 million and grossed more than $41 million at United States box office. 12 Monkeys grossed more than US$168 million worldwide. The Brothers Grimm, despite a mixed critical reception, grossed over US$105 million worldwide. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with a budget of $30 million, has been an international commercial success, grossing over $60 million in worldwide theatrical release.
According to Box Office Mojo, his films have grossed an average of $21,602,510.
Recurring collaborators
Gilliam has worked frequently with actors Heath Ledger, Jeff Bridges, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams, Christopher Plummer, Katherine Helmond, and Jonathan Pryce.
Gilliam and Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, is a fan of Gilliam's work. Consequently, he was Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2000, but Warner Bros. ultimately chose Chris Columbus for the job. In response to this decision, Gilliam said that "I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian." In 2006, Gilliam said that he found Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to be "really good... much closer to what I would've done." In retrospect, however, Gilliam has stated that he wouldn't have liked to direct any Potter film. In a 2005 interview with Total Film, he said that he would not enjoy working on such an expensive project because of interference from studio executives.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, director David Yates paid homage to Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil, portraying the Death Eater–infiltrated Ministry of Magic in a fashion reminiscent of Gilliam's totalitarian bureaucracy.
Secret Tournament
In 2002, Gilliam directed a series of television advertisements called "Secret Tournament". Part of Nike's 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, the advertisements feature a secret three-on-three tournament between the world's best football players, including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry, who are inside a huge tanker ship. The advertisements are accompanied with a remixed version of the Elvis Presley song "A Little Less Conversation".
Slava's Diabolo
In 2006, Gilliam directed the stage show Slava's Diabolo, created and staged by the Russian clown artist Slava Polunin. The show combined Polunin's clown style, characterised by deep nonverbal expression and interaction with the audience, with Gilliam's rich visuals and surrealistic imagery. The show premiered at the Noga Hall of the Gesher Theatre in Jaffa, Israel.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed and co-written by Gilliam, was released in 2009. In January 2007, Gilliam announced that he had been working on a new project with his writing partner Charles McKeown. One day later, the fansite Dreams reported that the new project was titled The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In October 2007, Dreams confirmed that this would be Gilliam's next project and was slated to star Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Production began in December 2007 in London.
On 22 January 2008, production of the film was disrupted following the death of Heath Ledger in New York City. Variety reported that Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing. Production was suspended indefinitely by 24 January, but in February the actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to continue Ledger's role, transforming into multiple incarnations of his character in the "magical" world of the film. Thanks to this arrangement the principal photography was completed on 15 April 2008, on schedule. Editing was completed in November 2008. According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel launched on 30 March 2009, the film's post-production FX work finished on 31 March. During the filming, Gilliam was accidentally hit by a bus and suffered a broken back.
The film had successful screenings including a premiere at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The UK release for the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but was pushed back to 16 October 2009. The USA release was on 25 December 2009. Eventually, this $30 million-budgeted film had grossed more than $60 million in worldwide theatrical release and received two Academy Award nominations.
The film's end credit states that the film is dedicated to the memories of Ledger and William Vince. Depp, Farrell, and Law donated their proceeds from the film to Ledger's daughter.
The Zero Theorem
In July 2012, Gilliam revealed plans for a film which would be shot in Bucharest, Romania. He denied that it would be Don Quixote but refused to give any further details. The actor David Walliams reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam to play a part in it and was told that he'd have to "be willing to work with Johnny Depp and fly to Bucharest where the movie is to be filmed." Depp, to that point, had made no mention of his involvement but was seen in Bucharest around the same time in mid-July as Romanian news outlets reported Gilliam was staying in the city for negotiations on studio work with the Romanian film production company MediaPro Studios. On 13 August 2012, this project was announced to be The Zero Theorem, set to start shooting in Bucharest on 22 October, produced by Dean Zanuck (son of the late Richard D. Zanuck, who was originally to produce the film in 2009), with worldwide sales handled by Voltage Pictures, Toronto, and starring the Academy Award–winner Christoph Waltz in the lead (replacing Billy Bob Thornton, who had been attached to the project in 2009). The Zero Theorem premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013.
Opera director
Gilliam made his opera debut at London's English National Opera (ENO) in May 2011, directing The Damnation of Faust, by Hector Berlioz. The production received positive reviews in the British press On 16 September 2012, the production opened at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent, Belgium, in the opera's original French-language version and received praise from critics and audiences alike. After a number of performances in Ghent, the production moved to the opera house in Antwerp for sold-out run of performances.
In June 2014, Gilliam followed up on his success with Faust with a new ENO production of another opera by Berlioz, the rarely performed Benvenuto Cellini.
Projects in development or shelved
Gilliam has several projects in various states of development, including an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy novel Good Omens. Other projects Gilliam has been trying to get off the ground since the 1990s are an adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (starring Mel Gibson); an adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which has been adapted as films several times before; and a script entitled The Defective Detective, which Gilliam wrote with Richard LaGravenese (who wrote The Fisher King). While promoting the US theatrical release of The Zero Theorem, Gilliam revealed he and LaGravenese were meeting to see if The Defective Detective script could be made into a miniseries. If this comes together, it would be the first time Gilliam has ever directed for television. Stanley Kubrick had Gilliam in mind to direct a sequel to Dr. Strangelove (1964). Gilliam also turned down offers to direct such films as Enemy Mine (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Forrest Gump (1994) and Braveheart (1995). He was even considered to direct The Truman Show (1998). Gilliam confirmed in a 2018 interview that he turned down the offer to direct one of the sequels to Alien (1979), though he did not specify which one of them.
It was rumoured that Gilliam may direct or be involved in the production of the animated band Gorillaz movie. In a September 2006 interview with Uncut, Damon Albarn was reported to have said, "we're making a film. We've got Terry Gilliam involved." However, in a more recent interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Jamie Hewlett, the co-creator of the band, stated that since the time of the previous interview, Damon's and his own interest in the film had lessened. In an August 2008 Observer interview, Gorillaz band members Albarn and Hewlett revealed the nature and title of the project, Journey to the West, a film adaptation of the opera of the same name, based on a 16th-century Chinese adventure story also known as Monkey. In January 2008, while on set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam stated that he was looking forward to the project, "But I'm still waiting to see a script!"
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
After regaining the rights to the screenplay of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam restarted preproduction in 2008, with Johnny Depp still attached to the project. The film was to be reshot completely, with Rochefort's role recast. Michael Palin reportedly entered into talks with Gilliam about stepping in for Rochefort and playing Don Quixote. However, Gilliam revealed on the Canadian talk show The Hour on 17 December 2009 that Robert Duvall had been cast to play Quixote, before the film was postponed once again. In January 2014, Gilliam wrote on Facebook that "Dreams of Don Quixote have begun again". At the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, it was confirmed that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was going to be made, with Michael Palin and Adam Driver in starring roles. In March 2017, filming finally began, with Driver and Jonathan Pryce starring. On 4 June 2017, Gilliam announced that the shooting of the film was complete.
The film premiered on 19 May 2018 as the closing film of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival (where it received a standing ovation), and was released in French theatres the same day.
Future projects
On 16 December 2010, Variety reported that Gilliam was to "godfather" a film called 1884, described as an animated steampunk parody of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, with several former Pythons lending their voices to the project; Gilliam was to be credited as "creative advisor".
During the second half of 2011, Gilliam and Paul Auster wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation of Auster's novel Mr. Vertigo.<ref>Fischer, Russ (2011). [https://www.slashfilm.com/terry-gilliam-crafting-script-based-paul-auster-mr-vertigo/ "Terry Gilliam Crafting a Script Based on Paul Auster Novel 'Mr. Vertigo"] Slashfilm.com. 28 July 2011</ref> In June 2018, Gilliam announced at the Brussels International Film Festival that he was working again on Mr. Vertigo, and that it might be his next film, and that he had Ralph Fiennes attached to star in it.Franklin, Garth (2018). "Gilliam's Next Could Be "Mr. Vertigo"". Dark Horizons. 1 July 2018.
As of 2014 he was in talks to make his first animated feature film with Laika, the studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman.
In October 2015, in a webchat hosted by The Guardian, Gilliam announced that he was working on "a TV series based on Time Bandits" and "another based on a script by Richard LaGravanese and I wrote after Fisher King, called The Defective Detective".
Charitable activities
Gilliam has been involved with a number of charitable and humanitarian causes. In 2009, he became a board member of Videre Est Credere (Latin for "to see is to believe"), a UK human rights charity. Videre describes itself as giving "local activists the equipment, training and support needed to safely capture compelling video evidence of human rights violations. This captured footage is verified, analysed and then distributed to those who can create change." He participates alongside movie producer Uri Fruchtmann, music producer Brian Eno and executive director of Greenpeace UK John Sauven.
Personal life
Gilliam has been married to British makeup artist Maggie Weston since 1973. She worked on Monty Python's Flying Circus, many of the Python films, and Gilliam's films up to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. They have three children: Amy Rainbow (born 1978), Holly Dubois (born October 1980) and Harry Thunder (born 3 April 1988), who have also appeared in or worked on several of his films.
In 1968, Gilliam obtained British citizenship. He held dual American and British citizenship for the next 38 years, until he renounced his American citizenship in January 2006. In an interview with Der Tagesspiegel, he described the action as a protest against then-President George W. Bush, and in an earlier interview with The A.V. Club, he also indicated that it was related to concerns about future tax liability for his wife and children. As a result of renouncing his citizenship, Gilliam was permitted to spend 30 days each year in the United States over the next 10 years, "less than any European". Holly followed suit, renouncing her American citizenship in 2017.
He maintains a residence in Italy near the Umbria–Tuscany border. He has been instrumental in establishing the annual Umbria Film Festival, held in the nearby town of Montone. Gilliam also resides in Highgate, London.
In 2009, Gilliam signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
On 8 September 2015, Variety mistakenly published a false obituary claiming that Gilliam had died.
In May 2018, Gilliam suffered a perforated medullary artery that was erroneously reported in the media as a stroke.
Filmography
Awards, nominations and honours
Academy Awards
BAFTA Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Saturn Awards
Other awards
Brazil (1985)
3 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
3 Silver Ribbons awarded by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design
Hugo Award nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Fisher King (1991)
Venice Film Festival Silver Lion Winner
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (Mercedes Ruehl)
4 Los Angeles Film Critics Association nominations Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Plummer), Best Screenplay
Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award Winner
12 Monkeys (1995)
Empire Award Best Director
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Venice Film Festival Official Selection
Tideland (2005)
San Sebastian Festival Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
2 Empire Awards nominations Best British Film, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Best Fantasy Film nomination by the Costume Designers Guild of America
British Independent Film Awards nomination for Best Achievement in Production
International Press Academy Satellite Award Best Costume Design, 3 more nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction & Production Design, Best Original Song
Voted Best Fantasy Film of the Year by readers of the Total Sci-Fi Online magazine.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
Magritte Award for Best Foreign Film in Coproduction
An asteroid, 9619 Terrygilliam, is named in his honour.
Gilliam was given the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 2009 for his contribution to motion picture arts.
Gilliam was also given a BAFTA Special Award in 1969 for the graphics and animations in Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Terry Gilliam was awarded the Fellowship of the Kermodes, by film critic Mark Kermode.
Gilliam was honoured with the Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity Award'' at the Camerimage film festival in Łódź, Poland in 2009.
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Knight (2013)
Raindance Film Festival announced on 13 August 2018 that he would be the next recipient of its Auteur Award for his contribution to UK film.
Inkpot Award (2009)
References
Further reading
External links
Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine
1940 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century British comedians
21st-century American comedians
21st-century British comedians
Animators from Minnesota
British animators
British film directors
American animated film directors
British male actors
American male comedians
British male comedians
American comics artists
British comics artists
British male comedy actors
American male comedy actors
American comedy writers
British comedy writers
American emigrants to the United Kingdom
BAFTA fellows
British opera directors
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Copywriters
Inkpot Award winners
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Fantasy film directors
Science fiction film directors
Film directors from Minnesota
Male actors from Minneapolis
Monty Python members
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Occidental College alumni
People from Hennepin County, Minnesota
People from Panorama City, Los Angeles
Former United States citizens
Stop motion animators
Film directors from Los Angeles
American surrealist artists
British surrealist artists
Surrealist filmmakers
Science fiction fans
Birmingham High School alumni | false | [
"How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It), is a 2005 documentary film directed and written by Joe Angio, and produced by Michael Solomon. The film follows Melvin Van Peebles through his illustrious musical, acting, and directing career. The name comes from a controversial article that Van Peebles wrote, but never got published. Joe Angio, the director received four nominations for his film. Three of these nominations were for best documentary at the Chicago International film festival, and one nomination was at the Los Angeles Film Festival for best documentary feature.\n\nSynopsis \nThe film opens with content on where Van Peebles was born and raised, and eventually ends with discussing the many things he has done as a director, actor, singer, and even stock trader throughout his life. After his early years growing up in Chicago, the film goes on to show his experience being a cable car driver, and even an Air force pilot. It documents how he felt while he was working on the cable cars and how he ultimately wrote a novel about these days called The Big Heart. This book ultimately catapults Van Peebles into the independent film industry where he began making short films with the hopes of breaking into Hollywood. The documentary eventually touches upon when Van Peebles took flight and landed in the Netherlands and then eventually France in order to pursue his filmmaking career.\n\nProduction \nThe Film was directed and written by Joe Angio and produced by Joe's good friend Michael Solomon. Surprised that no one of the caliber of Spike Lee, or St. Clair Bourne had made a film about Peebles yet, the production of the film started in early 1998 and didn’t finish until 2005. Angio was once asked what type of guy Van Peebles was in an interview with Evan Jacobs; \"After being around him for all that time, what have you taken away about him personally?\" He stated in his response that Van Peebles is probably one of the hardest workingmen he has ever met. In order for him to have the influence that he has, he had to be. Anglo states, \"I feel like being lazy and procrastinating I think of the ten things Melvin has probably already accomplished while I was in bed.\"\n\nReception \n\nAs A. O. Scott of the New York Times states, \"How to eat Watermelon In White Company and enjoy it\" documents \"American Racism and one mans crafty, angry and resourceful responses to it.\" Throughout Van Peebles career, he received quite a bit of flak because of the controversial movies that he produced. For example, \"Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song,\" received an x-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America. Van Peebles response to this was to market the film as \"rated X by an all white jury.\" He stated in the documentary that after this response, the association reached out to him and told him that he wasn’t able to do that. His response was \"you’re all white right, so what's the problem?\" The film has received a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 11 fresh ratings, and only one rotten. Bill Cosby, a long time friend and supporter of Van Peebles was mentioned in the film to have donated the $50,000 he needed in order to produce the film \"Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.\"\n\nRe-release in 2015 \nOn February 2, 2015, in order to honor the 45th anniversary of Peebles critically acclaimed film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, the documentary was revamped, re-released and distributed by Music Box Films Home Entertainment, with add ons in a complete DVD set. The complete set includes new bonus features, including a new interview with Peebles, three of Peebles news commentaries, and two live concert performances.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican documentary films\nAmerican films\n2005 films",
"Roads in February () is a 2018 Canadian drama film directed by Katherine Jerkovic. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Canadian First Feature Film.\n\nThe film centres on Sara (Arlen Aguayo-Stewart), a young Hispanic Canadian woman visiting her grandmother in Uruguay.\n\nCast\n Arlen Aguayo-Stewart as Sara\n Gloria Demassi as Magda\n Mathias Perdigón as Tincho\n\nCritical response\nIn December 2018, the Toronto International Film Festival named the film to its annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list. The Vancouver Film Critics Circle awarded Aguayo-Stewart as Best Actress in a Canadian Film and Jerkovic received the One to Watch Award.\n\nCritical response to the film was positive. The Hollywood Reporter's Boyd Van Hoeij called it \"a promising debut feature\". And Norman Wilner from Now Toronto called Jerkovic \"a gifted, intuitive storyteller who doesn't need to oversell her story's emotional undercurrents; she trusts her audience to understand what's going on simply by paying attention to her actors' faces\". It scores on Rotten Tomatoes.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n2018 films\n2018 drama films\nCanadian films\nCanadian drama films\nFilms set in Uruguay"
] |
[
"Ratt",
"Early years (1973-1982)"
] | C_68889dd7699d417a9cf8cb86875eaed8_1 | What songs did Ratt make in the early years? | 1 | What songs did Ratt make in the early years? | Ratt | The origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in 1976. Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Askawa. Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording. In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows. In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" recording featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982. CANNOTANSWER | Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E | Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego in 1977, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is best known for their hit singles "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down," both of which charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Other songs such as "Wanted Man," "You're in Love," "Dance," and "Way Cool Jr." also charted on the Hot 100.
The band's classic line-up consisted of Stephen Pearcy on lead vocals, Robbin Crosby on lead and rhythm guitar, Warren DeMartini on lead and rhythm guitar, Juan Croucier on bass guitar, and Bobby Blotzer on drums.
Along with one of their peers Mötley Crüe, Ratt has been recognized as instrumental in the formation of the early 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene, also known as "hair metal" or "pop metal". The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, with everyone from the principal line up in and out, releasing their latest studio album, Infestation, on April 20, 2010.
History
Early years (1973–1982)
The origins of Ratt date back to 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal evolved into Mickey Ratt at some point in 1977.
Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Asakawa.
Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording on Pearcy's indie record label Top Fuel Records.
In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows.
In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" written by Pearcy was their first recording that was featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982.
Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy (1983–1985)
In July 1983, Ratt signed with the production company Time Coast Music. The company was run by the band's then-manager, Marshall Berle. Time Coast had previously issued records by Spirit and The Alley Cats.
Released in 1983, the band's self-titled EP sold over 100,000 records. The band grew in popularity on the Hollywood, L.A. club circuit, selling out multiple shows on weekends. Stephen Pearcy and Robbin Crosby co-wrote the band's first single, "You Think You're Tough", which found its way onto local radio stations KLOS and KMET. The album cover featured guitarist Robbin Crosby's girlfriend at the time, Tawny Kitaen, who would later on appear on Whitesnake's music videos.
The self-titled independent EP was well-received, and the band was signed by Atlantic Records. Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by both fans and critics. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals were noted for melding with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Crosby and DeMartini, combining the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith-influenced bravado elements with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Tawny Kitaen, who was previously in a relationship with Crosby, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. She also appeared in their video for "Back for More" and on their EP from the previous year.
The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like "Round and Round" (which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and again in 2020 on the Billboard Rock Digital Sales Chart, peaking at #18 on June 4, 2020), "Wanted Man", "Back for More", and "Lack of Communication". The video for "Round and Round" was notable for its guest appearance by Marshall Berle's uncle, Milton Berle, in his Uncle Miltie drag character. Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum three times over in the United States and making Ratt stars at home and abroad. The album release was capped off by a successful world tour that saw the band sell out stadiums and arenas worldwide. Out of the Cellar is widely regarded as the band's best work and a definitive moment in 1980s heavy metal, while "Round and Round" scored at No. 61 on VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs Show.
The band's second full-length album, Invasion of Your Privacy, was released in July 1985.
It peaked at No. 7 (which is the same peak position that Out of the Cellar attained). The album met with mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. AllMusic has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". It contained favorites "You're in Love" (No. 99 Hot 100) and "Lay It Down" (which made No. 40 on the Hot 100) that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV. Footage from the band's performances at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi were featured in the video to "You're In Love". DeMartini and Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Pearcy's sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the sales figures or the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum (selling over two million copies only in the U.S.). The band toured extensively in the United States and Japan, playing a total of 112 shows. In August 1985, the band played on the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England.
The model on Invasions cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte, who also made an appearance in the "Lay It Down" music video. Using a female model on an album cover later became a trend copied by many glam metal bands of the 1980s, including Great White and Slaughter. Invasion of Your Privacy was displayed by Parents Music Resource Center at a congressional hearing dealing with parental advisory labels.
A couple of months after the album release, the band released a home video entitled Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video was the first commercially available video to achieve gold sales status in the USA; it eventually reached platinum.
Dancing Undercover and Reach for the Sky (1986–1989)
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in August 9, 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with most music critics at the time of its release, as it took on a heavier sound than the ones in the previous albums. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive platinum albums alive, managing to sell over a million copies in the United States. Popular tracks generated by the album included "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip".
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a woman on the cover. Instead, they opted for gritty black-and-white portraits of each of the five band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad amongst its ten tracks and even features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds. The song that reflected this shift most strikingly was "Body Talk", which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child. The more straight-ahead style of the album led many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction akin to the thrash style promulgated by such bands as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, the slightly experimental undertones of the album were replaced with a bluesier sound throughout the band's next three releases.
Through 1987, Ratt embarked on a U.S. tour with newcomers Poison and played in Europe as a part of the Monsters Of Rock Tour. Their tour with Poison was one of the highest grossing tours of 1987.
Reach for the Sky was released in November 1988. Although the album achieved platinum sales status and reached No. 17 on Billboard's album charts, it was widely panned by critics. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. Reach for the Sky nevertheless contained the popular tracks "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman", which received MTV airplay, and as of 2021, it is the band's last album to be certified at least platinum. Ratt spent much of 1989 on a world tour in promotion of Reach for the Sky, with support from Great White, Warrant, Kix and Britny Fox.
The surreal, Dali-esque album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize so as to facilitate the diverse interpretations of their fans. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. According to Pearcy, he wanted to use that version of the cover, but the other band members feared that this cover would keep the record out of certain music stores.
Detonator, turmoil and hiatus (1990–1996)
Ratt's fifth album, Detonator, was released in August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Reach for the Sky. The album garnered mixed reactions. Critics claimed it lacked the live-sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some that the band was maturing and striving to expand their sound. Detonator featured "Givin' Yourself Away" and "Lovin' You's a Dirty Job". The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child while Jon Bon Jovi appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose".
During the seven shows of the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse caused his playing to become increasingly inconsistent onstage. During one particular show, after the band performed two songs using non-standard tuning, Crosby did not properly switch out guitars with his guitar technician; as a result, he was not in tune with the band for the next two songs. The last show of the band's Japanese tour, in Osaka, turned out to be Crosby's last with Ratt. When the band returned to the United States, Crosby checked again into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group, and McAuley Schenker Group.
In February 1992, Pearcy exited the group to form a new band called Arcade. He moved on to Vicious Delite in 1995 and the industrial-tinged Vertex in 1996.
Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, which included bassist Krys Baratto (from Samantha 7, Juice 13, The Oddfathers). In 1993, Crosby performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. In 1994, Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
First reunion and self-titled album (1996–2000)
In 1996, the five classic era members of Ratt began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album. Ratt eventually moved forward with a lineup of Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member Robbie Crane (formerly of Vince Neil's solo band and Pearcy's Vertex tour) on bass. When the band toured in 1997, they were a four-piece; Pearcy occasionally played guitar during this tour.
The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1998, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The self-titled Ratt album, released in July 1999, featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel. The album's first single, "Over the Edge", did graze the Top 40 Mainstream Rock charts.
Two versions of Ratt and death of Robbin Crosby (2000–2006)
In 1999, Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist. In January 2000, Pearcy left the group again and went on tour with his band Nitronic, which soon after became "Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy".
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV-positive. He died on June 6, 2002, from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt was profiled on VH1's Behind the Music.
During the group's inactive years, present-day and former members continued to work on their own side projects.
Second reunion (2006–2008)
On December 1, 2006, the website "Metal Sludge" reported that Pearcy and Croucier would re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini. On December 4, 2006, Jizzy Pearl announced on his message board that he was no longer a member of the band. On March 17, 2007, another website stated that Ratt would go on the 2007 tour with Poison and Great White. Later that month, Blabbermouth.net reported that Ratt would take part in the "Rocklahoma" festival on July 13–15, 2007 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with original singer Stephen Pearcy and without Juan Croucier, who decided not to participate in the reunion tour. Robbie Crane continued to play bass instead.
The summer tour started June 13, 2007 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and ended August 19, 2007 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brought Poison and Ratt onstage together for the first time since 1999, visited amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlantic City and Los Angeles.
In August 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio's Hair Nation channel reported that former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi had resigned as rhythm guitarist for Ratt and was rumored to be replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Bobby Blotzer confirmed these rumors stating that Cavazo was set to replace Corabi and would make his debut with the band on August 27. His first show with Ratt was in Baton Rouge, LA.
Infestation and hiatus (2009–2011)
In April 2009 Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced the signing of a worldwide deal with Ratt. Their new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Infestation reached No. 30 on Billboards Top 200 chart. A video was filmed for the album's first single, "Best of Me", and the band went on a world tour in support of the album.
In a March 18, 2010 interview with Metalholic Magazine, DeMartini said of the new album Infestation: "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
On October 26, 2010, Ratt announced that the band would be going on indefinite hiatus due to internal tensions.
Reunion with Croucier and second departure of Pearcy (2012–2015)
In January 2012, Pearcy said Ratt was in the process of writing material for a new album, planned to be released that summer. On March 22, bassist Robbie Crane announced his departure from Ratt to focus on Lynch Mob. In April 2012, rumors arose original bassist Juan Croucier would rejoin the band that summer; these rumors were confirmed when Croucier played with Ratt at the M3 festival on May 12.
On April 24, 2014, Pearcy announced that he had left the band again, explaining he was "officially done with having anything to do with them due to the constant turmoil, unresolved business, personal attacks/threats in the public forum, and most of all, the disrespect to the fans."
Legal issues and two versions of Ratt again (2015–2018)
In June 2015, Blotzer formed a band called Bobby Blotzer's Ratt Experience. In August 2015, Croucier formed a touring band that played Ratt's deep cuts, with the band debuting in September. Within days, Blotzer criticized Croucier for using the band's logo, arguing trademark infringement.
In September 2015, Blotzer took over control of WBS, a company he set up with DeMartini and Pearcy in 1997 to handle RATT business, over the objection of DeMartini and announced that he had "taken control" of Ratt and his Ratt Experience lineup was the real Ratt and would be embarking a tour in 2016 titled the American Made Re-Invasion Tour. Within days, DeMartini spoke out against Blotzer using the band name. but Blotzer claims he has the legal right to do so on his behalf. In October 2015, DeMartini sued Blotzer for allegedly falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the actual band. On November 5, 2015, the Los Angeles federal court rejected DeMartini's claim.
Until early 2017, Blotzer toured using the name Ratt. The 2016 Re-Invasion tour took Ratt throughout North America. Their tour also took them to the UK, including Hard Rock Hell and London. During this time, Blotzer was using the company WBS to sue the band's original bassist, Juan Croucier, for trademark infringement. On November 8, 2016 that Court granted summary judgment against WBS and in favor of Croucier, finding that the trademark rights had never properly been transferred to WBS and thus were still held by the RATT Partnership under its 1985 partnership agreement. Blotzer had also used WBS to sue Pearcy for trademark infringement in a separate lawsuit, but that lawsuit also failed.
On November 29, 2016, Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they had expelled Blotzer from the Ratt Partnership and announced their own Back for More Tour.
Despite adverse court decisions, Blotzer continued to tour as RATT with his band, claiming the right to do so because final judgment had not yet been entered in the cases.
In June 2017, judgment was finally entered in the Croucier case, and Blotzer's WBS filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In May 2018, the RATT Partnership filed suit against Blotzer and WBS for trademark infringement for continuing to perform as RATT after February 2016, when it was adjudicated that WBS had no rights in the RATT marks and Blotzer was expelled from the Partnership. In March 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of Croucier and sent the case back to the district court to determine whether WBS and its counsel should be liable for Croucier's attorneys' fees.
Ratt's "New Breed" (2018–present)
On June 1, 2018, it was announced by vocalist Pearcy that Ratt would move forward with him and bassist Croucier. It was confirmed that DeMartini had departed from Ratt, with Cavazo and Degrasso following. On July 5, 2018, it was revealed that Pearcy and Croucier would be joined by Black 'N Blue drummer Pete Holmes and guitarists Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders. In February 2020, guitarist Chris Sanders announced his departure from the band, along with announcing his retirement from the music industry.
In April 2020, Ratt was featured in a GEICO commercial depicting new homeowners that love their house, but note that they have a "rat problem". To the dismay of the homeowners, the band is shown performing their hit song "Round and Round" in different parts of the house.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all shows in 2020 were rescheduled for 2021. On September 11, 2020, Pearcy announced that the band's upcoming album would not be released until 2021.
In January 2021, Pearcy expressed interest in making one final Ratt album with all the remaining original members. On June 26, Ratt announced the addition of guitarist Frankie Lindia of David Lee Roth's solo band, replacing Chris Sanders.
MembersCurrent'''
Stephen Pearcy – lead vocals
Juan Croucier – bass, backing vocals
Pete Holmes – drums
Jordan Ziff – lead guitar, backing vocals
Frankie Lindia – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
DiscographyRatt (EP) (1983)Out of the Cellar (1984)Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)Dancing Undercover (1986)Reach for the Sky (1988)Detonator (1990)Collage (1997)Ratt (1999)Infestation'' (2010)
References
External links
Official website
Official Bobby Blotzer's Ratt website
[ Ratt] at AllMusic
American glam metal musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical quintets
Atlantic Records artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"\"Slip of the Lip\" is a song recorded by American heavy metal band Ratt in 1986 from the album Dancing Undercover and is also on their greatest hits album Ratt & Roll 81-91. It was written by Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier, and guitarist Warren DeMartini.\n\nMusic video\nIn the music video for the song, a female freelance reporter named Kitty Galore (an allusion to Ian Fleming's Pussy Galore character) is sent to a Ratt concert to spy on the band for the fictional \"Spy Magazine\". Ratt then commences to play at said concert, the music of which compels Kitty Galore to dance along provocatively even while under assignment. The end of the video has Kitty Galore catching a snapshot of Ratt lead vocalist Stephen Pearcy, after which the two suddenly start to make out.\n\nThe hotel room scenes in the video were filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana following a live concert at the historic Hirsch Memorial Coliseum. The live concert footage of the video was shot January 29, 1987 at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The band played the song twice at that concert.\n\nPersonnel\nStephen Pearcy- Vocals\nWarren DeMartini- co-lead guitar\nRobbin Crosby- co-lead guitar\nJuan Croucier- Bass guitar\nBobby Blotzer- Drums\n\nSee also\nRatt\nDancing Undercover\n\nReferences\n\nRatt songs\n1987 singles\nSong recordings produced by Beau Hill\nSongs written by Stephen Pearcy\nSongs written by Juan Croucier\nSongs written by Warren DeMartini",
"\"Body Talk\" is a song written and recorded by American heavy metal band Ratt. The song is primarily written by Ratt's bassist Juan Croucier. Ratt's guitarist Warren DeMartini had the song's opening riffs for years. However, no one was able to develop it into a song. Under a very tight deadline (one day to be exact), Ratt bassist Juan Croucier stepped in. He wrote all the vocal melodies and lyrics, adding additional chord progressions to the one riff that had been around for years. The song title was apparently conceived of by Ratt producer Beau Hill or vocalist Stephen Pearcy.\n\nIt appears as the fifth track of their third full-length album Dancing Undercover and the eleventh track of their compilation album Ratt & Roll 81-91. It was also used as a soundtrack for Eddie Murphy's film The Golden Child. The video was added on MTV in late '86, while \"Dance\" was still in heavy rotation. The song was written by Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier and guitarist Warren DeMartini.\n\nTrack listing (Japan)\n \"Body Talk\"\n \"Slip of the Lip\"\n\nIn the US, only promo singles of each track were issued separately.\n\nPersonnel\n Stephen Pearcy - vocals\n Warren DeMartini - co-lead guitar\n Robbin Crosby - co-lead guitar\n Juan Croucier - bass\n Bobby Blotzer - drums\n\nReferences\n\nRatt songs\n1986 singles\nSong recordings produced by Beau Hill\nSongs written by Stephen Pearcy\nSongs written by Juan Croucier\nSongs written by Warren DeMartini\n1986 songs"
] |
[
"Ratt",
"Early years (1973-1982)",
"What songs did Ratt make in the early years?",
"Dr. Rock\" / \"Drivin' on E"
] | C_68889dd7699d417a9cf8cb86875eaed8_1 | What albums did they make in the early years? | 2 | What albums did Ratt make in the early years? | Ratt | The origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in 1976. Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Askawa. Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording. In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows. In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" recording featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego in 1977, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is best known for their hit singles "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down," both of which charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Other songs such as "Wanted Man," "You're in Love," "Dance," and "Way Cool Jr." also charted on the Hot 100.
The band's classic line-up consisted of Stephen Pearcy on lead vocals, Robbin Crosby on lead and rhythm guitar, Warren DeMartini on lead and rhythm guitar, Juan Croucier on bass guitar, and Bobby Blotzer on drums.
Along with one of their peers Mötley Crüe, Ratt has been recognized as instrumental in the formation of the early 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene, also known as "hair metal" or "pop metal". The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, with everyone from the principal line up in and out, releasing their latest studio album, Infestation, on April 20, 2010.
History
Early years (1973–1982)
The origins of Ratt date back to 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal evolved into Mickey Ratt at some point in 1977.
Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Asakawa.
Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording on Pearcy's indie record label Top Fuel Records.
In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows.
In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" written by Pearcy was their first recording that was featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982.
Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy (1983–1985)
In July 1983, Ratt signed with the production company Time Coast Music. The company was run by the band's then-manager, Marshall Berle. Time Coast had previously issued records by Spirit and The Alley Cats.
Released in 1983, the band's self-titled EP sold over 100,000 records. The band grew in popularity on the Hollywood, L.A. club circuit, selling out multiple shows on weekends. Stephen Pearcy and Robbin Crosby co-wrote the band's first single, "You Think You're Tough", which found its way onto local radio stations KLOS and KMET. The album cover featured guitarist Robbin Crosby's girlfriend at the time, Tawny Kitaen, who would later on appear on Whitesnake's music videos.
The self-titled independent EP was well-received, and the band was signed by Atlantic Records. Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by both fans and critics. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals were noted for melding with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Crosby and DeMartini, combining the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith-influenced bravado elements with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Tawny Kitaen, who was previously in a relationship with Crosby, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. She also appeared in their video for "Back for More" and on their EP from the previous year.
The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like "Round and Round" (which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and again in 2020 on the Billboard Rock Digital Sales Chart, peaking at #18 on June 4, 2020), "Wanted Man", "Back for More", and "Lack of Communication". The video for "Round and Round" was notable for its guest appearance by Marshall Berle's uncle, Milton Berle, in his Uncle Miltie drag character. Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum three times over in the United States and making Ratt stars at home and abroad. The album release was capped off by a successful world tour that saw the band sell out stadiums and arenas worldwide. Out of the Cellar is widely regarded as the band's best work and a definitive moment in 1980s heavy metal, while "Round and Round" scored at No. 61 on VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs Show.
The band's second full-length album, Invasion of Your Privacy, was released in July 1985.
It peaked at No. 7 (which is the same peak position that Out of the Cellar attained). The album met with mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. AllMusic has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". It contained favorites "You're in Love" (No. 99 Hot 100) and "Lay It Down" (which made No. 40 on the Hot 100) that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV. Footage from the band's performances at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi were featured in the video to "You're In Love". DeMartini and Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Pearcy's sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the sales figures or the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum (selling over two million copies only in the U.S.). The band toured extensively in the United States and Japan, playing a total of 112 shows. In August 1985, the band played on the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England.
The model on Invasions cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte, who also made an appearance in the "Lay It Down" music video. Using a female model on an album cover later became a trend copied by many glam metal bands of the 1980s, including Great White and Slaughter. Invasion of Your Privacy was displayed by Parents Music Resource Center at a congressional hearing dealing with parental advisory labels.
A couple of months after the album release, the band released a home video entitled Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video was the first commercially available video to achieve gold sales status in the USA; it eventually reached platinum.
Dancing Undercover and Reach for the Sky (1986–1989)
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in August 9, 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with most music critics at the time of its release, as it took on a heavier sound than the ones in the previous albums. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive platinum albums alive, managing to sell over a million copies in the United States. Popular tracks generated by the album included "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip".
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a woman on the cover. Instead, they opted for gritty black-and-white portraits of each of the five band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad amongst its ten tracks and even features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds. The song that reflected this shift most strikingly was "Body Talk", which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child. The more straight-ahead style of the album led many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction akin to the thrash style promulgated by such bands as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, the slightly experimental undertones of the album were replaced with a bluesier sound throughout the band's next three releases.
Through 1987, Ratt embarked on a U.S. tour with newcomers Poison and played in Europe as a part of the Monsters Of Rock Tour. Their tour with Poison was one of the highest grossing tours of 1987.
Reach for the Sky was released in November 1988. Although the album achieved platinum sales status and reached No. 17 on Billboard's album charts, it was widely panned by critics. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. Reach for the Sky nevertheless contained the popular tracks "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman", which received MTV airplay, and as of 2021, it is the band's last album to be certified at least platinum. Ratt spent much of 1989 on a world tour in promotion of Reach for the Sky, with support from Great White, Warrant, Kix and Britny Fox.
The surreal, Dali-esque album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize so as to facilitate the diverse interpretations of their fans. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. According to Pearcy, he wanted to use that version of the cover, but the other band members feared that this cover would keep the record out of certain music stores.
Detonator, turmoil and hiatus (1990–1996)
Ratt's fifth album, Detonator, was released in August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Reach for the Sky. The album garnered mixed reactions. Critics claimed it lacked the live-sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some that the band was maturing and striving to expand their sound. Detonator featured "Givin' Yourself Away" and "Lovin' You's a Dirty Job". The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child while Jon Bon Jovi appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose".
During the seven shows of the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse caused his playing to become increasingly inconsistent onstage. During one particular show, after the band performed two songs using non-standard tuning, Crosby did not properly switch out guitars with his guitar technician; as a result, he was not in tune with the band for the next two songs. The last show of the band's Japanese tour, in Osaka, turned out to be Crosby's last with Ratt. When the band returned to the United States, Crosby checked again into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group, and McAuley Schenker Group.
In February 1992, Pearcy exited the group to form a new band called Arcade. He moved on to Vicious Delite in 1995 and the industrial-tinged Vertex in 1996.
Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, which included bassist Krys Baratto (from Samantha 7, Juice 13, The Oddfathers). In 1993, Crosby performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. In 1994, Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
First reunion and self-titled album (1996–2000)
In 1996, the five classic era members of Ratt began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album. Ratt eventually moved forward with a lineup of Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member Robbie Crane (formerly of Vince Neil's solo band and Pearcy's Vertex tour) on bass. When the band toured in 1997, they were a four-piece; Pearcy occasionally played guitar during this tour.
The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1998, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The self-titled Ratt album, released in July 1999, featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel. The album's first single, "Over the Edge", did graze the Top 40 Mainstream Rock charts.
Two versions of Ratt and death of Robbin Crosby (2000–2006)
In 1999, Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist. In January 2000, Pearcy left the group again and went on tour with his band Nitronic, which soon after became "Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy".
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV-positive. He died on June 6, 2002, from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt was profiled on VH1's Behind the Music.
During the group's inactive years, present-day and former members continued to work on their own side projects.
Second reunion (2006–2008)
On December 1, 2006, the website "Metal Sludge" reported that Pearcy and Croucier would re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini. On December 4, 2006, Jizzy Pearl announced on his message board that he was no longer a member of the band. On March 17, 2007, another website stated that Ratt would go on the 2007 tour with Poison and Great White. Later that month, Blabbermouth.net reported that Ratt would take part in the "Rocklahoma" festival on July 13–15, 2007 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with original singer Stephen Pearcy and without Juan Croucier, who decided not to participate in the reunion tour. Robbie Crane continued to play bass instead.
The summer tour started June 13, 2007 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and ended August 19, 2007 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brought Poison and Ratt onstage together for the first time since 1999, visited amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlantic City and Los Angeles.
In August 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio's Hair Nation channel reported that former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi had resigned as rhythm guitarist for Ratt and was rumored to be replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Bobby Blotzer confirmed these rumors stating that Cavazo was set to replace Corabi and would make his debut with the band on August 27. His first show with Ratt was in Baton Rouge, LA.
Infestation and hiatus (2009–2011)
In April 2009 Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced the signing of a worldwide deal with Ratt. Their new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Infestation reached No. 30 on Billboards Top 200 chart. A video was filmed for the album's first single, "Best of Me", and the band went on a world tour in support of the album.
In a March 18, 2010 interview with Metalholic Magazine, DeMartini said of the new album Infestation: "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
On October 26, 2010, Ratt announced that the band would be going on indefinite hiatus due to internal tensions.
Reunion with Croucier and second departure of Pearcy (2012–2015)
In January 2012, Pearcy said Ratt was in the process of writing material for a new album, planned to be released that summer. On March 22, bassist Robbie Crane announced his departure from Ratt to focus on Lynch Mob. In April 2012, rumors arose original bassist Juan Croucier would rejoin the band that summer; these rumors were confirmed when Croucier played with Ratt at the M3 festival on May 12.
On April 24, 2014, Pearcy announced that he had left the band again, explaining he was "officially done with having anything to do with them due to the constant turmoil, unresolved business, personal attacks/threats in the public forum, and most of all, the disrespect to the fans."
Legal issues and two versions of Ratt again (2015–2018)
In June 2015, Blotzer formed a band called Bobby Blotzer's Ratt Experience. In August 2015, Croucier formed a touring band that played Ratt's deep cuts, with the band debuting in September. Within days, Blotzer criticized Croucier for using the band's logo, arguing trademark infringement.
In September 2015, Blotzer took over control of WBS, a company he set up with DeMartini and Pearcy in 1997 to handle RATT business, over the objection of DeMartini and announced that he had "taken control" of Ratt and his Ratt Experience lineup was the real Ratt and would be embarking a tour in 2016 titled the American Made Re-Invasion Tour. Within days, DeMartini spoke out against Blotzer using the band name. but Blotzer claims he has the legal right to do so on his behalf. In October 2015, DeMartini sued Blotzer for allegedly falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the actual band. On November 5, 2015, the Los Angeles federal court rejected DeMartini's claim.
Until early 2017, Blotzer toured using the name Ratt. The 2016 Re-Invasion tour took Ratt throughout North America. Their tour also took them to the UK, including Hard Rock Hell and London. During this time, Blotzer was using the company WBS to sue the band's original bassist, Juan Croucier, for trademark infringement. On November 8, 2016 that Court granted summary judgment against WBS and in favor of Croucier, finding that the trademark rights had never properly been transferred to WBS and thus were still held by the RATT Partnership under its 1985 partnership agreement. Blotzer had also used WBS to sue Pearcy for trademark infringement in a separate lawsuit, but that lawsuit also failed.
On November 29, 2016, Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they had expelled Blotzer from the Ratt Partnership and announced their own Back for More Tour.
Despite adverse court decisions, Blotzer continued to tour as RATT with his band, claiming the right to do so because final judgment had not yet been entered in the cases.
In June 2017, judgment was finally entered in the Croucier case, and Blotzer's WBS filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In May 2018, the RATT Partnership filed suit against Blotzer and WBS for trademark infringement for continuing to perform as RATT after February 2016, when it was adjudicated that WBS had no rights in the RATT marks and Blotzer was expelled from the Partnership. In March 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of Croucier and sent the case back to the district court to determine whether WBS and its counsel should be liable for Croucier's attorneys' fees.
Ratt's "New Breed" (2018–present)
On June 1, 2018, it was announced by vocalist Pearcy that Ratt would move forward with him and bassist Croucier. It was confirmed that DeMartini had departed from Ratt, with Cavazo and Degrasso following. On July 5, 2018, it was revealed that Pearcy and Croucier would be joined by Black 'N Blue drummer Pete Holmes and guitarists Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders. In February 2020, guitarist Chris Sanders announced his departure from the band, along with announcing his retirement from the music industry.
In April 2020, Ratt was featured in a GEICO commercial depicting new homeowners that love their house, but note that they have a "rat problem". To the dismay of the homeowners, the band is shown performing their hit song "Round and Round" in different parts of the house.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all shows in 2020 were rescheduled for 2021. On September 11, 2020, Pearcy announced that the band's upcoming album would not be released until 2021.
In January 2021, Pearcy expressed interest in making one final Ratt album with all the remaining original members. On June 26, Ratt announced the addition of guitarist Frankie Lindia of David Lee Roth's solo band, replacing Chris Sanders.
MembersCurrent'''
Stephen Pearcy – lead vocals
Juan Croucier – bass, backing vocals
Pete Holmes – drums
Jordan Ziff – lead guitar, backing vocals
Frankie Lindia – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
DiscographyRatt (EP) (1983)Out of the Cellar (1984)Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)Dancing Undercover (1986)Reach for the Sky (1988)Detonator (1990)Collage (1997)Ratt (1999)Infestation'' (2010)
References
External links
Official website
Official Bobby Blotzer's Ratt website
[ Ratt] at AllMusic
American glam metal musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical quintets
Atlantic Records artists
Roadrunner Records artists | false | [
"Here I Am is the fifth album by American singer Dionne Warwick, released in December 1965 by Scepter Records. The LP was produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. This album, as was usually the case until 1968, was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City.\n\nHistory\nThe album's lead single, the title track \"Here I Am\", was featured in the film What's New, Pussycat? Despite this, the single failed to make the Top 40 in the U.S. The follow-up, \"Looking With My Eyes\", was prominently featured on the dance show \"Hullabaloo\", but did not make the chart either.\n\nThe third single from the album, \"Are You There (With Another Girl)\" was released in December 1965, and became a hit, making the Top 40.\n\nSeveral early copies of the album had errors in the album cover, listing tracks such as \"It's Love That Really Counts\" that were not included on the album itself. Other notable songs featured on the album are the bouncy \"Window Wishing\", the hauntingly beautiful \"If I Ever Make You Cry\" and \"This Little Light\" which featured Warwick herself on the piano.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nHere I Am at Discogs\n\nDionne Warwick albums\n1965 albums\nAlbums produced by Burt Bacharach\nAlbums produced by Hal David\nScepter Records albums",
"Singing in the Twins Wonderland (Volume 3) is an album by Hong Kong girl duo Twins. It is the third album in their series of their children's albums. It was released in April 2004. Whole four albums of \"Singing in the Twins Wonderland\" had a great success because they became very popular among children. Twins had one more album released for children, named Singing in the Twins Wonderland (Volume 4).\n\nBackground\nThe album was recorded in 2003, along with other first two albums in series. The first, Singing in the Twins Wonderland (Volume 1) is released in November 2003. The second album is released in the same month, and it had also very good success like the first one, but it did not make the same success. Their third album is released on April 3, 2004. It had a good success.\n\nTrack listing\n\"The Music Room\"\n\"I've Got No Strings\"\n\"Good Morning to You\"\n\"Did You Ever See a Lassie?\"\n\"The Library\"\n\"Cuckoo Clock\"\n\"Sing a Song\"\n\"Ding Dong Bell\"\n\"Hide and Seek\"\n\"Are You Sleeping?\"\n\"Can You Tell Me What This Is?\"\n\"Follow Me\"\n\"I Have Two Hands\"\n\"On the Way to School\"\n\"Donkey Donkey\"\n\"Boy & Girl\"\n\"Ten Green Bottles\"\n\"The Hokey Pokey\"\n\"Merry-Go-Round\"\n\"By the Beach\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2004 albums\nTwins (group) albums"
] |
[
"Ratt",
"Early years (1973-1982)",
"What songs did Ratt make in the early years?",
"Dr. Rock\" / \"Drivin' on E",
"What albums did they make in the early years?",
"I don't know."
] | C_68889dd7699d417a9cf8cb86875eaed8_1 | Who was in Ratt? | 3 | Who was in Ratt? | Ratt | The origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in 1976. Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Askawa. Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording. In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows. In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" recording featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982. CANNOTANSWER | Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier | Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego in 1977, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is best known for their hit singles "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down," both of which charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Other songs such as "Wanted Man," "You're in Love," "Dance," and "Way Cool Jr." also charted on the Hot 100.
The band's classic line-up consisted of Stephen Pearcy on lead vocals, Robbin Crosby on lead and rhythm guitar, Warren DeMartini on lead and rhythm guitar, Juan Croucier on bass guitar, and Bobby Blotzer on drums.
Along with one of their peers Mötley Crüe, Ratt has been recognized as instrumental in the formation of the early 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene, also known as "hair metal" or "pop metal". The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, with everyone from the principal line up in and out, releasing their latest studio album, Infestation, on April 20, 2010.
History
Early years (1973–1982)
The origins of Ratt date back to 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal evolved into Mickey Ratt at some point in 1977.
Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Asakawa.
Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording on Pearcy's indie record label Top Fuel Records.
In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows.
In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" written by Pearcy was their first recording that was featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982.
Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy (1983–1985)
In July 1983, Ratt signed with the production company Time Coast Music. The company was run by the band's then-manager, Marshall Berle. Time Coast had previously issued records by Spirit and The Alley Cats.
Released in 1983, the band's self-titled EP sold over 100,000 records. The band grew in popularity on the Hollywood, L.A. club circuit, selling out multiple shows on weekends. Stephen Pearcy and Robbin Crosby co-wrote the band's first single, "You Think You're Tough", which found its way onto local radio stations KLOS and KMET. The album cover featured guitarist Robbin Crosby's girlfriend at the time, Tawny Kitaen, who would later on appear on Whitesnake's music videos.
The self-titled independent EP was well-received, and the band was signed by Atlantic Records. Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by both fans and critics. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals were noted for melding with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Crosby and DeMartini, combining the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith-influenced bravado elements with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Tawny Kitaen, who was previously in a relationship with Crosby, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. She also appeared in their video for "Back for More" and on their EP from the previous year.
The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like "Round and Round" (which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and again in 2020 on the Billboard Rock Digital Sales Chart, peaking at #18 on June 4, 2020), "Wanted Man", "Back for More", and "Lack of Communication". The video for "Round and Round" was notable for its guest appearance by Marshall Berle's uncle, Milton Berle, in his Uncle Miltie drag character. Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum three times over in the United States and making Ratt stars at home and abroad. The album release was capped off by a successful world tour that saw the band sell out stadiums and arenas worldwide. Out of the Cellar is widely regarded as the band's best work and a definitive moment in 1980s heavy metal, while "Round and Round" scored at No. 61 on VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs Show.
The band's second full-length album, Invasion of Your Privacy, was released in July 1985.
It peaked at No. 7 (which is the same peak position that Out of the Cellar attained). The album met with mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. AllMusic has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". It contained favorites "You're in Love" (No. 99 Hot 100) and "Lay It Down" (which made No. 40 on the Hot 100) that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV. Footage from the band's performances at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi were featured in the video to "You're In Love". DeMartini and Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Pearcy's sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the sales figures or the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum (selling over two million copies only in the U.S.). The band toured extensively in the United States and Japan, playing a total of 112 shows. In August 1985, the band played on the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England.
The model on Invasions cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte, who also made an appearance in the "Lay It Down" music video. Using a female model on an album cover later became a trend copied by many glam metal bands of the 1980s, including Great White and Slaughter. Invasion of Your Privacy was displayed by Parents Music Resource Center at a congressional hearing dealing with parental advisory labels.
A couple of months after the album release, the band released a home video entitled Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video was the first commercially available video to achieve gold sales status in the USA; it eventually reached platinum.
Dancing Undercover and Reach for the Sky (1986–1989)
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in August 9, 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with most music critics at the time of its release, as it took on a heavier sound than the ones in the previous albums. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive platinum albums alive, managing to sell over a million copies in the United States. Popular tracks generated by the album included "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip".
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a woman on the cover. Instead, they opted for gritty black-and-white portraits of each of the five band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad amongst its ten tracks and even features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds. The song that reflected this shift most strikingly was "Body Talk", which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child. The more straight-ahead style of the album led many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction akin to the thrash style promulgated by such bands as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, the slightly experimental undertones of the album were replaced with a bluesier sound throughout the band's next three releases.
Through 1987, Ratt embarked on a U.S. tour with newcomers Poison and played in Europe as a part of the Monsters Of Rock Tour. Their tour with Poison was one of the highest grossing tours of 1987.
Reach for the Sky was released in November 1988. Although the album achieved platinum sales status and reached No. 17 on Billboard's album charts, it was widely panned by critics. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. Reach for the Sky nevertheless contained the popular tracks "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman", which received MTV airplay, and as of 2021, it is the band's last album to be certified at least platinum. Ratt spent much of 1989 on a world tour in promotion of Reach for the Sky, with support from Great White, Warrant, Kix and Britny Fox.
The surreal, Dali-esque album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize so as to facilitate the diverse interpretations of their fans. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. According to Pearcy, he wanted to use that version of the cover, but the other band members feared that this cover would keep the record out of certain music stores.
Detonator, turmoil and hiatus (1990–1996)
Ratt's fifth album, Detonator, was released in August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Reach for the Sky. The album garnered mixed reactions. Critics claimed it lacked the live-sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some that the band was maturing and striving to expand their sound. Detonator featured "Givin' Yourself Away" and "Lovin' You's a Dirty Job". The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child while Jon Bon Jovi appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose".
During the seven shows of the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse caused his playing to become increasingly inconsistent onstage. During one particular show, after the band performed two songs using non-standard tuning, Crosby did not properly switch out guitars with his guitar technician; as a result, he was not in tune with the band for the next two songs. The last show of the band's Japanese tour, in Osaka, turned out to be Crosby's last with Ratt. When the band returned to the United States, Crosby checked again into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group, and McAuley Schenker Group.
In February 1992, Pearcy exited the group to form a new band called Arcade. He moved on to Vicious Delite in 1995 and the industrial-tinged Vertex in 1996.
Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, which included bassist Krys Baratto (from Samantha 7, Juice 13, The Oddfathers). In 1993, Crosby performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. In 1994, Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
First reunion and self-titled album (1996–2000)
In 1996, the five classic era members of Ratt began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album. Ratt eventually moved forward with a lineup of Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member Robbie Crane (formerly of Vince Neil's solo band and Pearcy's Vertex tour) on bass. When the band toured in 1997, they were a four-piece; Pearcy occasionally played guitar during this tour.
The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1998, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The self-titled Ratt album, released in July 1999, featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel. The album's first single, "Over the Edge", did graze the Top 40 Mainstream Rock charts.
Two versions of Ratt and death of Robbin Crosby (2000–2006)
In 1999, Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist. In January 2000, Pearcy left the group again and went on tour with his band Nitronic, which soon after became "Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy".
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV-positive. He died on June 6, 2002, from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt was profiled on VH1's Behind the Music.
During the group's inactive years, present-day and former members continued to work on their own side projects.
Second reunion (2006–2008)
On December 1, 2006, the website "Metal Sludge" reported that Pearcy and Croucier would re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini. On December 4, 2006, Jizzy Pearl announced on his message board that he was no longer a member of the band. On March 17, 2007, another website stated that Ratt would go on the 2007 tour with Poison and Great White. Later that month, Blabbermouth.net reported that Ratt would take part in the "Rocklahoma" festival on July 13–15, 2007 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with original singer Stephen Pearcy and without Juan Croucier, who decided not to participate in the reunion tour. Robbie Crane continued to play bass instead.
The summer tour started June 13, 2007 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and ended August 19, 2007 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brought Poison and Ratt onstage together for the first time since 1999, visited amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlantic City and Los Angeles.
In August 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio's Hair Nation channel reported that former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi had resigned as rhythm guitarist for Ratt and was rumored to be replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Bobby Blotzer confirmed these rumors stating that Cavazo was set to replace Corabi and would make his debut with the band on August 27. His first show with Ratt was in Baton Rouge, LA.
Infestation and hiatus (2009–2011)
In April 2009 Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced the signing of a worldwide deal with Ratt. Their new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Infestation reached No. 30 on Billboards Top 200 chart. A video was filmed for the album's first single, "Best of Me", and the band went on a world tour in support of the album.
In a March 18, 2010 interview with Metalholic Magazine, DeMartini said of the new album Infestation: "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
On October 26, 2010, Ratt announced that the band would be going on indefinite hiatus due to internal tensions.
Reunion with Croucier and second departure of Pearcy (2012–2015)
In January 2012, Pearcy said Ratt was in the process of writing material for a new album, planned to be released that summer. On March 22, bassist Robbie Crane announced his departure from Ratt to focus on Lynch Mob. In April 2012, rumors arose original bassist Juan Croucier would rejoin the band that summer; these rumors were confirmed when Croucier played with Ratt at the M3 festival on May 12.
On April 24, 2014, Pearcy announced that he had left the band again, explaining he was "officially done with having anything to do with them due to the constant turmoil, unresolved business, personal attacks/threats in the public forum, and most of all, the disrespect to the fans."
Legal issues and two versions of Ratt again (2015–2018)
In June 2015, Blotzer formed a band called Bobby Blotzer's Ratt Experience. In August 2015, Croucier formed a touring band that played Ratt's deep cuts, with the band debuting in September. Within days, Blotzer criticized Croucier for using the band's logo, arguing trademark infringement.
In September 2015, Blotzer took over control of WBS, a company he set up with DeMartini and Pearcy in 1997 to handle RATT business, over the objection of DeMartini and announced that he had "taken control" of Ratt and his Ratt Experience lineup was the real Ratt and would be embarking a tour in 2016 titled the American Made Re-Invasion Tour. Within days, DeMartini spoke out against Blotzer using the band name. but Blotzer claims he has the legal right to do so on his behalf. In October 2015, DeMartini sued Blotzer for allegedly falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the actual band. On November 5, 2015, the Los Angeles federal court rejected DeMartini's claim.
Until early 2017, Blotzer toured using the name Ratt. The 2016 Re-Invasion tour took Ratt throughout North America. Their tour also took them to the UK, including Hard Rock Hell and London. During this time, Blotzer was using the company WBS to sue the band's original bassist, Juan Croucier, for trademark infringement. On November 8, 2016 that Court granted summary judgment against WBS and in favor of Croucier, finding that the trademark rights had never properly been transferred to WBS and thus were still held by the RATT Partnership under its 1985 partnership agreement. Blotzer had also used WBS to sue Pearcy for trademark infringement in a separate lawsuit, but that lawsuit also failed.
On November 29, 2016, Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they had expelled Blotzer from the Ratt Partnership and announced their own Back for More Tour.
Despite adverse court decisions, Blotzer continued to tour as RATT with his band, claiming the right to do so because final judgment had not yet been entered in the cases.
In June 2017, judgment was finally entered in the Croucier case, and Blotzer's WBS filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In May 2018, the RATT Partnership filed suit against Blotzer and WBS for trademark infringement for continuing to perform as RATT after February 2016, when it was adjudicated that WBS had no rights in the RATT marks and Blotzer was expelled from the Partnership. In March 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of Croucier and sent the case back to the district court to determine whether WBS and its counsel should be liable for Croucier's attorneys' fees.
Ratt's "New Breed" (2018–present)
On June 1, 2018, it was announced by vocalist Pearcy that Ratt would move forward with him and bassist Croucier. It was confirmed that DeMartini had departed from Ratt, with Cavazo and Degrasso following. On July 5, 2018, it was revealed that Pearcy and Croucier would be joined by Black 'N Blue drummer Pete Holmes and guitarists Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders. In February 2020, guitarist Chris Sanders announced his departure from the band, along with announcing his retirement from the music industry.
In April 2020, Ratt was featured in a GEICO commercial depicting new homeowners that love their house, but note that they have a "rat problem". To the dismay of the homeowners, the band is shown performing their hit song "Round and Round" in different parts of the house.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all shows in 2020 were rescheduled for 2021. On September 11, 2020, Pearcy announced that the band's upcoming album would not be released until 2021.
In January 2021, Pearcy expressed interest in making one final Ratt album with all the remaining original members. On June 26, Ratt announced the addition of guitarist Frankie Lindia of David Lee Roth's solo band, replacing Chris Sanders.
MembersCurrent'''
Stephen Pearcy – lead vocals
Juan Croucier – bass, backing vocals
Pete Holmes – drums
Jordan Ziff – lead guitar, backing vocals
Frankie Lindia – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
DiscographyRatt (EP) (1983)Out of the Cellar (1984)Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)Dancing Undercover (1986)Reach for the Sky (1988)Detonator (1990)Collage (1997)Ratt (1999)Infestation'' (2010)
References
External links
Official website
Official Bobby Blotzer's Ratt website
[ Ratt] at AllMusic
American glam metal musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical quintets
Atlantic Records artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Joey Cristofanilli is a bassist who played in the bands Magic, Rough Cutt, Ratt, Jag Wire and Radio 9.\n\nWith the bands Magic and Rough Cutt, he was bandmates with keyboardist Claude Schnell, who later became famous for playing keyboards in the band Dio.\n\nAfter Rough Cutt, he played in the band Ratt.\n\nWith Ratt, he filled in for Juan Croucier, who briefly went back to Dokken after joining Ratt. In addition to playing on the version of \"You're In Trouble\" that was a bonus track on some copies of the Ratt EP, he also co-wrote \"Wanted Man\" on Out of the Cellar.\n\nAfter Ratt, he played in the band Jag Wire. He currently plays for the band Radio 9 with his wife Patsy Silver as lead singer. They reside in Buffalo, NY.\n\nDiscography\n\nWith Rough Cutt\n\"A Little Kindness\" and \"Used And Abused\" (1981)\n\nWith Ratt\n \"You're In Trouble\" (bonus track on some copies of the Ratt EP) (1983)\n\nWith Jag Wire\n Made In Heaven (1985)\n\nWith Radio 9\n Radio 9 (2017)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nRough Cutt members\nRatt members\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Robbinson Lantz Crosby (August 4, 1959 – June 6, 2002) was an American guitarist who was a member of glam metal band Ratt, earning several platinum albums in the US in the 1980s. Crosby died in 2002 from a heroin overdose.\n\nEarly life\nCrosby was born in La Jolla, California, and had two sisters, Ristin and Bronle. Robbin attended Bird Rock Elementary, Muirlands Junior High and La Jolla High School. He previously played baseball prior to shifting his focus to the guitar. He was the son of Harry W. Crosby, a science schoolteacher at La Jolla High and an author of books about California history.\n\nCareer\n\nBefore Ratt\nIn the late 1970s, Crosby played in the San Diego band Mac Meda. In 1980, Crosby was in the band Phenomenon, which also featured future Warrior member Parramore McCarty, and released one single. The same year he also recorded a live demo with the band Aircraft, which also featured Rob Lamothe, later in Riverdogs with Dio/Whitesnake/Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell.\n\nWith Ratt\nCrosby was one of the original members of the San Diego rock band Mickey Ratt, later to be rechristened simply Ratt. He would end up co-writing many of Ratt's songs including \"Round and Round\", \"Wanted Man\" and \"Lay It Down\". The album Out of the Cellar went to triple platinum based on \"Round and Round\".\n\nCrosby was dating actress Tawny Kitaen (who would go on to appear in several Whitesnake videos) at the time he joined Ratt, and she appears on the album covers of both the Ratt EP (1983) and Out of the Cellar (1984).\n\nIn the coming years, Crosby would buy a home in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. He later married Playboy Playmate Laurie Carr in 1987, eventually divorcing in 1991. They had no children.\n\nAfter Ratt\nCrosby eventually left Ratt. Prior to leaving, Crosby worked as a producer for metal band Lillian Axe.\n\nIn a June 1999 interview for a Ratt episode of VH1's Behind the Music, Crosby talked about how drug addiction and his HIV status changed his life. \"What has drug addiction done for me?\" he asked. \"It's cost me my career, my fortune, basically my sex life when I found out I was HIV positive.\"\n\nIn 2001, Crosby publicly stated that he had AIDS and had been HIV positive since 1994. He had also been in and out of the hospital for eight years dealing with back problems and health issues associated with HIV. To occupy his time he became a Little League coach, and also worked on a guitar fan/collector project, which was to create a limited-edition run of Jackson King V \"Big Red\" replica guitars.\n\nCrosby also attempted various musical projects, first (post-Ratt) re-uniting with Perry McCarty, Krys Baratto, Dino Guerrero and Mark Lewis as an updated version of Secret Service, a moniker used by McCarty and Crosby previously for their pre-Ratt San Diego band. Later moving to El Paso in 1996, he briefly played with the Country/Western group Bill&Kev&War Party. One of his last projects was with former collaborator and ex-Ratt bassist Juan Croucier.\n\nDeath\nCrosby died in Los Angeles on June 6, 2002. Reported cause of death is a heroin overdose.\n\nAt the time of his death, Crosby had changed physically, due to a pancreatic condition that altered his metabolism; Crosby had gained significant weight since his 1980s Ratt heyday. He was quoted as saying in an interview just before his death, \"Apparently my pancreas has given up and I'm not metabolizing food the way I should. It's real frustrating.... I have a roommate that probably weighs 150 lbs. and he eats a lot more than I do. It's not like I'm a pig or a slob.\"\n\nAccording to an autopsy report after his death, Crosby was and weighed .\n\nIn a 1999 interview that was first televised in 2006, when Ratt's Behind the Music episode finally aired, Crosby stated, \"When I die, nobody cry at my funeral, in fact let's all have a party; I've lived the life of ten men. I lived all my dreams and more.\"\n\nCrosby's remains were cremated. His memorial was at Windansea Beach in La Jolla, California; friends and family on surfboards spread his ashes out at sea.\n\nDiscography\n\nWith Ratt\nRatt EP (1983)\nOut of the Cellar (1984)\nInvasion of Your Privacy (1985)\nDancing Undercover (1986)\nReach for the Sky (1988)\nDetonator (1990)\nRatt & Roll 81-91 (1991)\n\nWith Jon Bon Jovi\nBlaze of Glory (1990)\n\nWith Rumbledog\nRumbledog (1993)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1959 births\n2002 deaths\n20th-century American musicians\nAIDS-related deaths in California\nAmerican male guitarists\nAmerican rock guitarists\nDeaths by heroin overdose in California\nLead guitarists\nRatt members\nPeople from La Jolla, San Diego\nPeople with HIV/AIDS\n20th-century American guitarists\n20th-century American male musicians"
] |
[
"Ratt",
"Early years (1973-1982)",
"What songs did Ratt make in the early years?",
"Dr. Rock\" / \"Drivin' on E",
"What albums did they make in the early years?",
"I don't know.",
"Who was in Ratt?",
"Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier"
] | C_68889dd7699d417a9cf8cb86875eaed8_1 | Were there any other members of Ratt? | 4 | Were there any other members of Ratt besides Warren DeMartini, Gene Hunter, and Khurt Maier? | Ratt | The origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in 1976. Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Askawa. Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording. In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows. In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" recording featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982. CANNOTANSWER | Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). | Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego in 1977, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is best known for their hit singles "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down," both of which charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Other songs such as "Wanted Man," "You're in Love," "Dance," and "Way Cool Jr." also charted on the Hot 100.
The band's classic line-up consisted of Stephen Pearcy on lead vocals, Robbin Crosby on lead and rhythm guitar, Warren DeMartini on lead and rhythm guitar, Juan Croucier on bass guitar, and Bobby Blotzer on drums.
Along with one of their peers Mötley Crüe, Ratt has been recognized as instrumental in the formation of the early 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene, also known as "hair metal" or "pop metal". The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, with everyone from the principal line up in and out, releasing their latest studio album, Infestation, on April 20, 2010.
History
Early years (1973–1982)
The origins of Ratt date back to 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal evolved into Mickey Ratt at some point in 1977.
Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Asakawa.
Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording on Pearcy's indie record label Top Fuel Records.
In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows.
In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" written by Pearcy was their first recording that was featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982.
Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy (1983–1985)
In July 1983, Ratt signed with the production company Time Coast Music. The company was run by the band's then-manager, Marshall Berle. Time Coast had previously issued records by Spirit and The Alley Cats.
Released in 1983, the band's self-titled EP sold over 100,000 records. The band grew in popularity on the Hollywood, L.A. club circuit, selling out multiple shows on weekends. Stephen Pearcy and Robbin Crosby co-wrote the band's first single, "You Think You're Tough", which found its way onto local radio stations KLOS and KMET. The album cover featured guitarist Robbin Crosby's girlfriend at the time, Tawny Kitaen, who would later on appear on Whitesnake's music videos.
The self-titled independent EP was well-received, and the band was signed by Atlantic Records. Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by both fans and critics. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals were noted for melding with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Crosby and DeMartini, combining the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith-influenced bravado elements with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Tawny Kitaen, who was previously in a relationship with Crosby, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. She also appeared in their video for "Back for More" and on their EP from the previous year.
The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like "Round and Round" (which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and again in 2020 on the Billboard Rock Digital Sales Chart, peaking at #18 on June 4, 2020), "Wanted Man", "Back for More", and "Lack of Communication". The video for "Round and Round" was notable for its guest appearance by Marshall Berle's uncle, Milton Berle, in his Uncle Miltie drag character. Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum three times over in the United States and making Ratt stars at home and abroad. The album release was capped off by a successful world tour that saw the band sell out stadiums and arenas worldwide. Out of the Cellar is widely regarded as the band's best work and a definitive moment in 1980s heavy metal, while "Round and Round" scored at No. 61 on VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs Show.
The band's second full-length album, Invasion of Your Privacy, was released in July 1985.
It peaked at No. 7 (which is the same peak position that Out of the Cellar attained). The album met with mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. AllMusic has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". It contained favorites "You're in Love" (No. 99 Hot 100) and "Lay It Down" (which made No. 40 on the Hot 100) that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV. Footage from the band's performances at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi were featured in the video to "You're In Love". DeMartini and Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Pearcy's sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the sales figures or the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum (selling over two million copies only in the U.S.). The band toured extensively in the United States and Japan, playing a total of 112 shows. In August 1985, the band played on the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England.
The model on Invasions cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte, who also made an appearance in the "Lay It Down" music video. Using a female model on an album cover later became a trend copied by many glam metal bands of the 1980s, including Great White and Slaughter. Invasion of Your Privacy was displayed by Parents Music Resource Center at a congressional hearing dealing with parental advisory labels.
A couple of months after the album release, the band released a home video entitled Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video was the first commercially available video to achieve gold sales status in the USA; it eventually reached platinum.
Dancing Undercover and Reach for the Sky (1986–1989)
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in August 9, 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with most music critics at the time of its release, as it took on a heavier sound than the ones in the previous albums. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive platinum albums alive, managing to sell over a million copies in the United States. Popular tracks generated by the album included "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip".
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a woman on the cover. Instead, they opted for gritty black-and-white portraits of each of the five band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad amongst its ten tracks and even features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds. The song that reflected this shift most strikingly was "Body Talk", which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child. The more straight-ahead style of the album led many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction akin to the thrash style promulgated by such bands as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, the slightly experimental undertones of the album were replaced with a bluesier sound throughout the band's next three releases.
Through 1987, Ratt embarked on a U.S. tour with newcomers Poison and played in Europe as a part of the Monsters Of Rock Tour. Their tour with Poison was one of the highest grossing tours of 1987.
Reach for the Sky was released in November 1988. Although the album achieved platinum sales status and reached No. 17 on Billboard's album charts, it was widely panned by critics. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. Reach for the Sky nevertheless contained the popular tracks "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman", which received MTV airplay, and as of 2021, it is the band's last album to be certified at least platinum. Ratt spent much of 1989 on a world tour in promotion of Reach for the Sky, with support from Great White, Warrant, Kix and Britny Fox.
The surreal, Dali-esque album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize so as to facilitate the diverse interpretations of their fans. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. According to Pearcy, he wanted to use that version of the cover, but the other band members feared that this cover would keep the record out of certain music stores.
Detonator, turmoil and hiatus (1990–1996)
Ratt's fifth album, Detonator, was released in August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Reach for the Sky. The album garnered mixed reactions. Critics claimed it lacked the live-sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some that the band was maturing and striving to expand their sound. Detonator featured "Givin' Yourself Away" and "Lovin' You's a Dirty Job". The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child while Jon Bon Jovi appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose".
During the seven shows of the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse caused his playing to become increasingly inconsistent onstage. During one particular show, after the band performed two songs using non-standard tuning, Crosby did not properly switch out guitars with his guitar technician; as a result, he was not in tune with the band for the next two songs. The last show of the band's Japanese tour, in Osaka, turned out to be Crosby's last with Ratt. When the band returned to the United States, Crosby checked again into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group, and McAuley Schenker Group.
In February 1992, Pearcy exited the group to form a new band called Arcade. He moved on to Vicious Delite in 1995 and the industrial-tinged Vertex in 1996.
Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, which included bassist Krys Baratto (from Samantha 7, Juice 13, The Oddfathers). In 1993, Crosby performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. In 1994, Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
First reunion and self-titled album (1996–2000)
In 1996, the five classic era members of Ratt began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album. Ratt eventually moved forward with a lineup of Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member Robbie Crane (formerly of Vince Neil's solo band and Pearcy's Vertex tour) on bass. When the band toured in 1997, they were a four-piece; Pearcy occasionally played guitar during this tour.
The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1998, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The self-titled Ratt album, released in July 1999, featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel. The album's first single, "Over the Edge", did graze the Top 40 Mainstream Rock charts.
Two versions of Ratt and death of Robbin Crosby (2000–2006)
In 1999, Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist. In January 2000, Pearcy left the group again and went on tour with his band Nitronic, which soon after became "Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy".
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV-positive. He died on June 6, 2002, from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt was profiled on VH1's Behind the Music.
During the group's inactive years, present-day and former members continued to work on their own side projects.
Second reunion (2006–2008)
On December 1, 2006, the website "Metal Sludge" reported that Pearcy and Croucier would re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini. On December 4, 2006, Jizzy Pearl announced on his message board that he was no longer a member of the band. On March 17, 2007, another website stated that Ratt would go on the 2007 tour with Poison and Great White. Later that month, Blabbermouth.net reported that Ratt would take part in the "Rocklahoma" festival on July 13–15, 2007 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with original singer Stephen Pearcy and without Juan Croucier, who decided not to participate in the reunion tour. Robbie Crane continued to play bass instead.
The summer tour started June 13, 2007 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and ended August 19, 2007 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brought Poison and Ratt onstage together for the first time since 1999, visited amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlantic City and Los Angeles.
In August 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio's Hair Nation channel reported that former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi had resigned as rhythm guitarist for Ratt and was rumored to be replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Bobby Blotzer confirmed these rumors stating that Cavazo was set to replace Corabi and would make his debut with the band on August 27. His first show with Ratt was in Baton Rouge, LA.
Infestation and hiatus (2009–2011)
In April 2009 Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced the signing of a worldwide deal with Ratt. Their new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Infestation reached No. 30 on Billboards Top 200 chart. A video was filmed for the album's first single, "Best of Me", and the band went on a world tour in support of the album.
In a March 18, 2010 interview with Metalholic Magazine, DeMartini said of the new album Infestation: "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
On October 26, 2010, Ratt announced that the band would be going on indefinite hiatus due to internal tensions.
Reunion with Croucier and second departure of Pearcy (2012–2015)
In January 2012, Pearcy said Ratt was in the process of writing material for a new album, planned to be released that summer. On March 22, bassist Robbie Crane announced his departure from Ratt to focus on Lynch Mob. In April 2012, rumors arose original bassist Juan Croucier would rejoin the band that summer; these rumors were confirmed when Croucier played with Ratt at the M3 festival on May 12.
On April 24, 2014, Pearcy announced that he had left the band again, explaining he was "officially done with having anything to do with them due to the constant turmoil, unresolved business, personal attacks/threats in the public forum, and most of all, the disrespect to the fans."
Legal issues and two versions of Ratt again (2015–2018)
In June 2015, Blotzer formed a band called Bobby Blotzer's Ratt Experience. In August 2015, Croucier formed a touring band that played Ratt's deep cuts, with the band debuting in September. Within days, Blotzer criticized Croucier for using the band's logo, arguing trademark infringement.
In September 2015, Blotzer took over control of WBS, a company he set up with DeMartini and Pearcy in 1997 to handle RATT business, over the objection of DeMartini and announced that he had "taken control" of Ratt and his Ratt Experience lineup was the real Ratt and would be embarking a tour in 2016 titled the American Made Re-Invasion Tour. Within days, DeMartini spoke out against Blotzer using the band name. but Blotzer claims he has the legal right to do so on his behalf. In October 2015, DeMartini sued Blotzer for allegedly falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the actual band. On November 5, 2015, the Los Angeles federal court rejected DeMartini's claim.
Until early 2017, Blotzer toured using the name Ratt. The 2016 Re-Invasion tour took Ratt throughout North America. Their tour also took them to the UK, including Hard Rock Hell and London. During this time, Blotzer was using the company WBS to sue the band's original bassist, Juan Croucier, for trademark infringement. On November 8, 2016 that Court granted summary judgment against WBS and in favor of Croucier, finding that the trademark rights had never properly been transferred to WBS and thus were still held by the RATT Partnership under its 1985 partnership agreement. Blotzer had also used WBS to sue Pearcy for trademark infringement in a separate lawsuit, but that lawsuit also failed.
On November 29, 2016, Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they had expelled Blotzer from the Ratt Partnership and announced their own Back for More Tour.
Despite adverse court decisions, Blotzer continued to tour as RATT with his band, claiming the right to do so because final judgment had not yet been entered in the cases.
In June 2017, judgment was finally entered in the Croucier case, and Blotzer's WBS filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In May 2018, the RATT Partnership filed suit against Blotzer and WBS for trademark infringement for continuing to perform as RATT after February 2016, when it was adjudicated that WBS had no rights in the RATT marks and Blotzer was expelled from the Partnership. In March 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of Croucier and sent the case back to the district court to determine whether WBS and its counsel should be liable for Croucier's attorneys' fees.
Ratt's "New Breed" (2018–present)
On June 1, 2018, it was announced by vocalist Pearcy that Ratt would move forward with him and bassist Croucier. It was confirmed that DeMartini had departed from Ratt, with Cavazo and Degrasso following. On July 5, 2018, it was revealed that Pearcy and Croucier would be joined by Black 'N Blue drummer Pete Holmes and guitarists Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders. In February 2020, guitarist Chris Sanders announced his departure from the band, along with announcing his retirement from the music industry.
In April 2020, Ratt was featured in a GEICO commercial depicting new homeowners that love their house, but note that they have a "rat problem". To the dismay of the homeowners, the band is shown performing their hit song "Round and Round" in different parts of the house.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all shows in 2020 were rescheduled for 2021. On September 11, 2020, Pearcy announced that the band's upcoming album would not be released until 2021.
In January 2021, Pearcy expressed interest in making one final Ratt album with all the remaining original members. On June 26, Ratt announced the addition of guitarist Frankie Lindia of David Lee Roth's solo band, replacing Chris Sanders.
MembersCurrent'''
Stephen Pearcy – lead vocals
Juan Croucier – bass, backing vocals
Pete Holmes – drums
Jordan Ziff – lead guitar, backing vocals
Frankie Lindia – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
DiscographyRatt (EP) (1983)Out of the Cellar (1984)Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)Dancing Undercover (1986)Reach for the Sky (1988)Detonator (1990)Collage (1997)Ratt (1999)Infestation'' (2010)
References
External links
Official website
Official Bobby Blotzer's Ratt website
[ Ratt] at AllMusic
American glam metal musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical quintets
Atlantic Records artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Joey Cristofanilli is a bassist who played in the bands Magic, Rough Cutt, Ratt, Jag Wire and Radio 9.\n\nWith the bands Magic and Rough Cutt, he was bandmates with keyboardist Claude Schnell, who later became famous for playing keyboards in the band Dio.\n\nAfter Rough Cutt, he played in the band Ratt.\n\nWith Ratt, he filled in for Juan Croucier, who briefly went back to Dokken after joining Ratt. In addition to playing on the version of \"You're In Trouble\" that was a bonus track on some copies of the Ratt EP, he also co-wrote \"Wanted Man\" on Out of the Cellar.\n\nAfter Ratt, he played in the band Jag Wire. He currently plays for the band Radio 9 with his wife Patsy Silver as lead singer. They reside in Buffalo, NY.\n\nDiscography\n\nWith Rough Cutt\n\"A Little Kindness\" and \"Used And Abused\" (1981)\n\nWith Ratt\n \"You're In Trouble\" (bonus track on some copies of the Ratt EP) (1983)\n\nWith Jag Wire\n Made In Heaven (1985)\n\nWith Radio 9\n Radio 9 (2017)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nRough Cutt members\nRatt members\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Joshua Alan (born November 28, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, and was the singer for Bobby Blotzer's version of RATT during the American Made 2016 tour.\n\nMusic career\nIn 2010, Josh moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to expand his musical career. After filtering through several local bands, He joined up with the Sin City Sinners, leading the vocals for the band that included members Brent Muscat (Faster Pussycat), Scott Griffin (RATT and L.A. Guns), Michael “Doc” Ellis (RATT, Love/Hate, and Todd Kerns and the Anti-Stars), and Blas Elias (Slaughter). In March 2015, RATT drummer Bobby Blotzer guested with the Sinners. Blotzer asked Josh and fellow Sinners' members Doc and Scott to join him in forming a new version of RATT. Josh toured with Blotzer's version of RATT while continuing as the singer for the Sin City Sinners. February 14, 2016, the Sinners released the album Let It Burn. On February 19, 2016, Josh announced his departure from the Sin City Sinners in order to work full-time with Blotzer's version of RATT. During this time, he toured world-wide with Blotzer's version of RATT as lead vocalist for the American Made tour, performing throughout the United States, in Canada, and the U.K.\n\nOn January 23, 2017, Josh resigned from RATT to pursue his own musical career.\n\nCharity Work\nJosh has participated in several charity events including Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Susan G Komen Race for the Cure, Scale the Strat, Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Toys for Tots.\n\nAwards\nIn 2014, the Sin City Sinners, in which Josh was lead vocals, won the Best of Las Vegas award for best local band. In 2015, they won Las Vegas Weekly’s “Best of Vegas” Readers’ Choice Award.\n\nReferences\n\n1984 births\nLiving people\nRatt members\nAmerican male singer-songwriters\nAmerican heavy metal singers\nMusicians from Las Vegas\n21st-century American singers\nSin City Sinners members\nSinger-songwriters from Nevada"
] |
[
"Ratt",
"Early years (1973-1982)",
"What songs did Ratt make in the early years?",
"Dr. Rock\" / \"Drivin' on E",
"What albums did they make in the early years?",
"I don't know.",
"Who was in Ratt?",
"Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier",
"Were there any other members of Ratt?",
"Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973)."
] | C_68889dd7699d417a9cf8cb86875eaed8_1 | How many members made up the group? | 5 | How many members made up the group Ratt? | Ratt | The origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in 1976. Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Askawa. Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording. In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows. In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" recording featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego in 1977, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is best known for their hit singles "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down," both of which charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Other songs such as "Wanted Man," "You're in Love," "Dance," and "Way Cool Jr." also charted on the Hot 100.
The band's classic line-up consisted of Stephen Pearcy on lead vocals, Robbin Crosby on lead and rhythm guitar, Warren DeMartini on lead and rhythm guitar, Juan Croucier on bass guitar, and Bobby Blotzer on drums.
Along with one of their peers Mötley Crüe, Ratt has been recognized as instrumental in the formation of the early 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene, also known as "hair metal" or "pop metal". The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, with everyone from the principal line up in and out, releasing their latest studio album, Infestation, on April 20, 2010.
History
Early years (1973–1982)
The origins of Ratt date back to 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal evolved into Mickey Ratt at some point in 1977.
Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Asakawa.
Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording on Pearcy's indie record label Top Fuel Records.
In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows.
In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" written by Pearcy was their first recording that was featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982.
Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy (1983–1985)
In July 1983, Ratt signed with the production company Time Coast Music. The company was run by the band's then-manager, Marshall Berle. Time Coast had previously issued records by Spirit and The Alley Cats.
Released in 1983, the band's self-titled EP sold over 100,000 records. The band grew in popularity on the Hollywood, L.A. club circuit, selling out multiple shows on weekends. Stephen Pearcy and Robbin Crosby co-wrote the band's first single, "You Think You're Tough", which found its way onto local radio stations KLOS and KMET. The album cover featured guitarist Robbin Crosby's girlfriend at the time, Tawny Kitaen, who would later on appear on Whitesnake's music videos.
The self-titled independent EP was well-received, and the band was signed by Atlantic Records. Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by both fans and critics. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals were noted for melding with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Crosby and DeMartini, combining the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith-influenced bravado elements with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Tawny Kitaen, who was previously in a relationship with Crosby, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. She also appeared in their video for "Back for More" and on their EP from the previous year.
The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like "Round and Round" (which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and again in 2020 on the Billboard Rock Digital Sales Chart, peaking at #18 on June 4, 2020), "Wanted Man", "Back for More", and "Lack of Communication". The video for "Round and Round" was notable for its guest appearance by Marshall Berle's uncle, Milton Berle, in his Uncle Miltie drag character. Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum three times over in the United States and making Ratt stars at home and abroad. The album release was capped off by a successful world tour that saw the band sell out stadiums and arenas worldwide. Out of the Cellar is widely regarded as the band's best work and a definitive moment in 1980s heavy metal, while "Round and Round" scored at No. 61 on VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs Show.
The band's second full-length album, Invasion of Your Privacy, was released in July 1985.
It peaked at No. 7 (which is the same peak position that Out of the Cellar attained). The album met with mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. AllMusic has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". It contained favorites "You're in Love" (No. 99 Hot 100) and "Lay It Down" (which made No. 40 on the Hot 100) that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV. Footage from the band's performances at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi were featured in the video to "You're In Love". DeMartini and Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Pearcy's sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the sales figures or the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum (selling over two million copies only in the U.S.). The band toured extensively in the United States and Japan, playing a total of 112 shows. In August 1985, the band played on the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England.
The model on Invasions cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte, who also made an appearance in the "Lay It Down" music video. Using a female model on an album cover later became a trend copied by many glam metal bands of the 1980s, including Great White and Slaughter. Invasion of Your Privacy was displayed by Parents Music Resource Center at a congressional hearing dealing with parental advisory labels.
A couple of months after the album release, the band released a home video entitled Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video was the first commercially available video to achieve gold sales status in the USA; it eventually reached platinum.
Dancing Undercover and Reach for the Sky (1986–1989)
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in August 9, 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with most music critics at the time of its release, as it took on a heavier sound than the ones in the previous albums. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive platinum albums alive, managing to sell over a million copies in the United States. Popular tracks generated by the album included "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip".
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a woman on the cover. Instead, they opted for gritty black-and-white portraits of each of the five band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad amongst its ten tracks and even features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds. The song that reflected this shift most strikingly was "Body Talk", which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child. The more straight-ahead style of the album led many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction akin to the thrash style promulgated by such bands as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, the slightly experimental undertones of the album were replaced with a bluesier sound throughout the band's next three releases.
Through 1987, Ratt embarked on a U.S. tour with newcomers Poison and played in Europe as a part of the Monsters Of Rock Tour. Their tour with Poison was one of the highest grossing tours of 1987.
Reach for the Sky was released in November 1988. Although the album achieved platinum sales status and reached No. 17 on Billboard's album charts, it was widely panned by critics. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. Reach for the Sky nevertheless contained the popular tracks "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman", which received MTV airplay, and as of 2021, it is the band's last album to be certified at least platinum. Ratt spent much of 1989 on a world tour in promotion of Reach for the Sky, with support from Great White, Warrant, Kix and Britny Fox.
The surreal, Dali-esque album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize so as to facilitate the diverse interpretations of their fans. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. According to Pearcy, he wanted to use that version of the cover, but the other band members feared that this cover would keep the record out of certain music stores.
Detonator, turmoil and hiatus (1990–1996)
Ratt's fifth album, Detonator, was released in August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Reach for the Sky. The album garnered mixed reactions. Critics claimed it lacked the live-sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some that the band was maturing and striving to expand their sound. Detonator featured "Givin' Yourself Away" and "Lovin' You's a Dirty Job". The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child while Jon Bon Jovi appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose".
During the seven shows of the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse caused his playing to become increasingly inconsistent onstage. During one particular show, after the band performed two songs using non-standard tuning, Crosby did not properly switch out guitars with his guitar technician; as a result, he was not in tune with the band for the next two songs. The last show of the band's Japanese tour, in Osaka, turned out to be Crosby's last with Ratt. When the band returned to the United States, Crosby checked again into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group, and McAuley Schenker Group.
In February 1992, Pearcy exited the group to form a new band called Arcade. He moved on to Vicious Delite in 1995 and the industrial-tinged Vertex in 1996.
Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, which included bassist Krys Baratto (from Samantha 7, Juice 13, The Oddfathers). In 1993, Crosby performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. In 1994, Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
First reunion and self-titled album (1996–2000)
In 1996, the five classic era members of Ratt began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album. Ratt eventually moved forward with a lineup of Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member Robbie Crane (formerly of Vince Neil's solo band and Pearcy's Vertex tour) on bass. When the band toured in 1997, they were a four-piece; Pearcy occasionally played guitar during this tour.
The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1998, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The self-titled Ratt album, released in July 1999, featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel. The album's first single, "Over the Edge", did graze the Top 40 Mainstream Rock charts.
Two versions of Ratt and death of Robbin Crosby (2000–2006)
In 1999, Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist. In January 2000, Pearcy left the group again and went on tour with his band Nitronic, which soon after became "Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy".
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV-positive. He died on June 6, 2002, from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt was profiled on VH1's Behind the Music.
During the group's inactive years, present-day and former members continued to work on their own side projects.
Second reunion (2006–2008)
On December 1, 2006, the website "Metal Sludge" reported that Pearcy and Croucier would re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini. On December 4, 2006, Jizzy Pearl announced on his message board that he was no longer a member of the band. On March 17, 2007, another website stated that Ratt would go on the 2007 tour with Poison and Great White. Later that month, Blabbermouth.net reported that Ratt would take part in the "Rocklahoma" festival on July 13–15, 2007 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with original singer Stephen Pearcy and without Juan Croucier, who decided not to participate in the reunion tour. Robbie Crane continued to play bass instead.
The summer tour started June 13, 2007 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and ended August 19, 2007 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brought Poison and Ratt onstage together for the first time since 1999, visited amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlantic City and Los Angeles.
In August 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio's Hair Nation channel reported that former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi had resigned as rhythm guitarist for Ratt and was rumored to be replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Bobby Blotzer confirmed these rumors stating that Cavazo was set to replace Corabi and would make his debut with the band on August 27. His first show with Ratt was in Baton Rouge, LA.
Infestation and hiatus (2009–2011)
In April 2009 Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced the signing of a worldwide deal with Ratt. Their new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Infestation reached No. 30 on Billboards Top 200 chart. A video was filmed for the album's first single, "Best of Me", and the band went on a world tour in support of the album.
In a March 18, 2010 interview with Metalholic Magazine, DeMartini said of the new album Infestation: "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
On October 26, 2010, Ratt announced that the band would be going on indefinite hiatus due to internal tensions.
Reunion with Croucier and second departure of Pearcy (2012–2015)
In January 2012, Pearcy said Ratt was in the process of writing material for a new album, planned to be released that summer. On March 22, bassist Robbie Crane announced his departure from Ratt to focus on Lynch Mob. In April 2012, rumors arose original bassist Juan Croucier would rejoin the band that summer; these rumors were confirmed when Croucier played with Ratt at the M3 festival on May 12.
On April 24, 2014, Pearcy announced that he had left the band again, explaining he was "officially done with having anything to do with them due to the constant turmoil, unresolved business, personal attacks/threats in the public forum, and most of all, the disrespect to the fans."
Legal issues and two versions of Ratt again (2015–2018)
In June 2015, Blotzer formed a band called Bobby Blotzer's Ratt Experience. In August 2015, Croucier formed a touring band that played Ratt's deep cuts, with the band debuting in September. Within days, Blotzer criticized Croucier for using the band's logo, arguing trademark infringement.
In September 2015, Blotzer took over control of WBS, a company he set up with DeMartini and Pearcy in 1997 to handle RATT business, over the objection of DeMartini and announced that he had "taken control" of Ratt and his Ratt Experience lineup was the real Ratt and would be embarking a tour in 2016 titled the American Made Re-Invasion Tour. Within days, DeMartini spoke out against Blotzer using the band name. but Blotzer claims he has the legal right to do so on his behalf. In October 2015, DeMartini sued Blotzer for allegedly falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the actual band. On November 5, 2015, the Los Angeles federal court rejected DeMartini's claim.
Until early 2017, Blotzer toured using the name Ratt. The 2016 Re-Invasion tour took Ratt throughout North America. Their tour also took them to the UK, including Hard Rock Hell and London. During this time, Blotzer was using the company WBS to sue the band's original bassist, Juan Croucier, for trademark infringement. On November 8, 2016 that Court granted summary judgment against WBS and in favor of Croucier, finding that the trademark rights had never properly been transferred to WBS and thus were still held by the RATT Partnership under its 1985 partnership agreement. Blotzer had also used WBS to sue Pearcy for trademark infringement in a separate lawsuit, but that lawsuit also failed.
On November 29, 2016, Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they had expelled Blotzer from the Ratt Partnership and announced their own Back for More Tour.
Despite adverse court decisions, Blotzer continued to tour as RATT with his band, claiming the right to do so because final judgment had not yet been entered in the cases.
In June 2017, judgment was finally entered in the Croucier case, and Blotzer's WBS filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In May 2018, the RATT Partnership filed suit against Blotzer and WBS for trademark infringement for continuing to perform as RATT after February 2016, when it was adjudicated that WBS had no rights in the RATT marks and Blotzer was expelled from the Partnership. In March 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of Croucier and sent the case back to the district court to determine whether WBS and its counsel should be liable for Croucier's attorneys' fees.
Ratt's "New Breed" (2018–present)
On June 1, 2018, it was announced by vocalist Pearcy that Ratt would move forward with him and bassist Croucier. It was confirmed that DeMartini had departed from Ratt, with Cavazo and Degrasso following. On July 5, 2018, it was revealed that Pearcy and Croucier would be joined by Black 'N Blue drummer Pete Holmes and guitarists Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders. In February 2020, guitarist Chris Sanders announced his departure from the band, along with announcing his retirement from the music industry.
In April 2020, Ratt was featured in a GEICO commercial depicting new homeowners that love their house, but note that they have a "rat problem". To the dismay of the homeowners, the band is shown performing their hit song "Round and Round" in different parts of the house.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all shows in 2020 were rescheduled for 2021. On September 11, 2020, Pearcy announced that the band's upcoming album would not be released until 2021.
In January 2021, Pearcy expressed interest in making one final Ratt album with all the remaining original members. On June 26, Ratt announced the addition of guitarist Frankie Lindia of David Lee Roth's solo band, replacing Chris Sanders.
MembersCurrent'''
Stephen Pearcy – lead vocals
Juan Croucier – bass, backing vocals
Pete Holmes – drums
Jordan Ziff – lead guitar, backing vocals
Frankie Lindia – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
DiscographyRatt (EP) (1983)Out of the Cellar (1984)Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)Dancing Undercover (1986)Reach for the Sky (1988)Detonator (1990)Collage (1997)Ratt (1999)Infestation'' (2010)
References
External links
Official website
Official Bobby Blotzer's Ratt website
[ Ratt] at AllMusic
American glam metal musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical quintets
Atlantic Records artists
Roadrunner Records artists | false | [
"was a group made up of five past and (at that time) present members of the Japanese all-girl pop group Morning Musume created to celebrate Morning Musume's 10th anniversary.\n\nMembers \n 1st generation: Kaori Iida, Natsumi Abe\n 3rd generation: Maki Goto\n 5th generation: Risa Niigaki\n 7th generation: Koharu Kusumi\n\nHistory\nIn early 2007, Morning Musume Tanjō 10nen Kinentai was made. They released a commemorative Single called . Tsunku, the producer of Morning Musume, stated that the members chosen symbolize the grassroots beginning of the group; how they had five members ranging in age from 14-24. Additionally, each member was from an odd generation. On August 8, 2007 they released a second single - which was also their last one - . The group was only active during 2007 for Morning Musume's 10th anniversary.\n\nThe group had a concert tour starting on August 11, 2007, ending September 1, 2007, located in six different stadiums. The tour was named , and was later released on DVD on November 14, 2007.\n\nDiscography\n\nSingles\n\nDVDs\n\nReferences\n\nMorning Musume\nJapanese girl groups\nJapanese pop music groups\nJapanese idol groups\nMusical groups established in 2007\nMusical groups disestablished in 2007\nMusical groups from Tokyo",
"Victor Vroom, a professor at Yale University and a scholar on leadership and decision-making, developed the normative model of decision-making. Drawing upon literature from the areas of leadership, group decision-making, and procedural fairness, Vroom’s model predicts the effectiveness of decision-making procedures. Specifically, Vroom’s model takes into account the situation and the importance of the decision to determine which of Vroom’s five decision-making methods will be most effective.\n\nDecision-making processes \nVroom identified five types of decision-making processes, each varying on degree of participation by the leader. \n\nDecide: The leader makes the decision or solves the problem alone and announces his/her decision to the group. The leader may gather information from members of the group.\nConsult (Individually): The leader approaches group members individually and presents them with the problem. The leader records the group member’s suggestions and makes a decision, deciding whether or not to use the information provided by group members.\nConsult (Group): The leader holds a group meeting where he/she presents the problem to the group as a whole. All members are asked to contribute and make suggestions during the meeting. The leader makes his/her decision alone, choosing which information obtained from the group meeting to use or discard.\nFacilitate: The leader holds a group meeting where he/she presents the problem to the group as a whole. This differs from consulting approach as the leader ensures that his/her opinions are not given any more weight than those of the group. The decision is made by group consensus, and not solely by the leader.\nDelegate: The leader does not actively participate in the decision-making process. Instead, the leader provides resources (e.g., information about the problem) and encouragement.\n\nSituational influence of decision-making \nVroom identified seven situational factors that leaders should consider when choosing a decision-making process.\n\nDecision significance: How will the decision affect the project’s success, or the organization as a whole?\nImportance of commitment: Is it important that team members are committed to the final decision?\nLeader’s expertise: How knowledgeable is the leader in regards to the problem(s) at hand?\nLikelihood of commitment: If the leader makes the decision by himself/herself, how committed would the group members be to the decision?\nGroup support for objectives: To what degree do group members support the leader’s and organization’s objectives?\nGroup expertise: How knowledgeable are the group members in regards to the problem(s) at hand?\nTeam competence: How well can group members work together to solve the problem?\n\nVroom created a number of matrices which allow leaders to take into consideration these seven situational influences in order to choose the most effective decision-making process.\n\nApplication \nVroom’s normative model of decision-making has been used in a wide array of organizational settings to help leaders select the best decision-making style and also to describe the behaviours of leaders and group members. Further, Vroom’s model has been applied to research in the areas of gender and leadership style, and cultural influences and leadership style.\n\nReferences \n\nDecision theory"
] |
[
"Ratt",
"Early years (1973-1982)",
"What songs did Ratt make in the early years?",
"Dr. Rock\" / \"Drivin' on E",
"What albums did they make in the early years?",
"I don't know.",
"Who was in Ratt?",
"Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier",
"Were there any other members of Ratt?",
"Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973).",
"How many members made up the group?",
"I don't know."
] | C_68889dd7699d417a9cf8cb86875eaed8_1 | Who was the lead singer of Ratt? | 6 | Who was the lead singer of Ratt? | Ratt | The origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in 1976. Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Askawa. Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording. In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows. In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" recording featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982. CANNOTANSWER | singer Stephen Pearcy | Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego in 1977, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is best known for their hit singles "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down," both of which charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Other songs such as "Wanted Man," "You're in Love," "Dance," and "Way Cool Jr." also charted on the Hot 100.
The band's classic line-up consisted of Stephen Pearcy on lead vocals, Robbin Crosby on lead and rhythm guitar, Warren DeMartini on lead and rhythm guitar, Juan Croucier on bass guitar, and Bobby Blotzer on drums.
Along with one of their peers Mötley Crüe, Ratt has been recognized as instrumental in the formation of the early 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene, also known as "hair metal" or "pop metal". The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, with everyone from the principal line up in and out, releasing their latest studio album, Infestation, on April 20, 2010.
History
Early years (1973–1982)
The origins of Ratt date back to 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal evolved into Mickey Ratt at some point in 1977.
Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Asakawa.
Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording on Pearcy's indie record label Top Fuel Records.
In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows.
In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" written by Pearcy was their first recording that was featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982.
Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy (1983–1985)
In July 1983, Ratt signed with the production company Time Coast Music. The company was run by the band's then-manager, Marshall Berle. Time Coast had previously issued records by Spirit and The Alley Cats.
Released in 1983, the band's self-titled EP sold over 100,000 records. The band grew in popularity on the Hollywood, L.A. club circuit, selling out multiple shows on weekends. Stephen Pearcy and Robbin Crosby co-wrote the band's first single, "You Think You're Tough", which found its way onto local radio stations KLOS and KMET. The album cover featured guitarist Robbin Crosby's girlfriend at the time, Tawny Kitaen, who would later on appear on Whitesnake's music videos.
The self-titled independent EP was well-received, and the band was signed by Atlantic Records. Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by both fans and critics. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals were noted for melding with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Crosby and DeMartini, combining the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith-influenced bravado elements with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Tawny Kitaen, who was previously in a relationship with Crosby, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. She also appeared in their video for "Back for More" and on their EP from the previous year.
The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like "Round and Round" (which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and again in 2020 on the Billboard Rock Digital Sales Chart, peaking at #18 on June 4, 2020), "Wanted Man", "Back for More", and "Lack of Communication". The video for "Round and Round" was notable for its guest appearance by Marshall Berle's uncle, Milton Berle, in his Uncle Miltie drag character. Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum three times over in the United States and making Ratt stars at home and abroad. The album release was capped off by a successful world tour that saw the band sell out stadiums and arenas worldwide. Out of the Cellar is widely regarded as the band's best work and a definitive moment in 1980s heavy metal, while "Round and Round" scored at No. 61 on VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs Show.
The band's second full-length album, Invasion of Your Privacy, was released in July 1985.
It peaked at No. 7 (which is the same peak position that Out of the Cellar attained). The album met with mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. AllMusic has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". It contained favorites "You're in Love" (No. 99 Hot 100) and "Lay It Down" (which made No. 40 on the Hot 100) that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV. Footage from the band's performances at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi were featured in the video to "You're In Love". DeMartini and Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Pearcy's sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the sales figures or the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum (selling over two million copies only in the U.S.). The band toured extensively in the United States and Japan, playing a total of 112 shows. In August 1985, the band played on the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England.
The model on Invasions cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte, who also made an appearance in the "Lay It Down" music video. Using a female model on an album cover later became a trend copied by many glam metal bands of the 1980s, including Great White and Slaughter. Invasion of Your Privacy was displayed by Parents Music Resource Center at a congressional hearing dealing with parental advisory labels.
A couple of months after the album release, the band released a home video entitled Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video was the first commercially available video to achieve gold sales status in the USA; it eventually reached platinum.
Dancing Undercover and Reach for the Sky (1986–1989)
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in August 9, 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with most music critics at the time of its release, as it took on a heavier sound than the ones in the previous albums. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive platinum albums alive, managing to sell over a million copies in the United States. Popular tracks generated by the album included "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip".
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a woman on the cover. Instead, they opted for gritty black-and-white portraits of each of the five band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad amongst its ten tracks and even features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds. The song that reflected this shift most strikingly was "Body Talk", which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child. The more straight-ahead style of the album led many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction akin to the thrash style promulgated by such bands as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, the slightly experimental undertones of the album were replaced with a bluesier sound throughout the band's next three releases.
Through 1987, Ratt embarked on a U.S. tour with newcomers Poison and played in Europe as a part of the Monsters Of Rock Tour. Their tour with Poison was one of the highest grossing tours of 1987.
Reach for the Sky was released in November 1988. Although the album achieved platinum sales status and reached No. 17 on Billboard's album charts, it was widely panned by critics. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. Reach for the Sky nevertheless contained the popular tracks "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman", which received MTV airplay, and as of 2021, it is the band's last album to be certified at least platinum. Ratt spent much of 1989 on a world tour in promotion of Reach for the Sky, with support from Great White, Warrant, Kix and Britny Fox.
The surreal, Dali-esque album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize so as to facilitate the diverse interpretations of their fans. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. According to Pearcy, he wanted to use that version of the cover, but the other band members feared that this cover would keep the record out of certain music stores.
Detonator, turmoil and hiatus (1990–1996)
Ratt's fifth album, Detonator, was released in August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Reach for the Sky. The album garnered mixed reactions. Critics claimed it lacked the live-sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some that the band was maturing and striving to expand their sound. Detonator featured "Givin' Yourself Away" and "Lovin' You's a Dirty Job". The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child while Jon Bon Jovi appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose".
During the seven shows of the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse caused his playing to become increasingly inconsistent onstage. During one particular show, after the band performed two songs using non-standard tuning, Crosby did not properly switch out guitars with his guitar technician; as a result, he was not in tune with the band for the next two songs. The last show of the band's Japanese tour, in Osaka, turned out to be Crosby's last with Ratt. When the band returned to the United States, Crosby checked again into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group, and McAuley Schenker Group.
In February 1992, Pearcy exited the group to form a new band called Arcade. He moved on to Vicious Delite in 1995 and the industrial-tinged Vertex in 1996.
Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, which included bassist Krys Baratto (from Samantha 7, Juice 13, The Oddfathers). In 1993, Crosby performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. In 1994, Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
First reunion and self-titled album (1996–2000)
In 1996, the five classic era members of Ratt began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album. Ratt eventually moved forward with a lineup of Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member Robbie Crane (formerly of Vince Neil's solo band and Pearcy's Vertex tour) on bass. When the band toured in 1997, they were a four-piece; Pearcy occasionally played guitar during this tour.
The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1998, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The self-titled Ratt album, released in July 1999, featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel. The album's first single, "Over the Edge", did graze the Top 40 Mainstream Rock charts.
Two versions of Ratt and death of Robbin Crosby (2000–2006)
In 1999, Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist. In January 2000, Pearcy left the group again and went on tour with his band Nitronic, which soon after became "Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy".
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV-positive. He died on June 6, 2002, from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt was profiled on VH1's Behind the Music.
During the group's inactive years, present-day and former members continued to work on their own side projects.
Second reunion (2006–2008)
On December 1, 2006, the website "Metal Sludge" reported that Pearcy and Croucier would re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini. On December 4, 2006, Jizzy Pearl announced on his message board that he was no longer a member of the band. On March 17, 2007, another website stated that Ratt would go on the 2007 tour with Poison and Great White. Later that month, Blabbermouth.net reported that Ratt would take part in the "Rocklahoma" festival on July 13–15, 2007 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with original singer Stephen Pearcy and without Juan Croucier, who decided not to participate in the reunion tour. Robbie Crane continued to play bass instead.
The summer tour started June 13, 2007 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and ended August 19, 2007 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brought Poison and Ratt onstage together for the first time since 1999, visited amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlantic City and Los Angeles.
In August 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio's Hair Nation channel reported that former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi had resigned as rhythm guitarist for Ratt and was rumored to be replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Bobby Blotzer confirmed these rumors stating that Cavazo was set to replace Corabi and would make his debut with the band on August 27. His first show with Ratt was in Baton Rouge, LA.
Infestation and hiatus (2009–2011)
In April 2009 Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced the signing of a worldwide deal with Ratt. Their new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Infestation reached No. 30 on Billboards Top 200 chart. A video was filmed for the album's first single, "Best of Me", and the band went on a world tour in support of the album.
In a March 18, 2010 interview with Metalholic Magazine, DeMartini said of the new album Infestation: "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
On October 26, 2010, Ratt announced that the band would be going on indefinite hiatus due to internal tensions.
Reunion with Croucier and second departure of Pearcy (2012–2015)
In January 2012, Pearcy said Ratt was in the process of writing material for a new album, planned to be released that summer. On March 22, bassist Robbie Crane announced his departure from Ratt to focus on Lynch Mob. In April 2012, rumors arose original bassist Juan Croucier would rejoin the band that summer; these rumors were confirmed when Croucier played with Ratt at the M3 festival on May 12.
On April 24, 2014, Pearcy announced that he had left the band again, explaining he was "officially done with having anything to do with them due to the constant turmoil, unresolved business, personal attacks/threats in the public forum, and most of all, the disrespect to the fans."
Legal issues and two versions of Ratt again (2015–2018)
In June 2015, Blotzer formed a band called Bobby Blotzer's Ratt Experience. In August 2015, Croucier formed a touring band that played Ratt's deep cuts, with the band debuting in September. Within days, Blotzer criticized Croucier for using the band's logo, arguing trademark infringement.
In September 2015, Blotzer took over control of WBS, a company he set up with DeMartini and Pearcy in 1997 to handle RATT business, over the objection of DeMartini and announced that he had "taken control" of Ratt and his Ratt Experience lineup was the real Ratt and would be embarking a tour in 2016 titled the American Made Re-Invasion Tour. Within days, DeMartini spoke out against Blotzer using the band name. but Blotzer claims he has the legal right to do so on his behalf. In October 2015, DeMartini sued Blotzer for allegedly falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the actual band. On November 5, 2015, the Los Angeles federal court rejected DeMartini's claim.
Until early 2017, Blotzer toured using the name Ratt. The 2016 Re-Invasion tour took Ratt throughout North America. Their tour also took them to the UK, including Hard Rock Hell and London. During this time, Blotzer was using the company WBS to sue the band's original bassist, Juan Croucier, for trademark infringement. On November 8, 2016 that Court granted summary judgment against WBS and in favor of Croucier, finding that the trademark rights had never properly been transferred to WBS and thus were still held by the RATT Partnership under its 1985 partnership agreement. Blotzer had also used WBS to sue Pearcy for trademark infringement in a separate lawsuit, but that lawsuit also failed.
On November 29, 2016, Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they had expelled Blotzer from the Ratt Partnership and announced their own Back for More Tour.
Despite adverse court decisions, Blotzer continued to tour as RATT with his band, claiming the right to do so because final judgment had not yet been entered in the cases.
In June 2017, judgment was finally entered in the Croucier case, and Blotzer's WBS filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In May 2018, the RATT Partnership filed suit against Blotzer and WBS for trademark infringement for continuing to perform as RATT after February 2016, when it was adjudicated that WBS had no rights in the RATT marks and Blotzer was expelled from the Partnership. In March 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of Croucier and sent the case back to the district court to determine whether WBS and its counsel should be liable for Croucier's attorneys' fees.
Ratt's "New Breed" (2018–present)
On June 1, 2018, it was announced by vocalist Pearcy that Ratt would move forward with him and bassist Croucier. It was confirmed that DeMartini had departed from Ratt, with Cavazo and Degrasso following. On July 5, 2018, it was revealed that Pearcy and Croucier would be joined by Black 'N Blue drummer Pete Holmes and guitarists Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders. In February 2020, guitarist Chris Sanders announced his departure from the band, along with announcing his retirement from the music industry.
In April 2020, Ratt was featured in a GEICO commercial depicting new homeowners that love their house, but note that they have a "rat problem". To the dismay of the homeowners, the band is shown performing their hit song "Round and Round" in different parts of the house.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all shows in 2020 were rescheduled for 2021. On September 11, 2020, Pearcy announced that the band's upcoming album would not be released until 2021.
In January 2021, Pearcy expressed interest in making one final Ratt album with all the remaining original members. On June 26, Ratt announced the addition of guitarist Frankie Lindia of David Lee Roth's solo band, replacing Chris Sanders.
MembersCurrent'''
Stephen Pearcy – lead vocals
Juan Croucier – bass, backing vocals
Pete Holmes – drums
Jordan Ziff – lead guitar, backing vocals
Frankie Lindia – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
DiscographyRatt (EP) (1983)Out of the Cellar (1984)Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)Dancing Undercover (1986)Reach for the Sky (1988)Detonator (1990)Collage (1997)Ratt (1999)Infestation'' (2010)
References
External links
Official website
Official Bobby Blotzer's Ratt website
[ Ratt] at AllMusic
American glam metal musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical quintets
Atlantic Records artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Joey Cristofanilli is a bassist who played in the bands Magic, Rough Cutt, Ratt, Jag Wire and Radio 9.\n\nWith the bands Magic and Rough Cutt, he was bandmates with keyboardist Claude Schnell, who later became famous for playing keyboards in the band Dio.\n\nAfter Rough Cutt, he played in the band Ratt.\n\nWith Ratt, he filled in for Juan Croucier, who briefly went back to Dokken after joining Ratt. In addition to playing on the version of \"You're In Trouble\" that was a bonus track on some copies of the Ratt EP, he also co-wrote \"Wanted Man\" on Out of the Cellar.\n\nAfter Ratt, he played in the band Jag Wire. He currently plays for the band Radio 9 with his wife Patsy Silver as lead singer. They reside in Buffalo, NY.\n\nDiscography\n\nWith Rough Cutt\n\"A Little Kindness\" and \"Used And Abused\" (1981)\n\nWith Ratt\n \"You're In Trouble\" (bonus track on some copies of the Ratt EP) (1983)\n\nWith Jag Wire\n Made In Heaven (1985)\n\nWith Radio 9\n Radio 9 (2017)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nRough Cutt members\nRatt members\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Joshua Alan (born November 28, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, and was the singer for Bobby Blotzer's version of RATT during the American Made 2016 tour.\n\nMusic career\nIn 2010, Josh moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to expand his musical career. After filtering through several local bands, He joined up with the Sin City Sinners, leading the vocals for the band that included members Brent Muscat (Faster Pussycat), Scott Griffin (RATT and L.A. Guns), Michael “Doc” Ellis (RATT, Love/Hate, and Todd Kerns and the Anti-Stars), and Blas Elias (Slaughter). In March 2015, RATT drummer Bobby Blotzer guested with the Sinners. Blotzer asked Josh and fellow Sinners' members Doc and Scott to join him in forming a new version of RATT. Josh toured with Blotzer's version of RATT while continuing as the singer for the Sin City Sinners. February 14, 2016, the Sinners released the album Let It Burn. On February 19, 2016, Josh announced his departure from the Sin City Sinners in order to work full-time with Blotzer's version of RATT. During this time, he toured world-wide with Blotzer's version of RATT as lead vocalist for the American Made tour, performing throughout the United States, in Canada, and the U.K.\n\nOn January 23, 2017, Josh resigned from RATT to pursue his own musical career.\n\nCharity Work\nJosh has participated in several charity events including Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Susan G Komen Race for the Cure, Scale the Strat, Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Toys for Tots.\n\nAwards\nIn 2014, the Sin City Sinners, in which Josh was lead vocals, won the Best of Las Vegas award for best local band. In 2015, they won Las Vegas Weekly’s “Best of Vegas” Readers’ Choice Award.\n\nReferences\n\n1984 births\nLiving people\nRatt members\nAmerican male singer-songwriters\nAmerican heavy metal singers\nMusicians from Las Vegas\n21st-century American singers\nSin City Sinners members\nSinger-songwriters from Nevada"
] |
[
"Ratt",
"Early years (1973-1982)",
"What songs did Ratt make in the early years?",
"Dr. Rock\" / \"Drivin' on E",
"What albums did they make in the early years?",
"I don't know.",
"Who was in Ratt?",
"Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier",
"Were there any other members of Ratt?",
"Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973).",
"How many members made up the group?",
"I don't know.",
"Who was the lead singer of Ratt?",
"singer Stephen Pearcy"
] | C_68889dd7699d417a9cf8cb86875eaed8_1 | Were there any other singers? | 7 | Were there any other singers besides Stephen Pearcy in Ratt? | Ratt | The origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in 1976. Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Askawa. Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording. In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows. In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" recording featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego in 1977, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is best known for their hit singles "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down," both of which charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Other songs such as "Wanted Man," "You're in Love," "Dance," and "Way Cool Jr." also charted on the Hot 100.
The band's classic line-up consisted of Stephen Pearcy on lead vocals, Robbin Crosby on lead and rhythm guitar, Warren DeMartini on lead and rhythm guitar, Juan Croucier on bass guitar, and Bobby Blotzer on drums.
Along with one of their peers Mötley Crüe, Ratt has been recognized as instrumental in the formation of the early 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene, also known as "hair metal" or "pop metal". The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, with everyone from the principal line up in and out, releasing their latest studio album, Infestation, on April 20, 2010.
History
Early years (1973–1982)
The origins of Ratt date back to 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal evolved into Mickey Ratt at some point in 1977.
Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with Asakawa.
Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several demos compilations and a live concert recording on Pearcy's indie record label Top Fuel Records.
In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles club shows.
In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell the World" written by Pearcy was their first recording that was featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982.
Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy (1983–1985)
In July 1983, Ratt signed with the production company Time Coast Music. The company was run by the band's then-manager, Marshall Berle. Time Coast had previously issued records by Spirit and The Alley Cats.
Released in 1983, the band's self-titled EP sold over 100,000 records. The band grew in popularity on the Hollywood, L.A. club circuit, selling out multiple shows on weekends. Stephen Pearcy and Robbin Crosby co-wrote the band's first single, "You Think You're Tough", which found its way onto local radio stations KLOS and KMET. The album cover featured guitarist Robbin Crosby's girlfriend at the time, Tawny Kitaen, who would later on appear on Whitesnake's music videos.
The self-titled independent EP was well-received, and the band was signed by Atlantic Records. Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by both fans and critics. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals were noted for melding with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Crosby and DeMartini, combining the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith-influenced bravado elements with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Tawny Kitaen, who was previously in a relationship with Crosby, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. She also appeared in their video for "Back for More" and on their EP from the previous year.
The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like "Round and Round" (which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and again in 2020 on the Billboard Rock Digital Sales Chart, peaking at #18 on June 4, 2020), "Wanted Man", "Back for More", and "Lack of Communication". The video for "Round and Round" was notable for its guest appearance by Marshall Berle's uncle, Milton Berle, in his Uncle Miltie drag character. Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum three times over in the United States and making Ratt stars at home and abroad. The album release was capped off by a successful world tour that saw the band sell out stadiums and arenas worldwide. Out of the Cellar is widely regarded as the band's best work and a definitive moment in 1980s heavy metal, while "Round and Round" scored at No. 61 on VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs Show.
The band's second full-length album, Invasion of Your Privacy, was released in July 1985.
It peaked at No. 7 (which is the same peak position that Out of the Cellar attained). The album met with mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. AllMusic has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". It contained favorites "You're in Love" (No. 99 Hot 100) and "Lay It Down" (which made No. 40 on the Hot 100) that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV. Footage from the band's performances at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi were featured in the video to "You're In Love". DeMartini and Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Pearcy's sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the sales figures or the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum (selling over two million copies only in the U.S.). The band toured extensively in the United States and Japan, playing a total of 112 shows. In August 1985, the band played on the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England.
The model on Invasions cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte, who also made an appearance in the "Lay It Down" music video. Using a female model on an album cover later became a trend copied by many glam metal bands of the 1980s, including Great White and Slaughter. Invasion of Your Privacy was displayed by Parents Music Resource Center at a congressional hearing dealing with parental advisory labels.
A couple of months after the album release, the band released a home video entitled Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video was the first commercially available video to achieve gold sales status in the USA; it eventually reached platinum.
Dancing Undercover and Reach for the Sky (1986–1989)
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in August 9, 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with most music critics at the time of its release, as it took on a heavier sound than the ones in the previous albums. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive platinum albums alive, managing to sell over a million copies in the United States. Popular tracks generated by the album included "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip".
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a woman on the cover. Instead, they opted for gritty black-and-white portraits of each of the five band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad amongst its ten tracks and even features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds. The song that reflected this shift most strikingly was "Body Talk", which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child. The more straight-ahead style of the album led many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction akin to the thrash style promulgated by such bands as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, the slightly experimental undertones of the album were replaced with a bluesier sound throughout the band's next three releases.
Through 1987, Ratt embarked on a U.S. tour with newcomers Poison and played in Europe as a part of the Monsters Of Rock Tour. Their tour with Poison was one of the highest grossing tours of 1987.
Reach for the Sky was released in November 1988. Although the album achieved platinum sales status and reached No. 17 on Billboard's album charts, it was widely panned by critics. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. Reach for the Sky nevertheless contained the popular tracks "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman", which received MTV airplay, and as of 2021, it is the band's last album to be certified at least platinum. Ratt spent much of 1989 on a world tour in promotion of Reach for the Sky, with support from Great White, Warrant, Kix and Britny Fox.
The surreal, Dali-esque album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize so as to facilitate the diverse interpretations of their fans. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. According to Pearcy, he wanted to use that version of the cover, but the other band members feared that this cover would keep the record out of certain music stores.
Detonator, turmoil and hiatus (1990–1996)
Ratt's fifth album, Detonator, was released in August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Reach for the Sky. The album garnered mixed reactions. Critics claimed it lacked the live-sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some that the band was maturing and striving to expand their sound. Detonator featured "Givin' Yourself Away" and "Lovin' You's a Dirty Job". The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child while Jon Bon Jovi appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose".
During the seven shows of the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse caused his playing to become increasingly inconsistent onstage. During one particular show, after the band performed two songs using non-standard tuning, Crosby did not properly switch out guitars with his guitar technician; as a result, he was not in tune with the band for the next two songs. The last show of the band's Japanese tour, in Osaka, turned out to be Crosby's last with Ratt. When the band returned to the United States, Crosby checked again into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group, and McAuley Schenker Group.
In February 1992, Pearcy exited the group to form a new band called Arcade. He moved on to Vicious Delite in 1995 and the industrial-tinged Vertex in 1996.
Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, which included bassist Krys Baratto (from Samantha 7, Juice 13, The Oddfathers). In 1993, Crosby performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. In 1994, Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
First reunion and self-titled album (1996–2000)
In 1996, the five classic era members of Ratt began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album. Ratt eventually moved forward with a lineup of Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member Robbie Crane (formerly of Vince Neil's solo band and Pearcy's Vertex tour) on bass. When the band toured in 1997, they were a four-piece; Pearcy occasionally played guitar during this tour.
The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1998, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The self-titled Ratt album, released in July 1999, featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel. The album's first single, "Over the Edge", did graze the Top 40 Mainstream Rock charts.
Two versions of Ratt and death of Robbin Crosby (2000–2006)
In 1999, Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist. In January 2000, Pearcy left the group again and went on tour with his band Nitronic, which soon after became "Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy".
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV-positive. He died on June 6, 2002, from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt was profiled on VH1's Behind the Music.
During the group's inactive years, present-day and former members continued to work on their own side projects.
Second reunion (2006–2008)
On December 1, 2006, the website "Metal Sludge" reported that Pearcy and Croucier would re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini. On December 4, 2006, Jizzy Pearl announced on his message board that he was no longer a member of the band. On March 17, 2007, another website stated that Ratt would go on the 2007 tour with Poison and Great White. Later that month, Blabbermouth.net reported that Ratt would take part in the "Rocklahoma" festival on July 13–15, 2007 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with original singer Stephen Pearcy and without Juan Croucier, who decided not to participate in the reunion tour. Robbie Crane continued to play bass instead.
The summer tour started June 13, 2007 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and ended August 19, 2007 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brought Poison and Ratt onstage together for the first time since 1999, visited amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlantic City and Los Angeles.
In August 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio's Hair Nation channel reported that former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi had resigned as rhythm guitarist for Ratt and was rumored to be replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Bobby Blotzer confirmed these rumors stating that Cavazo was set to replace Corabi and would make his debut with the band on August 27. His first show with Ratt was in Baton Rouge, LA.
Infestation and hiatus (2009–2011)
In April 2009 Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced the signing of a worldwide deal with Ratt. Their new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Infestation reached No. 30 on Billboards Top 200 chart. A video was filmed for the album's first single, "Best of Me", and the band went on a world tour in support of the album.
In a March 18, 2010 interview with Metalholic Magazine, DeMartini said of the new album Infestation: "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
On October 26, 2010, Ratt announced that the band would be going on indefinite hiatus due to internal tensions.
Reunion with Croucier and second departure of Pearcy (2012–2015)
In January 2012, Pearcy said Ratt was in the process of writing material for a new album, planned to be released that summer. On March 22, bassist Robbie Crane announced his departure from Ratt to focus on Lynch Mob. In April 2012, rumors arose original bassist Juan Croucier would rejoin the band that summer; these rumors were confirmed when Croucier played with Ratt at the M3 festival on May 12.
On April 24, 2014, Pearcy announced that he had left the band again, explaining he was "officially done with having anything to do with them due to the constant turmoil, unresolved business, personal attacks/threats in the public forum, and most of all, the disrespect to the fans."
Legal issues and two versions of Ratt again (2015–2018)
In June 2015, Blotzer formed a band called Bobby Blotzer's Ratt Experience. In August 2015, Croucier formed a touring band that played Ratt's deep cuts, with the band debuting in September. Within days, Blotzer criticized Croucier for using the band's logo, arguing trademark infringement.
In September 2015, Blotzer took over control of WBS, a company he set up with DeMartini and Pearcy in 1997 to handle RATT business, over the objection of DeMartini and announced that he had "taken control" of Ratt and his Ratt Experience lineup was the real Ratt and would be embarking a tour in 2016 titled the American Made Re-Invasion Tour. Within days, DeMartini spoke out against Blotzer using the band name. but Blotzer claims he has the legal right to do so on his behalf. In October 2015, DeMartini sued Blotzer for allegedly falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the actual band. On November 5, 2015, the Los Angeles federal court rejected DeMartini's claim.
Until early 2017, Blotzer toured using the name Ratt. The 2016 Re-Invasion tour took Ratt throughout North America. Their tour also took them to the UK, including Hard Rock Hell and London. During this time, Blotzer was using the company WBS to sue the band's original bassist, Juan Croucier, for trademark infringement. On November 8, 2016 that Court granted summary judgment against WBS and in favor of Croucier, finding that the trademark rights had never properly been transferred to WBS and thus were still held by the RATT Partnership under its 1985 partnership agreement. Blotzer had also used WBS to sue Pearcy for trademark infringement in a separate lawsuit, but that lawsuit also failed.
On November 29, 2016, Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they had expelled Blotzer from the Ratt Partnership and announced their own Back for More Tour.
Despite adverse court decisions, Blotzer continued to tour as RATT with his band, claiming the right to do so because final judgment had not yet been entered in the cases.
In June 2017, judgment was finally entered in the Croucier case, and Blotzer's WBS filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In May 2018, the RATT Partnership filed suit against Blotzer and WBS for trademark infringement for continuing to perform as RATT after February 2016, when it was adjudicated that WBS had no rights in the RATT marks and Blotzer was expelled from the Partnership. In March 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of Croucier and sent the case back to the district court to determine whether WBS and its counsel should be liable for Croucier's attorneys' fees.
Ratt's "New Breed" (2018–present)
On June 1, 2018, it was announced by vocalist Pearcy that Ratt would move forward with him and bassist Croucier. It was confirmed that DeMartini had departed from Ratt, with Cavazo and Degrasso following. On July 5, 2018, it was revealed that Pearcy and Croucier would be joined by Black 'N Blue drummer Pete Holmes and guitarists Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders. In February 2020, guitarist Chris Sanders announced his departure from the band, along with announcing his retirement from the music industry.
In April 2020, Ratt was featured in a GEICO commercial depicting new homeowners that love their house, but note that they have a "rat problem". To the dismay of the homeowners, the band is shown performing their hit song "Round and Round" in different parts of the house.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all shows in 2020 were rescheduled for 2021. On September 11, 2020, Pearcy announced that the band's upcoming album would not be released until 2021.
In January 2021, Pearcy expressed interest in making one final Ratt album with all the remaining original members. On June 26, Ratt announced the addition of guitarist Frankie Lindia of David Lee Roth's solo band, replacing Chris Sanders.
MembersCurrent'''
Stephen Pearcy – lead vocals
Juan Croucier – bass, backing vocals
Pete Holmes – drums
Jordan Ziff – lead guitar, backing vocals
Frankie Lindia – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
DiscographyRatt (EP) (1983)Out of the Cellar (1984)Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)Dancing Undercover (1986)Reach for the Sky (1988)Detonator (1990)Collage (1997)Ratt (1999)Infestation'' (2010)
References
External links
Official website
Official Bobby Blotzer's Ratt website
[ Ratt] at AllMusic
American glam metal musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical quintets
Atlantic Records artists
Roadrunner Records artists | false | [
"245 (two hundred [and] forty-five) is the natural number following 244 and preceding 246.\n\nIn mathematics\n245 is:\na composite number.\npalindromic in bases 34 (7734), 48 (5548), 244 (11244)\na Harshad number in bases 7, 9, 11, 15, 31, 35, 36 (and 14 other bases).\nthe aliquot sum of any of these numbers: 723, 1195, 2563, 3859, \npart of the 97-aliquot tree. 4624, 4893, 2595, 1581, 723, 245,\n\nIn online public access (library) catalogs\nIn the MARC format for records in online public access (library) catalogs, in which each type of information about a book (or other library material) is identified with a 3-digit number, 245 identifies the title of the item; most library catalog software requires that each record have at least a 245 tag, even if no other information is entered about the item.\n\nIn other fields\n The number of Jewish singers who returned from captivity in Babylon in c. 538 BCE following the rise of Cyrus the Great and the Persian Empire. ...besides their male and female slaves, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven; and they had two hundred forty-five singers, male and female. They had seven hundred thirty-six horses, two hundred forty-five mules, four hundred thirty-five camels, and six thousand seven hundred twenty donkeys. (see —Also, an almost identical reference in states that there were only 200 singers, and that the slaves were \"servants\").\n 245T or 2,4,5-T is a common abbreviation for the widely used herbicide 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid.\n\"245\" is the name of a jazz instrumental by Eric Dolphy, featured on his 1960 album Outward Bound.\n245 is the international country calling code for Guinea-Bissau.\n\nReferences \n\nIntegers",
"The Nord-Amerikanischer Sängerbund (English: North American Singers' Association) is an association which promotes the culture of German music, culture and song.\n\nEligibility for the association is open to any independent Germanic singing society located in North America consisting of at least 12 singers at the time of their application.\n\nHistory\n\nIn 1848, the singer districts (Sängerbezirks) of Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, and Indiana created the Nord-Amerikanischer Sängerbund. It is estimated that by 1908, there were 50,000 singer-members in the Sängerbund. Membership in individual clubs consists of immigrants from Germany and their descendants to germanophiles who enjoy German song and culture.\n\nSängerfests \nThere have been Sängerfests since 1849, and as of 2013, there have been 61 Sängerfests held anywhere from annually to an 11-year gap during 1938 to 1949, a period of World War II, and recovery in Europe and the US. Sängerfests have been consistently held every three years since 1949.\n\nChoir Districts (Sängerbezirks)\n\nThe NASB is divided into eight main districts, and one independent district not aligned with the other districts.\n\nExternal links \n\nNon-profit organizations based in Ohio\nMusical groups established in 1848\nGerman-American organizations"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear"
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | What was top gear? | 1 | What was James May's "Top Gear"? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | true | [
"The Mercedes-Benz M15 engine is a naturally-aspirated, 1.7-liter, straight-6, internal combustion piston engine, designed, developed and produced by Mercedes-Benz; between 1931 and 1936.\n\nM15 Engine\nThe car was powered by a six-cylinder 1,692 cc engine: maximum power was set at at 3,200 rpm. The engine featured central lubrication and the water-based cooling system for the engine employed both a pump and a thermostat. Power was transmitted to the rear wheels via what was in effect a four-speed manual transmission, on which the top gear operated as a form of overdrive. Third gear used the 1:1 ratio conventionally used by a top gear, and there was a fourth gear with a ratio of 1 : 0.73. Fuel economy was quoted as and top speed 90 km/h (56 mph), which combined to represent a competitive level of performance in the passenger car market of that time.\n\nApplications\nMercedes-Benz W15\n\nReferences\n\nMercedes-Benz engines\nStraight-six engines\nEngines by model\nGasoline engines by model",
"The second season of Top Gear began airing on History from July 24, 2011 until April 3, 2012. Adam Ferrera, Tanner Foust, Rutledge Wood and The Stig returned as hosts, with the season consisting of sixteen episodes, which aired on a weekly basis. This was the final season to include car reviews and the Power laps and Big Star, Small Car segment, as they were discarded from the programme before the third season.\n\nProduction\nCommenting on the second season renewal, UK show host Jeremy Clarkson noted, \"Top Gear is our baby so you can understand why Hammond, May and I were anxious about passing it on to the presenters of the US show. We needn’t have worried because Top Gear is clearly in safe hands, even if they do insist on speaking in those stupid accents. Watching an episode from series 1 with Richard and James, we found ourselves in a genuinely heated debate about which of the presenters’ cars was best. We were just three ordinary chaps watching a car show and loving it, which is exactly what Top Gear should be. Bring on series 2.\" The second season was also the first to include sixteen episodes, as the previous season aired ten.\n\nEpisodes\n\nBroadcast\nThe season was aired from July 24, 2011 until April 3, 2012 on History, airing on a weekly basis. In the United Kingdom, the season was aired on BBC Three under the name Top Gear USA from January 13, 2012. However, the season halted airing on January 27, before continuing its run on June 29, 2012.\n\nDVD release\nThe season 2 DVD was released on February 19, 2013.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Season 2 at the Internet Movie Database\n\nTop Gear seasons\n2011 American television seasons\n2012 American television seasons\n2011 in American television\n2012 in American television"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear",
"What was top gear?",
"He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style."
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | Did it win any awards? | 2 | Did James May's "Top Gear" win any awards? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | false | [
"Le Cousin is a 1997 French film directed by Alain Corneau.\n\nPlot \nThe film deals with the relationship of the police and an informant in the drug scene.\n\nAwards and nominations\nLe Cousin was nominated for 5 César Awards but did not win in any category.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1997 films\n1997 crime films\nFilms about drugs\nFilms directed by Alain Corneau\nFrench crime films\nFrench films\nFrench-language films",
"The 23rd Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is an award ceremony presented for horror films that were released in 2020. The nominees were announced on January 20, 2021. The film The Invisible Man won five of its five nominations, including Best Wide Release, as well as the write-in poll of Best Kill. Color Out Of Space and Possessor each took two awards. His House did not win any of its seven nominations. The ceremony was exclusively livestreamed for the first time on the SHUDDER horror streaming service.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nReferences\n\nFangoria Chainsaw Awards"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear",
"What was top gear?",
"He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did it win any awards?",
"entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross."
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | Was there anything else interesting about top gear? | 3 | Was there anything else interesting about James May's "Top gear" other than May's being entered into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | true | [
"\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" is a 2010 science fiction/magical realism short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in Realms of Fantasy.\n\nPlot summary\nA scientist creates a tiny man. The tiny man is initially very popular, but then draws the hatred of the world, and so the tiny man must flee, together with the scientist (who is now likewise hated, for having created the tiny man).\n\nReception\n\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" won the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story, tied with Kij Johnson's \"Ponies\". It was Ellison's final Nebula nomination and win, of his record-setting eight nominations and three wins.\n\nTor.com calls the story \"deceptively simple\", with \"execution (that) is flawless\" and a \"Geppetto-like\" narrator, while Publishers Weekly describes it as \"memorably depict(ing) humanity's smallness of spirit\". The SF Site, however, felt it was \"contrived and less than profound\".\n\nNick Mamatas compared \"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" negatively to Ellison's other Nebula-winning short stories, and stated that the story's two mutually exclusive endings (in one, the tiny man is killed; in the other, he becomes God) are evocative of the process of writing short stories. Ben Peek considered it to be \"more allegory than (...) anything else\", and interpreted it as being about how the media \"give(s) everyone a voice\", and also about how Ellison was treated by science fiction fandom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAudio version of ''How Interesting: A Tiny Man, at StarShipSofa\nHow Interesting: A Tiny Man, at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database\n\nNebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works\nShort stories by Harlan Ellison",
"The Getrag F20 5-speed manual transmission was fitted to many vehicles in the European General Motors production line up including for the UK the Vauxhall Astra DOHC 2.0i GTE 16 valve, Vauxhall Cavalier GSi 2000 16 valve DOHC and Vauxhall Calibra 2.0i 16 valve DOHC. Everywhere else under the Opel brand name the Calibra, Vectra A, Astra F & Kadett E. It was a 5 speed transmission with the following specifications:\n\nClutch Diameter \n1st Gear Ratio 3.55:1 \n2nd Gear Ratio 2.16:1 \n3rd Gear Ratio 1.48:1 \n4th Gear Ratio 1.13:1 \n5th Gear Ratio 0.89:1\nReverse Gear Ratio 3.33:1 \nFinal Drive Ratio 3.55:1. 3.42:1 or 3.72:1 found in 4WD F20's.\n\nThere are two types of flywheel, depending on the manufacturing year. Kadetts had \"Flat\" flywheels, which are lighter, while Astras, Vectras and Calibras had \"Pot\" flywheels, which are heavier to make a more comfortable ride.\n\nThe clutch is cable-driven, and has a big fork on the outside-top part of the housing. It has a cover in the bell housing that lets you change the clutch disc without taking off the gearbox.\nIt has a lot of similarities with the Getrag F16 Gearbox, that has a weaker main shaft. It also has a lot of similarities with the Daewoo D16 and D20 Gearboxes.\n\nThere have been many references to the numbering designation that Opel elected to utilise for gearboxes, one of the more common arguments is that it refers to the ft·lbf torque capacity of the gearbox, in this case being a torque limit. Other arguments include that it is simply related to the engine size (the F20 gearbox was often fitted to 2.0L engine vehicles and the F16 gearbox usually was fitted to 1.6 or 1.8l size engines. )\n\nAs an example the F20 transmission was fitted to the Opel Calibra, Vectra A, Astra F & Kadett E with C20XE 2.0l 16V Engines.\n\nReferences \n\nGeneral Motors transmissions\nGetrag transmissions"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear",
"What was top gear?",
"He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did it win any awards?",
"entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross.",
"Was there anything else interesting about top gear?",
"May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux."
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | Was there any thing else interesting? | 4 | Was there any thing else interesting other than James May's Top Gear winning a Guinness World Record and travelling by car to the magnetic North Pole? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | true | [
"Kurudumale is a village in the Mulbagal taluk, Kolar district of Karnataka state, India. It is located about 10 km from the mulubagal town, northerly. The giant, thirteen and a half foot sculpture of kurudumale Ganesha and the Someshwara temple of lord Shiva attract thousands of visitors from the surrounding states. This place was believed to be the place where Devas would descend from the heavens for recreation on earth.\n\nThere is another temple dedicated to Shiva called the Someshwara temple which is also situated in Kurudumale. The interesting thing about this temple is that it is built of a rock without any foundations. Another interesting thing is the architectural style of the temple; this temple is considered to be older than the Ganesha temple and was built during the Cholas period. Half of the temple has different style of carving, believed to have been done by artist Jakanachari and the other half is believed to have been carved by his son Dankanachari. The part of the temple supposedly built by Dankana's has statues and carvings which are more intricate and sophisticated.\n\nGallery\n\nHindu temples in Kolar district\nVillages in Kolar district",
"Eight Ball is a 1992 Australian film directed by Ray Argall.\n\nPlot\nA young architect, Charlie, meets Russell, who has just got out of prison.\n\nProduction\nIt was financed by the FFC and Film Victoria and was shot from 13 May to 28 June 1991. Argall says making the film was unsatisfactory:\n I spent too much time and put too much energy into making everybody else happy and doing the right thing by everybody else instead of doing the right thing by myself. There's a point where you need to actually focus on what is there. There were many elements of the storytelling that I could have focused on and developed, rather than just dropping and replacing them with something new, and it may have helped. The romance between the main character and his girlfriend - there was a great desire on the part of quite a few of the people who were financing it, to develop this and to make it a strong element. It's not a real strength of mine, and I did all that, but at the expense of other elements that were probably more in tune with the story that I originally had in mind. I developed those things but in the editing room we probably cut it down to what it was in the original script.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Eight Ball at Oz Movies\n\n1992 films\nAustralian films\nEnglish-language films"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear",
"What was top gear?",
"He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did it win any awards?",
"entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross.",
"Was there anything else interesting about top gear?",
"May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux.",
"Was there any thing else interesting?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\""
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | How did he earn the nickname? | 5 | How did James May earn the nickname "Captain Slow"? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | true | [
"Bedriye Tahir Gökmen was an aviator from Turkey. She was the first Turkish woman to earn a pilot license.\n\nLife \nTahir trained at the Vecihi Hürkuş Private Flying School and earned her license in 1933. However, her employer did not approve of her flying, and reduced her salary as a punishment. Nevertheless, she graduated from the flying school in 1934, and applied to the Undersecretary of the Air Force to get her license confirmed. The office sent a team of inspectors to the school, however, unfortunately due to an accident, the school did not have any aircraft available for Tahir to use to demonstrate her skills. The team did not return and the school closed later the same year.\n\nA Turkish parachutist, Abdurrahman Türkkuşu, gave her the nickname \"Gökmen Bacı\" (\"The sister of the blue skies\"). In 1934, when the Turkish Surname Law was introduced, she took the surname Gökmen.\n\nSee also\nSabiha Gökcen\n\nReferences\n\nTurkish women aviators\nYear of birth missing\nYear of death missing",
"2 Much Drama is the debut album by NBA star, Chris Webber, released under his nickname C. Webb. Released on March 16, 1999, for independent label, Lightyear Records, the single \"Gangsta, Gangsta (How U Do)\" did well, making it to #10 on the Hot Rap Singles Chart. Guests include, Redman and Kurupt.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\n1999 debut albums\nAlbums produced by Amp Fiddler\nChris Webber albums"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear",
"What was top gear?",
"He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did it win any awards?",
"entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross.",
"Was there anything else interesting about top gear?",
"May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux.",
"Was there any thing else interesting?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\"",
"How did he earn the nickname?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style."
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | Did he like the nickname? | 6 | Did James May like the nickname "Captain Slow"? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | false | [
"The Great Stone Face is:\n\n a nickname of Buster Keaton\n a nickname of Keanu Reeves\n a nickname of Ed Sullivan\n a nickname for the Old Man of the Mountain, a New Hampshire rock formation that collapsed in 2003\n a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne published in The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales\n a rock formation in Millard County, Utah, purported to look like the profile of Joseph Smith.\n\nSee also\n Stoneface (disambiguation)",
"Darren Gardiner (born 19 November 1969) is an Australian Paralympic powerlifter. He has won two Paralympic silver medals in the Men's Over 100 kg powerlifting event. He did not medal at the 2012 Games.\n\nPersonal\nGardiner was born on 19 November 1969. In 1994, at the age of 24, his left leg was amputated below the knee due to cancer. He works as a sales manager. He moved from Brisbane to Perth in 2006. He weighs . Gardiner is also known by the nickname of 'The Bear'. Gardiner was given this nickname because of his unusual pre-lift behaviour which sees him roar like a bear.\n\nPowerlifting\nGardiner started powerlifting in 1995, and first represented Australia in 1998. He competes in the Over 100 kg men division. He has had the nickname \"the bear\" since 1997 because of the loud roaring noise he makes during competition. , he is ranked second in the world. , his personal best lift is 235 kg.\n\nHe competed at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics but did not win a medal. At the 2004 Athens Games, he won a silver medal in the Men's Over 100 kg event, when he lifted 227.5 kg. He repeated his silver medal performance in the same event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.\n\nIn 2005, he competed at the Trafalgar event in Melbourne, where he won a bronze medal in the EAD category for powerlifting with a lift of .\n\nHe has competed at several other events outside the Paralympics. In 2006, he finished second at the World Championships. That year, he took a bronze at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He won a silver medal in 2007 at the European Open. He did not compete for most of 2010 due to injury. At the 2011 Oceania Paralympic Championships, part of the Arafura Games, he finished first with a score of 230, 70 more than second place competitor Abebe Fekadu. He was selected to compete at the 2012 London Paralympics. He did not medal at the 2012 Games, missing out on a bronze medal by 1 kg. His retirement was announced in December 2012. Darren's retirement marked the end of his successful 15-year career.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nParalympic powerlifters of Australia\nPowerlifters at the 2000 Summer Paralympics\nPowerlifters at the 2004 Summer Paralympics\nPowerlifters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games\nPowerlifters at the 2008 Summer Paralympics\nPowerlifters at the 2012 Summer Paralympics\nMedalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics\nMedalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics\nParalympic silver medalists for Australia\nCommonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia\nAmputee category Paralympic competitors\nAustralian amputees\nSportspeople from Brisbane\nSportspeople from Perth, Western Australia\n1969 births\nLiving people\nCommonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting\nParalympic medalists in powerlifting"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear",
"What was top gear?",
"He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did it win any awards?",
"entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross.",
"Was there anything else interesting about top gear?",
"May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux.",
"Was there any thing else interesting?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\"",
"How did he earn the nickname?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did he like the nickname?",
"I don't know."
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | Was there anything else interesting? | 7 | Was there anything else interesting other than James May being entered into the Guinness World Records and travelling by car to the magnetic North Pole?? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | he has done some especially high-speed driving - | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | false | [
"\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" is a 2010 science fiction/magical realism short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in Realms of Fantasy.\n\nPlot summary\nA scientist creates a tiny man. The tiny man is initially very popular, but then draws the hatred of the world, and so the tiny man must flee, together with the scientist (who is now likewise hated, for having created the tiny man).\n\nReception\n\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" won the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story, tied with Kij Johnson's \"Ponies\". It was Ellison's final Nebula nomination and win, of his record-setting eight nominations and three wins.\n\nTor.com calls the story \"deceptively simple\", with \"execution (that) is flawless\" and a \"Geppetto-like\" narrator, while Publishers Weekly describes it as \"memorably depict(ing) humanity's smallness of spirit\". The SF Site, however, felt it was \"contrived and less than profound\".\n\nNick Mamatas compared \"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" negatively to Ellison's other Nebula-winning short stories, and stated that the story's two mutually exclusive endings (in one, the tiny man is killed; in the other, he becomes God) are evocative of the process of writing short stories. Ben Peek considered it to be \"more allegory than (...) anything else\", and interpreted it as being about how the media \"give(s) everyone a voice\", and also about how Ellison was treated by science fiction fandom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAudio version of ''How Interesting: A Tiny Man, at StarShipSofa\nHow Interesting: A Tiny Man, at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database\n\nNebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works\nShort stories by Harlan Ellison",
"Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä is a bog region in Savukoski, Lapland in Finland. Its name is 35 letters long and is the longest place name in Finland, and also the third longest, if names with spaces or hyphens are included, in Europe. It has also been the longest official place name in the European Union since 31 January 2020, when Brexit was completed, as the record was previously held by Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a village in Wales, United Kingdom.\n\nOverview\nA pub in Salla was named Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi-baari after this bog region. According to an anecdote, the owner of the pub tried two different names for it, but both had already been taken. Frustrated, he registered the pub under a name he knew no one else would be using. The pub also had the longest name of a registered commercial establishment in Finland. The bar was in practice known as Äteritsi-baari. The pub was closed in April 2006.\n\nThe etymology is not known, although the name has been confirmed as genuine. Other than jänkä \"bog\", lauta \"board\" and puoli \"half\", it does not mean anything in Finnish, and was probably never intended to be anything else than alliterative gibberish.\n\nReferences \n\nSavukoski\nBogs of Finland\nLandforms of Lapland (Finland)"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear",
"What was top gear?",
"He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did it win any awards?",
"entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross.",
"Was there anything else interesting about top gear?",
"May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux.",
"Was there any thing else interesting?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\"",
"How did he earn the nickname?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did he like the nickname?",
"I don't know.",
"Was there anything else interesting?",
"he has done some especially high-speed driving -"
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | What did he do his high speed driving in? | 8 | What did James May use to perform high speed driving? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | false | [
"Ross Bentley (born November 4, 1956) is a performance coach, racing driver, author and speaker. His performance coaching spans executive/business coaching to sports (athletes and teams in a variety of sports, with a speciality in motorsports).\n\nRacing career\nBorn in Vancouver, British Columbia, Bentley grew up in a racing household (father was a race mechanic, brother a mechanic and driver) and began driving himself at the age of four. He won 11 amateur racing championships during his early career.\n\nIn 1990, he debuted in CART with Spirit of Vancouver, a program that was formed to provide a car for a Vancouverite at the inaugural Molson Indy Vancouver. Bentley returned to the race the following year with Spirit of Vancouver; the effort received support such as pit crew and car from Dale Coyne Racing.\n\nBentley increased his CART schedule in 1992 with Coyne to include additional races outside of Vancouver, and would run seven races. That year's Vancouver event saw four Canadian drivers including Bentley, who finished 14th while managing a back injury. He continued racing for Coyne in 1993. During the buildup to the Indianapolis 500, Bentley was hospitalized and suffered burns on his hands and neck in a practice crash that caused a fuel regulator to split and pour methanol fuel into the cockpit. Bentley continued driving for Coyne in 1994, when the team brought on Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton as a co-owner, but Payton Coyne Racing struggled with performance due to outdated equipment.\n\nA lack of sponsorship forced him out of IndyCar in 1995, prompting him to compete in sports car racing. He competed in the World Sportscar Championship before returning to CART and Payton Coyne at Vancouver, but he failed to make the race after setting the slowest time in qualifying.\n\nHe continued his professional career in endurance racing. Bentley won the 1998 United States Road Racing Championship in the GT3 class and the 2003 24 Hours of Daytona in the SRPII Class.\n\nOff the track\nBentley worked as a driving instructor at his Performance Advanced Driving School and a columnist for racing clubs in the 1980s.\n\nHe currently owns a consulting business, Bentley Performance Systems, which focuses on improving the performance of individuals, teams and organizations through coaching, workshops and the development of custom-designed programs.\n\nIn 1998, Bentley published the first in a series of racing technique and strategy books called Speed Secrets. To date, he has nine books published under the Speed Secrets banner, including Inner Speed Secrets with Ronn Langford and The Complete Driver with Bruce Cleland. He also co-wrote with Bob Bondurant on Race Kart Driving.\n\nIn 2017, Bentley released a new title, Performance Pilot (written with professional aviator Phil Wilkes) detailing aviation-specific procedures, techniques and strategies to help pilots improve their flying performance.\n\nBentley currently lives with his wife and daughter in Issaquah, Washington, USA.\n\nAmerican open–wheel racing results\n(key)\n\nPPG Indycar Series\n(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)\n\nBibliography\nPerformance Pilot: Skills, techniques, and strategies to maximize your flying performance, Ross Bentley and Phil Wilkes (2017)\nThe Lost Art of High-Performance Driving, Ross Bentley (2017)\nUltimate Speed Secrets: The Racer's Bible, Ross Bentley (2011)\nSpeed Secrets 7: Winning Autocross Techniques, Ross Bentley (2009)\nSpeed Secrets 6: The Perfect Driver, Ross Bentley (2007)\nSpeed Secrets 5: The Complete Driver, Ross Bentley and Bruce Cleland (2006)\nSpeed Secrets 4: Engineering the Driver, Ross Bentley (2005)\nSpeed Secrets 3: More Professional Driving Techniques, Ross Bentley (2003)\nBob Bondurant on Race Kart Driving, Bob Bondurant and Ross Bentley (2002)\nSpeed Secrets 2: Inner Speed Secrets: Strategies to Maximize Your Racing Performance, Ross Bentley and Ronn Langford (2000)\nSpeed Secrets: Professional Race Driving Techniques, Ross Bentley (1998)\n\nSee also\n List of Canadians in Champ Car\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nBentley's business website, Bentley Performance Systems: http://www.Performance-Rules.com\nSpeed Secrets Weekly (Magazine) website: http://speedsecretsweekly.com/\nDriverCoach website: http://www.drivercoach.net\nSpeed Secrets website: http://www.speedsecrets.com\nPerformance Pilot website: http://www.performancepilot.net\n\n1956 births\nRacing drivers from British Columbia\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Vancouver\nChamp Car drivers\nAtlantic Championship drivers\nTrans-Am Series drivers\n24 Hours of Daytona drivers\nAmerican Le Mans Series drivers",
"\"What I Need To Do\" is a song written by Tom Damphier and Bill Luther, and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in January 2000 as the fourth and final single from Chesney's 1999 album Everywhere We Go. The song peaked at number 8 in the United States and number 13 in Canada in 2000.\n\nContent\nThe song describes the narrator thinking about \"what [he] need[s] to do\" as he is driving away from his old hometown away from his former lover. He also thinks that he should \"turn [his] car around\" and go back to his lover, then hold her, and then tell her how sorry he is for what he did.\n\nChart positions\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2000 singles\nKenny Chesney songs\nSong recordings produced by Buddy Cannon\nSong recordings produced by Norro Wilson\nBNA Records singles\nSongs written by Bill Luther (songwriter)\n1999 songs"
] |
[
"James May",
"Top Gear",
"What was top gear?",
"He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did it win any awards?",
"entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross.",
"Was there anything else interesting about top gear?",
"May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux.",
"Was there any thing else interesting?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\"",
"How did he earn the nickname?",
"he earned the nickname \"Captain Slow\" owing to his careful driving style.",
"Did he like the nickname?",
"I don't know.",
"Was there anything else interesting?",
"he has done some especially high-speed driving -",
"What did he do his high speed driving in?",
"he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's"
] | C_88ce788d67c444f49c5daecc3a8d3078_1 | Was there anything else interesting? | 9 | Was there anything else interesting other than James May being entered into the Guinness World Records, travelling by car to the magnetic North Pole, and driving high speed in a Bugatti Veyron? | James May | May was a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving - in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), then in 2010 he achieved 259.11 mph (417 km/h) in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F. May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. He has also driven a 1.3-litre Suzuki SJ413 through Bolivia, along Death Road, and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. In Season 22 Episode 7, he drove a rallycross Volkswagen Polo, with the assistance of the Top Gear USA presenter Tanner Foust, who also lapped him in the final 30 seconds of the semi-finals in the rallycross, entering James into the Guinness World Records as the first person to get lapped in rallycross. Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters. CANNOTANSWER | he has done some especially high-speed driving - | James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former producer Andy Wilman.
May has presented other programmes on themes including science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraphs motoring section from 2003 to 2011.
Early life
James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of an aluminium factory manager. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in the civil service.
Journalism career
During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank. He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.
He has written the book May on Motors (2006), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2006), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in 2007.
Dismissal from Autocar
In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that in 1992 he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.
To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
Television career
His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One). James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.
Top Gear
May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series during 1999. He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the 2007 series he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of , then in 2010 he achieved in the Veyron's newer 16.4 Super Sport edition. In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.
May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in 2007, using a modified Toyota Hilux. In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, May stated in April 2015 that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.
Science
May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions. He flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph (2124 km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. He has also presented a series called James May's Man Lab. In 2013, May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.
James May on the Moon
James May on the Moon (BBC 2, 2009) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,000 ft) in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.
James May's Toy Stories
Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.
Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. Later, in 2011, May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts. The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.
In December 2012 aired a special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, where James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35 km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.
In 2013, May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano. Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full mile-long circuit.
Oz and James
In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.
James May: Our Man in Japan
In January 2020, May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.
Internet presence
May created Head Squeeze (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter). The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December 2012. Videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide.
May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in 2015 after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over 230,000 subscribers as of March 2021. His most recent video was posted on this channel on the 20th of February 2021.
In 2016 May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.
In 2019, May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".
Personal life
May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2000. In July 2010 May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music. He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.
In August 2014, May was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
In June 2016 he supported Remain in the EU referendum. May has described his political leanings as "liberal".
In 2020 May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak which dates from the early 18th century and is Grade II listed.
Vehicles
May has owned many cars including a 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, 1992 Range Rover Classic Vogue, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari 308 GTB, a 2015 Toyota Mirai, Ferrari F430, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).
May currently owns a 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S facelift, a 2016 BMW i3, a 2018 Alpine A110, a 2019 Tesla Model S 100D, a 2021 Toyota Mirai, a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys". He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".
May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006, having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire', a Cessna A185E Skywagon, and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.
Filmography
Television
DVD
Video games
Television advertisements
Bibliography
May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books. 2006. Reprinted 2007.
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. 2006.
Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books. 2007.
James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. 2007 (H/B). Reprinted 2007 (P/B).
James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. 2008.
Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). 2009.
James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. 2009 (H/B). Reprinted 2010 (P/B).
James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). 2009.
James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova). 2010.
How to Land an A330 Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. 2010 (H/B). Reprinted 2011 (P/B).
James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. 2011 (H/B). Reprinted 2012 (P/B)
James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. 2012.
James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton. 2017.
James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. 2020.
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
1963 births
Living people
English television presenters
Television personalities from Bristol
Alumni of Lancaster University
British motoring journalists
BBC people
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
People from Hammersmith and Fulham
The Daily Telegraph people
People from Hammersmith
Top Gear people
Britcar 24-hour drivers | false | [
"\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" is a 2010 science fiction/magical realism short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in Realms of Fantasy.\n\nPlot summary\nA scientist creates a tiny man. The tiny man is initially very popular, but then draws the hatred of the world, and so the tiny man must flee, together with the scientist (who is now likewise hated, for having created the tiny man).\n\nReception\n\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" won the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story, tied with Kij Johnson's \"Ponies\". It was Ellison's final Nebula nomination and win, of his record-setting eight nominations and three wins.\n\nTor.com calls the story \"deceptively simple\", with \"execution (that) is flawless\" and a \"Geppetto-like\" narrator, while Publishers Weekly describes it as \"memorably depict(ing) humanity's smallness of spirit\". The SF Site, however, felt it was \"contrived and less than profound\".\n\nNick Mamatas compared \"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" negatively to Ellison's other Nebula-winning short stories, and stated that the story's two mutually exclusive endings (in one, the tiny man is killed; in the other, he becomes God) are evocative of the process of writing short stories. Ben Peek considered it to be \"more allegory than (...) anything else\", and interpreted it as being about how the media \"give(s) everyone a voice\", and also about how Ellison was treated by science fiction fandom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAudio version of ''How Interesting: A Tiny Man, at StarShipSofa\nHow Interesting: A Tiny Man, at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database\n\nNebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works\nShort stories by Harlan Ellison",
"Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä is a bog region in Savukoski, Lapland in Finland. Its name is 35 letters long and is the longest place name in Finland, and also the third longest, if names with spaces or hyphens are included, in Europe. It has also been the longest official place name in the European Union since 31 January 2020, when Brexit was completed, as the record was previously held by Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a village in Wales, United Kingdom.\n\nOverview\nA pub in Salla was named Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi-baari after this bog region. According to an anecdote, the owner of the pub tried two different names for it, but both had already been taken. Frustrated, he registered the pub under a name he knew no one else would be using. The pub also had the longest name of a registered commercial establishment in Finland. The bar was in practice known as Äteritsi-baari. The pub was closed in April 2006.\n\nThe etymology is not known, although the name has been confirmed as genuine. Other than jänkä \"bog\", lauta \"board\" and puoli \"half\", it does not mean anything in Finnish, and was probably never intended to be anything else than alliterative gibberish.\n\nReferences \n\nSavukoski\nBogs of Finland\nLandforms of Lapland (Finland)"
] |
[
"Syd Barrett",
"Barrett"
] | C_6d0e8aa901f54f6587b8dd457957ea6a_0 | what is known about barrett in this section? | 1 | what is known about Syd Barrett in the section? | Syd Barrett | The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy". These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album. Wright said of the Barrett sessions: Doing Syd's record was interesting, but extremely difficult. Dave [Gilmour] and Roger did the first one (The Madcap Laughs) and Dave and myself did the second one. But by then it was just trying to help Syd any way we could, rather than worrying about getting the best guitar sound. You could forget about that! It was just going into the studio and trying to get him to sing. CANNOTANSWER | The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. | Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his whimsical psychedelia, English-accented singing, literary influences, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing dissonance, distortion, echo, feedback, and other studio effects.
Originally trained as a painter, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several unreleased songs. In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from the band amid speculation of mental illness and his excessive use of psychedelic drugs. He began a brief solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" and followed with the albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with the aid of several members of Pink Floyd.
In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death. He continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the 1979 rock opera The Wall. In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, with Barrett's approval. In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.
Life and career
Early years
Roger Keith Barrett was born on 6 January 1946 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire to a middle-class family living at 60 Glisson Road. He was the fourth of five children. His father, Arthur Max Barrett, was a prominent pathologist and was said to be related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson through Max's maternal grandmother Ellen Garrett. In 1951, his family moved to 183 Hills Road.
Barrett played piano occasionally but usually preferred writing and drawing. He bought a ukulele aged 10, a banjo at 11 and a Hofner acoustic guitar at 14. A year after he purchased his first acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar and built his own amplifier. One story of how Barrett acquired the nickname "Syd" is that at the age of 14 he was named after an old local Cambridge jazz double bassist, Sid "The Beat" Barrett, which claims Syd Barrett changed the spelling to differentiate himself from his namesake.
Another account is that when he was 13, his schoolmates nicknamed him "Syd" after he showed up to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his Scout beret because "Syd" was a "working-class" name. He used both names interchangeably for several years. His sister Rosemary said: "He was never Syd at home. He would never have allowed it." He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader.
At one point at Morley Memorial Junior School he was taught by the mother of future Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Later, in 1957, he attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Waters. His father died of cancer on 11 December 1961, less than a month before Barrett's 16th birthday. On this date, Barrett left the entry in his diary blank. By this time, his brothers and sisters had left home and his mother decided to rent out rooms to lodgers.
Eager to help her son recover from his grief, Barrett's mother encouraged the band in which he played, Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, a band which Barrett formed, to perform in their front room. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, and Waters often visited such gigs. At one point, Waters organised a gig, a CND benefit at Friends Meeting House on 11 March 1962, but shortly afterwards Geoff Mott joined the Boston Crabs, and the Mottoes broke up.
In September 1962, Barrett had taken a place at the art department of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, where he met David Gilmour. In late 1962 and early 1963, the Beatles made an impact on Barrett, and he began to play Beatles songs at parties and at picnics. In 1963, Barrett became a Rolling Stones fan and, with then-girlfriend Libby Gausden, saw them perform at a village hall in Cambridgeshire.
At this point, Barrett started writing songs; one friend recalls hearing "Effervescing Elephant" (later to be recorded on his solo album Barrett). Also around this time, Barrett and Gilmour occasionally played acoustic gigs together. Barrett had played bass guitar with Those Without in mid-1963 and bass and guitar with the Hollerin' Blues the next summer. In 1964, Barrett and Gausden saw Bob Dylan perform. After this performance, Barrett was inspired to write "Bob Dylan Blues". Barrett, now thinking about his future, decided to apply for Camberwell College of Arts in London. He enrolled in the college in the summer of 1964 to study painting.
Pink Floyd years (1965–1968)
Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd evolved through various line-up and name changes including "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths". In 1965, Barrett joined them as the Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set). When they found themselves playing a concert with another band of the same name, Barrett came up with "The Pink Floyd Sound" (also known as "The Pink Floyd Blues Band", later "The Pink Floyd"). During 1965, they went into a studio for the first time, when a friend of Richard Wright's gave the band free time to record.
During this summer Barrett had his first LSD trip in the garden of friend Dave Gale, with Ian Moore and Storm Thorgerson. During one trip, Barrett and another friend, Paul Charrier, ended up naked in the bath, reciting: "No rules, no rules". That summer, as a result of the continued drug use, the band became absorbed in Sant Mat, a Sikh sect. Storm Thorgerson (then living on Earlham Street) and Barrett went to a London hotel to meet the sect's guru; Thorgerson managed to join the sect; Barrett, however, was deemed too young to join. Thorgerson sees this as a deeply important event in Barrett's life, as he was extremely upset by the rejection. While living near his friends, Barrett decided to write more songs ("Bike" was written around this time).
London Underground, Blackhill Enterprises and gigs
While Pink Floyd began by playing cover versions of American R&B songs, by 1966 they had carved out their own style of improvised rock and roll, which drew as much from improvised jazz. After Bob Klose departed from the band, the band's direction changed. However, the change was not instantaneous, with more improvising on the guitars and keyboards. Drummer Nick Mason reflected, "It always felt to me that most of the ideas were emanating from Syd at the time."
At this time, Barrett's reading reputedly included Grimm's Fairy Tales, Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and The I-Ching. During this period, Barrett wrote most of the songs for Pink Floyd's first album, and also songs that would later appear on his solo albums. In 1966, a new rock concert venue, the UFO (pronounced as "you-foe"), opened in London and quickly became a haven for British psychedelic music. Pink Floyd, the house band, was its most popular attraction and after making appearances at the rival Roundhouse, became the most popular musical group of the "London Underground" psychedelic music scene.
By the end of 1966, Pink Floyd had gained a reliable management team in Andrew King and Peter Jenner. Towards the end of October 1966, Pink Floyd, with King and Jenner, set up Blackhill Enterprises, to manage the group's finances. Blackhill was staffed by lodgers Jenner found in his Edbrooke Road house, and among others, Barrett's flatmate, Peter Wynne Wilson (who became road manager, however, since he had more experience in lighting, he was also lighting assistant). King and Jenner wanted to prepare some demo recordings for a possible record deal, so at the end of October, they booked a session at Thompson Private Recording Studio, in Hemel Hempstead. King said of the demos: "That was the first time I realised they were going to write all their own material, Syd just turned into a songwriter, it seemed like overnight."
King and Jenner befriended American expatriate Joe Boyd, the promoter of the UFO Club, who was making a name for himself as one of the more important entrepreneurs on the British music scene. The newly hired booking agent, Bryan Morrison, and Boyd had proposed sending in better quality recordings. From Morrison's agency the band played a gig outside London for the first time. In November, the band performed the first (of many) strangely named concerts: Philadelic Music for Simian Hominids, a multimedia event arranged by the group's former landlord, Mike Leonard, at Hornsey College of Art. They performed at the Free School for the following two weeks, before performing at the Psychodelphia Versus Ian Smith event at the Roundhouse in December, arranged by the Majority Rule for Rhodesia Campaign, and an Oxfam benefit at the Albert Hall (the band's biggest venue up to this point).
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London
At the beginning of 1967, Barrett was dating Jenny Spires (who would later marry future Stars member Jack Monck). However, unknown to Barrett, Spires had an affair with Peter Whitehead. Spires convinced Whitehead (who thought the band sounded like "bad Schoenberg") to use Pink Floyd in a film about the swinging London scene. So at the cost of £80 (), in January, Whitehead took the band into John Wood's Sound Techniques in Chelsea, with promoter Joe Boyd in tow. Here, the band recorded a 16-minute version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and another composition, "Nick's Boogie". Whitehead had filmed this recording, which was used in the film Tonite Lets All Make Love in London and later on the video release of London '66–'67. Whitehead later commented about the band that: "They were just completely welded together, just like a jazz group".
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Boyd attempted to sign the band with Polydor Records. However, Morrison had convinced King and Jenner to try to start a bidding war between Polydor and EMI. In late January, Boyd produced a recording session for the group, with them returning to Sound Techniques in Chelsea again. After the bidding war idea was finished, Pink Floyd signed with EMI. Unusual for the time, the deal included recording an album, which meant the band had unlimited studio time at EMI Studios in return for a smaller royalty percentage. The band then attempted to re-record "Arnold Layne", but the Boyd version from January was released instead.
The band's first studio album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was recorded intermittently between February and July 1967 in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios, and produced by former Beatles engineer Norman Smith. By the time the album was released on 4 August, "Arnold Layne" (which was released months earlier, on 11 March) had reached number 20 on the British singles charts, despite being banned by Radio London, and the follow-up single, "See Emily Play", had peaked at number 5. The album was successful in the UK, hitting number 6 on the British album charts. Their first three singles (including their third, "Apples and Oranges"), were written by Barrett, who also was the principal visionary/author of their critically acclaimed 1967 debut album. Of the eleven songs on Piper, Barrett wrote eight and co-wrote another two.
Health problems
Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett became increasingly erratic, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. There is also speculation that he suffered from schizophrenia. Once described as joyful, friendly, and extroverted, he became increasingly depressed and withdrawn, and experienced hallucinations, disorganised speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings, and periods of catatonia. Although the changes began gradually, he went missing for a long weekend and, according to several friends, including Wright, came back "a completely different person".
One of the striking features of his change was the development of a blank, dead-eyed stare. Barrett did not recognise friends, and often did not know where he was; on a tour of Los Angeles, Barrett is said to have exclaimed, "Gee, it sure is nice to be in Las Vegas!" Many reports described him on stage, strumming one chord through the entire concert, or not playing at all. At a show in Santa Monica, Barrett slowly detuned his guitar.
Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during the tour, Barrett replied with a "blank and totally mute stare"; according to Mason, "Syd wasn't into moving his lips that day." Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand. Surviving footage of this appearance shows Barrett miming his parts competently; however, during a group interview afterwards, Barrett gave terse answers. During this time, Barrett would often forget to bring his guitar to sessions, damage equipment and was occasionally unable to hold his plectrum. Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett reportedly crushed Mandrax tranquilliser tablets and a tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle". Mason disputed the Mandrax portion of this story, stating that "Syd would never waste good mandies".
Departure from Pink Floyd
During Pink Floyd's UK tour with Jimi Hendrix in November 1967, guitarist David O'List from the Nice substituted for Barrett on several occasions when he was unable to perform or failed to appear. Around Christmas, Pink Floyd asked Barrett's schoolfriend David Gilmour to join as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett. For a handful of shows, Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining the performance. The other band members grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University, they elected not to pick Barrett up. One person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother." As Barrett had written the bulk of the band's material, the plan was to retain him as a non-touring member, as the Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson, but this proved impractical.
According to Waters, Barrett came to what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It Yet?". The song seemed simple when he first presented it, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn; the band eventually realised that Barrett was changing the arrangement as they played, and that Barrett was playing a joke on them. Waters called it "a real act of mad genius".
Of the songs Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, only "Jugband Blues" was included on their album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). "Apples and Oranges" became an unsuccessful single, and "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", remained unreleased until 2016 in The Early Years 1965–1972 box set, as they were deemed too dark and unsettling. Barrett played guitar on the Saucerful of Secrets tracks "Remember a Day" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
Feeling guilty, the members of Pink Floyd were unable to bring themselves to definitively tell Barrett that he was no longer in the band. According to Wright, who lived with Barrett at the time, he told Barrett he was going out to buy cigarettes when leaving to play a show. He would return hours later to find Barrett in the same position, sometimes with a cigarette burned completely down between his fingers (an incident later referenced in Pink Floyd's concert film The Wall). Emerging from catatonia and unaware that a long period of time had elapsed, Barrett would ask, "Have you got the cigarettes?".
Barrett supposedly spent time outside the recording studio, in the reception area, waiting to be invited in. He also came to a few performances and glared at Gilmour. On 6 April 1968, Pink Floyd officially announced that Barrett was no longer a member, the same day their contract with Blackhill Enterprises was terminated. Considering him as the band's musical leader, Blackhill Enterprises retained Barrett.
Solo years (1968–1972)
After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett was out of the public eye for a year. In 1969, at the behest of EMI and Harvest Records, he embarked on a brief solo career, releasing two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), and a single, "Octopus". Some songs, "Terrapin", "Maisie" and "Bob Dylan Blues", reflected Barrett's early interest in the blues.
The Madcap Laughs
After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Jenner followed suit. He led Barrett into EMI Studios to record some tracks in May that would later be released on Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs. However, Jenner said: "I had seriously underestimated the difficulties of working with him". By the sessions of June and July, most of the tracks were in better shape; however, shortly after the July sessions, Barrett broke up with girlfriend Lindsay Corner and went on a drive around Britain in his Mini, ending up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. During New Year 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett had taken up tenancy in a flat on Egerton Gardens, South Kensington, London, with the postmodernist artist Duggie Fields. Here, Barrett's flat was so close to Gilmour's that Gilmour could look right into Barrett's kitchen. Deciding to return to music, Barrett contacted EMI and was passed to Malcolm Jones, the then-head of EMI's new prog rock label, Harvest (after Norman Smith and Jenner declined to produce Barrett's record, Jones produced it). Barrett wanted to recover the Jenner-produced sessions recordings; several of the tracks were improved upon.
The Jones-produced sessions started in April 1969 at EMI Studios. After the first of these sessions, Barrett brought in friends to help out: Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, and Jokers Wild (Gilmour's old band) drummer Willie Wilson. For the sessions, Gilmour played bass. Talking to Barrett wasn't easy, said Jones: "It was a case of following him, not playing with him. They were seeing and then playing so they were always a note behind". A few tracks on the album feature overdubs by members of the band Soft Machine. During this time, Barrett also played guitar on the sessions for Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' debut LP Joy of a Toy, although his performance on "Religious Experience" (later titled "Singing a Song in the Morning") was not released until the album was reissued in 2003. One time, Barrett had told his flatmate that he was going off "for an afternoon drive". However, he followed Pink Floyd to Ibiza (according to legend, he skipped check-ins and customs, ran onto the runway and attempted to flag down a jet). One of his friends, J. Ryan Eaves, bass player for the short-lived but influential Manchester band York's Ensemble, later spotted him on a beach wearing messed-up clothes and with a carrier bag full of money. By this point, during the trip, Barrett had asked Gilmour for his help in the recording sessions.
After two of the Gilmour/Waters-produced sessions, they remade one track from the Soft Machine overdubs and recorded three tracks. These sessions came to a minor halt when Gilmour and Waters were mixing Pink Floyd's newly recorded album, Ummagumma, to Barrett's dismay. However, through the end of July, they managed to record three more tracks. The problem with the recording was that the songs were recorded as Barrett played them "live" in studio. On the released versions a number of them have false starts and commentaries from Barrett. Despite the track being closer to complete and better produced, Gilmour and Waters left the Jones-produced track "Opel" off Madcap.
Gilmour later said of the sessions for The Madcap Laughs:
Upon the album's release in January 1970, Malcolm Jones was shocked by the substandard musicianship on the Gilmour and Waters-produced songs: "I felt angry. It's like dirty linen in public and very unnecessary and unkind." Gilmour said: "Perhaps we were trying to show what Syd was really like. But perhaps we were trying to punish him." Waters was more positive: "Syd is a genius."
Barrett said "It's quite nice but I'd be very surprised if it did anything if I were to drop dead. I don't think it would stand as my last statement."
Evelyn "Iggy the Eskimo" Rose (1947–2017) appeared nude on the back of the album's inner sleeve.
Barrett
The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy".
These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album.
Wright said of the Barrett sessions:
Performances
Despite the numerous recording dates for his solo albums, Barrett undertook very little musical activity between 1968 and 1972 outside the studio. On 24 February 1970, he appeared on John Peel's BBC radio programme Top Gear playing five songs—only one of which had been previously released. Three would be re-recorded for the Barrett album, while the song "Two of a Kind" was a one-off performance (possibly written by Richard Wright). Barrett was accompanied on this session by Gilmour and Shirley who played bass and percussion, respectively.
Gilmour and Shirley also backed Barrett for his one and only live concert during this period. The gig took place on 6 June 1970 at the Olympia Exhibition Hall as part of a Music and Fashion Festival. The trio performed four songs, "Terrapin", "Gigolo Aunt", "Effervescing Elephant" and "Octopus". Poor mixing left the vocals barely audible until part-way through the last number. At the end of the fourth song, Barrett unexpectedly but politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage. The performance has been bootlegged. Barrett made one last appearance on BBC Radio, recording three songs at their studios on 16 February 1971. All three came from the Barrett album. After this session, he took a hiatus from his music career that lasted more than a year, although in an extensive interview with Mick Rock and Rolling Stone in December, he discussed himself at length, showed off his new 12-string guitar, talked about touring with Jimi Hendrix and stated that he was frustrated in terms of his musical work because of his inability to find anyone good to play with.
Later years (1972–2006)
Stars and final recordings
In February 1972, after a few guest spots in Cambridge with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass using the name The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band (backing visiting blues musician Eddie "Guitar" Burns and also featuring Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith), the trio formed a short-lived band called Stars. Though they were initially well received at gigs in the Dandelion coffee bar and the town's Market Square, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge with MC5 proved to be disastrous. A few days after this final show, Twink recalled that Barrett stopped him on the street, showed him a scathing review of the gig they had played, and quit on the spot, despite having played at least one subsequent gig at the same venue supporting Nektar.
Free from his EMI contract on 9 May 1972, Barrett signed a document that ended his association with Pink Floyd, and any financial interest in future recordings. He attended an informal jazz and poetry performance by Pete Brown and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce in October 1973. Brown arrived at the show late, and saw that Bruce was already onstage, along with "a guitarist I vaguely recognised", playing the Horace Silver tune "Doodlin'". Later in the show, Brown read out a poem, which he dedicated to Syd, because, "he's here in Cambridge, and he's one of the best songwriters in the country" when, to his surprise, the guitar player from earlier in the show stood up and said, "No I'm not". By the end of 1973, Barrett had returned to live in London, staying at various hotels and, in December of that year, settling in at Chelsea Cloisters. He had little contact with others, apart from his regular visits to his management's offices to collect his royalties, and the occasional visit from his sister Rosemary.
In August 1974, Jenner persuaded Barrett to return to Abbey Road Studios in hope of recording another album. According to John Leckie, who engineered these sessions, even at this point Syd still "looked like he did when he was younger ... long haired". The sessions lasted three days and consisted of blues rhythm tracks with tentative and disjointed guitar overdubs. Barrett recorded eleven tracks, the only one of which to be titled was "If You Go, Don't Be Slow". Once again, Barrett withdrew from the music industry, but this time for good. He sold the rights to his solo albums back to the record label and moved into a London hotel. During this period, several attempts to employ him as a record producer (including one by Jamie Reid on behalf of the Sex Pistols, and another by the Damned, who wanted him to produce their second album) were fruitless.
Wish You Were Here sessions
Barrett visited the members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for their ninth album, Wish You Were Here. He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band working on the final mix of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" — a song about him. By that time, Barrett, then 29, had become overweight and had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his former bandmates did not initially recognise him. Barrett spent part of the session brushing his teeth. Waters asked him what he thought of the song and he said that it "sounds a bit old". He is reported to have briefly attended the reception for Gilmour's wedding to Ginger that immediately followed the recording sessions, but Gilmour said he had no recollection of this.
A few years later, Waters saw Barrett in the department store Harrods; Barrett ran outside, dropping his bags. It was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw him.
Withdrawal to Cambridge
In 1978, when Barrett's money ran out, he moved back to Cambridge to live with his mother. He returned to live in London for a few weeks in 1982, but soon returned to Cambridge permanently. Barrett walked the from London to Cambridge. Until his death, he received royalties from his work with Pink Floyd; Gilmour said, "I made sure the money got to him." In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He did not attend the ceremony.
According to biographer and journalist Tim Willis, Barrett, who had reverted to using his original name Roger, continued to live in his late mother's semi-detached home, and had returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He was also said to have been an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive, and his physical health declined, as he suffered from stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes.
Although Barrett had not appeared or spoken in public since the mid-1970s, reporters and fans travelled to Cambridge seeking him, despite public appeals from his family. Apparently, Barrett did not like being reminded about his musical career and the other members of Pink Floyd had no direct contact with him. However, he did visit his sister's house in November 2001 to watch the BBC Omnibus documentary made about him; reportedly he found some of it "a bit noisy", enjoyed seeing Mike Leonard again, calling him his "teacher", and enjoyed hearing "See Emily Play".
Barrett made a final public acknowledgement of his musical past in 2002, his first since the 1970s, when he autographed 320 copies of photographer Mick Rock's book Psychedelic Renegades, which contained a number of photos of Barrett. Rock was perhaps the last person in the music industry with whom Barrett kept in contact. In 1971, Rock conducted Barrett's final interview before his retirement from the music industry. Barrett visited Rock in London several times for tea and conversation in 1978. They had not spoken in more than 20 years when Rock approached Barrett to autograph his photography book, and Barrett uncharacteristically agreed. Having reverted to his birth name, he autographed the book "Barrett".
Death and aftermath
Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006 aged 60, from pancreatic cancer. He was cremated. In 2006, his home in St. Margaret's Square, Cambridge, was put on the market and reportedly attracted considerable interest. After over 100 showings, many to fans, it was sold to a French couple who reportedly knew nothing about Barrett. On 28 November 2006, Barrett's other possessions were sold at an auction at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, raising £120,000 for charity. Items sold included paintings, scrapbooks and everyday items that Barrett had decorated. NME produced a tribute issue to Barrett a week later with a photo of him on the cover. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barrett's sister said that he had written an unpublished book about the history of art.
In response to the news of Barrett's death, Gilmour said:
According to local newspapers, Barrett left approximately £1.7 million to his two brothers and two sisters. This sum was apparently largely acquired from royalties from Pink Floyd compilations and live recordings featuring songs he had written while with the band. A tribute concert called "Madcap's Last Laugh" was held at the Barbican Centre, London, on 10 May 2007 with Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Sensible, Damon Albarn, Chrissie Hynde, Kevin Ayers and his Pink Floyd bandmates performing. A series of events called The City Wakes was held in Cambridge in October 2008 to celebrate Barrett's life, art, and music. Barrett's sister, Rosemary Breen, supported this, the first series of official events in memory of her brother. After the festival's success, arts charity Escape Artists announced plans to create a centre in Cambridge, using art to help people suffering from mental health problems. A memorial bench has been placed in the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge and a more prominent tribute is planned in the city.
Legacy
Compilations
In 1988, EMI Records (after constant pressure from Malcolm Jones) released an album of Barrett's studio out-takes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title Opel. The disc was originally set to include the unreleased Barrett Pink Floyd songs "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", which had been remixed for the album by Jones, but the band pulled the two songs before Opel was finalised. In 1993 EMI issued another release, Crazy Diamond, a boxed set of all three albums, each with further out-takes from his solo sessions that illustrated Barrett's inability or refusal to play a song the same way twice. EMI also released The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? in the UK on 16 April 2001 and in the US on 11 September 2001. This was the first time his song "Bob Dylan Blues" was officially released, taken from a demo tape that Gilmour had kept after an early 1970s session. Gilmour kept the tape, which also contains the unreleased "Living Alone" from the Barrett sessions. In October 2010 Harvest/EMI and Capitol Records released An Introduction to Syd Barrett—a collection of both his Pink Floyd and remastered solo work. The 2010 compilation An Introduction to Syd Barrett includes the downloadable bonus track "Rhamadan", a 20-minute track recorded at one of Syd's earliest solo sessions, in May 1968. In 2011, it was announced that a vinyl double album version would be issued for Record Store Day.
Bootleg editions of Barrett's live and solo material exist. For years the "off air" recordings of the BBC sessions with Barrett's Pink Floyd circulated, until an engineer who had taken a tape of the early Pink Floyd gave it back to the BBC—which played it during a tribute to John Peel on their website. During this tribute, the first Peel programme (Top Gear) was aired in its entirety. This show featured the 1967 live versions of "Flaming", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", and a brief 90-second snippet of the instrumental "Reaction in G". In 2012, engineer Andy Jackson said he had found "a huge box of assorted tapes", in Mason's possession, containing versions of R&B songs that (the Barrett-era) Pink Floyd played in their early years.
Creative impact
Barrett wrote most of Pink Floyd's early material. According to critic Steven Hyden, even after Barrett left the band, Barrett's spirit "haunted" their records, and their most popular work "drew on the power of what Barrett signified".
Barrett was an innovative guitarist, using extended techniques and exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of dissonance, distortion, feedback, the echo machine, tapes and other effects; his experimentation was partly inspired by free improvisation guitarist Keith Rowe of the group AMM, active at the time in London. One of Barrett's trademarks was playing his guitar through an old echo box while sliding a Zippo lighter up and down the fret-board to create the mysterious, otherworldly sounds that became associated with the group. Barrett was known to have used Binson delay units to achieve his trademark echo sounds. Daevid Allen, founder member of Soft Machine and Gong, cited Barrett's use of slide guitar with echo as a key inspiration for his own "glissando guitar" style.
Barrett's recordings both with Pink Floyd and in later solo albums were delivered with a strongly British-accented vocal delivery, specifically that of southern England. He was described by Guardian writer Nick Kent as having a "quintessential English style of vocal projection". David Bowie said that Barrett, along with Anthony Newley, was the first person he had heard sing rock or pop music with a British accent.
Barrett's free-form sequences of "sonic carpets" pioneered a new way to play the rock guitar. He played several different guitars during his tenure, including an old Harmony hollowbody electric, a Harmony acoustic, a Fender acoustic, a single-coil Danelectro 59 DC, several different Fender Telecasters and a white Fender Stratocaster in late 1967. A silver Fender Esquire with mirrored discs glued to the body was the guitar he was most often associated with and the guitar he "felt most close to". The mirrored Esquire was traded for a black Telecaster Custom, in 1968. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Influence
Many artists have acknowledged Barrett's influence on their work. Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Blur, Kevin Ayers, Gong, Marc Bolan, Tangerine Dream, Genesis P-Orridge, Julian Cope, Pere Ubu, Jeff Mangum, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, John Maus, Paul Weller, Roger Miller, East Bay Ray, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and David Bowie were inspired by Barrett; Jimmy Page, Brian Eno, Sex Pistols, and The Damned all expressed interest in working with him at some point during the 1970s. Bowie recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" on his 1973 album Pin Ups. The track "Grass", from XTC's album Skylarking was influenced when Andy Partridge let fellow band member Colin Moulding borrow his Barrett records. Robyn Hitchcock's career was dedicated to being Barrett-esque; he even played "Dominoes" for the 2001 BBC documentary The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story.
Barrett also had an influence on alternative and punk music in general. According to critic John Harris:
To understand his place in modern music you probably have to first go back to punk rock and its misguided attempt to kick aside what remained of the psychedelic 1960s. Given that the Clash and Sex Pistols had made brutal social commentary obligatory, there seemed little room for any of the creative exotica that had defined the Love Decade – until, slowly but surely, singing about dead-end lives and dole queues began to pall, and at least some of the previous generation were rehabilitated. Barrett was the best example: having crashed out of Pink Floyd before the advent of indulgent "progressive" rock, and succumbed to a fate that appealed to the punk generation's nihilism, he underwent a revival.
Barrett's decline had a profound effect on Waters' songwriting, and the theme of mental illness permeated the later Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and The Wall (1979). The reference to a "steel rail" in the song "Wish You Were Here" – "can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?" – references a recurring theme in Barrett's song "If It's In You" from The Madcap Laughs. The song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" from Wish You Were Here is also a tribute to Barrett.
In 1987, an album of Barrett cover songs called Beyond the Wildwood was released. The album was a collection of cover songs from Barrett's tenure with Pink Floyd and from his solo career. Artists appearing were UK and US indie bands including The Shamen, Opal, The Soup Dragons, and Plasticland.
Other artists who have written tributes to Barrett include his contemporary Kevin Ayers, who wrote "O Wot a Dream" in his honour (Barrett provided guitar to an early version of Ayers' song "Religious Experience: Singing a Song in the Morning"). Robyn Hitchcock has covered many of his songs live and on record and paid homage to his forebear with the song "(Feels Like) 1974". Phish covered "Bike", "No Good Trying", "Love You", "Baby Lemonade" and "Terrapin". The Television Personalities' single "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" from their 1981 album And Don't the Kids Love It is another tribute. In 2008, The Trash Can Sinatras released a single in tribute to the life and work of Syd Barrett called "Oranges and Apples", from their 2009 album In the Music. Proceeds from the single go to the Syd Barrett Trust in support of arts in mental health.
Johnny Depp showed interest in a biographical film based on Barrett's life. Barrett is portrayed briefly in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll (2006), performing "Golden Hair". His life and music, including the disastrous Cambridge Corn Exchange concert and his later reclusive lifestyle, are a recurring motif in the work. Barrett died during the play's run in London.
In 2016, in correspondence with the 70th anniversary birthday, The Theatre of the Absurd, an Italian independent artists group, published a short movie in honour of Barrett named Eclipse, with actor-director Edgar Blake in the role of Barrett. Some footage from this movie was also shown at Syd Barrett – A Celebration during Men on the Border's tribute: the show took place at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, with the participation of Barrett's family and old friends.
For 2017 TV series Legion creator Noah Hawley named one of the characters after Barrett, whose music was an important influence on the series.
In The X-Files season nine episode, "Lord of the Flies" (2001), a powerful mutant, Dylan Lokensgard (Hank Harris), has several posters of Syd Barrett on his bedroom wall, and listens to "It's No Good Trying" and "Terrapin" from The Madcap Laughs.
He recites the line, "A dream in a mist of gray", from Barrett's song "Opel", saying of the singer, "He was, like, this brilliant guy that no-one understood".
Barrett's influence on the genesis of psychedelia was considered in a chapter entitled 'Astronauts of Inner Space: Syd Barrett, Nick Drake and the Birth of Psychedelia' in Guy Mankowski's book 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders.'
Health
Members of Barrett's family denied that he had suffered from mental illness. Asked if Barrett may have had Asperger's syndrome, his sister Rosemary Breen said that he and his siblings were "all on the spectrum". She also stated that, contrary to common misconception, Barrett neither suffered from mental illness nor had he received treatment for it since they had resumed regular contact in the 1980s. Breen said he had spent some time in a private "home for lost souls"—Greenwoods in Essex—but that there was no formal therapy programme there. Some years later, Barrett agreed to sessions with a psychiatrist at Fulbourn psychiatric hospital in Cambridge, but Breen said that neither medication nor therapy was considered appropriate. Breen also denied Barrett was a recluse or that he was vague about his past: "Roger may have been a bit selfish—or rather self-absorbed—but when people called him a recluse they were really only projecting their own disappointment. He knew what they wanted, but he wasn't willing to give it to them." In 1996, Wright said that Barrett's mother told the members of Pink Floyd to not contact him because being reminded of the band would make him depressed for weeks.
In the 1960s, Barrett used psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, and there are theories he subsequently suffered from schizophrenia. Wright asserted that Barrett's problems stemmed from a massive overdose of acid, as the change in his personality and behaviour came on suddenly. However, Waters maintains that Barrett suffered "without a doubt" from schizophrenia. In an article published in 2006, Gilmour was quoted as saying: "In my opinion, his nervous breakdown would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it." According to Gilmour in a 1974 interview, the other members of Pink Floyd approached psychiatrist R. D. Laing with the "Barrett problem". After hearing a tape of a Barrett conversation, Laing declared him "incurable".
In Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, author Nicholas Schaffner interviewed people who knew Barrett before and during his Pink Floyd days, including friends Peter and Susan Wynne-Wilson, artist Duggie Fields (with whom Barrett shared a flat during the late 1960s), June Bolan, and Storm Thorgerson. Bolan became concerned when Syd "kept his girlfriend under lock and key for three days, occasionally shoving a ration of biscuits under the door". A claim of cruelty against Barrett committed by the groupies and hangers-on who frequented his apartment during this period was described by writer and critic Jonathan Meades. "I went [to Barrett's flat] to see Harry and there was this terrible noise. It sounded like heating pipes shaking. I said, 'What's up?' and he sort of giggled and said, 'That's Syd having a bad trip. We put him in the linen cupboard'". Storm Thorgerson responded to this claim by stating "I do not remember locking Syd up in a cupboard. It sounds to me like pure fantasy, like Jonathan Meades was on dope himself."
Other friends state that Barrett's flatmates, who had also taken LSD, thought of Barrett as a genius or a deity, and were spiking his morning coffee every day without his knowledge, leaving him in a never-ending trip. He was later rescued from that flat by friends and moved elsewhere, but his erratic behaviour continued. According to Thorgerson, "On one occasion, I had to pull him [Barrett] off [his girlfriend] Lindsay because he was beating her over the head with a mandolin". On one occasion, Barrett threw a woman called Gilly across the room, because she refused to go to Gilmour's house.
Personal life
According to his sister, Rosemary, Barrett took up photography and sometimes they went to the seaside together. She also said he took a keen interest in art and horticulture and continued to devote himself to painting:
Barrett had relationships with various women, such as Libby Gausden; Lindsay Korner; Jenny Spires; and Pakistani-born Evelyn "Iggy" Rose (1947–2017) (aka "Iggy the Eskimo", "Iggy the Inuit"), who appeared on the back cover of The Madcap Laughs. He never married or had children, though he was briefly engaged to marry Gayla Pinion and planned to relocate to Oxford.
Discography
Solo albums
The Madcap Laughs (1970)
Barrett (1970)
with Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
1965: Their First Recordings (2015)
The Early Years 1965–1972 (2016)
Filmography
Syd Barrett's First Trip (1966) directed by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
London '66–'67 (1967)
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London (1967)
The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story (2003)
See also
List of songs recorded by Syd Barrett
List of songs about or referencing Syd Barrett
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links
The Official Syd Barrett Website
The Syd Barrett Archives
Syd Barrett Pink Floyd blog
The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit blog
1946 births
2006 deaths
20th-century English composers
20th-century English painters
20th-century English male singers
21st-century English painters
Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
Blues rock musicians
Capitol Records artists
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
EMI Records artists
English experimental musicians
English male painters
English rock guitarists
English rock singers
English male singer-songwriters
Experimental composers
Experimental guitarists
Harvest Records artists
Lead guitarists
Musicians from Cambridgeshire
Outsider musicians
People from Cambridge
People with schizophrenia
Pink Floyd members
Protopunk musicians
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychedelic folk musicians
Psychedelic rock musicians
Rhythm guitarists
Slide guitarists
English male guitarists
20th-century British guitarists | true | [
"Syd Barrett was an English singer, songwriter, musician and painter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. He was known to be reclusive. Reclusiveness may coincide with mental disorders and some persons may have speculative diagnoses of schizophrenia (see List of people with schizophrenia), but this does not mean that Barrett's songs, and the songs about him, concern reclusion: for example, the instrumental \"Interstellar Overdrive\" exemplify Pink Floyd's early psychedelic period.\n\nBarrett left Pink Floyd less than a year after the release of their first single, \"Arnold Layne\". He played with the band only on their first album (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn), recording two albums in 1970 (The Madcap Laughs and Barrett), the latter of which failed to chart. In 1975 the Pink Floyd album Wish You Were Here became a popular screed against music business with its theme the loss of Barrett.\n\nWith the decline of the record industry and changes in the music business, Barrett's alienation remains relevant. The following list is indicative of Barrett's legacy.\n\nSongs\n\nOther songs\nThe above list may be incomplete, and subtle references may be found in songs not included above, especially Pink Floyd songs such as \"Fearless\", which would be more explicit in \"Brain Damage\" and songs in The Wall such as \"Hey You\" and \"Nobody Home\". Some claimed Barrett references turn out to be spurious. The Shamen credit their song \"It's All Around\" to Barrett and some bands, like Jennifer Gentle, are named after Barrett songs (in this case, from a line in \"Lucifer Sam\"); two bands are known as Baby Lemonade. Italian band Birdy Hop is named after a Syd Barrett song; the title of their debut album, Welcome To The Insanity Ride, recalls a line from \"Octopus\" and producer and singer-songwriter Amerigo Verardi has been compared to Barrett. Los Prisioneros's \"Concepción\" mentions Barrett in the chorus, referencing the rumors about him living in Chiguayante, and how supposedly the 2 cities he ever made a concert in were London and Concepción.\n\nEdgar Froese and Tangerine Dream recorded a tribute album to Syd Barrett, Madcap's Flaming Duty in 2007.\n\nCover versions of Barrett songs\nOf the many cover versions of Syd Barrett songs, the best-known are David Bowie's 1973 \"See Emily Play\", The Jesus and Mary Chain's 1984 \"Vegetable Man\", R.E.M.'s 1989 \"Dark Globe\" and the Smashing Pumpkins' 1991 \"Terrapin\".\n\nInternet songs\nSharing and streaming over the Internet has resulted in a number of unreleased Barrett tributes, including the 1999 mp3 \"Elephant\" by Rex Tangle on his website, the 2000 instrumental MP3 \"A Tribute to Syd\" by The Worms on disc 18 of Have You Got It Yet?, a 2007 video of \"There's A Man In Cambridge (Song for Syd Barrett)\" by \"Alec\" on YouTube, and a 2007 parody cover video (\"Pink Floyd – Paying The Piper\") by \"Pauldullson\", also on YouTube.\n\nNotes\nThe following are references cited in order to link to explanatory information. The references not cited in specific parts of the article are in the External links section at the bottom of the page. The other sources are in the next section.\n\nReferences\nWhere not otherwise specified, the retrieved dates in the reference section are assumed to be 28 March 2014.\n\nExternal links\nIs rock music dead? opinions at Debate.org\nOther Pink Floyd Related Albums overview at The Pink Floyd HyperBase\nhttps://web.archive.org/web/20160303232648/http://www.psychemusic.org/prog7.html Inspired By Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: review page] at \nSyd Barrett Tributes from Bowie, Robyn Hitchcock, Wayne Coyne and More at The Future Heart\n\nList",
"The Pregnant Man and Other Cases from a Hypnotherapist's Couch is a book by Deirdre Barrett published by W. W. Norton & Company in 2010. Barrett is a psychologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. The book describes seven real patients, disguised for anonymity, who Barrett treated with hypnotherapy. They are presented in chronological order, beginning when the author was a trainee, so that much information about hypnosis is woven into the stories as Barrett herself is learning. The title character is a transgender man who develops false pregnancy after the death of his boyfriend. Other patients include an asthmatic with a heavy smoking habit, a wealthy aristocrat with a fear of flying, a writer who suddenly can't read, and two very different cases of multiple personality. The book concludes with a section on how interested readers can locate a reputable hypnotherapist.\n\nReviews\n\"Written with an Oliver Sacks-like openness to psychological realism, Barrett's reminiscences are nothing if not mesmerizing.\" – Entertainment Weekly\n\n\"As the title indicates, some strange cases turn up in a hypnotherapist's office, and there's a choice assortment of them in this little collection that both entertains and explicates the hypotherapist's art. ... From a skilled psychotherapist, a fine introduction to hypnosis.\" – Kirkus Reviews\n\n\"Fans of Oliver Sacks will recognize the narrative strategy in Barrett's exploration of how the seemingly unretrievable past rises to the surface as the patient, guided by the therapist, attempts to recover lost memories--the seeming source of his or her psychic discomfort. With circumspection, detachment and humor, Barrett, a practicing hypnotherapist who teaches at Harvard Medical School, presents seven case studies from her 20-year practice that 'unfolded in my office like plays'\" – Publishers' Weekly\n\nReferences\n\nHypnotherapy\nHypnosis\nPsychology books\n1998 non-fiction books"
] |
[
"Syd Barrett",
"Barrett",
"what is known about barrett in this section?",
"The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970."
] | C_6d0e8aa901f54f6587b8dd457957ea6a_0 | how was barrett received? | 2 | how was Syd Barrett received? | Syd Barrett | The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy". These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album. Wright said of the Barrett sessions: Doing Syd's record was interesting, but extremely difficult. Dave [Gilmour] and Roger did the first one (The Madcap Laughs) and Dave and myself did the second one. But by then it was just trying to help Syd any way we could, rather than worrying about getting the best guitar sound. You could forget about that! It was just going into the studio and trying to get him to sing. CANNOTANSWER | Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. | Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his whimsical psychedelia, English-accented singing, literary influences, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing dissonance, distortion, echo, feedback, and other studio effects.
Originally trained as a painter, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several unreleased songs. In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from the band amid speculation of mental illness and his excessive use of psychedelic drugs. He began a brief solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" and followed with the albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with the aid of several members of Pink Floyd.
In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death. He continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the 1979 rock opera The Wall. In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, with Barrett's approval. In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.
Life and career
Early years
Roger Keith Barrett was born on 6 January 1946 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire to a middle-class family living at 60 Glisson Road. He was the fourth of five children. His father, Arthur Max Barrett, was a prominent pathologist and was said to be related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson through Max's maternal grandmother Ellen Garrett. In 1951, his family moved to 183 Hills Road.
Barrett played piano occasionally but usually preferred writing and drawing. He bought a ukulele aged 10, a banjo at 11 and a Hofner acoustic guitar at 14. A year after he purchased his first acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar and built his own amplifier. One story of how Barrett acquired the nickname "Syd" is that at the age of 14 he was named after an old local Cambridge jazz double bassist, Sid "The Beat" Barrett, which claims Syd Barrett changed the spelling to differentiate himself from his namesake.
Another account is that when he was 13, his schoolmates nicknamed him "Syd" after he showed up to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his Scout beret because "Syd" was a "working-class" name. He used both names interchangeably for several years. His sister Rosemary said: "He was never Syd at home. He would never have allowed it." He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader.
At one point at Morley Memorial Junior School he was taught by the mother of future Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Later, in 1957, he attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Waters. His father died of cancer on 11 December 1961, less than a month before Barrett's 16th birthday. On this date, Barrett left the entry in his diary blank. By this time, his brothers and sisters had left home and his mother decided to rent out rooms to lodgers.
Eager to help her son recover from his grief, Barrett's mother encouraged the band in which he played, Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, a band which Barrett formed, to perform in their front room. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, and Waters often visited such gigs. At one point, Waters organised a gig, a CND benefit at Friends Meeting House on 11 March 1962, but shortly afterwards Geoff Mott joined the Boston Crabs, and the Mottoes broke up.
In September 1962, Barrett had taken a place at the art department of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, where he met David Gilmour. In late 1962 and early 1963, the Beatles made an impact on Barrett, and he began to play Beatles songs at parties and at picnics. In 1963, Barrett became a Rolling Stones fan and, with then-girlfriend Libby Gausden, saw them perform at a village hall in Cambridgeshire.
At this point, Barrett started writing songs; one friend recalls hearing "Effervescing Elephant" (later to be recorded on his solo album Barrett). Also around this time, Barrett and Gilmour occasionally played acoustic gigs together. Barrett had played bass guitar with Those Without in mid-1963 and bass and guitar with the Hollerin' Blues the next summer. In 1964, Barrett and Gausden saw Bob Dylan perform. After this performance, Barrett was inspired to write "Bob Dylan Blues". Barrett, now thinking about his future, decided to apply for Camberwell College of Arts in London. He enrolled in the college in the summer of 1964 to study painting.
Pink Floyd years (1965–1968)
Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd evolved through various line-up and name changes including "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths". In 1965, Barrett joined them as the Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set). When they found themselves playing a concert with another band of the same name, Barrett came up with "The Pink Floyd Sound" (also known as "The Pink Floyd Blues Band", later "The Pink Floyd"). During 1965, they went into a studio for the first time, when a friend of Richard Wright's gave the band free time to record.
During this summer Barrett had his first LSD trip in the garden of friend Dave Gale, with Ian Moore and Storm Thorgerson. During one trip, Barrett and another friend, Paul Charrier, ended up naked in the bath, reciting: "No rules, no rules". That summer, as a result of the continued drug use, the band became absorbed in Sant Mat, a Sikh sect. Storm Thorgerson (then living on Earlham Street) and Barrett went to a London hotel to meet the sect's guru; Thorgerson managed to join the sect; Barrett, however, was deemed too young to join. Thorgerson sees this as a deeply important event in Barrett's life, as he was extremely upset by the rejection. While living near his friends, Barrett decided to write more songs ("Bike" was written around this time).
London Underground, Blackhill Enterprises and gigs
While Pink Floyd began by playing cover versions of American R&B songs, by 1966 they had carved out their own style of improvised rock and roll, which drew as much from improvised jazz. After Bob Klose departed from the band, the band's direction changed. However, the change was not instantaneous, with more improvising on the guitars and keyboards. Drummer Nick Mason reflected, "It always felt to me that most of the ideas were emanating from Syd at the time."
At this time, Barrett's reading reputedly included Grimm's Fairy Tales, Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and The I-Ching. During this period, Barrett wrote most of the songs for Pink Floyd's first album, and also songs that would later appear on his solo albums. In 1966, a new rock concert venue, the UFO (pronounced as "you-foe"), opened in London and quickly became a haven for British psychedelic music. Pink Floyd, the house band, was its most popular attraction and after making appearances at the rival Roundhouse, became the most popular musical group of the "London Underground" psychedelic music scene.
By the end of 1966, Pink Floyd had gained a reliable management team in Andrew King and Peter Jenner. Towards the end of October 1966, Pink Floyd, with King and Jenner, set up Blackhill Enterprises, to manage the group's finances. Blackhill was staffed by lodgers Jenner found in his Edbrooke Road house, and among others, Barrett's flatmate, Peter Wynne Wilson (who became road manager, however, since he had more experience in lighting, he was also lighting assistant). King and Jenner wanted to prepare some demo recordings for a possible record deal, so at the end of October, they booked a session at Thompson Private Recording Studio, in Hemel Hempstead. King said of the demos: "That was the first time I realised they were going to write all their own material, Syd just turned into a songwriter, it seemed like overnight."
King and Jenner befriended American expatriate Joe Boyd, the promoter of the UFO Club, who was making a name for himself as one of the more important entrepreneurs on the British music scene. The newly hired booking agent, Bryan Morrison, and Boyd had proposed sending in better quality recordings. From Morrison's agency the band played a gig outside London for the first time. In November, the band performed the first (of many) strangely named concerts: Philadelic Music for Simian Hominids, a multimedia event arranged by the group's former landlord, Mike Leonard, at Hornsey College of Art. They performed at the Free School for the following two weeks, before performing at the Psychodelphia Versus Ian Smith event at the Roundhouse in December, arranged by the Majority Rule for Rhodesia Campaign, and an Oxfam benefit at the Albert Hall (the band's biggest venue up to this point).
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London
At the beginning of 1967, Barrett was dating Jenny Spires (who would later marry future Stars member Jack Monck). However, unknown to Barrett, Spires had an affair with Peter Whitehead. Spires convinced Whitehead (who thought the band sounded like "bad Schoenberg") to use Pink Floyd in a film about the swinging London scene. So at the cost of £80 (), in January, Whitehead took the band into John Wood's Sound Techniques in Chelsea, with promoter Joe Boyd in tow. Here, the band recorded a 16-minute version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and another composition, "Nick's Boogie". Whitehead had filmed this recording, which was used in the film Tonite Lets All Make Love in London and later on the video release of London '66–'67. Whitehead later commented about the band that: "They were just completely welded together, just like a jazz group".
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Boyd attempted to sign the band with Polydor Records. However, Morrison had convinced King and Jenner to try to start a bidding war between Polydor and EMI. In late January, Boyd produced a recording session for the group, with them returning to Sound Techniques in Chelsea again. After the bidding war idea was finished, Pink Floyd signed with EMI. Unusual for the time, the deal included recording an album, which meant the band had unlimited studio time at EMI Studios in return for a smaller royalty percentage. The band then attempted to re-record "Arnold Layne", but the Boyd version from January was released instead.
The band's first studio album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was recorded intermittently between February and July 1967 in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios, and produced by former Beatles engineer Norman Smith. By the time the album was released on 4 August, "Arnold Layne" (which was released months earlier, on 11 March) had reached number 20 on the British singles charts, despite being banned by Radio London, and the follow-up single, "See Emily Play", had peaked at number 5. The album was successful in the UK, hitting number 6 on the British album charts. Their first three singles (including their third, "Apples and Oranges"), were written by Barrett, who also was the principal visionary/author of their critically acclaimed 1967 debut album. Of the eleven songs on Piper, Barrett wrote eight and co-wrote another two.
Health problems
Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett became increasingly erratic, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. There is also speculation that he suffered from schizophrenia. Once described as joyful, friendly, and extroverted, he became increasingly depressed and withdrawn, and experienced hallucinations, disorganised speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings, and periods of catatonia. Although the changes began gradually, he went missing for a long weekend and, according to several friends, including Wright, came back "a completely different person".
One of the striking features of his change was the development of a blank, dead-eyed stare. Barrett did not recognise friends, and often did not know where he was; on a tour of Los Angeles, Barrett is said to have exclaimed, "Gee, it sure is nice to be in Las Vegas!" Many reports described him on stage, strumming one chord through the entire concert, or not playing at all. At a show in Santa Monica, Barrett slowly detuned his guitar.
Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during the tour, Barrett replied with a "blank and totally mute stare"; according to Mason, "Syd wasn't into moving his lips that day." Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand. Surviving footage of this appearance shows Barrett miming his parts competently; however, during a group interview afterwards, Barrett gave terse answers. During this time, Barrett would often forget to bring his guitar to sessions, damage equipment and was occasionally unable to hold his plectrum. Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett reportedly crushed Mandrax tranquilliser tablets and a tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle". Mason disputed the Mandrax portion of this story, stating that "Syd would never waste good mandies".
Departure from Pink Floyd
During Pink Floyd's UK tour with Jimi Hendrix in November 1967, guitarist David O'List from the Nice substituted for Barrett on several occasions when he was unable to perform or failed to appear. Around Christmas, Pink Floyd asked Barrett's schoolfriend David Gilmour to join as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett. For a handful of shows, Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining the performance. The other band members grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University, they elected not to pick Barrett up. One person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother." As Barrett had written the bulk of the band's material, the plan was to retain him as a non-touring member, as the Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson, but this proved impractical.
According to Waters, Barrett came to what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It Yet?". The song seemed simple when he first presented it, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn; the band eventually realised that Barrett was changing the arrangement as they played, and that Barrett was playing a joke on them. Waters called it "a real act of mad genius".
Of the songs Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, only "Jugband Blues" was included on their album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). "Apples and Oranges" became an unsuccessful single, and "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", remained unreleased until 2016 in The Early Years 1965–1972 box set, as they were deemed too dark and unsettling. Barrett played guitar on the Saucerful of Secrets tracks "Remember a Day" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
Feeling guilty, the members of Pink Floyd were unable to bring themselves to definitively tell Barrett that he was no longer in the band. According to Wright, who lived with Barrett at the time, he told Barrett he was going out to buy cigarettes when leaving to play a show. He would return hours later to find Barrett in the same position, sometimes with a cigarette burned completely down between his fingers (an incident later referenced in Pink Floyd's concert film The Wall). Emerging from catatonia and unaware that a long period of time had elapsed, Barrett would ask, "Have you got the cigarettes?".
Barrett supposedly spent time outside the recording studio, in the reception area, waiting to be invited in. He also came to a few performances and glared at Gilmour. On 6 April 1968, Pink Floyd officially announced that Barrett was no longer a member, the same day their contract with Blackhill Enterprises was terminated. Considering him as the band's musical leader, Blackhill Enterprises retained Barrett.
Solo years (1968–1972)
After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett was out of the public eye for a year. In 1969, at the behest of EMI and Harvest Records, he embarked on a brief solo career, releasing two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), and a single, "Octopus". Some songs, "Terrapin", "Maisie" and "Bob Dylan Blues", reflected Barrett's early interest in the blues.
The Madcap Laughs
After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Jenner followed suit. He led Barrett into EMI Studios to record some tracks in May that would later be released on Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs. However, Jenner said: "I had seriously underestimated the difficulties of working with him". By the sessions of June and July, most of the tracks were in better shape; however, shortly after the July sessions, Barrett broke up with girlfriend Lindsay Corner and went on a drive around Britain in his Mini, ending up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. During New Year 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett had taken up tenancy in a flat on Egerton Gardens, South Kensington, London, with the postmodernist artist Duggie Fields. Here, Barrett's flat was so close to Gilmour's that Gilmour could look right into Barrett's kitchen. Deciding to return to music, Barrett contacted EMI and was passed to Malcolm Jones, the then-head of EMI's new prog rock label, Harvest (after Norman Smith and Jenner declined to produce Barrett's record, Jones produced it). Barrett wanted to recover the Jenner-produced sessions recordings; several of the tracks were improved upon.
The Jones-produced sessions started in April 1969 at EMI Studios. After the first of these sessions, Barrett brought in friends to help out: Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, and Jokers Wild (Gilmour's old band) drummer Willie Wilson. For the sessions, Gilmour played bass. Talking to Barrett wasn't easy, said Jones: "It was a case of following him, not playing with him. They were seeing and then playing so they were always a note behind". A few tracks on the album feature overdubs by members of the band Soft Machine. During this time, Barrett also played guitar on the sessions for Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' debut LP Joy of a Toy, although his performance on "Religious Experience" (later titled "Singing a Song in the Morning") was not released until the album was reissued in 2003. One time, Barrett had told his flatmate that he was going off "for an afternoon drive". However, he followed Pink Floyd to Ibiza (according to legend, he skipped check-ins and customs, ran onto the runway and attempted to flag down a jet). One of his friends, J. Ryan Eaves, bass player for the short-lived but influential Manchester band York's Ensemble, later spotted him on a beach wearing messed-up clothes and with a carrier bag full of money. By this point, during the trip, Barrett had asked Gilmour for his help in the recording sessions.
After two of the Gilmour/Waters-produced sessions, they remade one track from the Soft Machine overdubs and recorded three tracks. These sessions came to a minor halt when Gilmour and Waters were mixing Pink Floyd's newly recorded album, Ummagumma, to Barrett's dismay. However, through the end of July, they managed to record three more tracks. The problem with the recording was that the songs were recorded as Barrett played them "live" in studio. On the released versions a number of them have false starts and commentaries from Barrett. Despite the track being closer to complete and better produced, Gilmour and Waters left the Jones-produced track "Opel" off Madcap.
Gilmour later said of the sessions for The Madcap Laughs:
Upon the album's release in January 1970, Malcolm Jones was shocked by the substandard musicianship on the Gilmour and Waters-produced songs: "I felt angry. It's like dirty linen in public and very unnecessary and unkind." Gilmour said: "Perhaps we were trying to show what Syd was really like. But perhaps we were trying to punish him." Waters was more positive: "Syd is a genius."
Barrett said "It's quite nice but I'd be very surprised if it did anything if I were to drop dead. I don't think it would stand as my last statement."
Evelyn "Iggy the Eskimo" Rose (1947–2017) appeared nude on the back of the album's inner sleeve.
Barrett
The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy".
These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album.
Wright said of the Barrett sessions:
Performances
Despite the numerous recording dates for his solo albums, Barrett undertook very little musical activity between 1968 and 1972 outside the studio. On 24 February 1970, he appeared on John Peel's BBC radio programme Top Gear playing five songs—only one of which had been previously released. Three would be re-recorded for the Barrett album, while the song "Two of a Kind" was a one-off performance (possibly written by Richard Wright). Barrett was accompanied on this session by Gilmour and Shirley who played bass and percussion, respectively.
Gilmour and Shirley also backed Barrett for his one and only live concert during this period. The gig took place on 6 June 1970 at the Olympia Exhibition Hall as part of a Music and Fashion Festival. The trio performed four songs, "Terrapin", "Gigolo Aunt", "Effervescing Elephant" and "Octopus". Poor mixing left the vocals barely audible until part-way through the last number. At the end of the fourth song, Barrett unexpectedly but politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage. The performance has been bootlegged. Barrett made one last appearance on BBC Radio, recording three songs at their studios on 16 February 1971. All three came from the Barrett album. After this session, he took a hiatus from his music career that lasted more than a year, although in an extensive interview with Mick Rock and Rolling Stone in December, he discussed himself at length, showed off his new 12-string guitar, talked about touring with Jimi Hendrix and stated that he was frustrated in terms of his musical work because of his inability to find anyone good to play with.
Later years (1972–2006)
Stars and final recordings
In February 1972, after a few guest spots in Cambridge with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass using the name The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band (backing visiting blues musician Eddie "Guitar" Burns and also featuring Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith), the trio formed a short-lived band called Stars. Though they were initially well received at gigs in the Dandelion coffee bar and the town's Market Square, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge with MC5 proved to be disastrous. A few days after this final show, Twink recalled that Barrett stopped him on the street, showed him a scathing review of the gig they had played, and quit on the spot, despite having played at least one subsequent gig at the same venue supporting Nektar.
Free from his EMI contract on 9 May 1972, Barrett signed a document that ended his association with Pink Floyd, and any financial interest in future recordings. He attended an informal jazz and poetry performance by Pete Brown and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce in October 1973. Brown arrived at the show late, and saw that Bruce was already onstage, along with "a guitarist I vaguely recognised", playing the Horace Silver tune "Doodlin'". Later in the show, Brown read out a poem, which he dedicated to Syd, because, "he's here in Cambridge, and he's one of the best songwriters in the country" when, to his surprise, the guitar player from earlier in the show stood up and said, "No I'm not". By the end of 1973, Barrett had returned to live in London, staying at various hotels and, in December of that year, settling in at Chelsea Cloisters. He had little contact with others, apart from his regular visits to his management's offices to collect his royalties, and the occasional visit from his sister Rosemary.
In August 1974, Jenner persuaded Barrett to return to Abbey Road Studios in hope of recording another album. According to John Leckie, who engineered these sessions, even at this point Syd still "looked like he did when he was younger ... long haired". The sessions lasted three days and consisted of blues rhythm tracks with tentative and disjointed guitar overdubs. Barrett recorded eleven tracks, the only one of which to be titled was "If You Go, Don't Be Slow". Once again, Barrett withdrew from the music industry, but this time for good. He sold the rights to his solo albums back to the record label and moved into a London hotel. During this period, several attempts to employ him as a record producer (including one by Jamie Reid on behalf of the Sex Pistols, and another by the Damned, who wanted him to produce their second album) were fruitless.
Wish You Were Here sessions
Barrett visited the members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for their ninth album, Wish You Were Here. He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band working on the final mix of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" — a song about him. By that time, Barrett, then 29, had become overweight and had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his former bandmates did not initially recognise him. Barrett spent part of the session brushing his teeth. Waters asked him what he thought of the song and he said that it "sounds a bit old". He is reported to have briefly attended the reception for Gilmour's wedding to Ginger that immediately followed the recording sessions, but Gilmour said he had no recollection of this.
A few years later, Waters saw Barrett in the department store Harrods; Barrett ran outside, dropping his bags. It was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw him.
Withdrawal to Cambridge
In 1978, when Barrett's money ran out, he moved back to Cambridge to live with his mother. He returned to live in London for a few weeks in 1982, but soon returned to Cambridge permanently. Barrett walked the from London to Cambridge. Until his death, he received royalties from his work with Pink Floyd; Gilmour said, "I made sure the money got to him." In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He did not attend the ceremony.
According to biographer and journalist Tim Willis, Barrett, who had reverted to using his original name Roger, continued to live in his late mother's semi-detached home, and had returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He was also said to have been an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive, and his physical health declined, as he suffered from stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes.
Although Barrett had not appeared or spoken in public since the mid-1970s, reporters and fans travelled to Cambridge seeking him, despite public appeals from his family. Apparently, Barrett did not like being reminded about his musical career and the other members of Pink Floyd had no direct contact with him. However, he did visit his sister's house in November 2001 to watch the BBC Omnibus documentary made about him; reportedly he found some of it "a bit noisy", enjoyed seeing Mike Leonard again, calling him his "teacher", and enjoyed hearing "See Emily Play".
Barrett made a final public acknowledgement of his musical past in 2002, his first since the 1970s, when he autographed 320 copies of photographer Mick Rock's book Psychedelic Renegades, which contained a number of photos of Barrett. Rock was perhaps the last person in the music industry with whom Barrett kept in contact. In 1971, Rock conducted Barrett's final interview before his retirement from the music industry. Barrett visited Rock in London several times for tea and conversation in 1978. They had not spoken in more than 20 years when Rock approached Barrett to autograph his photography book, and Barrett uncharacteristically agreed. Having reverted to his birth name, he autographed the book "Barrett".
Death and aftermath
Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006 aged 60, from pancreatic cancer. He was cremated. In 2006, his home in St. Margaret's Square, Cambridge, was put on the market and reportedly attracted considerable interest. After over 100 showings, many to fans, it was sold to a French couple who reportedly knew nothing about Barrett. On 28 November 2006, Barrett's other possessions were sold at an auction at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, raising £120,000 for charity. Items sold included paintings, scrapbooks and everyday items that Barrett had decorated. NME produced a tribute issue to Barrett a week later with a photo of him on the cover. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barrett's sister said that he had written an unpublished book about the history of art.
In response to the news of Barrett's death, Gilmour said:
According to local newspapers, Barrett left approximately £1.7 million to his two brothers and two sisters. This sum was apparently largely acquired from royalties from Pink Floyd compilations and live recordings featuring songs he had written while with the band. A tribute concert called "Madcap's Last Laugh" was held at the Barbican Centre, London, on 10 May 2007 with Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Sensible, Damon Albarn, Chrissie Hynde, Kevin Ayers and his Pink Floyd bandmates performing. A series of events called The City Wakes was held in Cambridge in October 2008 to celebrate Barrett's life, art, and music. Barrett's sister, Rosemary Breen, supported this, the first series of official events in memory of her brother. After the festival's success, arts charity Escape Artists announced plans to create a centre in Cambridge, using art to help people suffering from mental health problems. A memorial bench has been placed in the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge and a more prominent tribute is planned in the city.
Legacy
Compilations
In 1988, EMI Records (after constant pressure from Malcolm Jones) released an album of Barrett's studio out-takes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title Opel. The disc was originally set to include the unreleased Barrett Pink Floyd songs "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", which had been remixed for the album by Jones, but the band pulled the two songs before Opel was finalised. In 1993 EMI issued another release, Crazy Diamond, a boxed set of all three albums, each with further out-takes from his solo sessions that illustrated Barrett's inability or refusal to play a song the same way twice. EMI also released The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? in the UK on 16 April 2001 and in the US on 11 September 2001. This was the first time his song "Bob Dylan Blues" was officially released, taken from a demo tape that Gilmour had kept after an early 1970s session. Gilmour kept the tape, which also contains the unreleased "Living Alone" from the Barrett sessions. In October 2010 Harvest/EMI and Capitol Records released An Introduction to Syd Barrett—a collection of both his Pink Floyd and remastered solo work. The 2010 compilation An Introduction to Syd Barrett includes the downloadable bonus track "Rhamadan", a 20-minute track recorded at one of Syd's earliest solo sessions, in May 1968. In 2011, it was announced that a vinyl double album version would be issued for Record Store Day.
Bootleg editions of Barrett's live and solo material exist. For years the "off air" recordings of the BBC sessions with Barrett's Pink Floyd circulated, until an engineer who had taken a tape of the early Pink Floyd gave it back to the BBC—which played it during a tribute to John Peel on their website. During this tribute, the first Peel programme (Top Gear) was aired in its entirety. This show featured the 1967 live versions of "Flaming", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", and a brief 90-second snippet of the instrumental "Reaction in G". In 2012, engineer Andy Jackson said he had found "a huge box of assorted tapes", in Mason's possession, containing versions of R&B songs that (the Barrett-era) Pink Floyd played in their early years.
Creative impact
Barrett wrote most of Pink Floyd's early material. According to critic Steven Hyden, even after Barrett left the band, Barrett's spirit "haunted" their records, and their most popular work "drew on the power of what Barrett signified".
Barrett was an innovative guitarist, using extended techniques and exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of dissonance, distortion, feedback, the echo machine, tapes and other effects; his experimentation was partly inspired by free improvisation guitarist Keith Rowe of the group AMM, active at the time in London. One of Barrett's trademarks was playing his guitar through an old echo box while sliding a Zippo lighter up and down the fret-board to create the mysterious, otherworldly sounds that became associated with the group. Barrett was known to have used Binson delay units to achieve his trademark echo sounds. Daevid Allen, founder member of Soft Machine and Gong, cited Barrett's use of slide guitar with echo as a key inspiration for his own "glissando guitar" style.
Barrett's recordings both with Pink Floyd and in later solo albums were delivered with a strongly British-accented vocal delivery, specifically that of southern England. He was described by Guardian writer Nick Kent as having a "quintessential English style of vocal projection". David Bowie said that Barrett, along with Anthony Newley, was the first person he had heard sing rock or pop music with a British accent.
Barrett's free-form sequences of "sonic carpets" pioneered a new way to play the rock guitar. He played several different guitars during his tenure, including an old Harmony hollowbody electric, a Harmony acoustic, a Fender acoustic, a single-coil Danelectro 59 DC, several different Fender Telecasters and a white Fender Stratocaster in late 1967. A silver Fender Esquire with mirrored discs glued to the body was the guitar he was most often associated with and the guitar he "felt most close to". The mirrored Esquire was traded for a black Telecaster Custom, in 1968. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Influence
Many artists have acknowledged Barrett's influence on their work. Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Blur, Kevin Ayers, Gong, Marc Bolan, Tangerine Dream, Genesis P-Orridge, Julian Cope, Pere Ubu, Jeff Mangum, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, John Maus, Paul Weller, Roger Miller, East Bay Ray, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and David Bowie were inspired by Barrett; Jimmy Page, Brian Eno, Sex Pistols, and The Damned all expressed interest in working with him at some point during the 1970s. Bowie recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" on his 1973 album Pin Ups. The track "Grass", from XTC's album Skylarking was influenced when Andy Partridge let fellow band member Colin Moulding borrow his Barrett records. Robyn Hitchcock's career was dedicated to being Barrett-esque; he even played "Dominoes" for the 2001 BBC documentary The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story.
Barrett also had an influence on alternative and punk music in general. According to critic John Harris:
To understand his place in modern music you probably have to first go back to punk rock and its misguided attempt to kick aside what remained of the psychedelic 1960s. Given that the Clash and Sex Pistols had made brutal social commentary obligatory, there seemed little room for any of the creative exotica that had defined the Love Decade – until, slowly but surely, singing about dead-end lives and dole queues began to pall, and at least some of the previous generation were rehabilitated. Barrett was the best example: having crashed out of Pink Floyd before the advent of indulgent "progressive" rock, and succumbed to a fate that appealed to the punk generation's nihilism, he underwent a revival.
Barrett's decline had a profound effect on Waters' songwriting, and the theme of mental illness permeated the later Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and The Wall (1979). The reference to a "steel rail" in the song "Wish You Were Here" – "can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?" – references a recurring theme in Barrett's song "If It's In You" from The Madcap Laughs. The song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" from Wish You Were Here is also a tribute to Barrett.
In 1987, an album of Barrett cover songs called Beyond the Wildwood was released. The album was a collection of cover songs from Barrett's tenure with Pink Floyd and from his solo career. Artists appearing were UK and US indie bands including The Shamen, Opal, The Soup Dragons, and Plasticland.
Other artists who have written tributes to Barrett include his contemporary Kevin Ayers, who wrote "O Wot a Dream" in his honour (Barrett provided guitar to an early version of Ayers' song "Religious Experience: Singing a Song in the Morning"). Robyn Hitchcock has covered many of his songs live and on record and paid homage to his forebear with the song "(Feels Like) 1974". Phish covered "Bike", "No Good Trying", "Love You", "Baby Lemonade" and "Terrapin". The Television Personalities' single "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" from their 1981 album And Don't the Kids Love It is another tribute. In 2008, The Trash Can Sinatras released a single in tribute to the life and work of Syd Barrett called "Oranges and Apples", from their 2009 album In the Music. Proceeds from the single go to the Syd Barrett Trust in support of arts in mental health.
Johnny Depp showed interest in a biographical film based on Barrett's life. Barrett is portrayed briefly in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll (2006), performing "Golden Hair". His life and music, including the disastrous Cambridge Corn Exchange concert and his later reclusive lifestyle, are a recurring motif in the work. Barrett died during the play's run in London.
In 2016, in correspondence with the 70th anniversary birthday, The Theatre of the Absurd, an Italian independent artists group, published a short movie in honour of Barrett named Eclipse, with actor-director Edgar Blake in the role of Barrett. Some footage from this movie was also shown at Syd Barrett – A Celebration during Men on the Border's tribute: the show took place at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, with the participation of Barrett's family and old friends.
For 2017 TV series Legion creator Noah Hawley named one of the characters after Barrett, whose music was an important influence on the series.
In The X-Files season nine episode, "Lord of the Flies" (2001), a powerful mutant, Dylan Lokensgard (Hank Harris), has several posters of Syd Barrett on his bedroom wall, and listens to "It's No Good Trying" and "Terrapin" from The Madcap Laughs.
He recites the line, "A dream in a mist of gray", from Barrett's song "Opel", saying of the singer, "He was, like, this brilliant guy that no-one understood".
Barrett's influence on the genesis of psychedelia was considered in a chapter entitled 'Astronauts of Inner Space: Syd Barrett, Nick Drake and the Birth of Psychedelia' in Guy Mankowski's book 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders.'
Health
Members of Barrett's family denied that he had suffered from mental illness. Asked if Barrett may have had Asperger's syndrome, his sister Rosemary Breen said that he and his siblings were "all on the spectrum". She also stated that, contrary to common misconception, Barrett neither suffered from mental illness nor had he received treatment for it since they had resumed regular contact in the 1980s. Breen said he had spent some time in a private "home for lost souls"—Greenwoods in Essex—but that there was no formal therapy programme there. Some years later, Barrett agreed to sessions with a psychiatrist at Fulbourn psychiatric hospital in Cambridge, but Breen said that neither medication nor therapy was considered appropriate. Breen also denied Barrett was a recluse or that he was vague about his past: "Roger may have been a bit selfish—or rather self-absorbed—but when people called him a recluse they were really only projecting their own disappointment. He knew what they wanted, but he wasn't willing to give it to them." In 1996, Wright said that Barrett's mother told the members of Pink Floyd to not contact him because being reminded of the band would make him depressed for weeks.
In the 1960s, Barrett used psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, and there are theories he subsequently suffered from schizophrenia. Wright asserted that Barrett's problems stemmed from a massive overdose of acid, as the change in his personality and behaviour came on suddenly. However, Waters maintains that Barrett suffered "without a doubt" from schizophrenia. In an article published in 2006, Gilmour was quoted as saying: "In my opinion, his nervous breakdown would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it." According to Gilmour in a 1974 interview, the other members of Pink Floyd approached psychiatrist R. D. Laing with the "Barrett problem". After hearing a tape of a Barrett conversation, Laing declared him "incurable".
In Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, author Nicholas Schaffner interviewed people who knew Barrett before and during his Pink Floyd days, including friends Peter and Susan Wynne-Wilson, artist Duggie Fields (with whom Barrett shared a flat during the late 1960s), June Bolan, and Storm Thorgerson. Bolan became concerned when Syd "kept his girlfriend under lock and key for three days, occasionally shoving a ration of biscuits under the door". A claim of cruelty against Barrett committed by the groupies and hangers-on who frequented his apartment during this period was described by writer and critic Jonathan Meades. "I went [to Barrett's flat] to see Harry and there was this terrible noise. It sounded like heating pipes shaking. I said, 'What's up?' and he sort of giggled and said, 'That's Syd having a bad trip. We put him in the linen cupboard'". Storm Thorgerson responded to this claim by stating "I do not remember locking Syd up in a cupboard. It sounds to me like pure fantasy, like Jonathan Meades was on dope himself."
Other friends state that Barrett's flatmates, who had also taken LSD, thought of Barrett as a genius or a deity, and were spiking his morning coffee every day without his knowledge, leaving him in a never-ending trip. He was later rescued from that flat by friends and moved elsewhere, but his erratic behaviour continued. According to Thorgerson, "On one occasion, I had to pull him [Barrett] off [his girlfriend] Lindsay because he was beating her over the head with a mandolin". On one occasion, Barrett threw a woman called Gilly across the room, because she refused to go to Gilmour's house.
Personal life
According to his sister, Rosemary, Barrett took up photography and sometimes they went to the seaside together. She also said he took a keen interest in art and horticulture and continued to devote himself to painting:
Barrett had relationships with various women, such as Libby Gausden; Lindsay Korner; Jenny Spires; and Pakistani-born Evelyn "Iggy" Rose (1947–2017) (aka "Iggy the Eskimo", "Iggy the Inuit"), who appeared on the back cover of The Madcap Laughs. He never married or had children, though he was briefly engaged to marry Gayla Pinion and planned to relocate to Oxford.
Discography
Solo albums
The Madcap Laughs (1970)
Barrett (1970)
with Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
1965: Their First Recordings (2015)
The Early Years 1965–1972 (2016)
Filmography
Syd Barrett's First Trip (1966) directed by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
London '66–'67 (1967)
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London (1967)
The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story (2003)
See also
List of songs recorded by Syd Barrett
List of songs about or referencing Syd Barrett
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links
The Official Syd Barrett Website
The Syd Barrett Archives
Syd Barrett Pink Floyd blog
The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit blog
1946 births
2006 deaths
20th-century English composers
20th-century English painters
20th-century English male singers
21st-century English painters
Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
Blues rock musicians
Capitol Records artists
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
EMI Records artists
English experimental musicians
English male painters
English rock guitarists
English rock singers
English male singer-songwriters
Experimental composers
Experimental guitarists
Harvest Records artists
Lead guitarists
Musicians from Cambridgeshire
Outsider musicians
People from Cambridge
People with schizophrenia
Pink Floyd members
Protopunk musicians
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychedelic folk musicians
Psychedelic rock musicians
Rhythm guitarists
Slide guitarists
English male guitarists
20th-century British guitarists | true | [
"Jason Todd Barrett (born March 19, 1978) is an American politician, serving in the Mississippi State Senate from the 39th district since 2020.\n\nEarly life and education \nBarrett was born in Thomasville, Georgia, where he attended Thomas County Central High School. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 2000 and received his J.D. degree from Mississippi College School of Law in 2007. He was admitted to the Mississippi State Bar shortly after in October 2007.\n\nCareer \nBarrett served as a teacher and coach before becoming an attorney with his own practice, Barrett Law Firm located in Brookhaven, Mississippi, which is where he resides.\n\nWhen former State Senator Sally Doty resigned due to an appointment by Governor Tate Reeves, Barrett ran for special election to the seat against main contender Bill Sones, Sr., along with seven other minor candidates. The two went to a runoff, after Barrett secured 20.1% of the vote and Sones received 31.5% of the vote. In the general election, Barrett won with approximately 57% of the vote. Barrett assumed office on October 28, 2020 and is a Republican.\n\nPolitical positions \nBarrett campaigned on how he was a \"conservative Republican who will protect your constitutional rights and support fully funding public education\" as well as how he was anti-abortion. Further, he stated his support for \"accessible, affordable health care\" and on helping rural hospitals.\n\nPersonal life \nBarrett is married with two children and is of Baptist faith.\n\nReferences \n\nLiving people\nMississippi state senators\nMississippi Republicans\n21st-century American politicians\nUniversity of Georgia alumni\nMississippi College School of Law alumni\n1978 births\nPeople from Thomasville, Georgia",
"Spencer Charles Hilton Barrett (born June 7, 1948) is a Canadian evolutionary biologist, formerly a Canada Research Chair at University of Toronto and, in 2010, was named Extraordinary Professor at University of Stellenbosch.\n\nEducation\nBarrett was educated at the University of Reading and the University of California, Berkeley where he was awarded a PhD in 1977 for research into the \tbreeding systems of the plants Eichhornia and Pontederia. He was supervised by Herbert Baker.\n\nResearch and career\nBarrett's interests are in evolutionary biology, evolutionary genetics, evolutionary ecology and plant reproduction. His research seeks understanding of how flowers evolve and what mechanisms are responsible for mating system transitions in flowering plants. Since 2017, he has served as editor of the Proceedings of the Royal Society series B, the flagship scientific journal of the Royal Society.\n\nBarrett is an evolutionary biologist and a worldwide authority on the ecology and genetics of plant reproduction. His work has focused on increasing our understanding of how flowers evolve and the mechanisms responsible for mating system transitions in flowering plants.\n\nThrough innovative experiments, amongst his other discoveries, Barrett provided the first experimental evidence for the purging of deleterious genes following inbreeding in plants. He also demonstrated that self-fertilization owing to large floral displays in plants has a detrimental effect on the male fertility of plants.\n\nBarrett’s research group at the University of Toronto focuses on understanding the mechanisms responsible for the evolution of plant mating strategies, and he has edited several leading books in the field.\n\nAwards and honours\nBarrett was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 2004. He was awarded the Sewall Wright Award by the American Society of Naturalists in 2008 and was President of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution from 2010 to 2011.\n\nHe received the Sewall Wright Award from the American Society of Naturalists in 2008 and was President of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution from 2010–2011. In 2014, he received the Flavelle Medal from the Royal Society of Canada.\n\nIn April 2020 Spencer Barrett was elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences.\n\nReferences\n\n1948 births\nLiving people\nUC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni\nUniversity of Toronto faculty\nCanadian ecologists\nFellows of the Royal Society\nFellows of the Royal Society of Canada"
] |
[
"Syd Barrett",
"Barrett",
"what is known about barrett in this section?",
"The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970.",
"how was barrett received?",
"Shirley said of Barrett's playing: \"He would never play the same tune twice."
] | C_6d0e8aa901f54f6587b8dd457957ea6a_0 | what is the highlight of this section? | 3 | what is the highlight of the section on Syd Barrett? | Syd Barrett | The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy". These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album. Wright said of the Barrett sessions: Doing Syd's record was interesting, but extremely difficult. Dave [Gilmour] and Roger did the first one (The Madcap Laughs) and Dave and myself did the second one. But by then it was just trying to help Syd any way we could, rather than worrying about getting the best guitar sound. You could forget about that! It was just going into the studio and trying to get him to sing. CANNOTANSWER | " At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker | Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his whimsical psychedelia, English-accented singing, literary influences, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing dissonance, distortion, echo, feedback, and other studio effects.
Originally trained as a painter, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several unreleased songs. In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from the band amid speculation of mental illness and his excessive use of psychedelic drugs. He began a brief solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" and followed with the albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with the aid of several members of Pink Floyd.
In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death. He continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the 1979 rock opera The Wall. In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, with Barrett's approval. In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.
Life and career
Early years
Roger Keith Barrett was born on 6 January 1946 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire to a middle-class family living at 60 Glisson Road. He was the fourth of five children. His father, Arthur Max Barrett, was a prominent pathologist and was said to be related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson through Max's maternal grandmother Ellen Garrett. In 1951, his family moved to 183 Hills Road.
Barrett played piano occasionally but usually preferred writing and drawing. He bought a ukulele aged 10, a banjo at 11 and a Hofner acoustic guitar at 14. A year after he purchased his first acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar and built his own amplifier. One story of how Barrett acquired the nickname "Syd" is that at the age of 14 he was named after an old local Cambridge jazz double bassist, Sid "The Beat" Barrett, which claims Syd Barrett changed the spelling to differentiate himself from his namesake.
Another account is that when he was 13, his schoolmates nicknamed him "Syd" after he showed up to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his Scout beret because "Syd" was a "working-class" name. He used both names interchangeably for several years. His sister Rosemary said: "He was never Syd at home. He would never have allowed it." He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader.
At one point at Morley Memorial Junior School he was taught by the mother of future Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Later, in 1957, he attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Waters. His father died of cancer on 11 December 1961, less than a month before Barrett's 16th birthday. On this date, Barrett left the entry in his diary blank. By this time, his brothers and sisters had left home and his mother decided to rent out rooms to lodgers.
Eager to help her son recover from his grief, Barrett's mother encouraged the band in which he played, Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, a band which Barrett formed, to perform in their front room. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, and Waters often visited such gigs. At one point, Waters organised a gig, a CND benefit at Friends Meeting House on 11 March 1962, but shortly afterwards Geoff Mott joined the Boston Crabs, and the Mottoes broke up.
In September 1962, Barrett had taken a place at the art department of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, where he met David Gilmour. In late 1962 and early 1963, the Beatles made an impact on Barrett, and he began to play Beatles songs at parties and at picnics. In 1963, Barrett became a Rolling Stones fan and, with then-girlfriend Libby Gausden, saw them perform at a village hall in Cambridgeshire.
At this point, Barrett started writing songs; one friend recalls hearing "Effervescing Elephant" (later to be recorded on his solo album Barrett). Also around this time, Barrett and Gilmour occasionally played acoustic gigs together. Barrett had played bass guitar with Those Without in mid-1963 and bass and guitar with the Hollerin' Blues the next summer. In 1964, Barrett and Gausden saw Bob Dylan perform. After this performance, Barrett was inspired to write "Bob Dylan Blues". Barrett, now thinking about his future, decided to apply for Camberwell College of Arts in London. He enrolled in the college in the summer of 1964 to study painting.
Pink Floyd years (1965–1968)
Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd evolved through various line-up and name changes including "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths". In 1965, Barrett joined them as the Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set). When they found themselves playing a concert with another band of the same name, Barrett came up with "The Pink Floyd Sound" (also known as "The Pink Floyd Blues Band", later "The Pink Floyd"). During 1965, they went into a studio for the first time, when a friend of Richard Wright's gave the band free time to record.
During this summer Barrett had his first LSD trip in the garden of friend Dave Gale, with Ian Moore and Storm Thorgerson. During one trip, Barrett and another friend, Paul Charrier, ended up naked in the bath, reciting: "No rules, no rules". That summer, as a result of the continued drug use, the band became absorbed in Sant Mat, a Sikh sect. Storm Thorgerson (then living on Earlham Street) and Barrett went to a London hotel to meet the sect's guru; Thorgerson managed to join the sect; Barrett, however, was deemed too young to join. Thorgerson sees this as a deeply important event in Barrett's life, as he was extremely upset by the rejection. While living near his friends, Barrett decided to write more songs ("Bike" was written around this time).
London Underground, Blackhill Enterprises and gigs
While Pink Floyd began by playing cover versions of American R&B songs, by 1966 they had carved out their own style of improvised rock and roll, which drew as much from improvised jazz. After Bob Klose departed from the band, the band's direction changed. However, the change was not instantaneous, with more improvising on the guitars and keyboards. Drummer Nick Mason reflected, "It always felt to me that most of the ideas were emanating from Syd at the time."
At this time, Barrett's reading reputedly included Grimm's Fairy Tales, Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and The I-Ching. During this period, Barrett wrote most of the songs for Pink Floyd's first album, and also songs that would later appear on his solo albums. In 1966, a new rock concert venue, the UFO (pronounced as "you-foe"), opened in London and quickly became a haven for British psychedelic music. Pink Floyd, the house band, was its most popular attraction and after making appearances at the rival Roundhouse, became the most popular musical group of the "London Underground" psychedelic music scene.
By the end of 1966, Pink Floyd had gained a reliable management team in Andrew King and Peter Jenner. Towards the end of October 1966, Pink Floyd, with King and Jenner, set up Blackhill Enterprises, to manage the group's finances. Blackhill was staffed by lodgers Jenner found in his Edbrooke Road house, and among others, Barrett's flatmate, Peter Wynne Wilson (who became road manager, however, since he had more experience in lighting, he was also lighting assistant). King and Jenner wanted to prepare some demo recordings for a possible record deal, so at the end of October, they booked a session at Thompson Private Recording Studio, in Hemel Hempstead. King said of the demos: "That was the first time I realised they were going to write all their own material, Syd just turned into a songwriter, it seemed like overnight."
King and Jenner befriended American expatriate Joe Boyd, the promoter of the UFO Club, who was making a name for himself as one of the more important entrepreneurs on the British music scene. The newly hired booking agent, Bryan Morrison, and Boyd had proposed sending in better quality recordings. From Morrison's agency the band played a gig outside London for the first time. In November, the band performed the first (of many) strangely named concerts: Philadelic Music for Simian Hominids, a multimedia event arranged by the group's former landlord, Mike Leonard, at Hornsey College of Art. They performed at the Free School for the following two weeks, before performing at the Psychodelphia Versus Ian Smith event at the Roundhouse in December, arranged by the Majority Rule for Rhodesia Campaign, and an Oxfam benefit at the Albert Hall (the band's biggest venue up to this point).
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London
At the beginning of 1967, Barrett was dating Jenny Spires (who would later marry future Stars member Jack Monck). However, unknown to Barrett, Spires had an affair with Peter Whitehead. Spires convinced Whitehead (who thought the band sounded like "bad Schoenberg") to use Pink Floyd in a film about the swinging London scene. So at the cost of £80 (), in January, Whitehead took the band into John Wood's Sound Techniques in Chelsea, with promoter Joe Boyd in tow. Here, the band recorded a 16-minute version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and another composition, "Nick's Boogie". Whitehead had filmed this recording, which was used in the film Tonite Lets All Make Love in London and later on the video release of London '66–'67. Whitehead later commented about the band that: "They were just completely welded together, just like a jazz group".
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Boyd attempted to sign the band with Polydor Records. However, Morrison had convinced King and Jenner to try to start a bidding war between Polydor and EMI. In late January, Boyd produced a recording session for the group, with them returning to Sound Techniques in Chelsea again. After the bidding war idea was finished, Pink Floyd signed with EMI. Unusual for the time, the deal included recording an album, which meant the band had unlimited studio time at EMI Studios in return for a smaller royalty percentage. The band then attempted to re-record "Arnold Layne", but the Boyd version from January was released instead.
The band's first studio album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was recorded intermittently between February and July 1967 in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios, and produced by former Beatles engineer Norman Smith. By the time the album was released on 4 August, "Arnold Layne" (which was released months earlier, on 11 March) had reached number 20 on the British singles charts, despite being banned by Radio London, and the follow-up single, "See Emily Play", had peaked at number 5. The album was successful in the UK, hitting number 6 on the British album charts. Their first three singles (including their third, "Apples and Oranges"), were written by Barrett, who also was the principal visionary/author of their critically acclaimed 1967 debut album. Of the eleven songs on Piper, Barrett wrote eight and co-wrote another two.
Health problems
Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett became increasingly erratic, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. There is also speculation that he suffered from schizophrenia. Once described as joyful, friendly, and extroverted, he became increasingly depressed and withdrawn, and experienced hallucinations, disorganised speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings, and periods of catatonia. Although the changes began gradually, he went missing for a long weekend and, according to several friends, including Wright, came back "a completely different person".
One of the striking features of his change was the development of a blank, dead-eyed stare. Barrett did not recognise friends, and often did not know where he was; on a tour of Los Angeles, Barrett is said to have exclaimed, "Gee, it sure is nice to be in Las Vegas!" Many reports described him on stage, strumming one chord through the entire concert, or not playing at all. At a show in Santa Monica, Barrett slowly detuned his guitar.
Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during the tour, Barrett replied with a "blank and totally mute stare"; according to Mason, "Syd wasn't into moving his lips that day." Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand. Surviving footage of this appearance shows Barrett miming his parts competently; however, during a group interview afterwards, Barrett gave terse answers. During this time, Barrett would often forget to bring his guitar to sessions, damage equipment and was occasionally unable to hold his plectrum. Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett reportedly crushed Mandrax tranquilliser tablets and a tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle". Mason disputed the Mandrax portion of this story, stating that "Syd would never waste good mandies".
Departure from Pink Floyd
During Pink Floyd's UK tour with Jimi Hendrix in November 1967, guitarist David O'List from the Nice substituted for Barrett on several occasions when he was unable to perform or failed to appear. Around Christmas, Pink Floyd asked Barrett's schoolfriend David Gilmour to join as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett. For a handful of shows, Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining the performance. The other band members grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University, they elected not to pick Barrett up. One person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother." As Barrett had written the bulk of the band's material, the plan was to retain him as a non-touring member, as the Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson, but this proved impractical.
According to Waters, Barrett came to what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It Yet?". The song seemed simple when he first presented it, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn; the band eventually realised that Barrett was changing the arrangement as they played, and that Barrett was playing a joke on them. Waters called it "a real act of mad genius".
Of the songs Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, only "Jugband Blues" was included on their album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). "Apples and Oranges" became an unsuccessful single, and "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", remained unreleased until 2016 in The Early Years 1965–1972 box set, as they were deemed too dark and unsettling. Barrett played guitar on the Saucerful of Secrets tracks "Remember a Day" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
Feeling guilty, the members of Pink Floyd were unable to bring themselves to definitively tell Barrett that he was no longer in the band. According to Wright, who lived with Barrett at the time, he told Barrett he was going out to buy cigarettes when leaving to play a show. He would return hours later to find Barrett in the same position, sometimes with a cigarette burned completely down between his fingers (an incident later referenced in Pink Floyd's concert film The Wall). Emerging from catatonia and unaware that a long period of time had elapsed, Barrett would ask, "Have you got the cigarettes?".
Barrett supposedly spent time outside the recording studio, in the reception area, waiting to be invited in. He also came to a few performances and glared at Gilmour. On 6 April 1968, Pink Floyd officially announced that Barrett was no longer a member, the same day their contract with Blackhill Enterprises was terminated. Considering him as the band's musical leader, Blackhill Enterprises retained Barrett.
Solo years (1968–1972)
After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett was out of the public eye for a year. In 1969, at the behest of EMI and Harvest Records, he embarked on a brief solo career, releasing two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), and a single, "Octopus". Some songs, "Terrapin", "Maisie" and "Bob Dylan Blues", reflected Barrett's early interest in the blues.
The Madcap Laughs
After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Jenner followed suit. He led Barrett into EMI Studios to record some tracks in May that would later be released on Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs. However, Jenner said: "I had seriously underestimated the difficulties of working with him". By the sessions of June and July, most of the tracks were in better shape; however, shortly after the July sessions, Barrett broke up with girlfriend Lindsay Corner and went on a drive around Britain in his Mini, ending up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. During New Year 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett had taken up tenancy in a flat on Egerton Gardens, South Kensington, London, with the postmodernist artist Duggie Fields. Here, Barrett's flat was so close to Gilmour's that Gilmour could look right into Barrett's kitchen. Deciding to return to music, Barrett contacted EMI and was passed to Malcolm Jones, the then-head of EMI's new prog rock label, Harvest (after Norman Smith and Jenner declined to produce Barrett's record, Jones produced it). Barrett wanted to recover the Jenner-produced sessions recordings; several of the tracks were improved upon.
The Jones-produced sessions started in April 1969 at EMI Studios. After the first of these sessions, Barrett brought in friends to help out: Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, and Jokers Wild (Gilmour's old band) drummer Willie Wilson. For the sessions, Gilmour played bass. Talking to Barrett wasn't easy, said Jones: "It was a case of following him, not playing with him. They were seeing and then playing so they were always a note behind". A few tracks on the album feature overdubs by members of the band Soft Machine. During this time, Barrett also played guitar on the sessions for Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' debut LP Joy of a Toy, although his performance on "Religious Experience" (later titled "Singing a Song in the Morning") was not released until the album was reissued in 2003. One time, Barrett had told his flatmate that he was going off "for an afternoon drive". However, he followed Pink Floyd to Ibiza (according to legend, he skipped check-ins and customs, ran onto the runway and attempted to flag down a jet). One of his friends, J. Ryan Eaves, bass player for the short-lived but influential Manchester band York's Ensemble, later spotted him on a beach wearing messed-up clothes and with a carrier bag full of money. By this point, during the trip, Barrett had asked Gilmour for his help in the recording sessions.
After two of the Gilmour/Waters-produced sessions, they remade one track from the Soft Machine overdubs and recorded three tracks. These sessions came to a minor halt when Gilmour and Waters were mixing Pink Floyd's newly recorded album, Ummagumma, to Barrett's dismay. However, through the end of July, they managed to record three more tracks. The problem with the recording was that the songs were recorded as Barrett played them "live" in studio. On the released versions a number of them have false starts and commentaries from Barrett. Despite the track being closer to complete and better produced, Gilmour and Waters left the Jones-produced track "Opel" off Madcap.
Gilmour later said of the sessions for The Madcap Laughs:
Upon the album's release in January 1970, Malcolm Jones was shocked by the substandard musicianship on the Gilmour and Waters-produced songs: "I felt angry. It's like dirty linen in public and very unnecessary and unkind." Gilmour said: "Perhaps we were trying to show what Syd was really like. But perhaps we were trying to punish him." Waters was more positive: "Syd is a genius."
Barrett said "It's quite nice but I'd be very surprised if it did anything if I were to drop dead. I don't think it would stand as my last statement."
Evelyn "Iggy the Eskimo" Rose (1947–2017) appeared nude on the back of the album's inner sleeve.
Barrett
The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy".
These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album.
Wright said of the Barrett sessions:
Performances
Despite the numerous recording dates for his solo albums, Barrett undertook very little musical activity between 1968 and 1972 outside the studio. On 24 February 1970, he appeared on John Peel's BBC radio programme Top Gear playing five songs—only one of which had been previously released. Three would be re-recorded for the Barrett album, while the song "Two of a Kind" was a one-off performance (possibly written by Richard Wright). Barrett was accompanied on this session by Gilmour and Shirley who played bass and percussion, respectively.
Gilmour and Shirley also backed Barrett for his one and only live concert during this period. The gig took place on 6 June 1970 at the Olympia Exhibition Hall as part of a Music and Fashion Festival. The trio performed four songs, "Terrapin", "Gigolo Aunt", "Effervescing Elephant" and "Octopus". Poor mixing left the vocals barely audible until part-way through the last number. At the end of the fourth song, Barrett unexpectedly but politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage. The performance has been bootlegged. Barrett made one last appearance on BBC Radio, recording three songs at their studios on 16 February 1971. All three came from the Barrett album. After this session, he took a hiatus from his music career that lasted more than a year, although in an extensive interview with Mick Rock and Rolling Stone in December, he discussed himself at length, showed off his new 12-string guitar, talked about touring with Jimi Hendrix and stated that he was frustrated in terms of his musical work because of his inability to find anyone good to play with.
Later years (1972–2006)
Stars and final recordings
In February 1972, after a few guest spots in Cambridge with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass using the name The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band (backing visiting blues musician Eddie "Guitar" Burns and also featuring Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith), the trio formed a short-lived band called Stars. Though they were initially well received at gigs in the Dandelion coffee bar and the town's Market Square, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge with MC5 proved to be disastrous. A few days after this final show, Twink recalled that Barrett stopped him on the street, showed him a scathing review of the gig they had played, and quit on the spot, despite having played at least one subsequent gig at the same venue supporting Nektar.
Free from his EMI contract on 9 May 1972, Barrett signed a document that ended his association with Pink Floyd, and any financial interest in future recordings. He attended an informal jazz and poetry performance by Pete Brown and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce in October 1973. Brown arrived at the show late, and saw that Bruce was already onstage, along with "a guitarist I vaguely recognised", playing the Horace Silver tune "Doodlin'". Later in the show, Brown read out a poem, which he dedicated to Syd, because, "he's here in Cambridge, and he's one of the best songwriters in the country" when, to his surprise, the guitar player from earlier in the show stood up and said, "No I'm not". By the end of 1973, Barrett had returned to live in London, staying at various hotels and, in December of that year, settling in at Chelsea Cloisters. He had little contact with others, apart from his regular visits to his management's offices to collect his royalties, and the occasional visit from his sister Rosemary.
In August 1974, Jenner persuaded Barrett to return to Abbey Road Studios in hope of recording another album. According to John Leckie, who engineered these sessions, even at this point Syd still "looked like he did when he was younger ... long haired". The sessions lasted three days and consisted of blues rhythm tracks with tentative and disjointed guitar overdubs. Barrett recorded eleven tracks, the only one of which to be titled was "If You Go, Don't Be Slow". Once again, Barrett withdrew from the music industry, but this time for good. He sold the rights to his solo albums back to the record label and moved into a London hotel. During this period, several attempts to employ him as a record producer (including one by Jamie Reid on behalf of the Sex Pistols, and another by the Damned, who wanted him to produce their second album) were fruitless.
Wish You Were Here sessions
Barrett visited the members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for their ninth album, Wish You Were Here. He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band working on the final mix of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" — a song about him. By that time, Barrett, then 29, had become overweight and had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his former bandmates did not initially recognise him. Barrett spent part of the session brushing his teeth. Waters asked him what he thought of the song and he said that it "sounds a bit old". He is reported to have briefly attended the reception for Gilmour's wedding to Ginger that immediately followed the recording sessions, but Gilmour said he had no recollection of this.
A few years later, Waters saw Barrett in the department store Harrods; Barrett ran outside, dropping his bags. It was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw him.
Withdrawal to Cambridge
In 1978, when Barrett's money ran out, he moved back to Cambridge to live with his mother. He returned to live in London for a few weeks in 1982, but soon returned to Cambridge permanently. Barrett walked the from London to Cambridge. Until his death, he received royalties from his work with Pink Floyd; Gilmour said, "I made sure the money got to him." In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He did not attend the ceremony.
According to biographer and journalist Tim Willis, Barrett, who had reverted to using his original name Roger, continued to live in his late mother's semi-detached home, and had returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He was also said to have been an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive, and his physical health declined, as he suffered from stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes.
Although Barrett had not appeared or spoken in public since the mid-1970s, reporters and fans travelled to Cambridge seeking him, despite public appeals from his family. Apparently, Barrett did not like being reminded about his musical career and the other members of Pink Floyd had no direct contact with him. However, he did visit his sister's house in November 2001 to watch the BBC Omnibus documentary made about him; reportedly he found some of it "a bit noisy", enjoyed seeing Mike Leonard again, calling him his "teacher", and enjoyed hearing "See Emily Play".
Barrett made a final public acknowledgement of his musical past in 2002, his first since the 1970s, when he autographed 320 copies of photographer Mick Rock's book Psychedelic Renegades, which contained a number of photos of Barrett. Rock was perhaps the last person in the music industry with whom Barrett kept in contact. In 1971, Rock conducted Barrett's final interview before his retirement from the music industry. Barrett visited Rock in London several times for tea and conversation in 1978. They had not spoken in more than 20 years when Rock approached Barrett to autograph his photography book, and Barrett uncharacteristically agreed. Having reverted to his birth name, he autographed the book "Barrett".
Death and aftermath
Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006 aged 60, from pancreatic cancer. He was cremated. In 2006, his home in St. Margaret's Square, Cambridge, was put on the market and reportedly attracted considerable interest. After over 100 showings, many to fans, it was sold to a French couple who reportedly knew nothing about Barrett. On 28 November 2006, Barrett's other possessions were sold at an auction at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, raising £120,000 for charity. Items sold included paintings, scrapbooks and everyday items that Barrett had decorated. NME produced a tribute issue to Barrett a week later with a photo of him on the cover. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barrett's sister said that he had written an unpublished book about the history of art.
In response to the news of Barrett's death, Gilmour said:
According to local newspapers, Barrett left approximately £1.7 million to his two brothers and two sisters. This sum was apparently largely acquired from royalties from Pink Floyd compilations and live recordings featuring songs he had written while with the band. A tribute concert called "Madcap's Last Laugh" was held at the Barbican Centre, London, on 10 May 2007 with Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Sensible, Damon Albarn, Chrissie Hynde, Kevin Ayers and his Pink Floyd bandmates performing. A series of events called The City Wakes was held in Cambridge in October 2008 to celebrate Barrett's life, art, and music. Barrett's sister, Rosemary Breen, supported this, the first series of official events in memory of her brother. After the festival's success, arts charity Escape Artists announced plans to create a centre in Cambridge, using art to help people suffering from mental health problems. A memorial bench has been placed in the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge and a more prominent tribute is planned in the city.
Legacy
Compilations
In 1988, EMI Records (after constant pressure from Malcolm Jones) released an album of Barrett's studio out-takes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title Opel. The disc was originally set to include the unreleased Barrett Pink Floyd songs "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", which had been remixed for the album by Jones, but the band pulled the two songs before Opel was finalised. In 1993 EMI issued another release, Crazy Diamond, a boxed set of all three albums, each with further out-takes from his solo sessions that illustrated Barrett's inability or refusal to play a song the same way twice. EMI also released The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? in the UK on 16 April 2001 and in the US on 11 September 2001. This was the first time his song "Bob Dylan Blues" was officially released, taken from a demo tape that Gilmour had kept after an early 1970s session. Gilmour kept the tape, which also contains the unreleased "Living Alone" from the Barrett sessions. In October 2010 Harvest/EMI and Capitol Records released An Introduction to Syd Barrett—a collection of both his Pink Floyd and remastered solo work. The 2010 compilation An Introduction to Syd Barrett includes the downloadable bonus track "Rhamadan", a 20-minute track recorded at one of Syd's earliest solo sessions, in May 1968. In 2011, it was announced that a vinyl double album version would be issued for Record Store Day.
Bootleg editions of Barrett's live and solo material exist. For years the "off air" recordings of the BBC sessions with Barrett's Pink Floyd circulated, until an engineer who had taken a tape of the early Pink Floyd gave it back to the BBC—which played it during a tribute to John Peel on their website. During this tribute, the first Peel programme (Top Gear) was aired in its entirety. This show featured the 1967 live versions of "Flaming", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", and a brief 90-second snippet of the instrumental "Reaction in G". In 2012, engineer Andy Jackson said he had found "a huge box of assorted tapes", in Mason's possession, containing versions of R&B songs that (the Barrett-era) Pink Floyd played in their early years.
Creative impact
Barrett wrote most of Pink Floyd's early material. According to critic Steven Hyden, even after Barrett left the band, Barrett's spirit "haunted" their records, and their most popular work "drew on the power of what Barrett signified".
Barrett was an innovative guitarist, using extended techniques and exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of dissonance, distortion, feedback, the echo machine, tapes and other effects; his experimentation was partly inspired by free improvisation guitarist Keith Rowe of the group AMM, active at the time in London. One of Barrett's trademarks was playing his guitar through an old echo box while sliding a Zippo lighter up and down the fret-board to create the mysterious, otherworldly sounds that became associated with the group. Barrett was known to have used Binson delay units to achieve his trademark echo sounds. Daevid Allen, founder member of Soft Machine and Gong, cited Barrett's use of slide guitar with echo as a key inspiration for his own "glissando guitar" style.
Barrett's recordings both with Pink Floyd and in later solo albums were delivered with a strongly British-accented vocal delivery, specifically that of southern England. He was described by Guardian writer Nick Kent as having a "quintessential English style of vocal projection". David Bowie said that Barrett, along with Anthony Newley, was the first person he had heard sing rock or pop music with a British accent.
Barrett's free-form sequences of "sonic carpets" pioneered a new way to play the rock guitar. He played several different guitars during his tenure, including an old Harmony hollowbody electric, a Harmony acoustic, a Fender acoustic, a single-coil Danelectro 59 DC, several different Fender Telecasters and a white Fender Stratocaster in late 1967. A silver Fender Esquire with mirrored discs glued to the body was the guitar he was most often associated with and the guitar he "felt most close to". The mirrored Esquire was traded for a black Telecaster Custom, in 1968. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Influence
Many artists have acknowledged Barrett's influence on their work. Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Blur, Kevin Ayers, Gong, Marc Bolan, Tangerine Dream, Genesis P-Orridge, Julian Cope, Pere Ubu, Jeff Mangum, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, John Maus, Paul Weller, Roger Miller, East Bay Ray, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and David Bowie were inspired by Barrett; Jimmy Page, Brian Eno, Sex Pistols, and The Damned all expressed interest in working with him at some point during the 1970s. Bowie recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" on his 1973 album Pin Ups. The track "Grass", from XTC's album Skylarking was influenced when Andy Partridge let fellow band member Colin Moulding borrow his Barrett records. Robyn Hitchcock's career was dedicated to being Barrett-esque; he even played "Dominoes" for the 2001 BBC documentary The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story.
Barrett also had an influence on alternative and punk music in general. According to critic John Harris:
To understand his place in modern music you probably have to first go back to punk rock and its misguided attempt to kick aside what remained of the psychedelic 1960s. Given that the Clash and Sex Pistols had made brutal social commentary obligatory, there seemed little room for any of the creative exotica that had defined the Love Decade – until, slowly but surely, singing about dead-end lives and dole queues began to pall, and at least some of the previous generation were rehabilitated. Barrett was the best example: having crashed out of Pink Floyd before the advent of indulgent "progressive" rock, and succumbed to a fate that appealed to the punk generation's nihilism, he underwent a revival.
Barrett's decline had a profound effect on Waters' songwriting, and the theme of mental illness permeated the later Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and The Wall (1979). The reference to a "steel rail" in the song "Wish You Were Here" – "can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?" – references a recurring theme in Barrett's song "If It's In You" from The Madcap Laughs. The song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" from Wish You Were Here is also a tribute to Barrett.
In 1987, an album of Barrett cover songs called Beyond the Wildwood was released. The album was a collection of cover songs from Barrett's tenure with Pink Floyd and from his solo career. Artists appearing were UK and US indie bands including The Shamen, Opal, The Soup Dragons, and Plasticland.
Other artists who have written tributes to Barrett include his contemporary Kevin Ayers, who wrote "O Wot a Dream" in his honour (Barrett provided guitar to an early version of Ayers' song "Religious Experience: Singing a Song in the Morning"). Robyn Hitchcock has covered many of his songs live and on record and paid homage to his forebear with the song "(Feels Like) 1974". Phish covered "Bike", "No Good Trying", "Love You", "Baby Lemonade" and "Terrapin". The Television Personalities' single "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" from their 1981 album And Don't the Kids Love It is another tribute. In 2008, The Trash Can Sinatras released a single in tribute to the life and work of Syd Barrett called "Oranges and Apples", from their 2009 album In the Music. Proceeds from the single go to the Syd Barrett Trust in support of arts in mental health.
Johnny Depp showed interest in a biographical film based on Barrett's life. Barrett is portrayed briefly in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll (2006), performing "Golden Hair". His life and music, including the disastrous Cambridge Corn Exchange concert and his later reclusive lifestyle, are a recurring motif in the work. Barrett died during the play's run in London.
In 2016, in correspondence with the 70th anniversary birthday, The Theatre of the Absurd, an Italian independent artists group, published a short movie in honour of Barrett named Eclipse, with actor-director Edgar Blake in the role of Barrett. Some footage from this movie was also shown at Syd Barrett – A Celebration during Men on the Border's tribute: the show took place at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, with the participation of Barrett's family and old friends.
For 2017 TV series Legion creator Noah Hawley named one of the characters after Barrett, whose music was an important influence on the series.
In The X-Files season nine episode, "Lord of the Flies" (2001), a powerful mutant, Dylan Lokensgard (Hank Harris), has several posters of Syd Barrett on his bedroom wall, and listens to "It's No Good Trying" and "Terrapin" from The Madcap Laughs.
He recites the line, "A dream in a mist of gray", from Barrett's song "Opel", saying of the singer, "He was, like, this brilliant guy that no-one understood".
Barrett's influence on the genesis of psychedelia was considered in a chapter entitled 'Astronauts of Inner Space: Syd Barrett, Nick Drake and the Birth of Psychedelia' in Guy Mankowski's book 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders.'
Health
Members of Barrett's family denied that he had suffered from mental illness. Asked if Barrett may have had Asperger's syndrome, his sister Rosemary Breen said that he and his siblings were "all on the spectrum". She also stated that, contrary to common misconception, Barrett neither suffered from mental illness nor had he received treatment for it since they had resumed regular contact in the 1980s. Breen said he had spent some time in a private "home for lost souls"—Greenwoods in Essex—but that there was no formal therapy programme there. Some years later, Barrett agreed to sessions with a psychiatrist at Fulbourn psychiatric hospital in Cambridge, but Breen said that neither medication nor therapy was considered appropriate. Breen also denied Barrett was a recluse or that he was vague about his past: "Roger may have been a bit selfish—or rather self-absorbed—but when people called him a recluse they were really only projecting their own disappointment. He knew what they wanted, but he wasn't willing to give it to them." In 1996, Wright said that Barrett's mother told the members of Pink Floyd to not contact him because being reminded of the band would make him depressed for weeks.
In the 1960s, Barrett used psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, and there are theories he subsequently suffered from schizophrenia. Wright asserted that Barrett's problems stemmed from a massive overdose of acid, as the change in his personality and behaviour came on suddenly. However, Waters maintains that Barrett suffered "without a doubt" from schizophrenia. In an article published in 2006, Gilmour was quoted as saying: "In my opinion, his nervous breakdown would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it." According to Gilmour in a 1974 interview, the other members of Pink Floyd approached psychiatrist R. D. Laing with the "Barrett problem". After hearing a tape of a Barrett conversation, Laing declared him "incurable".
In Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, author Nicholas Schaffner interviewed people who knew Barrett before and during his Pink Floyd days, including friends Peter and Susan Wynne-Wilson, artist Duggie Fields (with whom Barrett shared a flat during the late 1960s), June Bolan, and Storm Thorgerson. Bolan became concerned when Syd "kept his girlfriend under lock and key for three days, occasionally shoving a ration of biscuits under the door". A claim of cruelty against Barrett committed by the groupies and hangers-on who frequented his apartment during this period was described by writer and critic Jonathan Meades. "I went [to Barrett's flat] to see Harry and there was this terrible noise. It sounded like heating pipes shaking. I said, 'What's up?' and he sort of giggled and said, 'That's Syd having a bad trip. We put him in the linen cupboard'". Storm Thorgerson responded to this claim by stating "I do not remember locking Syd up in a cupboard. It sounds to me like pure fantasy, like Jonathan Meades was on dope himself."
Other friends state that Barrett's flatmates, who had also taken LSD, thought of Barrett as a genius or a deity, and were spiking his morning coffee every day without his knowledge, leaving him in a never-ending trip. He was later rescued from that flat by friends and moved elsewhere, but his erratic behaviour continued. According to Thorgerson, "On one occasion, I had to pull him [Barrett] off [his girlfriend] Lindsay because he was beating her over the head with a mandolin". On one occasion, Barrett threw a woman called Gilly across the room, because she refused to go to Gilmour's house.
Personal life
According to his sister, Rosemary, Barrett took up photography and sometimes they went to the seaside together. She also said he took a keen interest in art and horticulture and continued to devote himself to painting:
Barrett had relationships with various women, such as Libby Gausden; Lindsay Korner; Jenny Spires; and Pakistani-born Evelyn "Iggy" Rose (1947–2017) (aka "Iggy the Eskimo", "Iggy the Inuit"), who appeared on the back cover of The Madcap Laughs. He never married or had children, though he was briefly engaged to marry Gayla Pinion and planned to relocate to Oxford.
Discography
Solo albums
The Madcap Laughs (1970)
Barrett (1970)
with Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
1965: Their First Recordings (2015)
The Early Years 1965–1972 (2016)
Filmography
Syd Barrett's First Trip (1966) directed by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
London '66–'67 (1967)
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London (1967)
The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story (2003)
See also
List of songs recorded by Syd Barrett
List of songs about or referencing Syd Barrett
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links
The Official Syd Barrett Website
The Syd Barrett Archives
Syd Barrett Pink Floyd blog
The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit blog
1946 births
2006 deaths
20th-century English composers
20th-century English painters
20th-century English male singers
21st-century English painters
Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
Blues rock musicians
Capitol Records artists
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
EMI Records artists
English experimental musicians
English male painters
English rock guitarists
English rock singers
English male singer-songwriters
Experimental composers
Experimental guitarists
Harvest Records artists
Lead guitarists
Musicians from Cambridgeshire
Outsider musicians
People from Cambridge
People with schizophrenia
Pink Floyd members
Protopunk musicians
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychedelic folk musicians
Psychedelic rock musicians
Rhythm guitarists
Slide guitarists
English male guitarists
20th-century British guitarists | true | [
"The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. \n\nAs its alternative name AABA implies, this song form consists of four sections: an eight-bar A section; a second eight-bar A section (which may have slight changes from the first A section); an eight-bar B section, often with contrasting harmony or \"feel\"; and a final eight-bar A section. The core melody line is generally retained in each A section, although variations may be added, particularly for the last A section.\n\nExamples of 32-bar AABA form songs include \"Over the Rainbow\", \"What'll I Do\", \"Make You Feel My Love\", \"The Man I Love\", and \"Blue Skies\". Many show tunes that have become jazz standards are 32-bar song forms.\n\nBasic song form \nAt its core, the basic AABA 32-bar song form consists of four sections, each section being 8 bars in length, totaling 32 bars. Each of these 8-bar sections is assigned a letter name (\"A\" or \"B\"), based on its melodic and harmonic content. The A sections all share the same melody (possibly with slight variations), and the recurring title lyric typically falls on either the first or last line of each A section. The \"B\" section musically and lyrically contrasts the A sections, and may or may not contain the title lyric. The \"B\" section may use a different harmony that contrasts with the harmony of the A sections. For example in the song \"I've Got Rhythm\", the A sections are in the key of B, but the B section involves a circle of fifths series of dominant seventh chords going from D7, G7, C7 to F7. Song form terminology is not standardized, and the B section is also referred to as the \"middle eight\", \"bridge\", or \"primary bridge\".\n\nThe song form of \"What'll I Do\" by Irving Berlin is as follows:\n{| class=\"wikitable\"\n!Name\n!Lyric from \"What'll I Do\" by Irving Berlin\n|-\n| align=\"center\" | A1\n|What'll I do when you are far away and I am blue? What'll I do?\n|-\n| align=\"center\" | A2\n|What'll I do when I am won'dring who is kissing you? What'll I do?\n|-\n| align=\"center\" | B\n|What'll I do with just a photograph to tell my troubles to?\n|-\n| align=\"center\" | A3\n|When I'm alone with only dreams of you that won't come true… What'll I do?\n|}\n\nTerminology\n\nSectional verse \nSome Tin Pan Alley songs composed as numbers for musicals precede the main tune with what was called a \"sectional verse\" or \"introductory verse\" in the terminology of the early 20th century. This introductory section is usually 16 bars long and establishes the background and mood of the number, and is musically undistinguished, with a free musical structure, speech-like rhythms, and rubato delivery, in order to highlight the attractions of the main tune. The sectional verse is often omitted from modern performances. It is not assigned a letter in the \"AABA\" naming scheme.\n\nThe introductory verse from \"What'll I Do\" by Irving Berlin is as follows:\nGone is the romance that was so divine,'tis broken and cannot be mendedYou must go your way, and I must go mine,but now that our love dreams have ended...\n\nBridge \n\nIn music theory, the middle eight or bridge is the B section of a 32-bar form. This section has a significantly different melody from the rest of the song and usually occurs after the second \"A\" section in the AABA song form. It is also called a middle eight because it happens in the middle of the song and the length is generally eight bars.\n\nTerminological confusion \n\nIn early-20th-century terminology, the main 32-bar AABA section, in its entirety, was called the \"refrain\" or \"chorus\". This is in contrast to the modern usage of the term \"chorus\", which refers to a repeating musical and lyrical section in verse–chorus form. Additionally, \"verse,\" \"chorus\" and \"refrain\" all have different meanings in modern musical terminology. See the below chart for clarification:\n\nHistory \n\nThough the 32-bar form resembles the ternary form of the operatic da capo aria, it did not become common until the late 1910s. It became \"the principal form\" of American popular song around 1925–1926, with the AABA form consisting of the chorus or the entirety of many songs in the early 20th century. It was commonly used by composers George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Jerome Kern, and dominated American popular music into the 1950s.\n\nThe 32-bar form was often used in rock in the 1950s and '60s, after which verse–chorus form became more prevalent. Examples include:\nGeorge Gershwin \"I Got Rhythm\" (1930)\nJerry Lee Lewis' \"Great Balls of Fire\" (1957)\nThe Everly Brothers' \"All I Have to Do Is Dream\" (1958)\nThe Shirelles' \"Will You Love Me Tomorrow\" (1960)\nThe Beach Boys' \"Surfer Girl\" (1963)\n\nThough more prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, many contemporary songs show similarity to the form, such as \"Memory\", from Cats, which features expanded form through the B and A sections repeated in new keys. Songwriters such as Lennon–McCartney and those working in the Brill Building also used modified or extended 32-bar forms, often modifying the number of measures in individual or all sections. The Beatles (\"From Me to You\" (1963) and \"I Want to Hold Your Hand\" (1963)), like many others, would extend the form with an instrumental section, second bridge, break or reprise of the introduction, etc., and another return to the main theme. Introductions and codas also extended the form. In \"Down Mexico Way\" \"the A sections… are doubled in length, to sixteen bars—but this affects the overall scheme only marginally\". The theme tune of the long-running British TV series Doctor Who has, in some incarnations, followed 32 bar form.\n\nSee also \n Bar form (AAB)\n Ternary form (ABA)\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Appen, Ralf von / Frei-Hauenschild, Markus \"AABA, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Prechorus — Song Forms and their Historical Development\". In: Samples. Online Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung/German Society for Popular Music Studies e.V. Ed. by Ralf von Appen, André Doehring and Thomas Phleps. Vol. 13 (2015). \n\nSong forms\nMusical terminology\nJazz terminology",
"Soulmates Never Die (Live in Paris 2003) is a live DVD by English alternative rock band Placebo, recorded on 18 October 2003 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris. It is the first DVD by Placebo that was released mainstream and made available worldwide. The DVD was released in the UK on 15 March 2004 and in the US and Canada on 29 June 2004.\n\nReception\nTim DiGravina of AllMusic wrote that \"the film is an intensely edgy portrait of Placebo as a trio of arena rock gods [...] [Brian Molko's] voice is still in fine form, his and Stefan Olsdal's guitars are as fierce and crunchy as ever, and Steve Hewitt's drumming is spot-on. Every one of the 21 songs is tackled with conviction and passion. Indeed, most of the songs sound fuller and better here than on their respective albums.\"\n\nTrack listing\n\"Bulletproof Cupid\"\n\"Allergic (To Thoughts of Mother Earth)\"\n\"Every You Every Me\"\n\"Bionic\"\n\"Protège-Moi\" (French version of \"Protect Me From What I Want\")\n\"Plasticine\"\n\"The Bitter End\"\n\"Soulmates\" (Heavier version of \"Sleeping with Ghosts\")\n\"Black-Eyed\"\n\"I'll Be Yours\"\n\"Special Needs\"\n\"English Summer Rain\"\n\"Without You I'm Nothing\"\n\"This Picture\"\n\"Special K\"\n\"Taste in Men\"\n\"Slave to the Wage\"\n\"Peeping Tom\"\n\"Pure Morning\"\n\"Centerfolds\"\n\"Where Is My Mind?\" (Pixies cover featuring Frank Black)\n\nFeatures\nSleeping with Ghosts documentary: A 25-minute tour documentary of the band as they tour the world to promote their album. Includes backstage footage, parties and the band just hanging out.\nChicks with Dicks: Hidden in the \"Audio\" section of the DVD is an old live performance of \"Where Is My Mind?\", a Pixies cover, while the band is dressed-up in drag. To view this, one is to go to the 'Audio' section, highlight 'Stereo' and push the 'up' key, after which a French flag should appear. After pressing 'OK' the feature should begin playing.\nBrian's B12's Tour: This is a humorous scene in which the cameras are focused on Brian. To view this, one is to go to the DVD 'main menu', highlight 'set list' and press the 'up' key, after which a French flag should appear. After pressing 'OK' the feature should begin playing.\n\nPersonnel\nBrian Molko – guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards, effects, harmonica, percussion\nStefan Olsdal – bass, guitars, keyboards, backing vocals\nSteve Hewitt – drums, percussion\nBill Lloyd – bass, guitars, keyboards\nXavior Roide – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nPlacebo (band) video albums\nLive video albums\n2004 video albums\n2004 live albums"
] |
[
"Syd Barrett",
"Barrett",
"what is known about barrett in this section?",
"The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970.",
"how was barrett received?",
"Shirley said of Barrett's playing: \"He would never play the same tune twice.",
"what is the highlight of this section?",
"\" At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: \"Perhaps we could make the middle darker"
] | C_6d0e8aa901f54f6587b8dd457957ea6a_0 | and what followed this? | 4 | and what followed making the middle darker as Syd Barrett said? | Syd Barrett | The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy". These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album. Wright said of the Barrett sessions: Doing Syd's record was interesting, but extremely difficult. Dave [Gilmour] and Roger did the first one (The Madcap Laughs) and Dave and myself did the second one. But by then it was just trying to help Syd any way we could, rather than worrying about getting the best guitar sound. You could forget about that! It was just going into the studio and trying to get him to sing. CANNOTANSWER | These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. | Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his whimsical psychedelia, English-accented singing, literary influences, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing dissonance, distortion, echo, feedback, and other studio effects.
Originally trained as a painter, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several unreleased songs. In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from the band amid speculation of mental illness and his excessive use of psychedelic drugs. He began a brief solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" and followed with the albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with the aid of several members of Pink Floyd.
In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death. He continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the 1979 rock opera The Wall. In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, with Barrett's approval. In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.
Life and career
Early years
Roger Keith Barrett was born on 6 January 1946 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire to a middle-class family living at 60 Glisson Road. He was the fourth of five children. His father, Arthur Max Barrett, was a prominent pathologist and was said to be related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson through Max's maternal grandmother Ellen Garrett. In 1951, his family moved to 183 Hills Road.
Barrett played piano occasionally but usually preferred writing and drawing. He bought a ukulele aged 10, a banjo at 11 and a Hofner acoustic guitar at 14. A year after he purchased his first acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar and built his own amplifier. One story of how Barrett acquired the nickname "Syd" is that at the age of 14 he was named after an old local Cambridge jazz double bassist, Sid "The Beat" Barrett, which claims Syd Barrett changed the spelling to differentiate himself from his namesake.
Another account is that when he was 13, his schoolmates nicknamed him "Syd" after he showed up to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his Scout beret because "Syd" was a "working-class" name. He used both names interchangeably for several years. His sister Rosemary said: "He was never Syd at home. He would never have allowed it." He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader.
At one point at Morley Memorial Junior School he was taught by the mother of future Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Later, in 1957, he attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Waters. His father died of cancer on 11 December 1961, less than a month before Barrett's 16th birthday. On this date, Barrett left the entry in his diary blank. By this time, his brothers and sisters had left home and his mother decided to rent out rooms to lodgers.
Eager to help her son recover from his grief, Barrett's mother encouraged the band in which he played, Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, a band which Barrett formed, to perform in their front room. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, and Waters often visited such gigs. At one point, Waters organised a gig, a CND benefit at Friends Meeting House on 11 March 1962, but shortly afterwards Geoff Mott joined the Boston Crabs, and the Mottoes broke up.
In September 1962, Barrett had taken a place at the art department of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, where he met David Gilmour. In late 1962 and early 1963, the Beatles made an impact on Barrett, and he began to play Beatles songs at parties and at picnics. In 1963, Barrett became a Rolling Stones fan and, with then-girlfriend Libby Gausden, saw them perform at a village hall in Cambridgeshire.
At this point, Barrett started writing songs; one friend recalls hearing "Effervescing Elephant" (later to be recorded on his solo album Barrett). Also around this time, Barrett and Gilmour occasionally played acoustic gigs together. Barrett had played bass guitar with Those Without in mid-1963 and bass and guitar with the Hollerin' Blues the next summer. In 1964, Barrett and Gausden saw Bob Dylan perform. After this performance, Barrett was inspired to write "Bob Dylan Blues". Barrett, now thinking about his future, decided to apply for Camberwell College of Arts in London. He enrolled in the college in the summer of 1964 to study painting.
Pink Floyd years (1965–1968)
Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd evolved through various line-up and name changes including "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths". In 1965, Barrett joined them as the Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set). When they found themselves playing a concert with another band of the same name, Barrett came up with "The Pink Floyd Sound" (also known as "The Pink Floyd Blues Band", later "The Pink Floyd"). During 1965, they went into a studio for the first time, when a friend of Richard Wright's gave the band free time to record.
During this summer Barrett had his first LSD trip in the garden of friend Dave Gale, with Ian Moore and Storm Thorgerson. During one trip, Barrett and another friend, Paul Charrier, ended up naked in the bath, reciting: "No rules, no rules". That summer, as a result of the continued drug use, the band became absorbed in Sant Mat, a Sikh sect. Storm Thorgerson (then living on Earlham Street) and Barrett went to a London hotel to meet the sect's guru; Thorgerson managed to join the sect; Barrett, however, was deemed too young to join. Thorgerson sees this as a deeply important event in Barrett's life, as he was extremely upset by the rejection. While living near his friends, Barrett decided to write more songs ("Bike" was written around this time).
London Underground, Blackhill Enterprises and gigs
While Pink Floyd began by playing cover versions of American R&B songs, by 1966 they had carved out their own style of improvised rock and roll, which drew as much from improvised jazz. After Bob Klose departed from the band, the band's direction changed. However, the change was not instantaneous, with more improvising on the guitars and keyboards. Drummer Nick Mason reflected, "It always felt to me that most of the ideas were emanating from Syd at the time."
At this time, Barrett's reading reputedly included Grimm's Fairy Tales, Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and The I-Ching. During this period, Barrett wrote most of the songs for Pink Floyd's first album, and also songs that would later appear on his solo albums. In 1966, a new rock concert venue, the UFO (pronounced as "you-foe"), opened in London and quickly became a haven for British psychedelic music. Pink Floyd, the house band, was its most popular attraction and after making appearances at the rival Roundhouse, became the most popular musical group of the "London Underground" psychedelic music scene.
By the end of 1966, Pink Floyd had gained a reliable management team in Andrew King and Peter Jenner. Towards the end of October 1966, Pink Floyd, with King and Jenner, set up Blackhill Enterprises, to manage the group's finances. Blackhill was staffed by lodgers Jenner found in his Edbrooke Road house, and among others, Barrett's flatmate, Peter Wynne Wilson (who became road manager, however, since he had more experience in lighting, he was also lighting assistant). King and Jenner wanted to prepare some demo recordings for a possible record deal, so at the end of October, they booked a session at Thompson Private Recording Studio, in Hemel Hempstead. King said of the demos: "That was the first time I realised they were going to write all their own material, Syd just turned into a songwriter, it seemed like overnight."
King and Jenner befriended American expatriate Joe Boyd, the promoter of the UFO Club, who was making a name for himself as one of the more important entrepreneurs on the British music scene. The newly hired booking agent, Bryan Morrison, and Boyd had proposed sending in better quality recordings. From Morrison's agency the band played a gig outside London for the first time. In November, the band performed the first (of many) strangely named concerts: Philadelic Music for Simian Hominids, a multimedia event arranged by the group's former landlord, Mike Leonard, at Hornsey College of Art. They performed at the Free School for the following two weeks, before performing at the Psychodelphia Versus Ian Smith event at the Roundhouse in December, arranged by the Majority Rule for Rhodesia Campaign, and an Oxfam benefit at the Albert Hall (the band's biggest venue up to this point).
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London
At the beginning of 1967, Barrett was dating Jenny Spires (who would later marry future Stars member Jack Monck). However, unknown to Barrett, Spires had an affair with Peter Whitehead. Spires convinced Whitehead (who thought the band sounded like "bad Schoenberg") to use Pink Floyd in a film about the swinging London scene. So at the cost of £80 (), in January, Whitehead took the band into John Wood's Sound Techniques in Chelsea, with promoter Joe Boyd in tow. Here, the band recorded a 16-minute version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and another composition, "Nick's Boogie". Whitehead had filmed this recording, which was used in the film Tonite Lets All Make Love in London and later on the video release of London '66–'67. Whitehead later commented about the band that: "They were just completely welded together, just like a jazz group".
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Boyd attempted to sign the band with Polydor Records. However, Morrison had convinced King and Jenner to try to start a bidding war between Polydor and EMI. In late January, Boyd produced a recording session for the group, with them returning to Sound Techniques in Chelsea again. After the bidding war idea was finished, Pink Floyd signed with EMI. Unusual for the time, the deal included recording an album, which meant the band had unlimited studio time at EMI Studios in return for a smaller royalty percentage. The band then attempted to re-record "Arnold Layne", but the Boyd version from January was released instead.
The band's first studio album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was recorded intermittently between February and July 1967 in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios, and produced by former Beatles engineer Norman Smith. By the time the album was released on 4 August, "Arnold Layne" (which was released months earlier, on 11 March) had reached number 20 on the British singles charts, despite being banned by Radio London, and the follow-up single, "See Emily Play", had peaked at number 5. The album was successful in the UK, hitting number 6 on the British album charts. Their first three singles (including their third, "Apples and Oranges"), were written by Barrett, who also was the principal visionary/author of their critically acclaimed 1967 debut album. Of the eleven songs on Piper, Barrett wrote eight and co-wrote another two.
Health problems
Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett became increasingly erratic, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. There is also speculation that he suffered from schizophrenia. Once described as joyful, friendly, and extroverted, he became increasingly depressed and withdrawn, and experienced hallucinations, disorganised speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings, and periods of catatonia. Although the changes began gradually, he went missing for a long weekend and, according to several friends, including Wright, came back "a completely different person".
One of the striking features of his change was the development of a blank, dead-eyed stare. Barrett did not recognise friends, and often did not know where he was; on a tour of Los Angeles, Barrett is said to have exclaimed, "Gee, it sure is nice to be in Las Vegas!" Many reports described him on stage, strumming one chord through the entire concert, or not playing at all. At a show in Santa Monica, Barrett slowly detuned his guitar.
Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during the tour, Barrett replied with a "blank and totally mute stare"; according to Mason, "Syd wasn't into moving his lips that day." Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand. Surviving footage of this appearance shows Barrett miming his parts competently; however, during a group interview afterwards, Barrett gave terse answers. During this time, Barrett would often forget to bring his guitar to sessions, damage equipment and was occasionally unable to hold his plectrum. Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett reportedly crushed Mandrax tranquilliser tablets and a tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle". Mason disputed the Mandrax portion of this story, stating that "Syd would never waste good mandies".
Departure from Pink Floyd
During Pink Floyd's UK tour with Jimi Hendrix in November 1967, guitarist David O'List from the Nice substituted for Barrett on several occasions when he was unable to perform or failed to appear. Around Christmas, Pink Floyd asked Barrett's schoolfriend David Gilmour to join as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett. For a handful of shows, Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining the performance. The other band members grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University, they elected not to pick Barrett up. One person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother." As Barrett had written the bulk of the band's material, the plan was to retain him as a non-touring member, as the Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson, but this proved impractical.
According to Waters, Barrett came to what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It Yet?". The song seemed simple when he first presented it, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn; the band eventually realised that Barrett was changing the arrangement as they played, and that Barrett was playing a joke on them. Waters called it "a real act of mad genius".
Of the songs Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, only "Jugband Blues" was included on their album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). "Apples and Oranges" became an unsuccessful single, and "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", remained unreleased until 2016 in The Early Years 1965–1972 box set, as they were deemed too dark and unsettling. Barrett played guitar on the Saucerful of Secrets tracks "Remember a Day" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
Feeling guilty, the members of Pink Floyd were unable to bring themselves to definitively tell Barrett that he was no longer in the band. According to Wright, who lived with Barrett at the time, he told Barrett he was going out to buy cigarettes when leaving to play a show. He would return hours later to find Barrett in the same position, sometimes with a cigarette burned completely down between his fingers (an incident later referenced in Pink Floyd's concert film The Wall). Emerging from catatonia and unaware that a long period of time had elapsed, Barrett would ask, "Have you got the cigarettes?".
Barrett supposedly spent time outside the recording studio, in the reception area, waiting to be invited in. He also came to a few performances and glared at Gilmour. On 6 April 1968, Pink Floyd officially announced that Barrett was no longer a member, the same day their contract with Blackhill Enterprises was terminated. Considering him as the band's musical leader, Blackhill Enterprises retained Barrett.
Solo years (1968–1972)
After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett was out of the public eye for a year. In 1969, at the behest of EMI and Harvest Records, he embarked on a brief solo career, releasing two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), and a single, "Octopus". Some songs, "Terrapin", "Maisie" and "Bob Dylan Blues", reflected Barrett's early interest in the blues.
The Madcap Laughs
After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Jenner followed suit. He led Barrett into EMI Studios to record some tracks in May that would later be released on Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs. However, Jenner said: "I had seriously underestimated the difficulties of working with him". By the sessions of June and July, most of the tracks were in better shape; however, shortly after the July sessions, Barrett broke up with girlfriend Lindsay Corner and went on a drive around Britain in his Mini, ending up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. During New Year 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett had taken up tenancy in a flat on Egerton Gardens, South Kensington, London, with the postmodernist artist Duggie Fields. Here, Barrett's flat was so close to Gilmour's that Gilmour could look right into Barrett's kitchen. Deciding to return to music, Barrett contacted EMI and was passed to Malcolm Jones, the then-head of EMI's new prog rock label, Harvest (after Norman Smith and Jenner declined to produce Barrett's record, Jones produced it). Barrett wanted to recover the Jenner-produced sessions recordings; several of the tracks were improved upon.
The Jones-produced sessions started in April 1969 at EMI Studios. After the first of these sessions, Barrett brought in friends to help out: Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, and Jokers Wild (Gilmour's old band) drummer Willie Wilson. For the sessions, Gilmour played bass. Talking to Barrett wasn't easy, said Jones: "It was a case of following him, not playing with him. They were seeing and then playing so they were always a note behind". A few tracks on the album feature overdubs by members of the band Soft Machine. During this time, Barrett also played guitar on the sessions for Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' debut LP Joy of a Toy, although his performance on "Religious Experience" (later titled "Singing a Song in the Morning") was not released until the album was reissued in 2003. One time, Barrett had told his flatmate that he was going off "for an afternoon drive". However, he followed Pink Floyd to Ibiza (according to legend, he skipped check-ins and customs, ran onto the runway and attempted to flag down a jet). One of his friends, J. Ryan Eaves, bass player for the short-lived but influential Manchester band York's Ensemble, later spotted him on a beach wearing messed-up clothes and with a carrier bag full of money. By this point, during the trip, Barrett had asked Gilmour for his help in the recording sessions.
After two of the Gilmour/Waters-produced sessions, they remade one track from the Soft Machine overdubs and recorded three tracks. These sessions came to a minor halt when Gilmour and Waters were mixing Pink Floyd's newly recorded album, Ummagumma, to Barrett's dismay. However, through the end of July, they managed to record three more tracks. The problem with the recording was that the songs were recorded as Barrett played them "live" in studio. On the released versions a number of them have false starts and commentaries from Barrett. Despite the track being closer to complete and better produced, Gilmour and Waters left the Jones-produced track "Opel" off Madcap.
Gilmour later said of the sessions for The Madcap Laughs:
Upon the album's release in January 1970, Malcolm Jones was shocked by the substandard musicianship on the Gilmour and Waters-produced songs: "I felt angry. It's like dirty linen in public and very unnecessary and unkind." Gilmour said: "Perhaps we were trying to show what Syd was really like. But perhaps we were trying to punish him." Waters was more positive: "Syd is a genius."
Barrett said "It's quite nice but I'd be very surprised if it did anything if I were to drop dead. I don't think it would stand as my last statement."
Evelyn "Iggy the Eskimo" Rose (1947–2017) appeared nude on the back of the album's inner sleeve.
Barrett
The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy".
These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album.
Wright said of the Barrett sessions:
Performances
Despite the numerous recording dates for his solo albums, Barrett undertook very little musical activity between 1968 and 1972 outside the studio. On 24 February 1970, he appeared on John Peel's BBC radio programme Top Gear playing five songs—only one of which had been previously released. Three would be re-recorded for the Barrett album, while the song "Two of a Kind" was a one-off performance (possibly written by Richard Wright). Barrett was accompanied on this session by Gilmour and Shirley who played bass and percussion, respectively.
Gilmour and Shirley also backed Barrett for his one and only live concert during this period. The gig took place on 6 June 1970 at the Olympia Exhibition Hall as part of a Music and Fashion Festival. The trio performed four songs, "Terrapin", "Gigolo Aunt", "Effervescing Elephant" and "Octopus". Poor mixing left the vocals barely audible until part-way through the last number. At the end of the fourth song, Barrett unexpectedly but politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage. The performance has been bootlegged. Barrett made one last appearance on BBC Radio, recording three songs at their studios on 16 February 1971. All three came from the Barrett album. After this session, he took a hiatus from his music career that lasted more than a year, although in an extensive interview with Mick Rock and Rolling Stone in December, he discussed himself at length, showed off his new 12-string guitar, talked about touring with Jimi Hendrix and stated that he was frustrated in terms of his musical work because of his inability to find anyone good to play with.
Later years (1972–2006)
Stars and final recordings
In February 1972, after a few guest spots in Cambridge with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass using the name The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band (backing visiting blues musician Eddie "Guitar" Burns and also featuring Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith), the trio formed a short-lived band called Stars. Though they were initially well received at gigs in the Dandelion coffee bar and the town's Market Square, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge with MC5 proved to be disastrous. A few days after this final show, Twink recalled that Barrett stopped him on the street, showed him a scathing review of the gig they had played, and quit on the spot, despite having played at least one subsequent gig at the same venue supporting Nektar.
Free from his EMI contract on 9 May 1972, Barrett signed a document that ended his association with Pink Floyd, and any financial interest in future recordings. He attended an informal jazz and poetry performance by Pete Brown and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce in October 1973. Brown arrived at the show late, and saw that Bruce was already onstage, along with "a guitarist I vaguely recognised", playing the Horace Silver tune "Doodlin'". Later in the show, Brown read out a poem, which he dedicated to Syd, because, "he's here in Cambridge, and he's one of the best songwriters in the country" when, to his surprise, the guitar player from earlier in the show stood up and said, "No I'm not". By the end of 1973, Barrett had returned to live in London, staying at various hotels and, in December of that year, settling in at Chelsea Cloisters. He had little contact with others, apart from his regular visits to his management's offices to collect his royalties, and the occasional visit from his sister Rosemary.
In August 1974, Jenner persuaded Barrett to return to Abbey Road Studios in hope of recording another album. According to John Leckie, who engineered these sessions, even at this point Syd still "looked like he did when he was younger ... long haired". The sessions lasted three days and consisted of blues rhythm tracks with tentative and disjointed guitar overdubs. Barrett recorded eleven tracks, the only one of which to be titled was "If You Go, Don't Be Slow". Once again, Barrett withdrew from the music industry, but this time for good. He sold the rights to his solo albums back to the record label and moved into a London hotel. During this period, several attempts to employ him as a record producer (including one by Jamie Reid on behalf of the Sex Pistols, and another by the Damned, who wanted him to produce their second album) were fruitless.
Wish You Were Here sessions
Barrett visited the members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for their ninth album, Wish You Were Here. He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band working on the final mix of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" — a song about him. By that time, Barrett, then 29, had become overweight and had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his former bandmates did not initially recognise him. Barrett spent part of the session brushing his teeth. Waters asked him what he thought of the song and he said that it "sounds a bit old". He is reported to have briefly attended the reception for Gilmour's wedding to Ginger that immediately followed the recording sessions, but Gilmour said he had no recollection of this.
A few years later, Waters saw Barrett in the department store Harrods; Barrett ran outside, dropping his bags. It was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw him.
Withdrawal to Cambridge
In 1978, when Barrett's money ran out, he moved back to Cambridge to live with his mother. He returned to live in London for a few weeks in 1982, but soon returned to Cambridge permanently. Barrett walked the from London to Cambridge. Until his death, he received royalties from his work with Pink Floyd; Gilmour said, "I made sure the money got to him." In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He did not attend the ceremony.
According to biographer and journalist Tim Willis, Barrett, who had reverted to using his original name Roger, continued to live in his late mother's semi-detached home, and had returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He was also said to have been an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive, and his physical health declined, as he suffered from stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes.
Although Barrett had not appeared or spoken in public since the mid-1970s, reporters and fans travelled to Cambridge seeking him, despite public appeals from his family. Apparently, Barrett did not like being reminded about his musical career and the other members of Pink Floyd had no direct contact with him. However, he did visit his sister's house in November 2001 to watch the BBC Omnibus documentary made about him; reportedly he found some of it "a bit noisy", enjoyed seeing Mike Leonard again, calling him his "teacher", and enjoyed hearing "See Emily Play".
Barrett made a final public acknowledgement of his musical past in 2002, his first since the 1970s, when he autographed 320 copies of photographer Mick Rock's book Psychedelic Renegades, which contained a number of photos of Barrett. Rock was perhaps the last person in the music industry with whom Barrett kept in contact. In 1971, Rock conducted Barrett's final interview before his retirement from the music industry. Barrett visited Rock in London several times for tea and conversation in 1978. They had not spoken in more than 20 years when Rock approached Barrett to autograph his photography book, and Barrett uncharacteristically agreed. Having reverted to his birth name, he autographed the book "Barrett".
Death and aftermath
Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006 aged 60, from pancreatic cancer. He was cremated. In 2006, his home in St. Margaret's Square, Cambridge, was put on the market and reportedly attracted considerable interest. After over 100 showings, many to fans, it was sold to a French couple who reportedly knew nothing about Barrett. On 28 November 2006, Barrett's other possessions were sold at an auction at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, raising £120,000 for charity. Items sold included paintings, scrapbooks and everyday items that Barrett had decorated. NME produced a tribute issue to Barrett a week later with a photo of him on the cover. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barrett's sister said that he had written an unpublished book about the history of art.
In response to the news of Barrett's death, Gilmour said:
According to local newspapers, Barrett left approximately £1.7 million to his two brothers and two sisters. This sum was apparently largely acquired from royalties from Pink Floyd compilations and live recordings featuring songs he had written while with the band. A tribute concert called "Madcap's Last Laugh" was held at the Barbican Centre, London, on 10 May 2007 with Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Sensible, Damon Albarn, Chrissie Hynde, Kevin Ayers and his Pink Floyd bandmates performing. A series of events called The City Wakes was held in Cambridge in October 2008 to celebrate Barrett's life, art, and music. Barrett's sister, Rosemary Breen, supported this, the first series of official events in memory of her brother. After the festival's success, arts charity Escape Artists announced plans to create a centre in Cambridge, using art to help people suffering from mental health problems. A memorial bench has been placed in the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge and a more prominent tribute is planned in the city.
Legacy
Compilations
In 1988, EMI Records (after constant pressure from Malcolm Jones) released an album of Barrett's studio out-takes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title Opel. The disc was originally set to include the unreleased Barrett Pink Floyd songs "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", which had been remixed for the album by Jones, but the band pulled the two songs before Opel was finalised. In 1993 EMI issued another release, Crazy Diamond, a boxed set of all three albums, each with further out-takes from his solo sessions that illustrated Barrett's inability or refusal to play a song the same way twice. EMI also released The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? in the UK on 16 April 2001 and in the US on 11 September 2001. This was the first time his song "Bob Dylan Blues" was officially released, taken from a demo tape that Gilmour had kept after an early 1970s session. Gilmour kept the tape, which also contains the unreleased "Living Alone" from the Barrett sessions. In October 2010 Harvest/EMI and Capitol Records released An Introduction to Syd Barrett—a collection of both his Pink Floyd and remastered solo work. The 2010 compilation An Introduction to Syd Barrett includes the downloadable bonus track "Rhamadan", a 20-minute track recorded at one of Syd's earliest solo sessions, in May 1968. In 2011, it was announced that a vinyl double album version would be issued for Record Store Day.
Bootleg editions of Barrett's live and solo material exist. For years the "off air" recordings of the BBC sessions with Barrett's Pink Floyd circulated, until an engineer who had taken a tape of the early Pink Floyd gave it back to the BBC—which played it during a tribute to John Peel on their website. During this tribute, the first Peel programme (Top Gear) was aired in its entirety. This show featured the 1967 live versions of "Flaming", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", and a brief 90-second snippet of the instrumental "Reaction in G". In 2012, engineer Andy Jackson said he had found "a huge box of assorted tapes", in Mason's possession, containing versions of R&B songs that (the Barrett-era) Pink Floyd played in their early years.
Creative impact
Barrett wrote most of Pink Floyd's early material. According to critic Steven Hyden, even after Barrett left the band, Barrett's spirit "haunted" their records, and their most popular work "drew on the power of what Barrett signified".
Barrett was an innovative guitarist, using extended techniques and exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of dissonance, distortion, feedback, the echo machine, tapes and other effects; his experimentation was partly inspired by free improvisation guitarist Keith Rowe of the group AMM, active at the time in London. One of Barrett's trademarks was playing his guitar through an old echo box while sliding a Zippo lighter up and down the fret-board to create the mysterious, otherworldly sounds that became associated with the group. Barrett was known to have used Binson delay units to achieve his trademark echo sounds. Daevid Allen, founder member of Soft Machine and Gong, cited Barrett's use of slide guitar with echo as a key inspiration for his own "glissando guitar" style.
Barrett's recordings both with Pink Floyd and in later solo albums were delivered with a strongly British-accented vocal delivery, specifically that of southern England. He was described by Guardian writer Nick Kent as having a "quintessential English style of vocal projection". David Bowie said that Barrett, along with Anthony Newley, was the first person he had heard sing rock or pop music with a British accent.
Barrett's free-form sequences of "sonic carpets" pioneered a new way to play the rock guitar. He played several different guitars during his tenure, including an old Harmony hollowbody electric, a Harmony acoustic, a Fender acoustic, a single-coil Danelectro 59 DC, several different Fender Telecasters and a white Fender Stratocaster in late 1967. A silver Fender Esquire with mirrored discs glued to the body was the guitar he was most often associated with and the guitar he "felt most close to". The mirrored Esquire was traded for a black Telecaster Custom, in 1968. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Influence
Many artists have acknowledged Barrett's influence on their work. Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Blur, Kevin Ayers, Gong, Marc Bolan, Tangerine Dream, Genesis P-Orridge, Julian Cope, Pere Ubu, Jeff Mangum, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, John Maus, Paul Weller, Roger Miller, East Bay Ray, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and David Bowie were inspired by Barrett; Jimmy Page, Brian Eno, Sex Pistols, and The Damned all expressed interest in working with him at some point during the 1970s. Bowie recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" on his 1973 album Pin Ups. The track "Grass", from XTC's album Skylarking was influenced when Andy Partridge let fellow band member Colin Moulding borrow his Barrett records. Robyn Hitchcock's career was dedicated to being Barrett-esque; he even played "Dominoes" for the 2001 BBC documentary The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story.
Barrett also had an influence on alternative and punk music in general. According to critic John Harris:
To understand his place in modern music you probably have to first go back to punk rock and its misguided attempt to kick aside what remained of the psychedelic 1960s. Given that the Clash and Sex Pistols had made brutal social commentary obligatory, there seemed little room for any of the creative exotica that had defined the Love Decade – until, slowly but surely, singing about dead-end lives and dole queues began to pall, and at least some of the previous generation were rehabilitated. Barrett was the best example: having crashed out of Pink Floyd before the advent of indulgent "progressive" rock, and succumbed to a fate that appealed to the punk generation's nihilism, he underwent a revival.
Barrett's decline had a profound effect on Waters' songwriting, and the theme of mental illness permeated the later Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and The Wall (1979). The reference to a "steel rail" in the song "Wish You Were Here" – "can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?" – references a recurring theme in Barrett's song "If It's In You" from The Madcap Laughs. The song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" from Wish You Were Here is also a tribute to Barrett.
In 1987, an album of Barrett cover songs called Beyond the Wildwood was released. The album was a collection of cover songs from Barrett's tenure with Pink Floyd and from his solo career. Artists appearing were UK and US indie bands including The Shamen, Opal, The Soup Dragons, and Plasticland.
Other artists who have written tributes to Barrett include his contemporary Kevin Ayers, who wrote "O Wot a Dream" in his honour (Barrett provided guitar to an early version of Ayers' song "Religious Experience: Singing a Song in the Morning"). Robyn Hitchcock has covered many of his songs live and on record and paid homage to his forebear with the song "(Feels Like) 1974". Phish covered "Bike", "No Good Trying", "Love You", "Baby Lemonade" and "Terrapin". The Television Personalities' single "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" from their 1981 album And Don't the Kids Love It is another tribute. In 2008, The Trash Can Sinatras released a single in tribute to the life and work of Syd Barrett called "Oranges and Apples", from their 2009 album In the Music. Proceeds from the single go to the Syd Barrett Trust in support of arts in mental health.
Johnny Depp showed interest in a biographical film based on Barrett's life. Barrett is portrayed briefly in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll (2006), performing "Golden Hair". His life and music, including the disastrous Cambridge Corn Exchange concert and his later reclusive lifestyle, are a recurring motif in the work. Barrett died during the play's run in London.
In 2016, in correspondence with the 70th anniversary birthday, The Theatre of the Absurd, an Italian independent artists group, published a short movie in honour of Barrett named Eclipse, with actor-director Edgar Blake in the role of Barrett. Some footage from this movie was also shown at Syd Barrett – A Celebration during Men on the Border's tribute: the show took place at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, with the participation of Barrett's family and old friends.
For 2017 TV series Legion creator Noah Hawley named one of the characters after Barrett, whose music was an important influence on the series.
In The X-Files season nine episode, "Lord of the Flies" (2001), a powerful mutant, Dylan Lokensgard (Hank Harris), has several posters of Syd Barrett on his bedroom wall, and listens to "It's No Good Trying" and "Terrapin" from The Madcap Laughs.
He recites the line, "A dream in a mist of gray", from Barrett's song "Opel", saying of the singer, "He was, like, this brilliant guy that no-one understood".
Barrett's influence on the genesis of psychedelia was considered in a chapter entitled 'Astronauts of Inner Space: Syd Barrett, Nick Drake and the Birth of Psychedelia' in Guy Mankowski's book 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders.'
Health
Members of Barrett's family denied that he had suffered from mental illness. Asked if Barrett may have had Asperger's syndrome, his sister Rosemary Breen said that he and his siblings were "all on the spectrum". She also stated that, contrary to common misconception, Barrett neither suffered from mental illness nor had he received treatment for it since they had resumed regular contact in the 1980s. Breen said he had spent some time in a private "home for lost souls"—Greenwoods in Essex—but that there was no formal therapy programme there. Some years later, Barrett agreed to sessions with a psychiatrist at Fulbourn psychiatric hospital in Cambridge, but Breen said that neither medication nor therapy was considered appropriate. Breen also denied Barrett was a recluse or that he was vague about his past: "Roger may have been a bit selfish—or rather self-absorbed—but when people called him a recluse they were really only projecting their own disappointment. He knew what they wanted, but he wasn't willing to give it to them." In 1996, Wright said that Barrett's mother told the members of Pink Floyd to not contact him because being reminded of the band would make him depressed for weeks.
In the 1960s, Barrett used psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, and there are theories he subsequently suffered from schizophrenia. Wright asserted that Barrett's problems stemmed from a massive overdose of acid, as the change in his personality and behaviour came on suddenly. However, Waters maintains that Barrett suffered "without a doubt" from schizophrenia. In an article published in 2006, Gilmour was quoted as saying: "In my opinion, his nervous breakdown would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it." According to Gilmour in a 1974 interview, the other members of Pink Floyd approached psychiatrist R. D. Laing with the "Barrett problem". After hearing a tape of a Barrett conversation, Laing declared him "incurable".
In Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, author Nicholas Schaffner interviewed people who knew Barrett before and during his Pink Floyd days, including friends Peter and Susan Wynne-Wilson, artist Duggie Fields (with whom Barrett shared a flat during the late 1960s), June Bolan, and Storm Thorgerson. Bolan became concerned when Syd "kept his girlfriend under lock and key for three days, occasionally shoving a ration of biscuits under the door". A claim of cruelty against Barrett committed by the groupies and hangers-on who frequented his apartment during this period was described by writer and critic Jonathan Meades. "I went [to Barrett's flat] to see Harry and there was this terrible noise. It sounded like heating pipes shaking. I said, 'What's up?' and he sort of giggled and said, 'That's Syd having a bad trip. We put him in the linen cupboard'". Storm Thorgerson responded to this claim by stating "I do not remember locking Syd up in a cupboard. It sounds to me like pure fantasy, like Jonathan Meades was on dope himself."
Other friends state that Barrett's flatmates, who had also taken LSD, thought of Barrett as a genius or a deity, and were spiking his morning coffee every day without his knowledge, leaving him in a never-ending trip. He was later rescued from that flat by friends and moved elsewhere, but his erratic behaviour continued. According to Thorgerson, "On one occasion, I had to pull him [Barrett] off [his girlfriend] Lindsay because he was beating her over the head with a mandolin". On one occasion, Barrett threw a woman called Gilly across the room, because she refused to go to Gilmour's house.
Personal life
According to his sister, Rosemary, Barrett took up photography and sometimes they went to the seaside together. She also said he took a keen interest in art and horticulture and continued to devote himself to painting:
Barrett had relationships with various women, such as Libby Gausden; Lindsay Korner; Jenny Spires; and Pakistani-born Evelyn "Iggy" Rose (1947–2017) (aka "Iggy the Eskimo", "Iggy the Inuit"), who appeared on the back cover of The Madcap Laughs. He never married or had children, though he was briefly engaged to marry Gayla Pinion and planned to relocate to Oxford.
Discography
Solo albums
The Madcap Laughs (1970)
Barrett (1970)
with Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
1965: Their First Recordings (2015)
The Early Years 1965–1972 (2016)
Filmography
Syd Barrett's First Trip (1966) directed by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
London '66–'67 (1967)
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London (1967)
The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story (2003)
See also
List of songs recorded by Syd Barrett
List of songs about or referencing Syd Barrett
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links
The Official Syd Barrett Website
The Syd Barrett Archives
Syd Barrett Pink Floyd blog
The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit blog
1946 births
2006 deaths
20th-century English composers
20th-century English painters
20th-century English male singers
21st-century English painters
Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
Blues rock musicians
Capitol Records artists
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
EMI Records artists
English experimental musicians
English male painters
English rock guitarists
English rock singers
English male singer-songwriters
Experimental composers
Experimental guitarists
Harvest Records artists
Lead guitarists
Musicians from Cambridgeshire
Outsider musicians
People from Cambridge
People with schizophrenia
Pink Floyd members
Protopunk musicians
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychedelic folk musicians
Psychedelic rock musicians
Rhythm guitarists
Slide guitarists
English male guitarists
20th-century British guitarists | true | [
"Consequences is an old parlour game in a similar vein to the Surrealist game exquisite corpse and Mad Libs.\n\nEach player is given a sheet of paper, and all are told to write down a word or phrase to fit a description (\"an animal\"), optionally with some extra words to make the story. Each player then folds the paper over to hide the most recent line, and hands it to the next person. At the end of the game, the stories are read out.\n\nExample game\nThe exact sequence varies, but an example sequence given in Everyman's Word Games is:\n An adjective\n A man's name\n The word met followed by an adjective\n A woman's name\n The word at followed by where they met\n The word to followed by what they went there for\n The words he wore followed by what he wore\n The words she wore followed by she wore\n What he did\n What she did\n The words and the consequence was followed by details of what happened as a result\n The words and the world said followed by what it said\n\nThe same reference book gives the following example of a completed story:\n\nVariations\nConsequences can also be played in a drawing version, sometimes known as picture consequences, where the first player draws the head, passes it unseen (by means of folding) to the second player who draws the body, then on to the third player who draws the legs. The composite person or creature is then revealed to all by unfolding the paper.\n\nAlthough Consequences originally is an analogue game there are digital versions available, some of which are slightly modified and adjusted to a digital roam. Examples: FoldingStory™, Unfolding Stories, etc.\n\nReferences\n\nComedy games\nPaper-and-pencil games\nParty games\nRandom text generation",
"TV Time is a social television and tracking website that allows users to report what television series and movies they have seen.\n\nMost followed television series \n\nAs of 1 January, 2022, the most followed television shows on TV Time are:\n\nMost followed films \n\nAs of June 18 2021, the most followed films on TV Time were:\n\nReferences \n\nLists of Internet-related superlatives\n21st century-related lists"
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[
"Syd Barrett",
"Barrett",
"what is known about barrett in this section?",
"The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970.",
"how was barrett received?",
"Shirley said of Barrett's playing: \"He would never play the same tune twice.",
"what is the highlight of this section?",
"\" At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: \"Perhaps we could make the middle darker",
"and what followed this?",
"These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother."
] | C_6d0e8aa901f54f6587b8dd457957ea6a_0 | what did they do while working on atom heart mother? | 5 | what did Pink Floyd do while working on atom heart mother? | Syd Barrett | The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy". These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album. Wright said of the Barrett sessions: Doing Syd's record was interesting, but extremely difficult. Dave [Gilmour] and Roger did the first one (The Madcap Laughs) and Dave and myself did the second one. But by then it was just trying to help Syd any way we could, rather than worrying about getting the best guitar sound. You could forget about that! It was just going into the studio and trying to get him to sing. CANNOTANSWER | On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album. | Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his whimsical psychedelia, English-accented singing, literary influences, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing dissonance, distortion, echo, feedback, and other studio effects.
Originally trained as a painter, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several unreleased songs. In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from the band amid speculation of mental illness and his excessive use of psychedelic drugs. He began a brief solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" and followed with the albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with the aid of several members of Pink Floyd.
In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death. He continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the 1979 rock opera The Wall. In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, with Barrett's approval. In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.
Life and career
Early years
Roger Keith Barrett was born on 6 January 1946 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire to a middle-class family living at 60 Glisson Road. He was the fourth of five children. His father, Arthur Max Barrett, was a prominent pathologist and was said to be related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson through Max's maternal grandmother Ellen Garrett. In 1951, his family moved to 183 Hills Road.
Barrett played piano occasionally but usually preferred writing and drawing. He bought a ukulele aged 10, a banjo at 11 and a Hofner acoustic guitar at 14. A year after he purchased his first acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar and built his own amplifier. One story of how Barrett acquired the nickname "Syd" is that at the age of 14 he was named after an old local Cambridge jazz double bassist, Sid "The Beat" Barrett, which claims Syd Barrett changed the spelling to differentiate himself from his namesake.
Another account is that when he was 13, his schoolmates nicknamed him "Syd" after he showed up to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his Scout beret because "Syd" was a "working-class" name. He used both names interchangeably for several years. His sister Rosemary said: "He was never Syd at home. He would never have allowed it." He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader.
At one point at Morley Memorial Junior School he was taught by the mother of future Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Later, in 1957, he attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Waters. His father died of cancer on 11 December 1961, less than a month before Barrett's 16th birthday. On this date, Barrett left the entry in his diary blank. By this time, his brothers and sisters had left home and his mother decided to rent out rooms to lodgers.
Eager to help her son recover from his grief, Barrett's mother encouraged the band in which he played, Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, a band which Barrett formed, to perform in their front room. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, and Waters often visited such gigs. At one point, Waters organised a gig, a CND benefit at Friends Meeting House on 11 March 1962, but shortly afterwards Geoff Mott joined the Boston Crabs, and the Mottoes broke up.
In September 1962, Barrett had taken a place at the art department of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, where he met David Gilmour. In late 1962 and early 1963, the Beatles made an impact on Barrett, and he began to play Beatles songs at parties and at picnics. In 1963, Barrett became a Rolling Stones fan and, with then-girlfriend Libby Gausden, saw them perform at a village hall in Cambridgeshire.
At this point, Barrett started writing songs; one friend recalls hearing "Effervescing Elephant" (later to be recorded on his solo album Barrett). Also around this time, Barrett and Gilmour occasionally played acoustic gigs together. Barrett had played bass guitar with Those Without in mid-1963 and bass and guitar with the Hollerin' Blues the next summer. In 1964, Barrett and Gausden saw Bob Dylan perform. After this performance, Barrett was inspired to write "Bob Dylan Blues". Barrett, now thinking about his future, decided to apply for Camberwell College of Arts in London. He enrolled in the college in the summer of 1964 to study painting.
Pink Floyd years (1965–1968)
Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd evolved through various line-up and name changes including "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths". In 1965, Barrett joined them as the Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set). When they found themselves playing a concert with another band of the same name, Barrett came up with "The Pink Floyd Sound" (also known as "The Pink Floyd Blues Band", later "The Pink Floyd"). During 1965, they went into a studio for the first time, when a friend of Richard Wright's gave the band free time to record.
During this summer Barrett had his first LSD trip in the garden of friend Dave Gale, with Ian Moore and Storm Thorgerson. During one trip, Barrett and another friend, Paul Charrier, ended up naked in the bath, reciting: "No rules, no rules". That summer, as a result of the continued drug use, the band became absorbed in Sant Mat, a Sikh sect. Storm Thorgerson (then living on Earlham Street) and Barrett went to a London hotel to meet the sect's guru; Thorgerson managed to join the sect; Barrett, however, was deemed too young to join. Thorgerson sees this as a deeply important event in Barrett's life, as he was extremely upset by the rejection. While living near his friends, Barrett decided to write more songs ("Bike" was written around this time).
London Underground, Blackhill Enterprises and gigs
While Pink Floyd began by playing cover versions of American R&B songs, by 1966 they had carved out their own style of improvised rock and roll, which drew as much from improvised jazz. After Bob Klose departed from the band, the band's direction changed. However, the change was not instantaneous, with more improvising on the guitars and keyboards. Drummer Nick Mason reflected, "It always felt to me that most of the ideas were emanating from Syd at the time."
At this time, Barrett's reading reputedly included Grimm's Fairy Tales, Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and The I-Ching. During this period, Barrett wrote most of the songs for Pink Floyd's first album, and also songs that would later appear on his solo albums. In 1966, a new rock concert venue, the UFO (pronounced as "you-foe"), opened in London and quickly became a haven for British psychedelic music. Pink Floyd, the house band, was its most popular attraction and after making appearances at the rival Roundhouse, became the most popular musical group of the "London Underground" psychedelic music scene.
By the end of 1966, Pink Floyd had gained a reliable management team in Andrew King and Peter Jenner. Towards the end of October 1966, Pink Floyd, with King and Jenner, set up Blackhill Enterprises, to manage the group's finances. Blackhill was staffed by lodgers Jenner found in his Edbrooke Road house, and among others, Barrett's flatmate, Peter Wynne Wilson (who became road manager, however, since he had more experience in lighting, he was also lighting assistant). King and Jenner wanted to prepare some demo recordings for a possible record deal, so at the end of October, they booked a session at Thompson Private Recording Studio, in Hemel Hempstead. King said of the demos: "That was the first time I realised they were going to write all their own material, Syd just turned into a songwriter, it seemed like overnight."
King and Jenner befriended American expatriate Joe Boyd, the promoter of the UFO Club, who was making a name for himself as one of the more important entrepreneurs on the British music scene. The newly hired booking agent, Bryan Morrison, and Boyd had proposed sending in better quality recordings. From Morrison's agency the band played a gig outside London for the first time. In November, the band performed the first (of many) strangely named concerts: Philadelic Music for Simian Hominids, a multimedia event arranged by the group's former landlord, Mike Leonard, at Hornsey College of Art. They performed at the Free School for the following two weeks, before performing at the Psychodelphia Versus Ian Smith event at the Roundhouse in December, arranged by the Majority Rule for Rhodesia Campaign, and an Oxfam benefit at the Albert Hall (the band's biggest venue up to this point).
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London
At the beginning of 1967, Barrett was dating Jenny Spires (who would later marry future Stars member Jack Monck). However, unknown to Barrett, Spires had an affair with Peter Whitehead. Spires convinced Whitehead (who thought the band sounded like "bad Schoenberg") to use Pink Floyd in a film about the swinging London scene. So at the cost of £80 (), in January, Whitehead took the band into John Wood's Sound Techniques in Chelsea, with promoter Joe Boyd in tow. Here, the band recorded a 16-minute version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and another composition, "Nick's Boogie". Whitehead had filmed this recording, which was used in the film Tonite Lets All Make Love in London and later on the video release of London '66–'67. Whitehead later commented about the band that: "They were just completely welded together, just like a jazz group".
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Boyd attempted to sign the band with Polydor Records. However, Morrison had convinced King and Jenner to try to start a bidding war between Polydor and EMI. In late January, Boyd produced a recording session for the group, with them returning to Sound Techniques in Chelsea again. After the bidding war idea was finished, Pink Floyd signed with EMI. Unusual for the time, the deal included recording an album, which meant the band had unlimited studio time at EMI Studios in return for a smaller royalty percentage. The band then attempted to re-record "Arnold Layne", but the Boyd version from January was released instead.
The band's first studio album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was recorded intermittently between February and July 1967 in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios, and produced by former Beatles engineer Norman Smith. By the time the album was released on 4 August, "Arnold Layne" (which was released months earlier, on 11 March) had reached number 20 on the British singles charts, despite being banned by Radio London, and the follow-up single, "See Emily Play", had peaked at number 5. The album was successful in the UK, hitting number 6 on the British album charts. Their first three singles (including their third, "Apples and Oranges"), were written by Barrett, who also was the principal visionary/author of their critically acclaimed 1967 debut album. Of the eleven songs on Piper, Barrett wrote eight and co-wrote another two.
Health problems
Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett became increasingly erratic, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. There is also speculation that he suffered from schizophrenia. Once described as joyful, friendly, and extroverted, he became increasingly depressed and withdrawn, and experienced hallucinations, disorganised speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings, and periods of catatonia. Although the changes began gradually, he went missing for a long weekend and, according to several friends, including Wright, came back "a completely different person".
One of the striking features of his change was the development of a blank, dead-eyed stare. Barrett did not recognise friends, and often did not know where he was; on a tour of Los Angeles, Barrett is said to have exclaimed, "Gee, it sure is nice to be in Las Vegas!" Many reports described him on stage, strumming one chord through the entire concert, or not playing at all. At a show in Santa Monica, Barrett slowly detuned his guitar.
Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during the tour, Barrett replied with a "blank and totally mute stare"; according to Mason, "Syd wasn't into moving his lips that day." Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand. Surviving footage of this appearance shows Barrett miming his parts competently; however, during a group interview afterwards, Barrett gave terse answers. During this time, Barrett would often forget to bring his guitar to sessions, damage equipment and was occasionally unable to hold his plectrum. Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett reportedly crushed Mandrax tranquilliser tablets and a tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle". Mason disputed the Mandrax portion of this story, stating that "Syd would never waste good mandies".
Departure from Pink Floyd
During Pink Floyd's UK tour with Jimi Hendrix in November 1967, guitarist David O'List from the Nice substituted for Barrett on several occasions when he was unable to perform or failed to appear. Around Christmas, Pink Floyd asked Barrett's schoolfriend David Gilmour to join as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett. For a handful of shows, Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining the performance. The other band members grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University, they elected not to pick Barrett up. One person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother." As Barrett had written the bulk of the band's material, the plan was to retain him as a non-touring member, as the Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson, but this proved impractical.
According to Waters, Barrett came to what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It Yet?". The song seemed simple when he first presented it, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn; the band eventually realised that Barrett was changing the arrangement as they played, and that Barrett was playing a joke on them. Waters called it "a real act of mad genius".
Of the songs Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, only "Jugband Blues" was included on their album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). "Apples and Oranges" became an unsuccessful single, and "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", remained unreleased until 2016 in The Early Years 1965–1972 box set, as they were deemed too dark and unsettling. Barrett played guitar on the Saucerful of Secrets tracks "Remember a Day" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
Feeling guilty, the members of Pink Floyd were unable to bring themselves to definitively tell Barrett that he was no longer in the band. According to Wright, who lived with Barrett at the time, he told Barrett he was going out to buy cigarettes when leaving to play a show. He would return hours later to find Barrett in the same position, sometimes with a cigarette burned completely down between his fingers (an incident later referenced in Pink Floyd's concert film The Wall). Emerging from catatonia and unaware that a long period of time had elapsed, Barrett would ask, "Have you got the cigarettes?".
Barrett supposedly spent time outside the recording studio, in the reception area, waiting to be invited in. He also came to a few performances and glared at Gilmour. On 6 April 1968, Pink Floyd officially announced that Barrett was no longer a member, the same day their contract with Blackhill Enterprises was terminated. Considering him as the band's musical leader, Blackhill Enterprises retained Barrett.
Solo years (1968–1972)
After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett was out of the public eye for a year. In 1969, at the behest of EMI and Harvest Records, he embarked on a brief solo career, releasing two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), and a single, "Octopus". Some songs, "Terrapin", "Maisie" and "Bob Dylan Blues", reflected Barrett's early interest in the blues.
The Madcap Laughs
After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Jenner followed suit. He led Barrett into EMI Studios to record some tracks in May that would later be released on Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs. However, Jenner said: "I had seriously underestimated the difficulties of working with him". By the sessions of June and July, most of the tracks were in better shape; however, shortly after the July sessions, Barrett broke up with girlfriend Lindsay Corner and went on a drive around Britain in his Mini, ending up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. During New Year 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett had taken up tenancy in a flat on Egerton Gardens, South Kensington, London, with the postmodernist artist Duggie Fields. Here, Barrett's flat was so close to Gilmour's that Gilmour could look right into Barrett's kitchen. Deciding to return to music, Barrett contacted EMI and was passed to Malcolm Jones, the then-head of EMI's new prog rock label, Harvest (after Norman Smith and Jenner declined to produce Barrett's record, Jones produced it). Barrett wanted to recover the Jenner-produced sessions recordings; several of the tracks were improved upon.
The Jones-produced sessions started in April 1969 at EMI Studios. After the first of these sessions, Barrett brought in friends to help out: Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, and Jokers Wild (Gilmour's old band) drummer Willie Wilson. For the sessions, Gilmour played bass. Talking to Barrett wasn't easy, said Jones: "It was a case of following him, not playing with him. They were seeing and then playing so they were always a note behind". A few tracks on the album feature overdubs by members of the band Soft Machine. During this time, Barrett also played guitar on the sessions for Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' debut LP Joy of a Toy, although his performance on "Religious Experience" (later titled "Singing a Song in the Morning") was not released until the album was reissued in 2003. One time, Barrett had told his flatmate that he was going off "for an afternoon drive". However, he followed Pink Floyd to Ibiza (according to legend, he skipped check-ins and customs, ran onto the runway and attempted to flag down a jet). One of his friends, J. Ryan Eaves, bass player for the short-lived but influential Manchester band York's Ensemble, later spotted him on a beach wearing messed-up clothes and with a carrier bag full of money. By this point, during the trip, Barrett had asked Gilmour for his help in the recording sessions.
After two of the Gilmour/Waters-produced sessions, they remade one track from the Soft Machine overdubs and recorded three tracks. These sessions came to a minor halt when Gilmour and Waters were mixing Pink Floyd's newly recorded album, Ummagumma, to Barrett's dismay. However, through the end of July, they managed to record three more tracks. The problem with the recording was that the songs were recorded as Barrett played them "live" in studio. On the released versions a number of them have false starts and commentaries from Barrett. Despite the track being closer to complete and better produced, Gilmour and Waters left the Jones-produced track "Opel" off Madcap.
Gilmour later said of the sessions for The Madcap Laughs:
Upon the album's release in January 1970, Malcolm Jones was shocked by the substandard musicianship on the Gilmour and Waters-produced songs: "I felt angry. It's like dirty linen in public and very unnecessary and unkind." Gilmour said: "Perhaps we were trying to show what Syd was really like. But perhaps we were trying to punish him." Waters was more positive: "Syd is a genius."
Barrett said "It's quite nice but I'd be very surprised if it did anything if I were to drop dead. I don't think it would stand as my last statement."
Evelyn "Iggy the Eskimo" Rose (1947–2017) appeared nude on the back of the album's inner sleeve.
Barrett
The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy".
These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album.
Wright said of the Barrett sessions:
Performances
Despite the numerous recording dates for his solo albums, Barrett undertook very little musical activity between 1968 and 1972 outside the studio. On 24 February 1970, he appeared on John Peel's BBC radio programme Top Gear playing five songs—only one of which had been previously released. Three would be re-recorded for the Barrett album, while the song "Two of a Kind" was a one-off performance (possibly written by Richard Wright). Barrett was accompanied on this session by Gilmour and Shirley who played bass and percussion, respectively.
Gilmour and Shirley also backed Barrett for his one and only live concert during this period. The gig took place on 6 June 1970 at the Olympia Exhibition Hall as part of a Music and Fashion Festival. The trio performed four songs, "Terrapin", "Gigolo Aunt", "Effervescing Elephant" and "Octopus". Poor mixing left the vocals barely audible until part-way through the last number. At the end of the fourth song, Barrett unexpectedly but politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage. The performance has been bootlegged. Barrett made one last appearance on BBC Radio, recording three songs at their studios on 16 February 1971. All three came from the Barrett album. After this session, he took a hiatus from his music career that lasted more than a year, although in an extensive interview with Mick Rock and Rolling Stone in December, he discussed himself at length, showed off his new 12-string guitar, talked about touring with Jimi Hendrix and stated that he was frustrated in terms of his musical work because of his inability to find anyone good to play with.
Later years (1972–2006)
Stars and final recordings
In February 1972, after a few guest spots in Cambridge with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass using the name The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band (backing visiting blues musician Eddie "Guitar" Burns and also featuring Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith), the trio formed a short-lived band called Stars. Though they were initially well received at gigs in the Dandelion coffee bar and the town's Market Square, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge with MC5 proved to be disastrous. A few days after this final show, Twink recalled that Barrett stopped him on the street, showed him a scathing review of the gig they had played, and quit on the spot, despite having played at least one subsequent gig at the same venue supporting Nektar.
Free from his EMI contract on 9 May 1972, Barrett signed a document that ended his association with Pink Floyd, and any financial interest in future recordings. He attended an informal jazz and poetry performance by Pete Brown and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce in October 1973. Brown arrived at the show late, and saw that Bruce was already onstage, along with "a guitarist I vaguely recognised", playing the Horace Silver tune "Doodlin'". Later in the show, Brown read out a poem, which he dedicated to Syd, because, "he's here in Cambridge, and he's one of the best songwriters in the country" when, to his surprise, the guitar player from earlier in the show stood up and said, "No I'm not". By the end of 1973, Barrett had returned to live in London, staying at various hotels and, in December of that year, settling in at Chelsea Cloisters. He had little contact with others, apart from his regular visits to his management's offices to collect his royalties, and the occasional visit from his sister Rosemary.
In August 1974, Jenner persuaded Barrett to return to Abbey Road Studios in hope of recording another album. According to John Leckie, who engineered these sessions, even at this point Syd still "looked like he did when he was younger ... long haired". The sessions lasted three days and consisted of blues rhythm tracks with tentative and disjointed guitar overdubs. Barrett recorded eleven tracks, the only one of which to be titled was "If You Go, Don't Be Slow". Once again, Barrett withdrew from the music industry, but this time for good. He sold the rights to his solo albums back to the record label and moved into a London hotel. During this period, several attempts to employ him as a record producer (including one by Jamie Reid on behalf of the Sex Pistols, and another by the Damned, who wanted him to produce their second album) were fruitless.
Wish You Were Here sessions
Barrett visited the members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for their ninth album, Wish You Were Here. He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band working on the final mix of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" — a song about him. By that time, Barrett, then 29, had become overweight and had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his former bandmates did not initially recognise him. Barrett spent part of the session brushing his teeth. Waters asked him what he thought of the song and he said that it "sounds a bit old". He is reported to have briefly attended the reception for Gilmour's wedding to Ginger that immediately followed the recording sessions, but Gilmour said he had no recollection of this.
A few years later, Waters saw Barrett in the department store Harrods; Barrett ran outside, dropping his bags. It was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw him.
Withdrawal to Cambridge
In 1978, when Barrett's money ran out, he moved back to Cambridge to live with his mother. He returned to live in London for a few weeks in 1982, but soon returned to Cambridge permanently. Barrett walked the from London to Cambridge. Until his death, he received royalties from his work with Pink Floyd; Gilmour said, "I made sure the money got to him." In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He did not attend the ceremony.
According to biographer and journalist Tim Willis, Barrett, who had reverted to using his original name Roger, continued to live in his late mother's semi-detached home, and had returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He was also said to have been an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive, and his physical health declined, as he suffered from stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes.
Although Barrett had not appeared or spoken in public since the mid-1970s, reporters and fans travelled to Cambridge seeking him, despite public appeals from his family. Apparently, Barrett did not like being reminded about his musical career and the other members of Pink Floyd had no direct contact with him. However, he did visit his sister's house in November 2001 to watch the BBC Omnibus documentary made about him; reportedly he found some of it "a bit noisy", enjoyed seeing Mike Leonard again, calling him his "teacher", and enjoyed hearing "See Emily Play".
Barrett made a final public acknowledgement of his musical past in 2002, his first since the 1970s, when he autographed 320 copies of photographer Mick Rock's book Psychedelic Renegades, which contained a number of photos of Barrett. Rock was perhaps the last person in the music industry with whom Barrett kept in contact. In 1971, Rock conducted Barrett's final interview before his retirement from the music industry. Barrett visited Rock in London several times for tea and conversation in 1978. They had not spoken in more than 20 years when Rock approached Barrett to autograph his photography book, and Barrett uncharacteristically agreed. Having reverted to his birth name, he autographed the book "Barrett".
Death and aftermath
Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006 aged 60, from pancreatic cancer. He was cremated. In 2006, his home in St. Margaret's Square, Cambridge, was put on the market and reportedly attracted considerable interest. After over 100 showings, many to fans, it was sold to a French couple who reportedly knew nothing about Barrett. On 28 November 2006, Barrett's other possessions were sold at an auction at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, raising £120,000 for charity. Items sold included paintings, scrapbooks and everyday items that Barrett had decorated. NME produced a tribute issue to Barrett a week later with a photo of him on the cover. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barrett's sister said that he had written an unpublished book about the history of art.
In response to the news of Barrett's death, Gilmour said:
According to local newspapers, Barrett left approximately £1.7 million to his two brothers and two sisters. This sum was apparently largely acquired from royalties from Pink Floyd compilations and live recordings featuring songs he had written while with the band. A tribute concert called "Madcap's Last Laugh" was held at the Barbican Centre, London, on 10 May 2007 with Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Sensible, Damon Albarn, Chrissie Hynde, Kevin Ayers and his Pink Floyd bandmates performing. A series of events called The City Wakes was held in Cambridge in October 2008 to celebrate Barrett's life, art, and music. Barrett's sister, Rosemary Breen, supported this, the first series of official events in memory of her brother. After the festival's success, arts charity Escape Artists announced plans to create a centre in Cambridge, using art to help people suffering from mental health problems. A memorial bench has been placed in the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge and a more prominent tribute is planned in the city.
Legacy
Compilations
In 1988, EMI Records (after constant pressure from Malcolm Jones) released an album of Barrett's studio out-takes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title Opel. The disc was originally set to include the unreleased Barrett Pink Floyd songs "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", which had been remixed for the album by Jones, but the band pulled the two songs before Opel was finalised. In 1993 EMI issued another release, Crazy Diamond, a boxed set of all three albums, each with further out-takes from his solo sessions that illustrated Barrett's inability or refusal to play a song the same way twice. EMI also released The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? in the UK on 16 April 2001 and in the US on 11 September 2001. This was the first time his song "Bob Dylan Blues" was officially released, taken from a demo tape that Gilmour had kept after an early 1970s session. Gilmour kept the tape, which also contains the unreleased "Living Alone" from the Barrett sessions. In October 2010 Harvest/EMI and Capitol Records released An Introduction to Syd Barrett—a collection of both his Pink Floyd and remastered solo work. The 2010 compilation An Introduction to Syd Barrett includes the downloadable bonus track "Rhamadan", a 20-minute track recorded at one of Syd's earliest solo sessions, in May 1968. In 2011, it was announced that a vinyl double album version would be issued for Record Store Day.
Bootleg editions of Barrett's live and solo material exist. For years the "off air" recordings of the BBC sessions with Barrett's Pink Floyd circulated, until an engineer who had taken a tape of the early Pink Floyd gave it back to the BBC—which played it during a tribute to John Peel on their website. During this tribute, the first Peel programme (Top Gear) was aired in its entirety. This show featured the 1967 live versions of "Flaming", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", and a brief 90-second snippet of the instrumental "Reaction in G". In 2012, engineer Andy Jackson said he had found "a huge box of assorted tapes", in Mason's possession, containing versions of R&B songs that (the Barrett-era) Pink Floyd played in their early years.
Creative impact
Barrett wrote most of Pink Floyd's early material. According to critic Steven Hyden, even after Barrett left the band, Barrett's spirit "haunted" their records, and their most popular work "drew on the power of what Barrett signified".
Barrett was an innovative guitarist, using extended techniques and exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of dissonance, distortion, feedback, the echo machine, tapes and other effects; his experimentation was partly inspired by free improvisation guitarist Keith Rowe of the group AMM, active at the time in London. One of Barrett's trademarks was playing his guitar through an old echo box while sliding a Zippo lighter up and down the fret-board to create the mysterious, otherworldly sounds that became associated with the group. Barrett was known to have used Binson delay units to achieve his trademark echo sounds. Daevid Allen, founder member of Soft Machine and Gong, cited Barrett's use of slide guitar with echo as a key inspiration for his own "glissando guitar" style.
Barrett's recordings both with Pink Floyd and in later solo albums were delivered with a strongly British-accented vocal delivery, specifically that of southern England. He was described by Guardian writer Nick Kent as having a "quintessential English style of vocal projection". David Bowie said that Barrett, along with Anthony Newley, was the first person he had heard sing rock or pop music with a British accent.
Barrett's free-form sequences of "sonic carpets" pioneered a new way to play the rock guitar. He played several different guitars during his tenure, including an old Harmony hollowbody electric, a Harmony acoustic, a Fender acoustic, a single-coil Danelectro 59 DC, several different Fender Telecasters and a white Fender Stratocaster in late 1967. A silver Fender Esquire with mirrored discs glued to the body was the guitar he was most often associated with and the guitar he "felt most close to". The mirrored Esquire was traded for a black Telecaster Custom, in 1968. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Influence
Many artists have acknowledged Barrett's influence on their work. Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Blur, Kevin Ayers, Gong, Marc Bolan, Tangerine Dream, Genesis P-Orridge, Julian Cope, Pere Ubu, Jeff Mangum, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, John Maus, Paul Weller, Roger Miller, East Bay Ray, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and David Bowie were inspired by Barrett; Jimmy Page, Brian Eno, Sex Pistols, and The Damned all expressed interest in working with him at some point during the 1970s. Bowie recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" on his 1973 album Pin Ups. The track "Grass", from XTC's album Skylarking was influenced when Andy Partridge let fellow band member Colin Moulding borrow his Barrett records. Robyn Hitchcock's career was dedicated to being Barrett-esque; he even played "Dominoes" for the 2001 BBC documentary The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story.
Barrett also had an influence on alternative and punk music in general. According to critic John Harris:
To understand his place in modern music you probably have to first go back to punk rock and its misguided attempt to kick aside what remained of the psychedelic 1960s. Given that the Clash and Sex Pistols had made brutal social commentary obligatory, there seemed little room for any of the creative exotica that had defined the Love Decade – until, slowly but surely, singing about dead-end lives and dole queues began to pall, and at least some of the previous generation were rehabilitated. Barrett was the best example: having crashed out of Pink Floyd before the advent of indulgent "progressive" rock, and succumbed to a fate that appealed to the punk generation's nihilism, he underwent a revival.
Barrett's decline had a profound effect on Waters' songwriting, and the theme of mental illness permeated the later Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and The Wall (1979). The reference to a "steel rail" in the song "Wish You Were Here" – "can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?" – references a recurring theme in Barrett's song "If It's In You" from The Madcap Laughs. The song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" from Wish You Were Here is also a tribute to Barrett.
In 1987, an album of Barrett cover songs called Beyond the Wildwood was released. The album was a collection of cover songs from Barrett's tenure with Pink Floyd and from his solo career. Artists appearing were UK and US indie bands including The Shamen, Opal, The Soup Dragons, and Plasticland.
Other artists who have written tributes to Barrett include his contemporary Kevin Ayers, who wrote "O Wot a Dream" in his honour (Barrett provided guitar to an early version of Ayers' song "Religious Experience: Singing a Song in the Morning"). Robyn Hitchcock has covered many of his songs live and on record and paid homage to his forebear with the song "(Feels Like) 1974". Phish covered "Bike", "No Good Trying", "Love You", "Baby Lemonade" and "Terrapin". The Television Personalities' single "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" from their 1981 album And Don't the Kids Love It is another tribute. In 2008, The Trash Can Sinatras released a single in tribute to the life and work of Syd Barrett called "Oranges and Apples", from their 2009 album In the Music. Proceeds from the single go to the Syd Barrett Trust in support of arts in mental health.
Johnny Depp showed interest in a biographical film based on Barrett's life. Barrett is portrayed briefly in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll (2006), performing "Golden Hair". His life and music, including the disastrous Cambridge Corn Exchange concert and his later reclusive lifestyle, are a recurring motif in the work. Barrett died during the play's run in London.
In 2016, in correspondence with the 70th anniversary birthday, The Theatre of the Absurd, an Italian independent artists group, published a short movie in honour of Barrett named Eclipse, with actor-director Edgar Blake in the role of Barrett. Some footage from this movie was also shown at Syd Barrett – A Celebration during Men on the Border's tribute: the show took place at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, with the participation of Barrett's family and old friends.
For 2017 TV series Legion creator Noah Hawley named one of the characters after Barrett, whose music was an important influence on the series.
In The X-Files season nine episode, "Lord of the Flies" (2001), a powerful mutant, Dylan Lokensgard (Hank Harris), has several posters of Syd Barrett on his bedroom wall, and listens to "It's No Good Trying" and "Terrapin" from The Madcap Laughs.
He recites the line, "A dream in a mist of gray", from Barrett's song "Opel", saying of the singer, "He was, like, this brilliant guy that no-one understood".
Barrett's influence on the genesis of psychedelia was considered in a chapter entitled 'Astronauts of Inner Space: Syd Barrett, Nick Drake and the Birth of Psychedelia' in Guy Mankowski's book 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders.'
Health
Members of Barrett's family denied that he had suffered from mental illness. Asked if Barrett may have had Asperger's syndrome, his sister Rosemary Breen said that he and his siblings were "all on the spectrum". She also stated that, contrary to common misconception, Barrett neither suffered from mental illness nor had he received treatment for it since they had resumed regular contact in the 1980s. Breen said he had spent some time in a private "home for lost souls"—Greenwoods in Essex—but that there was no formal therapy programme there. Some years later, Barrett agreed to sessions with a psychiatrist at Fulbourn psychiatric hospital in Cambridge, but Breen said that neither medication nor therapy was considered appropriate. Breen also denied Barrett was a recluse or that he was vague about his past: "Roger may have been a bit selfish—or rather self-absorbed—but when people called him a recluse they were really only projecting their own disappointment. He knew what they wanted, but he wasn't willing to give it to them." In 1996, Wright said that Barrett's mother told the members of Pink Floyd to not contact him because being reminded of the band would make him depressed for weeks.
In the 1960s, Barrett used psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, and there are theories he subsequently suffered from schizophrenia. Wright asserted that Barrett's problems stemmed from a massive overdose of acid, as the change in his personality and behaviour came on suddenly. However, Waters maintains that Barrett suffered "without a doubt" from schizophrenia. In an article published in 2006, Gilmour was quoted as saying: "In my opinion, his nervous breakdown would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it." According to Gilmour in a 1974 interview, the other members of Pink Floyd approached psychiatrist R. D. Laing with the "Barrett problem". After hearing a tape of a Barrett conversation, Laing declared him "incurable".
In Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, author Nicholas Schaffner interviewed people who knew Barrett before and during his Pink Floyd days, including friends Peter and Susan Wynne-Wilson, artist Duggie Fields (with whom Barrett shared a flat during the late 1960s), June Bolan, and Storm Thorgerson. Bolan became concerned when Syd "kept his girlfriend under lock and key for three days, occasionally shoving a ration of biscuits under the door". A claim of cruelty against Barrett committed by the groupies and hangers-on who frequented his apartment during this period was described by writer and critic Jonathan Meades. "I went [to Barrett's flat] to see Harry and there was this terrible noise. It sounded like heating pipes shaking. I said, 'What's up?' and he sort of giggled and said, 'That's Syd having a bad trip. We put him in the linen cupboard'". Storm Thorgerson responded to this claim by stating "I do not remember locking Syd up in a cupboard. It sounds to me like pure fantasy, like Jonathan Meades was on dope himself."
Other friends state that Barrett's flatmates, who had also taken LSD, thought of Barrett as a genius or a deity, and were spiking his morning coffee every day without his knowledge, leaving him in a never-ending trip. He was later rescued from that flat by friends and moved elsewhere, but his erratic behaviour continued. According to Thorgerson, "On one occasion, I had to pull him [Barrett] off [his girlfriend] Lindsay because he was beating her over the head with a mandolin". On one occasion, Barrett threw a woman called Gilly across the room, because she refused to go to Gilmour's house.
Personal life
According to his sister, Rosemary, Barrett took up photography and sometimes they went to the seaside together. She also said he took a keen interest in art and horticulture and continued to devote himself to painting:
Barrett had relationships with various women, such as Libby Gausden; Lindsay Korner; Jenny Spires; and Pakistani-born Evelyn "Iggy" Rose (1947–2017) (aka "Iggy the Eskimo", "Iggy the Inuit"), who appeared on the back cover of The Madcap Laughs. He never married or had children, though he was briefly engaged to marry Gayla Pinion and planned to relocate to Oxford.
Discography
Solo albums
The Madcap Laughs (1970)
Barrett (1970)
with Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
1965: Their First Recordings (2015)
The Early Years 1965–1972 (2016)
Filmography
Syd Barrett's First Trip (1966) directed by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
London '66–'67 (1967)
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London (1967)
The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story (2003)
See also
List of songs recorded by Syd Barrett
List of songs about or referencing Syd Barrett
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links
The Official Syd Barrett Website
The Syd Barrett Archives
Syd Barrett Pink Floyd blog
The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit blog
1946 births
2006 deaths
20th-century English composers
20th-century English painters
20th-century English male singers
21st-century English painters
Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
Blues rock musicians
Capitol Records artists
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
EMI Records artists
English experimental musicians
English male painters
English rock guitarists
English rock singers
English male singer-songwriters
Experimental composers
Experimental guitarists
Harvest Records artists
Lead guitarists
Musicians from Cambridgeshire
Outsider musicians
People from Cambridge
People with schizophrenia
Pink Floyd members
Protopunk musicians
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychedelic folk musicians
Psychedelic rock musicians
Rhythm guitarists
Slide guitarists
English male guitarists
20th-century British guitarists | true | [
"Redefining Music is the fourth album by American synthpunk musician Atom and His Package. It was released on April 3, 2001 on Hopeless Records.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Undercover Funny\" - 2:09\n \"Trump\" - 2:22\n \"Shopping Spree\" - 3:12\n \"Seed Song\" - 1:48\n \"Anarchy Means I Litter\" - 2:40\n \"Mission 1: Avoid Job Working With Assholes\" - 3:18\n \"For Franklin\" - 3:06\n \"Going to Georgia\" - 2:01\n \"Cross Country Atom and His Package Tour Via Bicycle\" - 1:52\n \"Atari Track and Field / New Controller Conspiracy\" - 2:55\n \"If You Own the Washington Redskins You're a Cock\" - 1:47\n \"Before My Friends Do\" - 2:41\n \"Alpha Desperation March\" - 2:35\n \"Open Your Heart\" - 2:34\n \"Upside Down From Here\" - 2:26\n\nThe songs \"Seed Song\", \"Going to Georgia\" and \"Alpha Desperation March\" are covers of songs by The Mountain Goats.\nThe song \"Open Your Heart\" is a Madonna cover, with the addition of the word \"fuckface.\"\n\nReferences\n\n2001 albums\nAdam Goren albums\nHopeless Records albums",
"Atom Heart Mother is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, and was the band's first album to reach number 1 in the UK, while it reached number 55 in the US, eventually going gold there. A remastered CD was released in 1994 in the UK and the United States, and again in 2011. Ron Geesin, who had already influenced and collaborated with Roger Waters, contributed to the title track and received a then-rare outside songwriting credit.\n\nThe cover was designed by Hipgnosis, and was the first one not to feature the band's name on the cover, or contain any photographs of the band anywhere. This was a trend that would continue on subsequent covers throughout the 1970s and beyond.\n\nAlthough it was commercially successful on release, the band, particularly Waters and David Gilmour, have expressed several negative opinions of the album in more recent years.\n\nRecording\n\nPink Floyd started work on the album after completing their contributions to the soundtrack for the film Zabriskie Point in Rome, which had ended somewhat acrimoniously. They headed back to London in early 1970 for rehearsals. A number of out-takes from the Rome sessions were used to assemble new material during these rehearsals, though some of it, such as \"The Violent Sequence\", later to become \"Us and Them\", would not be used for some time.\n\nSide one\nThe title track of Atom Heart Mother resulted from a number of instrumental figures the band had composed during these rehearsals, including the chord progression of the main theme, which guitarist David Gilmour had called \"Theme from an Imaginary Western\", and the earliest documented live performance was on 17 January 1970 at Hull University. The band felt that the live performances developed the piece into a manageable shape. Recording of the track commenced at Abbey Road Studios in London, and was somewhat cumbersome, as it was the first recording to use a new eight-track one-inch tape and EMI TG12345 transistorised mixing console (8-track, 20-microphone inputs) in the studio, and, as a result, EMI insisted the band were not allowed to do any splicing of the tape to edit pieces together. Consequently, band members Roger Waters and Nick Mason had little choice but to play the bass and drums, respectively, for the entire 23-minute piece in one sitting. The other instruments the band played were overdubbed later. Mason recalled the final backing track's lack of precise timekeeping would cause problems later on.\n\nBy March, they had finished recording the track, but felt that it was rather unfocused and needed something else. The band had been introduced to Ron Geesin via the Rolling Stones tour manager, Sam Cutler, and were impressed with his composition and tape-editing capabilities, particularly Waters and Mason. Geesin was handed the completed backing tracks the band had recorded, and asked to compose an orchestral arrangement over the top of it while the band went on tour to the US. Geesin described the composing and arranging as \"a hell of a lot of work. Nobody knew what was wanted, they couldn't read music …\" According to him, Gilmour came up with some of the melodic lines, while the pair of them along with keyboardist Richard Wright worked on the middle section with the choir. During the recording of his work in June with the EMI Pops Orchestra, the session musicians present were unimpressed with his tendency to favour avant-garde music over established classical works, and, combined with the relative difficulty of some of the parts, harassed him during recording. John Alldis, whose choir were also to perform on the track, had experience in dealing with orchestral musicians, and managed to conduct the recorded performance in place of Geesin.\n\nThe track was originally called \"The Amazing Pudding\", though Geesin's original score referred to it as \"Untitled Epic\". A refined and improved version (with Geesin's written parts) was played at Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music on 27 June. Its name was changed after the band were due to play an \"in concert\" broadcast for BBC Radio 1 on 16 July 1970, and had needed a title for John Peel to announce it. Geesin pointed to a copy of the Evening Standard, and suggested to Waters that he would find a title in there. The headline was: \"ATOM HEART MOTHER NAMED\", a story about a woman being fitted with a nuclear-powered pacemaker.\n\nThe piece as presented on the completed album is a progression from Pink Floyd's earlier instrumental pieces such as \"A Saucerful of Secrets\" and even earlier, \"Interstellar Overdrive\". The \"Atom Heart Mother\" suite takes up all of side one, and is split into six parts, individually named. Geesin chose the opening section name, \"Father's Shout\" after Earl \"Fatha\" Hines, while other names such as \"Breast Milky\" and \"Funky Dung\" were inspired by the album cover artwork. The orchestral arrangements feature a full brass section, a cello and the 16-piece John Alldis choir, which take most of the lead melody lines, while Pink Floyd mainly provide the backing tracks; a reverse of the 1960s pop music practice of using orchestration as the background, and putting the rock band in front.\n\nSide two\n\nThe album's concept is similar to their previous Ummagumma album, in that it features the full band in the first half, and focuses on individual members in the second half. Side two opens with three five-minute songs: one by each of the band's three resident songwriters, and closes with a suite with sound effects primarily conceived by Mason, but credited to the whole group. Waters contributes a folk ballad called \"If\", playing acoustic guitar. Pink Floyd rarely played the song live, but Waters often performed it at solo shows in support of his Radio K.A.O.S. album, more than a decade later. This is followed by Wright's \"Summer '68\", which also features prominent use of brass in places. It was issued as a Japanese single in 1971, and was the only track on the album never to be played live in concert. The song was reportedly about Wright and a groupie on tour, and had the working title of \"One Night Stand\".\n\nAccording to Mason, Gilmour, having had little songwriting experience at that point, was ordered to remain in Abbey Road until he had composed a song suitable for inclusion on the album. He came up with a folk-influenced tune, \"Fat Old Sun\", which he still cites as a personal favourite. The song was a regular part of the band's live repertoire in 1970–71, and became a staple of Gilmour's solo set in 2006.\n\nThe final track, \"Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast\", is divided into three segments, each with its own descriptive title, joined by dialogue and sound effects of then-roadie Alan Styles preparing, discussing, and eating breakfast. The idea for the piece came about by Waters experimenting with the rhythm of a dripping tap, which combined sound effects and dialogue recorded by Mason in his kitchen with musical pieces recorded at Abbey Road. A slightly re-worked version was performed on stage on 22 December 1970 at Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield, England with the band members pausing between pieces to eat and drink their breakfast. The original LP ends with the sound of the tap which continues into the inner groove, and thus plays on indefinitely.\n\nOriginal Floyd frontman Syd Barrett recorded his album Barrett around the same time as Atom Heart Mother, with assistance from Gilmour and Wright. He occasionally visited his old band's sessions to see what they were doing.\n\nArtwork\n\nThe original album cover, designed by art collective Hipgnosis, shows a Holstein-Friesian cow standing in a pasture with no text nor any other clue as to what might be on the record. Some later editions have the title and artist name added to the cover. This concept was the group's reaction to the psychedelic space rock imagery associated with Pink Floyd at the time of the album's release; the band wanted to explore all sorts of music without being limited to a particular image or style of performance. They thus requested that their new album had \"something plain\" on the cover, which ended up being the image of a cow. Storm Thorgerson, inspired by Andy Warhol's famous \"cow wallpaper\", has said that he simply drove out into a rural area near Potters Bar and photographed the first cow he saw. The cow's owner identified her name as \"Lulubelle III\". More cows appear on the back cover, again with no text or titles, and on the inside gatefold. Also, a pink balloon shaped like a cow udder accompanied the album as part of Capitol's marketing strategy campaign to \"break\" the band in the US. The liner notes in later CD editions give a recipe for Traditional Bedouin Wedding Feast on a card labelled \"Breakfast Tips\". Looking back on the artwork, Thorgerson remembered: \"I think the cow represents, in terms of the Pink Floyd, part of their humour, which I think is often underestimated or just unwritten about.\"\n\nIn the mid-1980s, a bootleg containing rare singles and B-sides entitled The Dark Side of the Moo appeared, with a similar cover. Like Atom Heart Mother, the cover had no writing on it, although in this case it was to protect the bootlegger's anonymity rather than any artistic statement. The album cover for the KLF's concept album Chill Out was also inspired by Atom Heart Mother.\n\nRelease and reception\n\nAtom Heart Mother was released on 2 October 1970 in the UK and 10 October in the US. It reached number 1 and number 55, respectively in those countries' charts. It was released in the quadraphonic format in the UK, Germany and Australia. A remastered CD was released in 1994 in the UK and the US. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released a 24KT gold CD in the US in 1994, while a LP version was released in the US in the same year. As part of the Why Pink Floyd...? campaign, a remaster was released in 2011. Then the album was re-issued again in 2016 on the band's own Pink Floyd Records label.\n\nCritical reaction to the suite has always been mixed, and all band members have expressed negativity toward it in recent times. Gilmour has said the album was \"a load of rubbish. We were at a real down point ... I think we were scraping the barrel a bit at that period\" and \"a good idea but it was dreadful... Atom Heart Mother sounds like we didn't have any idea between us, but we became much more prolific after it.\" Similarly, in a 1984 interview on BBC Radio 1, Waters said \"If somebody said to me now – right – here's a million pounds, go out and play Atom Heart Mother, I'd say you must be fucking joking.\"\n\nIn a 1970 review, Alec Dubro of Rolling Stone appraised Atom Heart Mother negatively, stating \"if Pink Floyd is looking for some new dimensions, they haven't found them here.\" In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said the suite was easier to digest than the second side of songs: \"Yeah, they do leave the singing to an anonymous semi-classical chorus, and yeah, they probably did get the horns for the fanfares at the same hiring hall. But at least the suite provides a few of the hypnotic melodies that made Ummagumma such an admirable record to fall asleep to.\" The album is ranked number 990 in All-Time Top 1000 Albums.\n\nLive performances \n\nThe band were initially enthusiastic about performing the suite. An early performance was taped for the San Francisco television station KQED, featuring just the band, on 28 April 1970. Two major performances were at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music on 27 June and the \"Blackhills Garden Party\" in Hyde Park, London on 18 July. On both occasions the band were accompanied by the John Alldis Choir and the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. Later, the band took a full brass section and choir on tour just for the purpose of performing this piece. However, this caused the tour to lose money, and the band found problems with the hired musicians, which changed from gig to gig as they simply took who was available, which, combined with lack of rehearsal and problems miking up the whole ensemble, made a full live performance more problematic. Reflecting on this, Gilmour said \"some of the brass players have been really hopeless\". According to Mason, the band arrived at one gig in Aachen, Germany, only to discover they had left the sheet music behind, forcing tour manager Tony Howard to go back to London and get it.\n\nA later arrangement without brass or choir, and pared down from 25 minutes to fifteen by omitting the \"collage\" sections and closing reprise of the main theme, remained in their live repertoire into 1972. The first live performance of The Dark Side of the Moon suite in Brighton was abandoned partway through; after a break, the band played Atom Heart Mother instead. Pink Floyd's last live performance of the suite took place on 22 May 1972 at the Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands.\n\nLegacy \n\nStanley Kubrick wanted to use the album's title track in A Clockwork Orange. The group refused permission, primarily because Kubrick was unsure of exactly which pieces of music he wanted and what he wished to do with them. In retrospect, Waters said \"maybe it's just as well it wasn't used after all\". Nevertheless, the album is visible behind the counter in the record store scene of the film.\n\nOn 14 and 15 June 2008, Geesin performed \"Atom Heart Mother\" with Italian tribute band Mun Floyd over two nights as part of the Chelsea Festival. Geesin introduced it with a history and slide show. The performances featured the chamber choir Canticum, brass and cellist Caroline Dale, who has worked with Gilmour. The second night saw Gilmour join Geesin on stage for the performance, which was extended to 30 minutes.\n\nIn 2013, Geesin produced a book, The Flaming Cow, which documented his experience with working with Pink Floyd, including the making of this album from his point of view.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nTaken from sleeve notes. Track numbers noted in parenthesis below are based on CD track numbering.\n\nPink Floyd\n(all instrumentation uncredited)\n\nRoger Waters – bass guitar, vocals\nDavid Gilmour – guitar, vocals\nRichard Wright – keyboards, vocals\nNick Mason – drums\n\nAdditional musicians\nEMI Pops Orchestra – brass and orchestral sections (uncredited)\nHafliði Hallgrímsson – cello (uncredited)\nJohn Alldis Choir – vocals \nAlan Styles – voice and sound effects (uncredited)\n\nProduction\nRon Geesin – orchestration and co-composition (uncredited)\nPeter Bown – engineering\nAlan Parsons – engineering (misspelled as \"Allan Parsons\" on the original sleeve)\nDoug Sax, James Guthrie – 1994 remastering at The Mastering Lab, L.A.\nJames Guthrie, Joel Plante – 2011 remastering at das boot recording\n\nCharts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\nFootnotes\n\nCitations\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n\n1970 albums\nAlbums produced by David Gilmour\nAlbums produced by Nick Mason\nAlbums produced by Richard Wright (musician)\nAlbums produced by Roger Waters\nAlbums with cover art by Hipgnosis\nAlbums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson\nCapitol Records albums\nEMI Records albums\nHarvest Records albums\nPink Floyd albums"
] |
[
"Syd Barrett",
"Barrett",
"what is known about barrett in this section?",
"The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970.",
"how was barrett received?",
"Shirley said of Barrett's playing: \"He would never play the same tune twice.",
"what is the highlight of this section?",
"\" At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: \"Perhaps we could make the middle darker",
"and what followed this?",
"These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother.",
"what did they do while working on atom heart mother?",
"On various occasions, Barrett went to \"spy\" on the band as they recorded their album."
] | C_6d0e8aa901f54f6587b8dd457957ea6a_0 | what did this spying activity result in? | 6 | what did spying on Pink Floyd by Barrett result in? | Syd Barrett | The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy". These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album. Wright said of the Barrett sessions: Doing Syd's record was interesting, but extremely difficult. Dave [Gilmour] and Roger did the first one (The Madcap Laughs) and Dave and myself did the second one. But by then it was just trying to help Syd any way we could, rather than worrying about getting the best guitar sound. You could forget about that! It was just going into the studio and trying to get him to sing. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his whimsical psychedelia, English-accented singing, literary influences, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing dissonance, distortion, echo, feedback, and other studio effects.
Originally trained as a painter, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several unreleased songs. In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from the band amid speculation of mental illness and his excessive use of psychedelic drugs. He began a brief solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" and followed with the albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with the aid of several members of Pink Floyd.
In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death. He continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the 1979 rock opera The Wall. In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, with Barrett's approval. In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.
Life and career
Early years
Roger Keith Barrett was born on 6 January 1946 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire to a middle-class family living at 60 Glisson Road. He was the fourth of five children. His father, Arthur Max Barrett, was a prominent pathologist and was said to be related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson through Max's maternal grandmother Ellen Garrett. In 1951, his family moved to 183 Hills Road.
Barrett played piano occasionally but usually preferred writing and drawing. He bought a ukulele aged 10, a banjo at 11 and a Hofner acoustic guitar at 14. A year after he purchased his first acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar and built his own amplifier. One story of how Barrett acquired the nickname "Syd" is that at the age of 14 he was named after an old local Cambridge jazz double bassist, Sid "The Beat" Barrett, which claims Syd Barrett changed the spelling to differentiate himself from his namesake.
Another account is that when he was 13, his schoolmates nicknamed him "Syd" after he showed up to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his Scout beret because "Syd" was a "working-class" name. He used both names interchangeably for several years. His sister Rosemary said: "He was never Syd at home. He would never have allowed it." He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader.
At one point at Morley Memorial Junior School he was taught by the mother of future Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Later, in 1957, he attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Waters. His father died of cancer on 11 December 1961, less than a month before Barrett's 16th birthday. On this date, Barrett left the entry in his diary blank. By this time, his brothers and sisters had left home and his mother decided to rent out rooms to lodgers.
Eager to help her son recover from his grief, Barrett's mother encouraged the band in which he played, Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, a band which Barrett formed, to perform in their front room. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, and Waters often visited such gigs. At one point, Waters organised a gig, a CND benefit at Friends Meeting House on 11 March 1962, but shortly afterwards Geoff Mott joined the Boston Crabs, and the Mottoes broke up.
In September 1962, Barrett had taken a place at the art department of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, where he met David Gilmour. In late 1962 and early 1963, the Beatles made an impact on Barrett, and he began to play Beatles songs at parties and at picnics. In 1963, Barrett became a Rolling Stones fan and, with then-girlfriend Libby Gausden, saw them perform at a village hall in Cambridgeshire.
At this point, Barrett started writing songs; one friend recalls hearing "Effervescing Elephant" (later to be recorded on his solo album Barrett). Also around this time, Barrett and Gilmour occasionally played acoustic gigs together. Barrett had played bass guitar with Those Without in mid-1963 and bass and guitar with the Hollerin' Blues the next summer. In 1964, Barrett and Gausden saw Bob Dylan perform. After this performance, Barrett was inspired to write "Bob Dylan Blues". Barrett, now thinking about his future, decided to apply for Camberwell College of Arts in London. He enrolled in the college in the summer of 1964 to study painting.
Pink Floyd years (1965–1968)
Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd evolved through various line-up and name changes including "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths". In 1965, Barrett joined them as the Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set). When they found themselves playing a concert with another band of the same name, Barrett came up with "The Pink Floyd Sound" (also known as "The Pink Floyd Blues Band", later "The Pink Floyd"). During 1965, they went into a studio for the first time, when a friend of Richard Wright's gave the band free time to record.
During this summer Barrett had his first LSD trip in the garden of friend Dave Gale, with Ian Moore and Storm Thorgerson. During one trip, Barrett and another friend, Paul Charrier, ended up naked in the bath, reciting: "No rules, no rules". That summer, as a result of the continued drug use, the band became absorbed in Sant Mat, a Sikh sect. Storm Thorgerson (then living on Earlham Street) and Barrett went to a London hotel to meet the sect's guru; Thorgerson managed to join the sect; Barrett, however, was deemed too young to join. Thorgerson sees this as a deeply important event in Barrett's life, as he was extremely upset by the rejection. While living near his friends, Barrett decided to write more songs ("Bike" was written around this time).
London Underground, Blackhill Enterprises and gigs
While Pink Floyd began by playing cover versions of American R&B songs, by 1966 they had carved out their own style of improvised rock and roll, which drew as much from improvised jazz. After Bob Klose departed from the band, the band's direction changed. However, the change was not instantaneous, with more improvising on the guitars and keyboards. Drummer Nick Mason reflected, "It always felt to me that most of the ideas were emanating from Syd at the time."
At this time, Barrett's reading reputedly included Grimm's Fairy Tales, Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and The I-Ching. During this period, Barrett wrote most of the songs for Pink Floyd's first album, and also songs that would later appear on his solo albums. In 1966, a new rock concert venue, the UFO (pronounced as "you-foe"), opened in London and quickly became a haven for British psychedelic music. Pink Floyd, the house band, was its most popular attraction and after making appearances at the rival Roundhouse, became the most popular musical group of the "London Underground" psychedelic music scene.
By the end of 1966, Pink Floyd had gained a reliable management team in Andrew King and Peter Jenner. Towards the end of October 1966, Pink Floyd, with King and Jenner, set up Blackhill Enterprises, to manage the group's finances. Blackhill was staffed by lodgers Jenner found in his Edbrooke Road house, and among others, Barrett's flatmate, Peter Wynne Wilson (who became road manager, however, since he had more experience in lighting, he was also lighting assistant). King and Jenner wanted to prepare some demo recordings for a possible record deal, so at the end of October, they booked a session at Thompson Private Recording Studio, in Hemel Hempstead. King said of the demos: "That was the first time I realised they were going to write all their own material, Syd just turned into a songwriter, it seemed like overnight."
King and Jenner befriended American expatriate Joe Boyd, the promoter of the UFO Club, who was making a name for himself as one of the more important entrepreneurs on the British music scene. The newly hired booking agent, Bryan Morrison, and Boyd had proposed sending in better quality recordings. From Morrison's agency the band played a gig outside London for the first time. In November, the band performed the first (of many) strangely named concerts: Philadelic Music for Simian Hominids, a multimedia event arranged by the group's former landlord, Mike Leonard, at Hornsey College of Art. They performed at the Free School for the following two weeks, before performing at the Psychodelphia Versus Ian Smith event at the Roundhouse in December, arranged by the Majority Rule for Rhodesia Campaign, and an Oxfam benefit at the Albert Hall (the band's biggest venue up to this point).
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London
At the beginning of 1967, Barrett was dating Jenny Spires (who would later marry future Stars member Jack Monck). However, unknown to Barrett, Spires had an affair with Peter Whitehead. Spires convinced Whitehead (who thought the band sounded like "bad Schoenberg") to use Pink Floyd in a film about the swinging London scene. So at the cost of £80 (), in January, Whitehead took the band into John Wood's Sound Techniques in Chelsea, with promoter Joe Boyd in tow. Here, the band recorded a 16-minute version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and another composition, "Nick's Boogie". Whitehead had filmed this recording, which was used in the film Tonite Lets All Make Love in London and later on the video release of London '66–'67. Whitehead later commented about the band that: "They were just completely welded together, just like a jazz group".
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Boyd attempted to sign the band with Polydor Records. However, Morrison had convinced King and Jenner to try to start a bidding war between Polydor and EMI. In late January, Boyd produced a recording session for the group, with them returning to Sound Techniques in Chelsea again. After the bidding war idea was finished, Pink Floyd signed with EMI. Unusual for the time, the deal included recording an album, which meant the band had unlimited studio time at EMI Studios in return for a smaller royalty percentage. The band then attempted to re-record "Arnold Layne", but the Boyd version from January was released instead.
The band's first studio album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was recorded intermittently between February and July 1967 in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios, and produced by former Beatles engineer Norman Smith. By the time the album was released on 4 August, "Arnold Layne" (which was released months earlier, on 11 March) had reached number 20 on the British singles charts, despite being banned by Radio London, and the follow-up single, "See Emily Play", had peaked at number 5. The album was successful in the UK, hitting number 6 on the British album charts. Their first three singles (including their third, "Apples and Oranges"), were written by Barrett, who also was the principal visionary/author of their critically acclaimed 1967 debut album. Of the eleven songs on Piper, Barrett wrote eight and co-wrote another two.
Health problems
Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett became increasingly erratic, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. There is also speculation that he suffered from schizophrenia. Once described as joyful, friendly, and extroverted, he became increasingly depressed and withdrawn, and experienced hallucinations, disorganised speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings, and periods of catatonia. Although the changes began gradually, he went missing for a long weekend and, according to several friends, including Wright, came back "a completely different person".
One of the striking features of his change was the development of a blank, dead-eyed stare. Barrett did not recognise friends, and often did not know where he was; on a tour of Los Angeles, Barrett is said to have exclaimed, "Gee, it sure is nice to be in Las Vegas!" Many reports described him on stage, strumming one chord through the entire concert, or not playing at all. At a show in Santa Monica, Barrett slowly detuned his guitar.
Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during the tour, Barrett replied with a "blank and totally mute stare"; according to Mason, "Syd wasn't into moving his lips that day." Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand. Surviving footage of this appearance shows Barrett miming his parts competently; however, during a group interview afterwards, Barrett gave terse answers. During this time, Barrett would often forget to bring his guitar to sessions, damage equipment and was occasionally unable to hold his plectrum. Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett reportedly crushed Mandrax tranquilliser tablets and a tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle". Mason disputed the Mandrax portion of this story, stating that "Syd would never waste good mandies".
Departure from Pink Floyd
During Pink Floyd's UK tour with Jimi Hendrix in November 1967, guitarist David O'List from the Nice substituted for Barrett on several occasions when he was unable to perform or failed to appear. Around Christmas, Pink Floyd asked Barrett's schoolfriend David Gilmour to join as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett. For a handful of shows, Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining the performance. The other band members grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University, they elected not to pick Barrett up. One person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother." As Barrett had written the bulk of the band's material, the plan was to retain him as a non-touring member, as the Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson, but this proved impractical.
According to Waters, Barrett came to what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It Yet?". The song seemed simple when he first presented it, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn; the band eventually realised that Barrett was changing the arrangement as they played, and that Barrett was playing a joke on them. Waters called it "a real act of mad genius".
Of the songs Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, only "Jugband Blues" was included on their album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). "Apples and Oranges" became an unsuccessful single, and "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", remained unreleased until 2016 in The Early Years 1965–1972 box set, as they were deemed too dark and unsettling. Barrett played guitar on the Saucerful of Secrets tracks "Remember a Day" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
Feeling guilty, the members of Pink Floyd were unable to bring themselves to definitively tell Barrett that he was no longer in the band. According to Wright, who lived with Barrett at the time, he told Barrett he was going out to buy cigarettes when leaving to play a show. He would return hours later to find Barrett in the same position, sometimes with a cigarette burned completely down between his fingers (an incident later referenced in Pink Floyd's concert film The Wall). Emerging from catatonia and unaware that a long period of time had elapsed, Barrett would ask, "Have you got the cigarettes?".
Barrett supposedly spent time outside the recording studio, in the reception area, waiting to be invited in. He also came to a few performances and glared at Gilmour. On 6 April 1968, Pink Floyd officially announced that Barrett was no longer a member, the same day their contract with Blackhill Enterprises was terminated. Considering him as the band's musical leader, Blackhill Enterprises retained Barrett.
Solo years (1968–1972)
After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett was out of the public eye for a year. In 1969, at the behest of EMI and Harvest Records, he embarked on a brief solo career, releasing two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), and a single, "Octopus". Some songs, "Terrapin", "Maisie" and "Bob Dylan Blues", reflected Barrett's early interest in the blues.
The Madcap Laughs
After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Jenner followed suit. He led Barrett into EMI Studios to record some tracks in May that would later be released on Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs. However, Jenner said: "I had seriously underestimated the difficulties of working with him". By the sessions of June and July, most of the tracks were in better shape; however, shortly after the July sessions, Barrett broke up with girlfriend Lindsay Corner and went on a drive around Britain in his Mini, ending up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. During New Year 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett had taken up tenancy in a flat on Egerton Gardens, South Kensington, London, with the postmodernist artist Duggie Fields. Here, Barrett's flat was so close to Gilmour's that Gilmour could look right into Barrett's kitchen. Deciding to return to music, Barrett contacted EMI and was passed to Malcolm Jones, the then-head of EMI's new prog rock label, Harvest (after Norman Smith and Jenner declined to produce Barrett's record, Jones produced it). Barrett wanted to recover the Jenner-produced sessions recordings; several of the tracks were improved upon.
The Jones-produced sessions started in April 1969 at EMI Studios. After the first of these sessions, Barrett brought in friends to help out: Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, and Jokers Wild (Gilmour's old band) drummer Willie Wilson. For the sessions, Gilmour played bass. Talking to Barrett wasn't easy, said Jones: "It was a case of following him, not playing with him. They were seeing and then playing so they were always a note behind". A few tracks on the album feature overdubs by members of the band Soft Machine. During this time, Barrett also played guitar on the sessions for Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' debut LP Joy of a Toy, although his performance on "Religious Experience" (later titled "Singing a Song in the Morning") was not released until the album was reissued in 2003. One time, Barrett had told his flatmate that he was going off "for an afternoon drive". However, he followed Pink Floyd to Ibiza (according to legend, he skipped check-ins and customs, ran onto the runway and attempted to flag down a jet). One of his friends, J. Ryan Eaves, bass player for the short-lived but influential Manchester band York's Ensemble, later spotted him on a beach wearing messed-up clothes and with a carrier bag full of money. By this point, during the trip, Barrett had asked Gilmour for his help in the recording sessions.
After two of the Gilmour/Waters-produced sessions, they remade one track from the Soft Machine overdubs and recorded three tracks. These sessions came to a minor halt when Gilmour and Waters were mixing Pink Floyd's newly recorded album, Ummagumma, to Barrett's dismay. However, through the end of July, they managed to record three more tracks. The problem with the recording was that the songs were recorded as Barrett played them "live" in studio. On the released versions a number of them have false starts and commentaries from Barrett. Despite the track being closer to complete and better produced, Gilmour and Waters left the Jones-produced track "Opel" off Madcap.
Gilmour later said of the sessions for The Madcap Laughs:
Upon the album's release in January 1970, Malcolm Jones was shocked by the substandard musicianship on the Gilmour and Waters-produced songs: "I felt angry. It's like dirty linen in public and very unnecessary and unkind." Gilmour said: "Perhaps we were trying to show what Syd was really like. But perhaps we were trying to punish him." Waters was more positive: "Syd is a genius."
Barrett said "It's quite nice but I'd be very surprised if it did anything if I were to drop dead. I don't think it would stand as my last statement."
Evelyn "Iggy the Eskimo" Rose (1947–2017) appeared nude on the back of the album's inner sleeve.
Barrett
The second album, Barrett, was recorded more sporadically than the first, with sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by David Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia, would say: "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy".
These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother. On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album.
Wright said of the Barrett sessions:
Performances
Despite the numerous recording dates for his solo albums, Barrett undertook very little musical activity between 1968 and 1972 outside the studio. On 24 February 1970, he appeared on John Peel's BBC radio programme Top Gear playing five songs—only one of which had been previously released. Three would be re-recorded for the Barrett album, while the song "Two of a Kind" was a one-off performance (possibly written by Richard Wright). Barrett was accompanied on this session by Gilmour and Shirley who played bass and percussion, respectively.
Gilmour and Shirley also backed Barrett for his one and only live concert during this period. The gig took place on 6 June 1970 at the Olympia Exhibition Hall as part of a Music and Fashion Festival. The trio performed four songs, "Terrapin", "Gigolo Aunt", "Effervescing Elephant" and "Octopus". Poor mixing left the vocals barely audible until part-way through the last number. At the end of the fourth song, Barrett unexpectedly but politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage. The performance has been bootlegged. Barrett made one last appearance on BBC Radio, recording three songs at their studios on 16 February 1971. All three came from the Barrett album. After this session, he took a hiatus from his music career that lasted more than a year, although in an extensive interview with Mick Rock and Rolling Stone in December, he discussed himself at length, showed off his new 12-string guitar, talked about touring with Jimi Hendrix and stated that he was frustrated in terms of his musical work because of his inability to find anyone good to play with.
Later years (1972–2006)
Stars and final recordings
In February 1972, after a few guest spots in Cambridge with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass using the name The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band (backing visiting blues musician Eddie "Guitar" Burns and also featuring Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith), the trio formed a short-lived band called Stars. Though they were initially well received at gigs in the Dandelion coffee bar and the town's Market Square, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge with MC5 proved to be disastrous. A few days after this final show, Twink recalled that Barrett stopped him on the street, showed him a scathing review of the gig they had played, and quit on the spot, despite having played at least one subsequent gig at the same venue supporting Nektar.
Free from his EMI contract on 9 May 1972, Barrett signed a document that ended his association with Pink Floyd, and any financial interest in future recordings. He attended an informal jazz and poetry performance by Pete Brown and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce in October 1973. Brown arrived at the show late, and saw that Bruce was already onstage, along with "a guitarist I vaguely recognised", playing the Horace Silver tune "Doodlin'". Later in the show, Brown read out a poem, which he dedicated to Syd, because, "he's here in Cambridge, and he's one of the best songwriters in the country" when, to his surprise, the guitar player from earlier in the show stood up and said, "No I'm not". By the end of 1973, Barrett had returned to live in London, staying at various hotels and, in December of that year, settling in at Chelsea Cloisters. He had little contact with others, apart from his regular visits to his management's offices to collect his royalties, and the occasional visit from his sister Rosemary.
In August 1974, Jenner persuaded Barrett to return to Abbey Road Studios in hope of recording another album. According to John Leckie, who engineered these sessions, even at this point Syd still "looked like he did when he was younger ... long haired". The sessions lasted three days and consisted of blues rhythm tracks with tentative and disjointed guitar overdubs. Barrett recorded eleven tracks, the only one of which to be titled was "If You Go, Don't Be Slow". Once again, Barrett withdrew from the music industry, but this time for good. He sold the rights to his solo albums back to the record label and moved into a London hotel. During this period, several attempts to employ him as a record producer (including one by Jamie Reid on behalf of the Sex Pistols, and another by the Damned, who wanted him to produce their second album) were fruitless.
Wish You Were Here sessions
Barrett visited the members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for their ninth album, Wish You Were Here. He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band working on the final mix of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" — a song about him. By that time, Barrett, then 29, had become overweight and had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his former bandmates did not initially recognise him. Barrett spent part of the session brushing his teeth. Waters asked him what he thought of the song and he said that it "sounds a bit old". He is reported to have briefly attended the reception for Gilmour's wedding to Ginger that immediately followed the recording sessions, but Gilmour said he had no recollection of this.
A few years later, Waters saw Barrett in the department store Harrods; Barrett ran outside, dropping his bags. It was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw him.
Withdrawal to Cambridge
In 1978, when Barrett's money ran out, he moved back to Cambridge to live with his mother. He returned to live in London for a few weeks in 1982, but soon returned to Cambridge permanently. Barrett walked the from London to Cambridge. Until his death, he received royalties from his work with Pink Floyd; Gilmour said, "I made sure the money got to him." In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He did not attend the ceremony.
According to biographer and journalist Tim Willis, Barrett, who had reverted to using his original name Roger, continued to live in his late mother's semi-detached home, and had returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He was also said to have been an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive, and his physical health declined, as he suffered from stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes.
Although Barrett had not appeared or spoken in public since the mid-1970s, reporters and fans travelled to Cambridge seeking him, despite public appeals from his family. Apparently, Barrett did not like being reminded about his musical career and the other members of Pink Floyd had no direct contact with him. However, he did visit his sister's house in November 2001 to watch the BBC Omnibus documentary made about him; reportedly he found some of it "a bit noisy", enjoyed seeing Mike Leonard again, calling him his "teacher", and enjoyed hearing "See Emily Play".
Barrett made a final public acknowledgement of his musical past in 2002, his first since the 1970s, when he autographed 320 copies of photographer Mick Rock's book Psychedelic Renegades, which contained a number of photos of Barrett. Rock was perhaps the last person in the music industry with whom Barrett kept in contact. In 1971, Rock conducted Barrett's final interview before his retirement from the music industry. Barrett visited Rock in London several times for tea and conversation in 1978. They had not spoken in more than 20 years when Rock approached Barrett to autograph his photography book, and Barrett uncharacteristically agreed. Having reverted to his birth name, he autographed the book "Barrett".
Death and aftermath
Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006 aged 60, from pancreatic cancer. He was cremated. In 2006, his home in St. Margaret's Square, Cambridge, was put on the market and reportedly attracted considerable interest. After over 100 showings, many to fans, it was sold to a French couple who reportedly knew nothing about Barrett. On 28 November 2006, Barrett's other possessions were sold at an auction at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, raising £120,000 for charity. Items sold included paintings, scrapbooks and everyday items that Barrett had decorated. NME produced a tribute issue to Barrett a week later with a photo of him on the cover. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barrett's sister said that he had written an unpublished book about the history of art.
In response to the news of Barrett's death, Gilmour said:
According to local newspapers, Barrett left approximately £1.7 million to his two brothers and two sisters. This sum was apparently largely acquired from royalties from Pink Floyd compilations and live recordings featuring songs he had written while with the band. A tribute concert called "Madcap's Last Laugh" was held at the Barbican Centre, London, on 10 May 2007 with Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Sensible, Damon Albarn, Chrissie Hynde, Kevin Ayers and his Pink Floyd bandmates performing. A series of events called The City Wakes was held in Cambridge in October 2008 to celebrate Barrett's life, art, and music. Barrett's sister, Rosemary Breen, supported this, the first series of official events in memory of her brother. After the festival's success, arts charity Escape Artists announced plans to create a centre in Cambridge, using art to help people suffering from mental health problems. A memorial bench has been placed in the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge and a more prominent tribute is planned in the city.
Legacy
Compilations
In 1988, EMI Records (after constant pressure from Malcolm Jones) released an album of Barrett's studio out-takes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title Opel. The disc was originally set to include the unreleased Barrett Pink Floyd songs "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", which had been remixed for the album by Jones, but the band pulled the two songs before Opel was finalised. In 1993 EMI issued another release, Crazy Diamond, a boxed set of all three albums, each with further out-takes from his solo sessions that illustrated Barrett's inability or refusal to play a song the same way twice. EMI also released The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? in the UK on 16 April 2001 and in the US on 11 September 2001. This was the first time his song "Bob Dylan Blues" was officially released, taken from a demo tape that Gilmour had kept after an early 1970s session. Gilmour kept the tape, which also contains the unreleased "Living Alone" from the Barrett sessions. In October 2010 Harvest/EMI and Capitol Records released An Introduction to Syd Barrett—a collection of both his Pink Floyd and remastered solo work. The 2010 compilation An Introduction to Syd Barrett includes the downloadable bonus track "Rhamadan", a 20-minute track recorded at one of Syd's earliest solo sessions, in May 1968. In 2011, it was announced that a vinyl double album version would be issued for Record Store Day.
Bootleg editions of Barrett's live and solo material exist. For years the "off air" recordings of the BBC sessions with Barrett's Pink Floyd circulated, until an engineer who had taken a tape of the early Pink Floyd gave it back to the BBC—which played it during a tribute to John Peel on their website. During this tribute, the first Peel programme (Top Gear) was aired in its entirety. This show featured the 1967 live versions of "Flaming", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", and a brief 90-second snippet of the instrumental "Reaction in G". In 2012, engineer Andy Jackson said he had found "a huge box of assorted tapes", in Mason's possession, containing versions of R&B songs that (the Barrett-era) Pink Floyd played in their early years.
Creative impact
Barrett wrote most of Pink Floyd's early material. According to critic Steven Hyden, even after Barrett left the band, Barrett's spirit "haunted" their records, and their most popular work "drew on the power of what Barrett signified".
Barrett was an innovative guitarist, using extended techniques and exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of dissonance, distortion, feedback, the echo machine, tapes and other effects; his experimentation was partly inspired by free improvisation guitarist Keith Rowe of the group AMM, active at the time in London. One of Barrett's trademarks was playing his guitar through an old echo box while sliding a Zippo lighter up and down the fret-board to create the mysterious, otherworldly sounds that became associated with the group. Barrett was known to have used Binson delay units to achieve his trademark echo sounds. Daevid Allen, founder member of Soft Machine and Gong, cited Barrett's use of slide guitar with echo as a key inspiration for his own "glissando guitar" style.
Barrett's recordings both with Pink Floyd and in later solo albums were delivered with a strongly British-accented vocal delivery, specifically that of southern England. He was described by Guardian writer Nick Kent as having a "quintessential English style of vocal projection". David Bowie said that Barrett, along with Anthony Newley, was the first person he had heard sing rock or pop music with a British accent.
Barrett's free-form sequences of "sonic carpets" pioneered a new way to play the rock guitar. He played several different guitars during his tenure, including an old Harmony hollowbody electric, a Harmony acoustic, a Fender acoustic, a single-coil Danelectro 59 DC, several different Fender Telecasters and a white Fender Stratocaster in late 1967. A silver Fender Esquire with mirrored discs glued to the body was the guitar he was most often associated with and the guitar he "felt most close to". The mirrored Esquire was traded for a black Telecaster Custom, in 1968. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Influence
Many artists have acknowledged Barrett's influence on their work. Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Blur, Kevin Ayers, Gong, Marc Bolan, Tangerine Dream, Genesis P-Orridge, Julian Cope, Pere Ubu, Jeff Mangum, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, John Maus, Paul Weller, Roger Miller, East Bay Ray, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and David Bowie were inspired by Barrett; Jimmy Page, Brian Eno, Sex Pistols, and The Damned all expressed interest in working with him at some point during the 1970s. Bowie recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" on his 1973 album Pin Ups. The track "Grass", from XTC's album Skylarking was influenced when Andy Partridge let fellow band member Colin Moulding borrow his Barrett records. Robyn Hitchcock's career was dedicated to being Barrett-esque; he even played "Dominoes" for the 2001 BBC documentary The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story.
Barrett also had an influence on alternative and punk music in general. According to critic John Harris:
To understand his place in modern music you probably have to first go back to punk rock and its misguided attempt to kick aside what remained of the psychedelic 1960s. Given that the Clash and Sex Pistols had made brutal social commentary obligatory, there seemed little room for any of the creative exotica that had defined the Love Decade – until, slowly but surely, singing about dead-end lives and dole queues began to pall, and at least some of the previous generation were rehabilitated. Barrett was the best example: having crashed out of Pink Floyd before the advent of indulgent "progressive" rock, and succumbed to a fate that appealed to the punk generation's nihilism, he underwent a revival.
Barrett's decline had a profound effect on Waters' songwriting, and the theme of mental illness permeated the later Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and The Wall (1979). The reference to a "steel rail" in the song "Wish You Were Here" – "can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?" – references a recurring theme in Barrett's song "If It's In You" from The Madcap Laughs. The song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" from Wish You Were Here is also a tribute to Barrett.
In 1987, an album of Barrett cover songs called Beyond the Wildwood was released. The album was a collection of cover songs from Barrett's tenure with Pink Floyd and from his solo career. Artists appearing were UK and US indie bands including The Shamen, Opal, The Soup Dragons, and Plasticland.
Other artists who have written tributes to Barrett include his contemporary Kevin Ayers, who wrote "O Wot a Dream" in his honour (Barrett provided guitar to an early version of Ayers' song "Religious Experience: Singing a Song in the Morning"). Robyn Hitchcock has covered many of his songs live and on record and paid homage to his forebear with the song "(Feels Like) 1974". Phish covered "Bike", "No Good Trying", "Love You", "Baby Lemonade" and "Terrapin". The Television Personalities' single "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" from their 1981 album And Don't the Kids Love It is another tribute. In 2008, The Trash Can Sinatras released a single in tribute to the life and work of Syd Barrett called "Oranges and Apples", from their 2009 album In the Music. Proceeds from the single go to the Syd Barrett Trust in support of arts in mental health.
Johnny Depp showed interest in a biographical film based on Barrett's life. Barrett is portrayed briefly in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll (2006), performing "Golden Hair". His life and music, including the disastrous Cambridge Corn Exchange concert and his later reclusive lifestyle, are a recurring motif in the work. Barrett died during the play's run in London.
In 2016, in correspondence with the 70th anniversary birthday, The Theatre of the Absurd, an Italian independent artists group, published a short movie in honour of Barrett named Eclipse, with actor-director Edgar Blake in the role of Barrett. Some footage from this movie was also shown at Syd Barrett – A Celebration during Men on the Border's tribute: the show took place at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, with the participation of Barrett's family and old friends.
For 2017 TV series Legion creator Noah Hawley named one of the characters after Barrett, whose music was an important influence on the series.
In The X-Files season nine episode, "Lord of the Flies" (2001), a powerful mutant, Dylan Lokensgard (Hank Harris), has several posters of Syd Barrett on his bedroom wall, and listens to "It's No Good Trying" and "Terrapin" from The Madcap Laughs.
He recites the line, "A dream in a mist of gray", from Barrett's song "Opel", saying of the singer, "He was, like, this brilliant guy that no-one understood".
Barrett's influence on the genesis of psychedelia was considered in a chapter entitled 'Astronauts of Inner Space: Syd Barrett, Nick Drake and the Birth of Psychedelia' in Guy Mankowski's book 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders.'
Health
Members of Barrett's family denied that he had suffered from mental illness. Asked if Barrett may have had Asperger's syndrome, his sister Rosemary Breen said that he and his siblings were "all on the spectrum". She also stated that, contrary to common misconception, Barrett neither suffered from mental illness nor had he received treatment for it since they had resumed regular contact in the 1980s. Breen said he had spent some time in a private "home for lost souls"—Greenwoods in Essex—but that there was no formal therapy programme there. Some years later, Barrett agreed to sessions with a psychiatrist at Fulbourn psychiatric hospital in Cambridge, but Breen said that neither medication nor therapy was considered appropriate. Breen also denied Barrett was a recluse or that he was vague about his past: "Roger may have been a bit selfish—or rather self-absorbed—but when people called him a recluse they were really only projecting their own disappointment. He knew what they wanted, but he wasn't willing to give it to them." In 1996, Wright said that Barrett's mother told the members of Pink Floyd to not contact him because being reminded of the band would make him depressed for weeks.
In the 1960s, Barrett used psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, and there are theories he subsequently suffered from schizophrenia. Wright asserted that Barrett's problems stemmed from a massive overdose of acid, as the change in his personality and behaviour came on suddenly. However, Waters maintains that Barrett suffered "without a doubt" from schizophrenia. In an article published in 2006, Gilmour was quoted as saying: "In my opinion, his nervous breakdown would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it." According to Gilmour in a 1974 interview, the other members of Pink Floyd approached psychiatrist R. D. Laing with the "Barrett problem". After hearing a tape of a Barrett conversation, Laing declared him "incurable".
In Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, author Nicholas Schaffner interviewed people who knew Barrett before and during his Pink Floyd days, including friends Peter and Susan Wynne-Wilson, artist Duggie Fields (with whom Barrett shared a flat during the late 1960s), June Bolan, and Storm Thorgerson. Bolan became concerned when Syd "kept his girlfriend under lock and key for three days, occasionally shoving a ration of biscuits under the door". A claim of cruelty against Barrett committed by the groupies and hangers-on who frequented his apartment during this period was described by writer and critic Jonathan Meades. "I went [to Barrett's flat] to see Harry and there was this terrible noise. It sounded like heating pipes shaking. I said, 'What's up?' and he sort of giggled and said, 'That's Syd having a bad trip. We put him in the linen cupboard'". Storm Thorgerson responded to this claim by stating "I do not remember locking Syd up in a cupboard. It sounds to me like pure fantasy, like Jonathan Meades was on dope himself."
Other friends state that Barrett's flatmates, who had also taken LSD, thought of Barrett as a genius or a deity, and were spiking his morning coffee every day without his knowledge, leaving him in a never-ending trip. He was later rescued from that flat by friends and moved elsewhere, but his erratic behaviour continued. According to Thorgerson, "On one occasion, I had to pull him [Barrett] off [his girlfriend] Lindsay because he was beating her over the head with a mandolin". On one occasion, Barrett threw a woman called Gilly across the room, because she refused to go to Gilmour's house.
Personal life
According to his sister, Rosemary, Barrett took up photography and sometimes they went to the seaside together. She also said he took a keen interest in art and horticulture and continued to devote himself to painting:
Barrett had relationships with various women, such as Libby Gausden; Lindsay Korner; Jenny Spires; and Pakistani-born Evelyn "Iggy" Rose (1947–2017) (aka "Iggy the Eskimo", "Iggy the Inuit"), who appeared on the back cover of The Madcap Laughs. He never married or had children, though he was briefly engaged to marry Gayla Pinion and planned to relocate to Oxford.
Discography
Solo albums
The Madcap Laughs (1970)
Barrett (1970)
with Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
1965: Their First Recordings (2015)
The Early Years 1965–1972 (2016)
Filmography
Syd Barrett's First Trip (1966) directed by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
London '66–'67 (1967)
Tonite Lets All Make Love in London (1967)
The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story (2003)
See also
List of songs recorded by Syd Barrett
List of songs about or referencing Syd Barrett
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links
The Official Syd Barrett Website
The Syd Barrett Archives
Syd Barrett Pink Floyd blog
The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit blog
1946 births
2006 deaths
20th-century English composers
20th-century English painters
20th-century English male singers
21st-century English painters
Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
Blues rock musicians
Capitol Records artists
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
EMI Records artists
English experimental musicians
English male painters
English rock guitarists
English rock singers
English male singer-songwriters
Experimental composers
Experimental guitarists
Harvest Records artists
Lead guitarists
Musicians from Cambridgeshire
Outsider musicians
People from Cambridge
People with schizophrenia
Pink Floyd members
Protopunk musicians
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychedelic folk musicians
Psychedelic rock musicians
Rhythm guitarists
Slide guitarists
English male guitarists
20th-century British guitarists | false | [
"Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power, and Public Resistance is a book by Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, and co-host of Pacifica's WBAI weekly civil liberties radio program, \"Law and Disorder.\" The book details the growing amount of surveillance of everyday citizens, and what this means for society. It is published by City Lights Publishers in the Open Media Series.\n\nThemes\nSpying on Democracy focuses mainly on the theme of confidentiality. Boghosian describes the many ways that the government acquires personal information, whether it be from telecommunications companies, or video surveillance cameras.\n\nOther themes discussed include control, technology, and civil liberties. Why does the government need all of this information? Boghosian discusses how technology is used to categorize and monitor people based on their everyday activities. People are categorized by the associations, purchases, and perceived political beliefs. The government then takes this data and creates databases about \"persons of interest.\" Spying on Democracy calls into question the meaning of civil liberties during a time of constant surveillance.\n\nMost of Boghosian's work discusses the topic of government surveillance that is described in Spying on Democracy. In 2012, Boghosian documented her own data trail in order to demonstrate how everyday transactions and ventures are documented. In an article in the New York Times Boghosian attempted to show her point that corporations play a larger role in people's daily lives than realized.\n\nSee also\ncorporate power\ngovernment surveillance\npublic resistance\nSurveillance capitalism\n\nExternal links\nSpying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power, and Public Resistance (City Lights, 2013)\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican political books",
"Steven (Stavros) John (Ioannis) Lalas (; born 1953) is an American of Greek descent and former State Department communications officer. Charged with espionage-related offenses in connection with passing sensitive military and diplomatic information to Greece, he was arrested in USA through a FBI sting operation.\n\nLalas pled guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Later paroled, Lalas emigrated to Greece to serve out the remainder of his parole.\n\nSpying activities\nDuring his active years as a spy, Lalas passed an estimated 700 highly classified documents, that included U.S. gathered intelligence information of Turkish military strategy in the Aegean Sea and Cyprus, and U.S. diplomatic assessments and views on the Republic of North Macedonia. Athens was Lalas' fourth communications posting with the State Department. He also served at posts in İzmir (where he was allegedly recruited by the Greeks), Belgrade, Istanbul, and Taiwan. U.S. investigators claimed he made an average of US$24,000 over a two-year period by providing documents, thus earning a steady income selling Defense Intelligence Agency reports about troop strength, political analyses, and military discussions contained in cables between the U.S. Embassy in Athens and the White House. He also obtained information from FBI communications about counterterrorism efforts, and the names and job descriptions of CIA personnel stationed overseas.\n\nLalas' apprehension\nAccording to the U.S. government, it received the first tip that led to identification of Lalas as a spy as a result of an accidental slip in a conversation between an official of the Greek Embassy in Washington and a State Department official. The Greek official knew of information that could only have come from a secret communication between the U.S. Embassy in Athens and the State Department. The State Department official recognized something wasn't right and reported it. This led to an FBI secret investigation, and Lalas was later observed through a video monitoring system stealing documents intended for destruction, taking them out of the US embassy and handing them over to his Greek liaison.\n\nAlso according to U.S. authorities, Lalas originally claimed he had been recruited by Greek military officials in 1991, and that he feared for the welfare of relatives living in Greece if he had not cooperated. Authorities later discovered that he began spying for the Greek government in 1977 while with the U.S. Army.\n\nTrial and sentence \nIn June 1993, Lalas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage and on September 16 was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison without possibility of parole. Prosecutors had recommended the 14-year sentence in return for Lalas’ promise to reveal what documents he turned over and to whom.\n\nThe full extent of his espionage activity was confirmed prior to his sentencing only after he failed two FBI polygraph examinations. Yet in debriefings the prosecutors said Lalas did not reveal the full extent of his spying.\n\nLater events\nLalas was on parole until July 2010. He returned to Greece on November 25, 2007, after written assurances from Greek Justice Minister Sotiris Hadjigakis that the Greek government would fulfill any U.S. court decision regarding Lalas' parole.\n\nGreek public opinion is divided between those who consider him an heroic example of a dedicated patriot and those who consider him as an opportunist and a media sellout. The Greek intelligence community regard him as the most important agent they had ever recruited in the past half of the 20th century.\n\nAs for Lalas himself, even though the Greek government did not support him or his family in Greece when he was arrested, he continued to praise his country of origin while in prison. In his appearances in Alexis Papahelas' show Oi Fakeloi, he stated that if he had the chance he would do it all over again, even if he was to be arrested and spend again 14 years in prison separated from his wife and two kids. He also publicly denies that he ever received any money, and insists that his motivation was only inspired by patriotic feelings for his country of origin.\n\nSee also\n Category:American people convicted of spying against the United States\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Interviewed by Alexis Papahelas (in Greek only)\n True Spy Stories\n Counterintelligence Cases Past and Present\n\nAmerican prisoners and detainees\nAmerican people of Greek descent\nLiving people\nPost–Cold War spies\n1953 births\nPrisoners and detainees of the United States federal government\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nAmerican people convicted of spying against the United States"
] |
[
"Patsy Cline",
"Early years"
] | C_b40d68fe4a1946b280e019709405a608_1 | What were patsy's early years like | 1 | What were Patsy Cline's early years like? | Patsy Cline | Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia, in the city's Memorial Hospital. She was the eldest child of seamstress Hilda Virginia (nee Patterson, 1916-1998) and blacksmith Samuel Lawrence Hensley (1889-1956). She had a brother Samuel Jr. (1939-2004) and a sister Sylvia. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16. Sam Hensley deserted his family in 1947, but the children's home was reportedly happy nonetheless. When Patsy was 13, she was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. She later said, "The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith." Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk at Gaunt's Drug Store and a waitress at the Triangle Diner. She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing on his show. Her performance in 1947 was well received and she was asked back. This led to appearances at local nightclubs wearing fringed Western outfits that her mother made from Patsy's designs. Cline performed in variety and talent shows in the Winchester and Tri-State areas, and she gained a large following through the shows and local radio appearances. Jimmy Dean was already a country star in 1954, and she became a regular with him on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Jamboree radio show on WAVA (AM) in Arlington County, Virginia. CANNOTANSWER | The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16. | Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Cline's first professional performances began at the local WINC radio station when she was fifteen. In the early 1950s, Cline began appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. It also led to the signing of her first recording contract with the Four Star label in 1954. She had minor success with her earliest Four Star singles including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957 however, Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnight", the single would become her first major hit on both the country and pop charts.
Cline's further singles with Four Star Records were unsuccessful, although she continued performing and recording. After marrying in 1957 and giving birth in 1958, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to further her career. Working with new manager Randy Hughes, Cline would become a member of the Grand Ole Opry and then move to Decca Records in 1960. Under the direction of producer Owen Bradley, her musical sound shifted and she achieved consistent success. The 1961 single "I Fall to Pieces" would become her first to top the Billboard country chart. As the song became a hit, Cline was severely injured in an automobile accident, which caused her to spend a month in the hospital. After she recovered, her next single release "Crazy" would also become a major hit.
Between 1962 and 1963, Cline had hits with "She's Got You", "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Leavin' on Your Mind". She also toured and headlined shows with more frequency. In March 1963, Cline was killed in a plane crash along with country performers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Kansas back to Nashville.
Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected and influential performers of the 20th century. Her music has influenced performers of various styles and genres. She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts. In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, Cline's posthumous successes continued in the mass media. She was portrayed twice in major motion pictures, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange. Several documentaries and stage shows were released during this time, including the 1988 musical Always...Patsy Cline. A 1991 box set of her recordings was issued that received critical acclaim. Her greatest hits album sold over 10 million copies in 2005. In 2011, Cline's childhood home was restored as a museum for visitors and fans to tour. In 2017, Cline’s Dream Home in Nashville, TN was placed on the Tennessee Historical Markers List by the Patsy Cline Fan Home Owners, Steven Shirey and Thomas Corritore.
Early life
Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932, to Hilda Virginia (née Patterson; 1916–1998) and Samuel Lawerence Hensley (1889–1956). Mrs. Hensley was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Sam Hensley had been married before; Cline had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15) that lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, Hilda Hensley would also have Samuel Jr. (called John) and Sylvia Mae. Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was also referred to as "Ginny". She temporarily lived with her mother's family in Gore, Virginia before relocating many times throughout the state. In her childhood, the family relocated where Samuel Hensley, a blacksmith, could find employment, including Elkton, Staunton, and Norfolk. When the family had little money, she would find work. This included an Elkton poultry factory, where her job was to pluck and cut chickens. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia on South Kent Street. Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her. When confiding about the abuse to friend Loretta Lynn, Cline told her, "take this to your grave". Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams.
At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. Speaking of the incident in 1957 she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's." It was during this time she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events. She also taught herself how to play the piano.
With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing only grew further and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances began at WINC in the Winchester area. According to WINC's radio disc jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy, Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition. McCoy was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you." While also performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer Helen Morgan.
Cline's mother and father had marital conflicts during her childhood and by 1947, her father deserted the family. Author Ellis Nassour of the biography Honky Tonk Angel: An Intimate Story of Patsy Cline reported Cline had a "beautiful relationship" with her mother. In his interviews with Hilda Hensley, he quoted Cline's mother in saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child. Upon entering the ninth grade, Cline enrolled at John Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia. However, the family had trouble sustaining an income after her father's desertion. Therefore, Cline dropped out of high school to help support the family. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and soda jerk.
Career
1948–1953: Early career
At age 15, Cline wrote a letter to the Grand Ole Opry asking for an audition. She told local photographer Ralph Grubbs about the letter, "A friend thinks I'm crazy to send it. What do you think?" Grubbs encouraged Cline to send it. Several weeks later, she received a return letter from the Opry asking for pictures and recordings. At the same time, Gospel performer Wally Fowler headlined a concert in her hometown. Cline convinced concert employees to let her backstage where she asked Fowler for an audition. Following a successful audition, Cline's family received a call asking for her to audition for the Opry. She traveled with her mother, two siblings, and a family friend on an eight-hour journey to Nashville, Tennessee. With limited finances, they drove overnight and slept in a Nashville park the following morning. Cline auditioned for Opry performer Moon Mullican the same day. The audition was well-received and Cline expected to hear from the Opry the same day. However, she never received news and the family returned to Virginia.
By the early 1950s, Cline continued performing around the local area. In 1952, she asked to audition for local country bandleader Bill Peer. Following her audition, she began performing regularly as a member of Bill Peer's Melody Boys and Girls. The pair's relationship turned romantic, continuing an affair for several years. Nonetheless, the pair remained married to their spouses. Peer's group played primarily at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland where she would meet her first husband, Gerald Cline. Peer encouraged her to have a more appropriate stage name. She changed her first name from Virginia to Patsy (taken from her middle name "Patterson"). She kept her new last name, Cline. Ultimately, she became professionally known as "Patsy Cline".
In August 1953, Cline was a contestant in a local country music contest. She won 100 dollars and the opportunity to perform as a regular on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Time. The show included country stars Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV and Billy Grammer, and was filmed in Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. She was not officially added to the program's television shows until October 1955. Cline's television performances received critical acclaim. The Washington Star magazine praised her stage presence, commenting, "She creates the moods through movement of her hands and body and by the lilt of her voice, reaching way down deep in her soul to bring forth the melody. Most female country music vocalists stand motionless, sing with monotonous high-pitched nasal twang. Patsy's come up with a throaty style loaded with motion and E-motion."
1954–1960: Four Star Records
In 1954, Bill Peer created and distributed a series of demonstration tapes with Cline's voice on it. A tape was brought to the attention of Bill McCall, president of Four Star Records. On September 30, 1954, she signed a two-year recording contract with the label alongside Peer and her husband Gerald Cline. The original contract allowed Four Star to receive most of the money for the songs she recorded. Therefore, Cline received little of the royalties from the label, totaling out to 2.34 percent on her recording contract. Her first recording session took place in Nashville, Tennessee on January 5, 1955. Songs for the session were handpicked by McCall and Paul Cohen. Four Star leased the recordings to the larger Decca Records. For those reasons Owen Bradley was chosen as the session's producer, a professional relationship that would continue into the 1960s. Her first single release was 1955's "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye". Although Cline promoted it with an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry the song was not successful.
Cline recorded a variety of musical styles while recording for Four Star. This included genres such as gospel, rockabilly, traditional country and pop. Writers and music journalists have had mixed beliefs on Cline's Four Star material. Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack of Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music called the label's choice of material "mediocre". They also commented that Cline seemed to have "groped for her own sound on the label". Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide commented that the music was "sturdy enough, but they only hinted at the potential that lurked inside her. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic claimed it was Cline's voice that made the Four Star material less appealing: "Circumstances were not wholly to blame for Cline's commercial failures. She would have never made it as a rockabilly singer, lacking the conviction of Wanda Jackson or the spunk of Brenda Lee. In fact, in comparison with her best work, she sounds rather stiff and ill-at-ease on most of her early singles."
Between 1955 and 1956, Cline's four singles for Four Star failed to become hits. However, she continued performing regionally, including on the Town and Country Jamboree. In 1956, she appeared on ABC's Country Music Jubilee, Ozark Jubilee. It was at one of her local performances that she met her second husband, Charlie Dick. In 1956, Cline received a call to perform on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a national television show she had auditioned for several months prior. She accepted the offer, using her mother Hilda Hensley as her talent scout for the show. According to the show's rules, talent scouts could not be family members. For those reasons, Cline's mother lied in order to appear on the show. When Arthur Godfrey asked if Hensley had known Cline her entire life, she replied, "Yes, just about!"
Cline and Mrs. Hensley flew into LaGuardia Airport in New York City on January 18, 1957. She made her debut appearance on the program on January 21. The day of the show, she met with the show's producer Janette Davis. Cline had chosen "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" to perform on the program, but Davis preferred another song she had recorded, "Walkin' After Midnight". Cline initially refused to perform it, but ultimately agreed to it. Davis also suggested Cline wear a cocktail dress instead of the cowgirl outfit created by her mother. She performed "Walkin' After Midnight" and won the program's contest that night. The song had not yet been released as a single. In order to keep up with public demand, Decca Records rush-released the song as a single on February 11. The song ultimately became Cline's breakthrough hit, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. The song also reached number 12 on the Billboard pop music chart. The song has since been considered a classic in country music since its release.
Music critics and writers have positively praised "Walkin' After Midnight". Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann called the song "bluesy". Richie Unterberger noted "it's well-suited for the almost bemused aura of loneliness of the lyric." The success of "Walkin' After Midnight" brought Cline numerous appearances on shows and major networks. She continued working for Arthur Godfrey over the next several months. She also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in February and the television program Western Ranch Party in March. The money she had earned from her numerous engagements totaled out to ten thousand dollars. Cline gave all the money to her mother, which she used to the pay the mortgage on her Winchester house. In August 1957, her debut studio album was issued via Decca Records.
Cline's follow-up singles to "Walkin' After Midnight" did not yield any success. This was partially due to the quality of material chosen for her to record. Cline was dissatisfied with the limited success following "Walkin' After Midnight". Bradley recounted how she often came to him saying, "Hoss, can't you do something? I feel like a prisoner." Around the same time, Cline was fired from her regular slot on Town and Country Jamboree. According to Connie B. Gay, she ran late for shows and "showed up with liquor on her breath". In September 1957, Cline married Charlie Dick and he was soon sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on a military assignment. Cline also gave birth to her first daughter Julie. In hopes of restarting her career, Cline and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
1960–1961: New beginnings and car accident
Cline's professional decisions yielded more positive results by the early 1960s. Upon moving to Nashville, she signed a management deal with Randy Hughes. She originally wished to work with Hubert Long, however, he was busy managing other artists. Instead, she turned her attention to Hughes. With the help of Hughes, she began working steadier jobs. He organized fifty dollar bookings and got her multiple performances on the Grand Ole Opry. In January 1960, Cline officially became a member of the Opry. When she asked general manager Ott Devine about a membership he replied, "Patsy, if that's all you want, you're on the Opry." Also in January 1960, Cline made her final recording sessions set forth in her contract with Four Star Records. Later that year, her final singles with the label were released: "Lovesick Blues" and "Crazy Dreams". Leaving Four Star, Cline officially signed with Decca Records in late 1960, working exclusively under Bradley's direction. Insisting on receiving an advance, she received $1,000 from Bradley once she began at the label.
Her first release under Decca was 1961's "I Fall to Pieces". The song was written by newly established Nashville songwriters Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. "I Fall to Pieces" had first been turned down by Roy Drusky and Brenda Lee before Cline cut it in November 1960. At the recording session, she worried about the song's production, particularly the background vocals performed by The Jordanaires. After much arguing between both Cline and Bradley, they negotiated that she would record "I Fall to Pieces" (a song Bradley favored) and "Lovin' in Vain" (a song she favored). Released as a single in January 1961, "I Fall to Pieces" attracted little attention upon its initial issue. In April, the song debuted on the Hot Country and Western Sides chart. By August 7, the song became her first to top the country chart. Additionally, "I Fall to Pieces" crossed over onto the Billboard Pop chart, peaking at number 12.
On June 14, 1961, Cline and her brother Sam Hensley, Jr. were involved in an automobile accident. Cline had brought her mother, sister and brother to see her new Nashville home the day before. On the day of the accident, Cline and her brother went shopping to buy material for her mother to make clothing. Upon driving home, their car was struck head-on by another vehicle. The impact threw her directly into the car windshield, causing extensive facial injuries. Among her injuries, Cline suffered a broken wrist, dislocated hip and a large cut across her forehead, barely missing her eyes. Friend Dottie West heard about the accident via the radio and rushed to the scene, helping to remove pieces of broken glass from Cline's hair. When first responders arrived, Cline insisted the driver in the other vehicle be treated first. Two of the three passengers riding in the car that struck Cline died after arriving at the hospital. When she was brought to the hospital, her injuries were life-threatening and she was not expected to live. She underwent surgery and survived. According to her husband Charlie Dick, upon waking up she said to him, "Jesus was here, Charlie. Don't worry. He took my hand and told me, 'No, not now. I have other things for you to do.'" She spent a month recovering in the hospital.
1961–1963: Career peak
Cline returned to her career six weeks after her 1961 car accident. Her first public appearance was on the Grand Ole Opry where she assured fans she would continue performing. She said to the audience that night, "You're wonderful. I'll tell you one thing: the greatest gift, I think, that you folks coulda given me was the encouragement that you gave me. Right at the very time I needed you the most, you came through with the flying-est colors. And I just want to say you'll just never know how happy you made this ol' country gal." Cline's follow-up single to "I Fall to Pieces" was the song "Crazy". It was written by Willie Nelson, whose version of the song was first heard by Dick. When Dick brought the song to Cline she did not like it. When Dick encouraged her to record "Crazy", Cline replied, "I don't care what you say. I don't like it and I ain't gonna record it. And that's that." Bradley liked the song and set the date for its recording for August 17. When Cline got to Bradley's studio, he convinced her to record it. She listened to Nelson's version of "Crazy" and decided she was going to perform it differently. Nelson's version included a spoken section that Cline removed. She cut additional material on August 17 and when she got to "Crazy", it became difficult to perform. Because Cline was still recovering from the accident, performing the song's high notes caused rib pain. Giving her time to rest, Bradley sent her home while musicians laid down the track without her. A week later she returned and recorded her vocal in a single take.
"Crazy" was released as a single in October 1961, debuting on the Billboard country charts in November. It would peak at number 2 there and number 9 on the same publication's pop charts. "Crazy" would also become Cline's biggest pop hit. "Crazy" has since been called a country music standard. Cline's vocal performance and the song's production have received positive praise over time. Cub Koda of AllMusic noted the "ache" in her voice that makes the song stand out: "Cline's reading of the lyric is filled with an aching world weariness that transforms the tune into one of the first big crossover hits without even trying hard." Country music historian Paul Kingsbury also highlighted her "ache", saying in 2007, "Cline's hit recording swings with such velvety finesse, and her voice throbs and aches so exquisitely, that the entire production sounds absolutely effortless." Jhoni Jackon of Paste Magazine called the recording "iconic", highlighting the "pain" Cline had in her vocal technique. Her second studio album Patsy Cline Showcase was released in late 1961. The album featured both major hits from that year and re-recorded versions of "Walkin' After Midnight" and "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)".
"Crazy" and Cline's further Decca recordings have received critical praise. Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann noted "Her thrilling voice invariably invested these with new depth. Patsy's dramatic volume control, stretched-note effects, sobs, pauses and unique ways of holding back, then bursting into full-throated phrases also breathed new life into country chestnuts like "San Antonio Rose", "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Half as Much". Richie Unterberger of AllMusic commented that her voice "sounded richer, more confident, and more mature, with ageless wise and vulnerable qualities that have enabled her records to maintain their appeal with subsequent generations." Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide reported that Owen Bradley recognized potential in Cline's and once he gained studio control, he smoothed arrangements and "refine her voice into an instrument of torch-singing glory."
In November 1961, she was invited to perform as part of the Grand Ole Opry's show at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She was joined by Opry stars Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Jim Reeves, Bill Monroe, Marty Robbins, and Faron Young. Despite positive reviews, New York Journal-American columnist Dorothy Kilgallen commented, "everybody should get out of town because the hillbillies are coming!" The comment upset Cline and did not affect ticket sales. The Opry performance would later be sold out. By the end of year, Cline had won several major industry awards including "Favorite Female Vocalist" from Billboard Magazine and Cashbox Magazines "Most Programmed Female Artist". Also in 1961, Cline was back in the studio to record an upcoming album. Among the first songs she recorded was "She's Got You". Written by Hank Cochran, he pitched the song to Cline over the phone. Insisting to hear it in-person, Cochran brought the recording over to her house, along with a bottle of alcohol. Upon listening to it again, she liked the song and wanted to record it. Owen Bradley also liked the song and it was officially recorded on December 17, 1961. "She's Got You" became her third country-pop crossover hit by early 1962. "She's Got You" would also be her second number 1 hit on the Billboard country chart. It was also Cline's first entry in the United Kingdom singles chart, reaching number 43. The cover by Alma Cogan, one of Britain's most popular female artists of the 1950s, performed notably as well.
In 1962, Cline had three major hits with "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Imagine That". Cline's career successes helped her become financially stable enough to purchase her first home. She bought a ranch house located Goodlettsville, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The home was decorated by Cline and included a music room, several bedrooms and a large backyard. According to Dottie West, "the house was her mansion, the sign she'd arrived." Cline called it her "dream home" and often had friends over to visit. After her death, the house was sold to country artist Wilma Burgess. In the summer of 1962, manager Randy Hughes got her a role in a country music vehicle film. It also starred Dottie West, Webb Pierce and Sonny James. After arriving to film in DeLand, Florida, the producer had "ran off with the money", according to West. The movie was never made. In August, her third studio album Sentimentally Yours was released. It featured "She's Got You" as well as several country and pop standards. According to biographer Ellis Nassour, her royalties "were coming in slim" and she needed "financial security". Therefore, Randy Hughes arranged Cline to work at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada for 35 days. Cline would later dislike the experience. During the engagement, she developed a dry throat. She also was homesick and wanted to spend time with her children. By appearing at the engagement, Cline became the first female country artist to headline her own show in Las Vegas.
During this period Cline was said to have experienced premonitions of her own death. Dottie West, June Carter Cash, and Loretta Lynn recalled Cline telling them she felt a sense of impending doom and did not expect to live much longer. In letters, she would also describe the happiness of her new career successes. In January 1963, her next single "Leavin' on Your Mind" was released and debuted on the Billboard country chart soon after. In February, she recorded her final sessions for Decca Records. Among the songs recorded were "Sweet Dreams", "He Called Me Baby", and "Faded Love". Cline arranged for friends Jan Howard and Dottie West to come and hear the session playbacks. According to Howard, "I was in awe of Patsy. You know, afterward you're supposed to say something nice. I couldn't talk. I was dumbfounded."
Personal life
Friendships
Cline had close friendships with several country artists and performers. Her friendship with Loretta Lynn has been the subject of numerous books, songs, films and other projects. The pair first met when Lynn performed "I Fall to Pieces" on the radio shortly after Cline's 1961 car accident. Cline heard the broadcast and sent her husband to pick up Lynn so they could meet. According to Lynn, the pair became close friends "right away". Lynn later described their friendship in detail, "She taught me a lot about show business, like how to go on a stage and how to get off. She even bought me a lot of clothes...She even bought me curtains and drapes for my house because I was too broke to buy them...She was a great human being and a great friend." Lynn also noted they became so close that Cline even gave her underwear. Lynn still has the underwear in storage, saying it was "well-made".
Dottie West was another female country artist with whom Cline became friends. They first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. West wrote Cline a fan letter after hearing her first hit "Walkin' After Midnight". According to West, Cline "showed a genuine interest in her career" and they became close friends. The pair often spent time at their homes and worked on packaged tour dates together. West also stated Cline was a supportive friend who helped out in times of need.
Jan Howard was a third female artist with whom Cline had a close friendship. The pair first met when Cline tried starting an argument with Howard backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. She said to Howard, "You're a conceited little son of a bitch! You just go out there, do your spot, and leave without saying hello to anyone." Howard was upset and replied angrily back. Cline then laughed and said, "Slow down! Hoss, you're all right. Anybody that'll stand there and talk back to the Cline like that is all right...I can tell we're gonna be good friends!" The pair remained close for the remainder of Cline's life. Other friendships Cline had with female artists included Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and pianist Del Wood. She also became friends with male country artists including Roger Miller, who helped Cline find material to record. Faron Young was another male artist whom Cline befriended from working on tour together. While on tour, the pair would spend time together, including a trip to Hawaii where the pair saw a hula show.
Family
Cline's mother Hilda Hensley continued living in Winchester, Virginia following her daughter's death. She rented out the family's childhood home on South Kent Street and lived across the street. Following Cline's death, Hensley briefly spent time raising her two grandchildren in Virginia. Hensley maintained a closet full of her daughter's stage costumes, including a sequined dress Cline wore while performing in Las Vegas in 1962. She worked as a seamstress and made many of her daughter's stage costumes. Hensley died from natural causes in 1998. Cline's father Samuel Hensley died of lung cancer in 1956. Hensley had previously deserted the family in 1947 and shortly before his death, Cline and her mother visited him at a hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. After discovering his current state, Cline said to her mother, "Mama, I know what-all he did, but it seems he's real sick and may not make it. In spite of everything, I want to visit him." Both of Cline's surviving siblings fought in court over their mother's estate. Because of legal fees, many of Cline's possessions were sold at auction.
Cline had two surviving children at the time of her death: Julie Simadore (born 1958) and Allen Randolph "Randy" (born 1961). Julie has been a significant factor in keeping her mother's legacy alive. She has appeared at numerous public appearances in support of her mother's music and career. Following the death of her father in 2015, she helped open a museum dedicated to Cline in Nashville, Tennessee. Julie has few memories of her mother due to Cline's death while she was young. In an interview with People Magazine, Julie discussed her mother's legacy, "I do understand her position in history, and the history of Nashville and country music...I'm still kind of amazed at it myself, because there's 'Mom' and then there's 'Patsy Cline,' and I'm actually a fan."
The present day American female blues, swing, and rock and roll singer, songwriter and record producer, Casey Hensley, is a distant relation of Cline's.
Marriages
Cline was married twice. Her first marriage was to Gerald Cline, on March 7, 1953. His family had owned a contracting and excavating company in Frederick, Maryland. According to Cline's brother Sam, he liked "flashy cars and women." The two met while she was performing with Bill Peer at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland. According to Gerald Cline, "It might not have been love at first sight when Patsy saw me, but it was for me." Gerald Cline often took her to "one-nighters" and other concerts she performed in. Although he enjoyed her performances, he could not get used to her touring and road schedule. Patsy had told a friend during their marriage that she didn't think she "knew what love was" upon marrying Gerald. The pair began living separately by the end of 1956 and divorced in 1957.
Cline married her second husband Charlie Dick on September 15, 1957. The pair met in 1956 while Cline was performing with a local Virginia band. At the time, Dick was a linotype operator for local newspaper, The Winchester Star. According to Dick, he had asked Cline to dance and she replied, "I can't dance while I'm working, okay?" They eventually started spending time together and Cline began telling close friends about their relationship. Cline told Grand Ole Opry pianist Del Wood in 1956, "Hoss, I got some news. I met a boy my own age who's a hurricane in pants! Del, I'm in love, and this time, it's for real." The pair had children Julie and Randy together. Their relationship was considered both romantic and tempestuous. According to Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack, Cline and Dick's marriage was "fueled by alcohol, argument, passion, jealousy, success, tears and laughter." According to biographer Ellis Nassour, the pair fought often but remained together. They had gained a reputation as "heavy drinkers", but according to Dick himself, they were not "drunks". During one particular fight, Cline had Dick arrested after they became physical with one another. Following Cline's death in 1963, Dick married country artist Jamey Ryan in 1965. The pair divorced in the early 1970s after having one child together. Dick helped with keeping Cline's legacy alive for the remainder of his own life. He assisted in producing several documentaries about Cline's career including Remembering Patsy and The Real Patsy Cline. He became involved with Hallway Productions in the 1990s and helped produce videos on other artists including Willie Nelson and The Mamas and the Papas. Dick died in 2015.
Death
On March 3, 1963, Cline performed a benefit at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call; he had died in an automobile crash a little over a month earlier. Also performing in the show were George Jones, George Riddle and The Jones Boys, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, George McCormick, the Clinch Mountain Boys as well as Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Despite having a cold, Cline gave three performances: 2:00, 5:15 and 8:15 pm. All the shows were standing-room only. For the 2 p.m. show, she wore a sky-blue tulle-laden dress; for the 5:15 show a red shocker; and for the closing show at 8 p.m., Cline wore white chiffon. Her final song was the last she had recorded the previous month, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone".
Cline, who had spent the night at the Town House Motor Hotel, was unable to fly out the day after the concert because Fairfax Airport was fogged in. West asked Patsy to ride in the car with her and husband, Bill, back to Nashville, a 16-hour drive, but Cline refused, saying, "Don't worry about me, Hoss. When it's my time to go, it's my time." On March 5, she called her mother from the motel and checked out at 12:30 p.m., going the short distance to the airport and boarding a Piper PA-24 Comanche plane, aircraft registration number N7000P. On board were Cline, Copas, Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes.
The plane stopped once in Rogers, Arkansas to refuel and subsequently landed at Dyersburg Municipal Airport in Dyersburg, Tennessee at 5 p.m. Hawkins had accepted Billy Walker's place after Walker left on a commercial flight to take care of a stricken family member. The Dyersburg, Tennessee, airfield manager suggested that they stay the night because of high winds and inclement weather, offering them free rooms and meals. But Hughes, who was not trained in instrument flying, said "I've already come this far. We'll be there before you know it." The plane took off at 6:07 p.m.
Cline's flight crashed in heavy weather on the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 1963. Her recovered wristwatch had stopped at 6:20 p.m. The plane was found some from its Nashville destination, in a forest outside of Camden, Tennessee. Forensic examination concluded that everyone aboard had been killed instantly. Until the wreckage was discovered the following dawn and reported on the radio, friends and family had not given up hope. Endless calls tied up the local telephone exchanges to such a degree that other emergency calls had trouble getting through. The lights at the destination Cornelia Fort Airpark were kept on throughout the night, as reports of the missing plane were broadcast on radio and TV.
Early in the morning, Roger Miller and a friend went searching for survivors: "As fast as I could, I ran through the woods screaming their names—through the brush and the trees—and I came up over this little rise, oh, my God, there they were. It was ghastly. The plane had crashed nose down." Shortly after the bodies were removed, looters scavenged the area. Some of the items which were recovered were eventually donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Among them were Cline's wristwatch, a Confederate flag cigarette lighter, studded belt and three pairs of gold lamé slippers. Cline's fee in cash from the last performance was never recovered. Per her wishes, Cline's body was brought home for her memorial service, which thousands attended. People jammed against the small tent over her gold casket and the grave to take all the flowers they could reach as keepsakes. She was buried at Shenandoah Memorial Park in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia. Her grave is marked with a bronze plaque, which reads: "Virginia H. Dick ('Patsy Cline' is noted under her name) 'Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love'." A memorial marks the exact place off Mt Carmel Road in Camden, Tennessee, where the plane crashed in the still-remote forest.
Posthumous releases
Music
Since Cline's death, Decca Records (later bought by MCA) has re-released her music which has made her commercially successful posthumously. The Patsy Cline Story was the first compilation album the label released following her death. It included the songs "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" and "Faded Love". Both tracks were released as singles in 1963. "Sweet Dreams" would reach number 5 on the Billboard country charts and 44 on the Hot 100. "Faded Love" would also become a top 10 hit on the Billboard country chart, peaking at number 7 in October 1963. In 1967, Decca released the compilation Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits. The album would not only peak at number 17 on the Billboard country chart, but also certified diamond in sales from the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2005, the Guinness World Book of Records included Greatest Hits for being the longest album on any record chart by any female artist.
Cline's music continued making the charts into the 1980s. Her version of "Always" made the Billboard country chart in 1980. An album of the same was also released in 1980 that peaked within the top 30 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Two overdubbed duets between Cline and Jim Reeves became major hits during this time as well. Following the release of the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), there was renewed interest in Cline's career. Therefore, MCA Records reissued much of Cline's earlier studio and compilation releases. Her 1967 greatest hits album for example was repackaged in 1988 and labeled 12 Greatest Hits. The record reached number 27 on the Top Country Albums list in 1990. The soundtrack for Cline's own film biopic was released concurrently with the movie in 1985. The soundtrack would peak at number 6 on the Billboard country albums chart upon its release.
In 1991, MCA records issued her first box set entitled The Patsy Cline Collection. The album chronicled all of Cline's recorded material for Four Star and Decca Records. The boxed set received positive reviews, notably by Thom Jurek of Allmusic who rated it five out of five stars. Jurek commented, If an artist ever deserved a box set chronicling her entire career, it is Patsy Cline. Having recorded 102 sides between 1955 and her death at the age of 30 in 1963, Cline changed not only country music forever, but affected the world of pop as well. Over four CDs, arranged chronologically, the listener gets treated to a story in the development and maturation of a cultural icon who was at least, in terms of her gift, the equal of her legend. Rolling Stone listed the box set among their "50 Greatest Albums of All-Time". Writer Rob Sheffield called Cline "a badass cowgirl drama queen belts some of the torchiest, weepiest country songs ever, hitting high notes that make you sob into your margarita." The Patsy Cline Collection would reach number 29 on the Billboard country albums chart in January 1992. In 1997, MCA released Live at the Cimarron Ballroom, a rare recording that had recently resurfaced. Jeweler Bill Frazee had originally purchased a tape in 1975 which he discovered included Cline's live recording. The live performance on the record took place in July 1961, following Cline's car accident. She appeared at the Cimarron Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma to give a one-night performance. Included on the record was unreleased live performances and dialog with the audience. The album peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard country albums chart. Cline's former MCA label continues releasing material to this day. Cline is listed among the Recording Industry of America's "Best Selling Artists" with a total of over 14 million records sold to date.
Film and television
Cline has been portrayed on film and television several times since the 1980s. The Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) renewed interest in her life and career. Cline and Lynn's friendship was portrayed in the 1980 film. Actress Beverly D'Angelo played Cline in the movie and did her own singing of Cline's original material. D'Angelo earned a Golden Globe award nomination for her role. In an interview D'Angelo did for a 2017 PBS documentary, playing the role of Patsy Cline "had a profound impact" on her life and career.
In 1985, a feature film about Cline's life was released entitled Sweet Dreams. The film starred Jessica Lange as Cline and Ed Harris as husband Charlie Dick. Originally, Meryl Streep auditioned for Cline's role but ultimately lost to Lange. The film was produced by Bernard Schwartz, who also produced Coal Miner's Daughter. Original ideas called for scenes between Cline and Lynn, however they were ultimately removed from the final script. The film has been criticized for its lack of accuracy to Cline's own life and its musical production. Kurt Wolff wrote, "the soundtrack, however, featured overdubbed versions of Cline's material – better to stick with the originals." Mark Deming of Allmovie only gave the release two out of five stars. Deming commented, "While it's a wise approach to show how her turbulent marriage paralleled her crossover to Countrypolitan ballads, the melodrama tends to overshadow the celebrity story by relegating her rise to stardom to the background. Due to the historically dubious concerts at carnivals and fairgrounds, it appears as though she wasn't as big a star as she actually was." Deming did praise Lange's performance saying she created a "cheerful and spirited" depiction of Cline. Roger Ebert gave it two stars in his original 1985 review. Ebert said, "There isn't the sense of a well-shaped structure in this movie; there's no clear idea of what the filmmakers thought about Patsy Cline, or what thoughts her life is supposed to inspire." Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Cline.
Cline was also portrayed in television films. In 1995, a film about the life and career of Cline's friend Dottie West debuted on CBS titled, Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. It included several scenes that showcased West's friendship with Cline. Actress Tere Myers played her in the television movie. Deborah Wilker of the Sun-Sentinel called her performance "terrific" and authentic.
Lifetime aired an original television film Patsy & Loretta in October 2019 on the network. It chronicles Cline's friendship with Loretta Lynn. Cline is portrayed by Megan Hilty and Lynn by Jessie Mueller. The film is directed by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri. The trailer for the movie was released in July 2019. Patsy & Loretta was filmed on location in Nashville, Tennessee and is co-produced by Lynn's daughter and Cline's daughter, Julie Fudge.
There have been several documentaries made about Cline's life and career. The first was a 1989 documentary entitled The Real Patsy Cline which featured interviews with friends and fellow artists. This included Carl Perkins and Willie Nelson. Another documentary was filmed in 1994 entitled Remembering Patsy. The show was hosted by country artist Michelle Wright, who read letters Cline wrote to friends and family. It included interviews with several artists such as Roy Clark, George Jones and Trisha Yearwood. Both documentaries were produced by Cline's widower Charlie Dick. In March 2017, PBS released a documentary on Cline as part of their American Masters series. The film was narrated by Rosanne Cash and featured interviews with fans of Cline. These interviews included Beverly D'Angelo and Reba McEntire. It also included rare performances of songs such as "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Walkin' After Midnight".
Plays and musicals
Cline's life and career has also been re-created in the theater sector. In 1988, the show Always...Patsy Cline premiered. The show was created by Ted Swindley who derived it from a friendship Cline had with Texas resident Louise Seger. The pair met while Cline was performing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, Texas. Seger brought Cline home following the show and they spent the night together. The pair would remain in contact through letters before Cline's death. Much of the script relied from letters exchanged between the two during the course of several years. Seger acts as the show's narrator and revisits memories she shared with Cline through their letter exchanges. Among the show's original performers was Mandy Barnett, who debuted the show at the Ryman Auditorium in 1994. Barnett would go on to have a music and performing career. A second musical was later released in 1991 titled A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. The show was written by Dean Regan and has been called a "musical retelling" of Cline's career.
Artistry
Influences
Cline was influenced by various music artists. Among her earliest influences were pop singers of the 1940s and 1950s. These included Kay Starr, Helen Morgan, Patti Page, and Kate Smith. Patti Page recollected that Cline's husband said to her, "I just wish Patsy could have met you because she just adored you and listened to you all the time and wanted to be like you." Among her primary influences was Kay Starr, of whom Cline was a "fervent devotee" according to The Washington Post. Jack Hurst of the Chicago Tribune remarked that "Her rich, powerful voice, obviously influenced by that of pop's Kay Starr, has continued and perhaps even grown in popularity over the decades." Cline was also attracted to country music radio programs, notably the Grand Ole Opry. According to Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann, Cline became "obsessed" with the program at a young age. Cline's mother Hilda Hensley commented on her daughter's admiration, "I know she never wanted anything so badly as to be a star on the Grand Ole Opry..." Among performers from the program she admired was Patsy Montana. Cline was also influenced by other types of performers including early rockabilly artist Charline Arthur.
Voice and style
Cline possessed a contralto voice. Time magazine writer Richard Corliss called her voice "bold". Her voice has also been praised for its display of emotion. Kurt Wolff called it one of the most "emotionally expressive voices in modern country music". Tony Gabrielle of the Daily Press wrote that Cline had "a voice of tremendous emotional power." Cline was at times taken by her own emotion. Husband Charlie Dick recounted that Cline's producer Owen Bradley told him to leave a recording session because she was very emotional and he didn't want to disturb the mood. Cline was once quoted in describing the emotion she felt, saying, "Oh Lord, I sing just like I hurt inside."
During her early career, Cline recorded in styles such as gospel, rockabilly, and honky-tonk. These styles she cut for Four Star Records have been considered below the quality of her later work for Decca Records. Steve Leggett of Allmusic commented, Her recordings prior to 1960, though, were something else again, and with the exception of 1956's "Walkin' After Midnight" and perhaps one or two other songs, she seemed reined in and stifled as a singer, even though she was working with the same producer, Owen Bradley, who was to produce her 1960s successes. Oh the difference a song makes, because in the end the material she recorded between 1955 and 1960 – all of which is collected on these two discs – was simply too weak for Cline to turn into anything resembling gold, even with her obvious vocal skills.
Cline's style has been largely associated with the Nashville Sound, a sub-genre of country music that linked traditional lyrics with orchestrated pop music styles. This new sound helped many of her singles to crossover onto the Billboard Hot 100 and gain a larger audience that did not always hear country music. Her producer Owen Bradley built this sound onto her Decca recordings, sensing a potential in her voice that went beyond traditional country music. At first, she resisted the pop-sounding style, but was ultimately convinced to record in this new style. Stephen M. Desuner of Pitchfork explained that Cline has been an identifiable factor with the Nashville Sound: "She essentially rewrote their songs simply by singing them, elevating their words and wringing every one of their rhymes for maximum dramatic potential." Mark Deming of Allmusic commented, "Cline and Bradley didn't invent "countrypolitan," but precious few artists managed to meld the sophistication of pop and the emotional honesty of country as brilliantly as this music accomplishes with seemingly effortless grace, and these songs still sound fresh and brilliantly crafted decades after the fact."
Image
Cline's public image changed during the course of her career. She began her career wearing cowgirl dresses and hats designed by her mother. However, as her music crossed over into pop, she began wearing sequined gowns and cocktail dresses. While she would often wear cowgirl costumes for live performances, she would also wear evening dresses for television and metropolitan performances. For her 1957 performance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, the show's producer insisted that Cline wear an evening dress instead of the fringed cowgirl attire she had intended to wear. Her 1962 engagement at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas represented this particular image shift. For one of her performances, Cline wore a sequined cocktail dress designed by her mother.
Cline has also been seen as a pioneer for women in country music. She has been cited as an inspiration by many performers in diverse styles of music. Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide said that Cline had an "aggression" and "boisterous attitude" that gained her the respect of her male counterparts. Wolff explained, "She swaggered her way past stereotypes and other forces of resistance, showing the men in charge – and the public in general – that women were more than capable of singing about such hard subjects as divorce and drinking as well as love and understanding. Sean O'Hagan of The Guardian commented that along with Minnie Pearl, Jean Shepard and Kitty Wells, Cline helped prove that country music was not "macho" and that "strong women" could have a "strong voice". In 2013, The Washington Post wrote, "she was what I call a pre-feminist woman. She didn't open doors; she kicked them down." Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann wrote in 2003 that Cline "transformed what it meant to be a female country star".
Legacy
Cline has been cited in both country and pop music as of one of the greatest vocalists of all-time. Her voice has also been called "haunting", "powerful", and "emotional". Cline's emotional expression and delivery of lyrics helped influence various musical genres and artists. With the support of producer Owen Bradley, Cline has been said to "help define" the Nashville Sound style of country music. While the subgenre has received mixed opinions, it has also been said to be a significant part of country music's "authenticity", with Cline being the center focal point of the subgenre. Other artists have noted her impact, including LeAnn Rimes who stated, "I remember my dad telling me to listen to the way she told a story... I remember feeling more emotion when she sang than anyone else I had ever heard." Lucinda Williams commented on Cline's vocal talent in helping define her legacy, stating, "Even though her style is considered country, her delivery is more like a classic pop singer... That's what set her apart from Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette. You'd almost think she was classically trained."
Cline has been a major influence on various music artists including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, k.d. lang, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, Dottie West, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Cyndi Lauper, Trixie Mattel and Brandi Carlile. Dottie West (also a close friend of Cline's) spoke about her influence on her own career, "I think I was most influenced by Patsy Cline, she said things for people. There was so much feeling in there. In fact, she told me, 'Hoss, if you can't do it with feeling, don't'". In 2019, Sara Evans discussed how Cline has been an influence since she was a young girl, "I learned everything I could learn about her. I tried to mimic her singing to the ‘t’. We grew up singing in bars — my brothers, sisters and I — from the time I was really little. So I started covering every Patsy Cline song. Then when I first got my record deal I came to Winchester to visit a radio station to try to get them to play my song Three Chords and the Truth."
In 1973, Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. With the induction, she became the first solo female artist to be included. In 1977, Cline's friend and mentee Loretta Lynn released a tribute album entitled I Remember Patsy. The record contained covers of Cline's songs, including "Back in Baby's Arms" and "Crazy". The album's lead single was "She's Got You", which would reach the number 1 spot on the Billboard country chart in 1977. In 1995, Cline received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her legacy and career. Additionally, her hits "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy" received inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Cline was included on United States postal stamps as part of their "Legends" series. Other country artists that were included on stamp series were The Carter Family, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills. The stamps were dedicated in an official ceremony at the Grand Ole Opry by Postmaster General Marvin Runyon. In August 1999, Cline received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony was attended by her widower Charlie Dick and daughter Julie Fudge. During the 1990s, two of her songs were voted among the "Greatest Juke Box Hits of All-Time". "Crazy" was voted as the number 1 greatest, along with "I Fall to Pieces" ranking at number 17.
Since the late 1990s, she received additional rankings and honors. In 1999, Cline was ranked at number 11 among VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll". In 2003, she was included by Country Music Television on their list of the "40 Greatest Women of Country Music". In 2010, Cline ranked at number 46 on Rolling Stones list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All-Time". The magazine would rank her on their 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Country Artists of All-Time", where she placed at number 12.
Forty years after her death, MCA Nashville released a tribute album entitled Remembering Patsy Cline (2003). A television special also followed around the same time. The album consisted of cover versions of songs taken from Cline's 1967 greatest hits album. It included songs covered by country artists such as Terri Clark and Martina McBride. It also featured artists from other genres such as Michelle Branch, Diana Krall and Patti Griffin.
Cline's hometown of Winchester, Virginia has helped honor her legacy and career. In 1987, the local government approved the placing of markers within the town denoting it as the birthplace of Cline. The same year, a bell tower was erected in her burial location at Shenandoah Memorial Park. The bell tower cost thirty five thousand dollars and was partially funded by Cline's friends Jan Howard and Loretta Lynn. In 2005, Cline's childhood home was given an official on-site marker and included on the National Register of Historic Places. With the development of an organization entitled Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., renovations began on Cline's childhood home. In August 2011, the Patsy Cline House officially opened as a historic home for tours. In almost three months, about three thousand people visited the home. The home was restored to the era in which Cline lived in it during the 1950s with her mother and siblings. Replicas of furniture and stage clothes are also included. Daughter Julie Fudge spoke of the house in 2011, stating, “I think when you go into the house, you will kind of feel like this is a snapshot of what it would have been like to visit when Mom lived there.”
In 2017, the Patsy Cline Museum opened in Nashville, Tennessee, located at 119 3rd Ave. S., on the second floor in the same building as the Johnny Cash Museum. The museum includes Cline's actual stage costumes, as well as her original scrapbook and record albums. The Patsy Cline Museum features other artifacts, such as the soda fountain machine from Gaunt's Drug Store, where Cline worked as a teenager. Original letters that Cline wrote to friends are also included as part of the museum.
Discography
Studio albums
1957: Patsy Cline
1961: Patsy Cline Showcase
1962: Sentimentally Yours
Posthumous studio albums
1964: A Portrait of Patsy Cline
1964: That's How a Heartache Begins
1980: Always
References
Footnotes
Books
Further reading
Bego, Mark. I Fall to Pieces: The Music and the Life of Patsy Cline. Adams Media Corporation.
Hazen, Cindy and Mike Freeman. Love Always, Patsy. The Berkley Publishing Group.
Jones, Margaret (1998). "Patsy Cline". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–9.
Gomery, Douglas Patsy Cline: The Making of an Icon. Trafford Publishing.
External links
Celebrating Patsy Cline an official organization sponsoring several projects
Patsy Cline Home and Museum located in Winchester, Virginia
Patsy Cline recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
The Patsy Cline Plane Crash
1932 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century women composers
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American contraltos
American country singer-songwriters
American women composers
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women singer-songwriters
American rockabilly musicians
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Country musicians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Virginia
Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
Deaths in Tennessee
Decca Records artists
Four Star Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Grand Ole Opry members
People from Goodlettsville, Tennessee
People from Winchester, Virginia
Rock and roll musicians
Singer-songwriters from Virginia
Torch singers
Traditional pop music singers
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee | false | [
"Patsy Stone is one of the two main characters from the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, portrayed by actress Joanna Lumley.\n\nBackground\nPatsy was the last of a string of children born to an aging Czech mother in Paris, who gave birth \"like a sprinkler, scattering bastard babies all over Europe.\"\n\nIn a flashback showing Patsy's birth, after telling an attendant to cut the cord, Patsy's mother exclaims that she names the child Eurydice Colette Clytemnestra Dido Bathsheba Rabelais Patricia Cocteau Stone.\n\nThe only sibling seen in the series is her older sister Jackie (Kate O'Mara), a former high-class escort whom Patsy worships, despite the fact that Jackie treats her horribly and twice tried to murder her through heroin overdose.\n\nPatsy and Edina Monsoon were childhood friends, and since her mother despised and neglected her—regarding her more as a rival than a daughter—she came to rely on the Monsoons for most of her shelter, comfort, and food (though she has only been seen eating twice since 1973).\n\nShe mentioned that her mother would have had an abortion, but she mistook her pregnancy for the onset of the menopause. The first few years of her life were spent locked in a room, and the rest of her childhood was dismal by Patsy's own description, without friends, parties, or presents. Although her mother eventually sent her to school, by the time she did, Patsy was much older than all the other students.\n\nAlthough Patsy claims to have been an it girl and in-demand model in 1960s Swinging London, flashbacks reveal she was completely unsuccessful, only obtaining work through latching on to high-profile designers and models and manipulating them into feeling sorry for her. Flashbacks to the 1960s reveal Patsy wreaking havoc on the respective sets of Zandra Rhodes' and Annagret Tree's photo shoots.\n\nShe dubs herself an \"ex-Bond girl\", but the films she starred in were actually Bond-inspired sexploitation films titled Bond Meets Black Emanuelle, Boldfinger and The Man with Thunder Balls. In \"Schmoozin'\", a group of partygoers are treated to a viewing of Patsy's 1970s softcore pornographic film Booberella.\n\nPatsy claims to have slept with every member of the Rolling Stones, stating that \"...you didn't have a favourite Stone, you had 'em all.\" She also claims to have slept with Keith Moon (\"Well sort of. I woke up underneath him in a hotel room once.\"), and one of the Beatles, although she cannot remember which one.\n\nOn various occasions throughout the series, it is alluded to that Patsy was once transgender, having undergone a sex-change operation in Morocco in the 1960s. Edina states that this only lasted a few months, \"before it fell off\", and Elton John recognises her as someone he slept with when she was a man.\n\nIn the series\n\nFriendship with Edina\nPatsy shares a codependent existence with Edina and often acts as her enabler, encouraging her to partake in addictive behaviours like smoking and drinking. The relationship usually results in hilarious, albeit dysfunctional, behaviour and over-the-top conflicts.\n\nThe two usually spend their days shopping at high-end department stores and boutiques (Harvey Nichols being their favourite), going to lunch at trendy restaurants, and avoiding their respective work places.\n\nPatsy is more parasitic in her dependence than Edina is, she spends most of her spare time at Edina's house, drinks Edina's booze, uses her chauffeur-driven car, and at various points lives with her, in either the attic, Saffron's bedroom, or the utility room. In \"Death\", Patsy attempts to convince Edina to leave her her multimillion-pound Holland Park house in the event of Edina's death.\n\nHer dependence on the friendship leads Patsy to sabotage any relationships which take Edina's attention away from her, which is the root cause of her near-constant animosity towards Saffron. Patsy is also quite critical of Edina, often making passive jabs at her weight and poor fashion choices.\n\nAppearance\nUnlike Edina, whose dress sense is dictated by fashion rather than what suits her, Patsy is usually seen sporting a more 'classic' style, generally consisting of a designer power suit and her trademark blonde beehive with a fringe, dubbed her 'crutch' by Fleur in the episode \"Donkey\". She has a particular fondness for couture Chanel jackets, which she wears to editorial meetings to intimidate her colleagues.\n\nPatsy was born on 30 October, although her actual age is never clearly divulged; she often states herself to be between 39 and 43. In series one, set in 1992, she is revealed to have been a classmate of Edina's at school; in the same series, Edina turns 40, which would theoretically make Patsy no older than 41 at that stage. However, later episodes reveal that her neglectful mother did not send her to school for many years, meaning she could have been classmates with Edina yet still some years her senior. She is so obsessed with projecting youth that she uses a false passport (obtained from \"Johnny Fingers\" on the Isle of Dogs) with a doctored picture from her modelling days. In \"Cold Turkey\", a nurse guesses that she is approximately 65 years old.\n\nIn the episode series 3 \"Happy New Year\", Patsy's older sister Jackie reveals that she is 72 years old, to which Patsy replies, \"My God, then how old does that make me?\", suggesting that Patsy has lied about her age so often that she can no longer remember her real age. Her vanity and obsession with youth leads her to use radical beauty treatments, including sulfuric acid peels, collagen lip injections, and the Botox-like filler Parralox, which freezes wrinkles but paralyses her face.\n\nAs the series progresses, Patsy betrays her age more and more, appearing to become more feeble beginning in the fourth series. In \"Menopause\", Patsy has to visit the hospital after fracturing her bones doing simple tasks, like snapping her fingers. The doctor diagnoses her with osteoporosis and declares that she has the lowest bone density on record. In \"Olympics\", she admits to using adult diapers for occasional incontinence. Her poor eyesight is evident, with Patsy often colliding with objects and having to scrutinize type and images very closely.\n\nPersonality\nPatsy usually seems quite cold and unemotive, especially in her behaviour toward her chief rival Saffron, but she sometimes reveals a more vulnerable side (in flashbacks to her bleak life with her mother, in her overeager admiration for the awful Jackie, and in those rare moments when Edina temporarily withdraws her friendship) and even occasionally asks Saffron for advice.\n\nShe is also prone to intense outbursts of anger, usually directed at Saffron, who constantly chastises her for her many vices and the malign influence she has on Edina. When faced with a situation that someone else might find alarming or disconcerting, Patsy often responds with a cool \"right, cheers, thanks a lot.\"\n\nPatsy is an alcoholic, a chain smoker, and a frequent recreational drug user. She carries drugs with her at all times, storing joints in her trademark beehive. She has nearly overdosed on several occasions, and on one occasion in the series has to have her stomach pumped after a rave-style drug binge in Edina's sitting room.\n\nIn \"France\", she is detained at customs after being found carrying what immigration officers believed to have been cocaine, only to be released when tests show she mistakenly bought baking powder. In \"Identity\", she is revealed to have stiffed her former dealer, Barron, of £50,000 worth of drugs, justifying her habit by saying, \"Have you seen the price of methadone? Cheaper to buy crack.\"\n\nHer drinks of choice are Bollinger champagne or Stolichnaya vodka, though she will drink whatever alcohol is around. She jokes that her blood-alcohol level is so high that \"the last mosquito that bit me had to check into the Betty Ford Clinic.\" In \"Birth\", she causes a fire in Edina's kitchen when she passes out with a lit cigarette. Her addiction to cigarettes is so strong that she carries nicotine patches in the event that she gets into a non-smoking cab, so that she can survive the journey.\n\nIn the beginning of the series, Patsy is very promiscuous and frank about her sexuality, seducing anyone she finds attractive. When the fourth series commences, Patsy's attractiveness to men has begun to wane, though she refuses to admit this and still throws herself at men.\n\nHer obsession for staying thin means that she rarely eats; she claims that she has not eaten anything since 1973, having had a \"stomach bypass\", according to Edina. There are only two instances where she does eat: in the episode \"New Year's Eve\", she painfully chews and swallows a potato crisp, then is visibly shaken from having actually eaten something; and in the Christmas special \"Cold Turkey\", she renders the entire assembly speechless by demurely asking for a small slice of turkey during Christmas lunch, but chokes it up upon eating it.\n\nCareer\nThroughout the first three series, Patsy is a fashion director at Ella, a magazine similar to Vogue, which she secured through sleeping with the publisher. Saffron derisively says that Patsy's job is to \"invent random adjectives for pointless clothing.\" Patsy rarely does any work or goes to the office (in \"Magazine\", she cannot remember where her office is located in the building and needs to ask directions).\n\nThe benefits she most enjoys are the many free products she is given and the 50% discount she receives at Harvey Nichols. She refers to herself as an \"international beauty and style guru\", boasting that she is so influential that \"one snap of my fingers and I can raise hemlines so high that the world is your gynaecologist.\"\n\nIn the series 3 episodes \"Fear\" and \"The End\", Patsy's magazine closes and she briefly moves to New York to take another fashion director job at HQ magazine. However, she is so lonely without Edina that she quickly returns to London. In part one of \"The Last Shout\", she is job-hunting, but ditches a job interview to go to the pub. In part two, her old boss Magda (Kathy Burke) gets her a job as fashion editor at another magazine, The A.\n\nIn the 2002 special \"Gay\", Patsy has taken a job as \"executive creative director, chief buyer and lifestyle coordinator\" for Jeremy's, an upscale boutique whose clientele consists of \"rich bitches whose faces are pulled so tight they can't see what they're buying\". She also briefly attempts to become a celebrity stylist, which ends after a disastrous encounter with Minnie Driver. In \"Birthin'\", she is due to receive a \"Global Style and Elegance\" Award for promoting the importance of accessories, but fails to make the award show when Saffron goes into labour. In the 20th anniversary specials and the feature film, Patsy is once again working for a fashion magazine, under the direction of her old boss Magda.\n\nPatsy's colleagues at her original magazine are features editor Catriona (Helen Lederer) and beauty editor Fleur (Harriet Thorpe), who tag along on her various career moves.\n\nSignificance\nFor her portrayal of Patsy Stone, Lumley was nominated four different times for the BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Performance, winning in 1995. She also won the BAFTA for Best Light Entertainment in 1993, and a British Comedy Award the same year for best actress.\n\nThe characters of Patsy and Edina Monsoon enjoy a significant following in the LGBT community and have long been favourite subjects for drag performances. Jennifer Saunders has described both Patsy and Edina as unconventional feminists, because \"[i]t's never been about them finding a relationship, or defining themselves by having to have a man. They live life entirely on their own terms as women, and to be honest, men don't really affect them much. I mean, occasionally they want sex, but who doesn't? They're not defined by normality. They create their own normality.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Patsy Stone at the BBC\n\nAbsolutely Fabulous\nBritish female characters in television\nBritish sitcom characters\nFictional alcohol abusers\nFictional cannabis users\nFictional cocaine users\nFictional criminals\nFictional drug addicts\nFictional female businesspeople\nFictional LSD users \nFictional models\nFictional people from London\nFictional smokers\nFictional socialites\nNarcissism in television\nTelevision characters introduced in 1992",
"Social Register is an American 1934 Pre-Code comedy-drama musical film starring Colleen Moore. The film re-united her with her old friend and one of the first directors to give her film career a start, Marshall Neilan. The film was based on the 1931 play of the same name by Anita Loos and John Emerson.\n\nPlot\nPatsy Shaw (Moore) upsets a stuffy party at the home of wealthy Mr. Henry Breene (John Miltern) by stealing a necktie to win the scavenger hunt at Robert Benchley's party across the street. Charlie Breene (Alexander Kirkland), Henry's spoiled son, comes to retrieve his tie and becomes infatuated with Patsy.\n\nThree months later, Charlie gives Patsy a valuable diamond bracelet, which she reluctantly accepts. Back at her apartment, Lester Trout (Ross Alexander), a saxophone player, convinces Patsy that he is ill and has lost his job. Patsy gives Lester the bracelet as a loan, against the advice of her friends, who are suspicious of him.\n\nCharlie's mother, Mrs. Henry Horace \"Maggie\" Breene (Pauline Frederick), fearful of her son's relationship with a plebeian, arranges a party hoping Patsy's lack of social graces will ruin Charlie's affection for her. Finding the party boring, Patsy goes to the bar, where after a few drinks, she begins to entertain the guests who are slowly wandering in to escape the dull affair. Maggie, relying on the family patriarch, Uncle Jefferson Breene (Charles Winninger), to end the romance, announces his arrival, but she is aghast when Patsy fondly hugs the old man whom she knows as \"Jonesie,\" the friend of one of her roommates. Maggie then asks family attorney Albert Wiggins (Garvie) to end the romance, no matter the cost. Wiggins pays Lester to tell Patsy that he is ill and in need of her help. Charlie is informed about what Patsy did with the bracelet and accuses her of being unfaithful. Lester convinces Patsy to marry him, but as soon as they wed, she finds Wiggins' check for $5000 and realizes the truth. Patsy tears the check up, just as Charlie arrives with Jonesie, who arranges their reconciliation. Having only been married to Lester for ten minutes, Charlie has Wiggins arrange Patsy's annulment.\n\nCast\n\nColleen Moore - Patsy Shaw\nCharles Winninger - \"Jonesie,\" also known as Uncle Jefferson Breene\nPauline Frederick - Mrs. Henry Horace \"Maggie\" Breene\nAlexander Kirkland - Charlie Breene\nRobert Benchley - Himself\nRoss Alexander - Lester Trout\nMargaret Livingston - Gloria\nOlive Olsen - Ruth\nJohn Miltern - Mr. Henry Breene\nEdward Garvie - Albert Wiggins\nFrey & Bragiotti - Piano duo\nGeorgette Harvey - Lulu\n\nSongs\n\"Honey Dear\" (music by Ford Dabney and Con Conrad, lyrics by Edward Heyman)\n\"I Didn't Want to Love You\" (music by Conrad, lyrics by Ned Washington)\n\"Why Not\" (music by Conrad, lyrics by Heyman)\n\nBackground\nAfter several years of semi-retirement from Hollywood, Moore returned to the film industry. The character she played in this film, while still working class (as they were in her other films for Neilan, like Dinty and Her Wild Oat) was more sophisticated and adult than the women she had played at the height of her fame in the late 1920s. Neilan was a heavy drinker and over the years his reputation as a director was eroded by his drinking and his disdain for authority. This was one of his last major films. Some scenes were filmed on location in New York City. A print of this film has long been held by the Library of Congress.\n\nNotes\n Synopsis, nytimes.com; accessed 24 March 2016.\n Colleen Moore, Silent Star, Doubleday, 1968.\nJeff Codori (2012), Colleen Moore; A Biography of the Silent Film Star, McFarland Publishing,(Print , EBook ).\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1934 films\n1930s romantic comedy-drama films\nAmerican films\nFilms directed by Marshall Neilan\nAmerican black-and-white films\nColumbia Pictures films\nFilms scored by Nathaniel Shilkret\nAmerican musical comedy-drama films\n1930s musical comedy-drama films\nAmerican romantic comedy-drama films\nAmerican romantic musical films\n1930s romantic musical films\n1934 comedy films\n1934 drama films\nAmerican films based on plays\n1930s English-language films"
] |
[
"Patsy Cline",
"Early years",
"What were patsy's early years like",
"The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16."
] | C_b40d68fe4a1946b280e019709405a608_1 | What school did she attend? | 2 | What school did Patsy Cline attend? | Patsy Cline | Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia, in the city's Memorial Hospital. She was the eldest child of seamstress Hilda Virginia (nee Patterson, 1916-1998) and blacksmith Samuel Lawrence Hensley (1889-1956). She had a brother Samuel Jr. (1939-2004) and a sister Sylvia. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16. Sam Hensley deserted his family in 1947, but the children's home was reportedly happy nonetheless. When Patsy was 13, she was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. She later said, "The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith." Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk at Gaunt's Drug Store and a waitress at the Triangle Diner. She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing on his show. Her performance in 1947 was well received and she was asked back. This led to appearances at local nightclubs wearing fringed Western outfits that her mother made from Patsy's designs. Cline performed in variety and talent shows in the Winchester and Tri-State areas, and she gained a large following through the shows and local radio appearances. Jimmy Dean was already a country star in 1954, and she became a regular with him on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Jamboree radio show on WAVA (AM) in Arlington County, Virginia. CANNOTANSWER | Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk | Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Cline's first professional performances began at the local WINC radio station when she was fifteen. In the early 1950s, Cline began appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. It also led to the signing of her first recording contract with the Four Star label in 1954. She had minor success with her earliest Four Star singles including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957 however, Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnight", the single would become her first major hit on both the country and pop charts.
Cline's further singles with Four Star Records were unsuccessful, although she continued performing and recording. After marrying in 1957 and giving birth in 1958, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to further her career. Working with new manager Randy Hughes, Cline would become a member of the Grand Ole Opry and then move to Decca Records in 1960. Under the direction of producer Owen Bradley, her musical sound shifted and she achieved consistent success. The 1961 single "I Fall to Pieces" would become her first to top the Billboard country chart. As the song became a hit, Cline was severely injured in an automobile accident, which caused her to spend a month in the hospital. After she recovered, her next single release "Crazy" would also become a major hit.
Between 1962 and 1963, Cline had hits with "She's Got You", "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Leavin' on Your Mind". She also toured and headlined shows with more frequency. In March 1963, Cline was killed in a plane crash along with country performers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Kansas back to Nashville.
Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected and influential performers of the 20th century. Her music has influenced performers of various styles and genres. She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts. In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, Cline's posthumous successes continued in the mass media. She was portrayed twice in major motion pictures, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange. Several documentaries and stage shows were released during this time, including the 1988 musical Always...Patsy Cline. A 1991 box set of her recordings was issued that received critical acclaim. Her greatest hits album sold over 10 million copies in 2005. In 2011, Cline's childhood home was restored as a museum for visitors and fans to tour. In 2017, Cline’s Dream Home in Nashville, TN was placed on the Tennessee Historical Markers List by the Patsy Cline Fan Home Owners, Steven Shirey and Thomas Corritore.
Early life
Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932, to Hilda Virginia (née Patterson; 1916–1998) and Samuel Lawerence Hensley (1889–1956). Mrs. Hensley was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Sam Hensley had been married before; Cline had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15) that lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, Hilda Hensley would also have Samuel Jr. (called John) and Sylvia Mae. Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was also referred to as "Ginny". She temporarily lived with her mother's family in Gore, Virginia before relocating many times throughout the state. In her childhood, the family relocated where Samuel Hensley, a blacksmith, could find employment, including Elkton, Staunton, and Norfolk. When the family had little money, she would find work. This included an Elkton poultry factory, where her job was to pluck and cut chickens. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia on South Kent Street. Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her. When confiding about the abuse to friend Loretta Lynn, Cline told her, "take this to your grave". Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams.
At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. Speaking of the incident in 1957 she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's." It was during this time she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events. She also taught herself how to play the piano.
With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing only grew further and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances began at WINC in the Winchester area. According to WINC's radio disc jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy, Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition. McCoy was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you." While also performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer Helen Morgan.
Cline's mother and father had marital conflicts during her childhood and by 1947, her father deserted the family. Author Ellis Nassour of the biography Honky Tonk Angel: An Intimate Story of Patsy Cline reported Cline had a "beautiful relationship" with her mother. In his interviews with Hilda Hensley, he quoted Cline's mother in saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child. Upon entering the ninth grade, Cline enrolled at John Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia. However, the family had trouble sustaining an income after her father's desertion. Therefore, Cline dropped out of high school to help support the family. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and soda jerk.
Career
1948–1953: Early career
At age 15, Cline wrote a letter to the Grand Ole Opry asking for an audition. She told local photographer Ralph Grubbs about the letter, "A friend thinks I'm crazy to send it. What do you think?" Grubbs encouraged Cline to send it. Several weeks later, she received a return letter from the Opry asking for pictures and recordings. At the same time, Gospel performer Wally Fowler headlined a concert in her hometown. Cline convinced concert employees to let her backstage where she asked Fowler for an audition. Following a successful audition, Cline's family received a call asking for her to audition for the Opry. She traveled with her mother, two siblings, and a family friend on an eight-hour journey to Nashville, Tennessee. With limited finances, they drove overnight and slept in a Nashville park the following morning. Cline auditioned for Opry performer Moon Mullican the same day. The audition was well-received and Cline expected to hear from the Opry the same day. However, she never received news and the family returned to Virginia.
By the early 1950s, Cline continued performing around the local area. In 1952, she asked to audition for local country bandleader Bill Peer. Following her audition, she began performing regularly as a member of Bill Peer's Melody Boys and Girls. The pair's relationship turned romantic, continuing an affair for several years. Nonetheless, the pair remained married to their spouses. Peer's group played primarily at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland where she would meet her first husband, Gerald Cline. Peer encouraged her to have a more appropriate stage name. She changed her first name from Virginia to Patsy (taken from her middle name "Patterson"). She kept her new last name, Cline. Ultimately, she became professionally known as "Patsy Cline".
In August 1953, Cline was a contestant in a local country music contest. She won 100 dollars and the opportunity to perform as a regular on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Time. The show included country stars Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV and Billy Grammer, and was filmed in Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. She was not officially added to the program's television shows until October 1955. Cline's television performances received critical acclaim. The Washington Star magazine praised her stage presence, commenting, "She creates the moods through movement of her hands and body and by the lilt of her voice, reaching way down deep in her soul to bring forth the melody. Most female country music vocalists stand motionless, sing with monotonous high-pitched nasal twang. Patsy's come up with a throaty style loaded with motion and E-motion."
1954–1960: Four Star Records
In 1954, Bill Peer created and distributed a series of demonstration tapes with Cline's voice on it. A tape was brought to the attention of Bill McCall, president of Four Star Records. On September 30, 1954, she signed a two-year recording contract with the label alongside Peer and her husband Gerald Cline. The original contract allowed Four Star to receive most of the money for the songs she recorded. Therefore, Cline received little of the royalties from the label, totaling out to 2.34 percent on her recording contract. Her first recording session took place in Nashville, Tennessee on January 5, 1955. Songs for the session were handpicked by McCall and Paul Cohen. Four Star leased the recordings to the larger Decca Records. For those reasons Owen Bradley was chosen as the session's producer, a professional relationship that would continue into the 1960s. Her first single release was 1955's "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye". Although Cline promoted it with an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry the song was not successful.
Cline recorded a variety of musical styles while recording for Four Star. This included genres such as gospel, rockabilly, traditional country and pop. Writers and music journalists have had mixed beliefs on Cline's Four Star material. Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack of Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music called the label's choice of material "mediocre". They also commented that Cline seemed to have "groped for her own sound on the label". Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide commented that the music was "sturdy enough, but they only hinted at the potential that lurked inside her. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic claimed it was Cline's voice that made the Four Star material less appealing: "Circumstances were not wholly to blame for Cline's commercial failures. She would have never made it as a rockabilly singer, lacking the conviction of Wanda Jackson or the spunk of Brenda Lee. In fact, in comparison with her best work, she sounds rather stiff and ill-at-ease on most of her early singles."
Between 1955 and 1956, Cline's four singles for Four Star failed to become hits. However, she continued performing regionally, including on the Town and Country Jamboree. In 1956, she appeared on ABC's Country Music Jubilee, Ozark Jubilee. It was at one of her local performances that she met her second husband, Charlie Dick. In 1956, Cline received a call to perform on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a national television show she had auditioned for several months prior. She accepted the offer, using her mother Hilda Hensley as her talent scout for the show. According to the show's rules, talent scouts could not be family members. For those reasons, Cline's mother lied in order to appear on the show. When Arthur Godfrey asked if Hensley had known Cline her entire life, she replied, "Yes, just about!"
Cline and Mrs. Hensley flew into LaGuardia Airport in New York City on January 18, 1957. She made her debut appearance on the program on January 21. The day of the show, she met with the show's producer Janette Davis. Cline had chosen "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" to perform on the program, but Davis preferred another song she had recorded, "Walkin' After Midnight". Cline initially refused to perform it, but ultimately agreed to it. Davis also suggested Cline wear a cocktail dress instead of the cowgirl outfit created by her mother. She performed "Walkin' After Midnight" and won the program's contest that night. The song had not yet been released as a single. In order to keep up with public demand, Decca Records rush-released the song as a single on February 11. The song ultimately became Cline's breakthrough hit, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. The song also reached number 12 on the Billboard pop music chart. The song has since been considered a classic in country music since its release.
Music critics and writers have positively praised "Walkin' After Midnight". Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann called the song "bluesy". Richie Unterberger noted "it's well-suited for the almost bemused aura of loneliness of the lyric." The success of "Walkin' After Midnight" brought Cline numerous appearances on shows and major networks. She continued working for Arthur Godfrey over the next several months. She also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in February and the television program Western Ranch Party in March. The money she had earned from her numerous engagements totaled out to ten thousand dollars. Cline gave all the money to her mother, which she used to the pay the mortgage on her Winchester house. In August 1957, her debut studio album was issued via Decca Records.
Cline's follow-up singles to "Walkin' After Midnight" did not yield any success. This was partially due to the quality of material chosen for her to record. Cline was dissatisfied with the limited success following "Walkin' After Midnight". Bradley recounted how she often came to him saying, "Hoss, can't you do something? I feel like a prisoner." Around the same time, Cline was fired from her regular slot on Town and Country Jamboree. According to Connie B. Gay, she ran late for shows and "showed up with liquor on her breath". In September 1957, Cline married Charlie Dick and he was soon sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on a military assignment. Cline also gave birth to her first daughter Julie. In hopes of restarting her career, Cline and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
1960–1961: New beginnings and car accident
Cline's professional decisions yielded more positive results by the early 1960s. Upon moving to Nashville, she signed a management deal with Randy Hughes. She originally wished to work with Hubert Long, however, he was busy managing other artists. Instead, she turned her attention to Hughes. With the help of Hughes, she began working steadier jobs. He organized fifty dollar bookings and got her multiple performances on the Grand Ole Opry. In January 1960, Cline officially became a member of the Opry. When she asked general manager Ott Devine about a membership he replied, "Patsy, if that's all you want, you're on the Opry." Also in January 1960, Cline made her final recording sessions set forth in her contract with Four Star Records. Later that year, her final singles with the label were released: "Lovesick Blues" and "Crazy Dreams". Leaving Four Star, Cline officially signed with Decca Records in late 1960, working exclusively under Bradley's direction. Insisting on receiving an advance, she received $1,000 from Bradley once she began at the label.
Her first release under Decca was 1961's "I Fall to Pieces". The song was written by newly established Nashville songwriters Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. "I Fall to Pieces" had first been turned down by Roy Drusky and Brenda Lee before Cline cut it in November 1960. At the recording session, she worried about the song's production, particularly the background vocals performed by The Jordanaires. After much arguing between both Cline and Bradley, they negotiated that she would record "I Fall to Pieces" (a song Bradley favored) and "Lovin' in Vain" (a song she favored). Released as a single in January 1961, "I Fall to Pieces" attracted little attention upon its initial issue. In April, the song debuted on the Hot Country and Western Sides chart. By August 7, the song became her first to top the country chart. Additionally, "I Fall to Pieces" crossed over onto the Billboard Pop chart, peaking at number 12.
On June 14, 1961, Cline and her brother Sam Hensley, Jr. were involved in an automobile accident. Cline had brought her mother, sister and brother to see her new Nashville home the day before. On the day of the accident, Cline and her brother went shopping to buy material for her mother to make clothing. Upon driving home, their car was struck head-on by another vehicle. The impact threw her directly into the car windshield, causing extensive facial injuries. Among her injuries, Cline suffered a broken wrist, dislocated hip and a large cut across her forehead, barely missing her eyes. Friend Dottie West heard about the accident via the radio and rushed to the scene, helping to remove pieces of broken glass from Cline's hair. When first responders arrived, Cline insisted the driver in the other vehicle be treated first. Two of the three passengers riding in the car that struck Cline died after arriving at the hospital. When she was brought to the hospital, her injuries were life-threatening and she was not expected to live. She underwent surgery and survived. According to her husband Charlie Dick, upon waking up she said to him, "Jesus was here, Charlie. Don't worry. He took my hand and told me, 'No, not now. I have other things for you to do.'" She spent a month recovering in the hospital.
1961–1963: Career peak
Cline returned to her career six weeks after her 1961 car accident. Her first public appearance was on the Grand Ole Opry where she assured fans she would continue performing. She said to the audience that night, "You're wonderful. I'll tell you one thing: the greatest gift, I think, that you folks coulda given me was the encouragement that you gave me. Right at the very time I needed you the most, you came through with the flying-est colors. And I just want to say you'll just never know how happy you made this ol' country gal." Cline's follow-up single to "I Fall to Pieces" was the song "Crazy". It was written by Willie Nelson, whose version of the song was first heard by Dick. When Dick brought the song to Cline she did not like it. When Dick encouraged her to record "Crazy", Cline replied, "I don't care what you say. I don't like it and I ain't gonna record it. And that's that." Bradley liked the song and set the date for its recording for August 17. When Cline got to Bradley's studio, he convinced her to record it. She listened to Nelson's version of "Crazy" and decided she was going to perform it differently. Nelson's version included a spoken section that Cline removed. She cut additional material on August 17 and when she got to "Crazy", it became difficult to perform. Because Cline was still recovering from the accident, performing the song's high notes caused rib pain. Giving her time to rest, Bradley sent her home while musicians laid down the track without her. A week later she returned and recorded her vocal in a single take.
"Crazy" was released as a single in October 1961, debuting on the Billboard country charts in November. It would peak at number 2 there and number 9 on the same publication's pop charts. "Crazy" would also become Cline's biggest pop hit. "Crazy" has since been called a country music standard. Cline's vocal performance and the song's production have received positive praise over time. Cub Koda of AllMusic noted the "ache" in her voice that makes the song stand out: "Cline's reading of the lyric is filled with an aching world weariness that transforms the tune into one of the first big crossover hits without even trying hard." Country music historian Paul Kingsbury also highlighted her "ache", saying in 2007, "Cline's hit recording swings with such velvety finesse, and her voice throbs and aches so exquisitely, that the entire production sounds absolutely effortless." Jhoni Jackon of Paste Magazine called the recording "iconic", highlighting the "pain" Cline had in her vocal technique. Her second studio album Patsy Cline Showcase was released in late 1961. The album featured both major hits from that year and re-recorded versions of "Walkin' After Midnight" and "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)".
"Crazy" and Cline's further Decca recordings have received critical praise. Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann noted "Her thrilling voice invariably invested these with new depth. Patsy's dramatic volume control, stretched-note effects, sobs, pauses and unique ways of holding back, then bursting into full-throated phrases also breathed new life into country chestnuts like "San Antonio Rose", "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Half as Much". Richie Unterberger of AllMusic commented that her voice "sounded richer, more confident, and more mature, with ageless wise and vulnerable qualities that have enabled her records to maintain their appeal with subsequent generations." Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide reported that Owen Bradley recognized potential in Cline's and once he gained studio control, he smoothed arrangements and "refine her voice into an instrument of torch-singing glory."
In November 1961, she was invited to perform as part of the Grand Ole Opry's show at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She was joined by Opry stars Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Jim Reeves, Bill Monroe, Marty Robbins, and Faron Young. Despite positive reviews, New York Journal-American columnist Dorothy Kilgallen commented, "everybody should get out of town because the hillbillies are coming!" The comment upset Cline and did not affect ticket sales. The Opry performance would later be sold out. By the end of year, Cline had won several major industry awards including "Favorite Female Vocalist" from Billboard Magazine and Cashbox Magazines "Most Programmed Female Artist". Also in 1961, Cline was back in the studio to record an upcoming album. Among the first songs she recorded was "She's Got You". Written by Hank Cochran, he pitched the song to Cline over the phone. Insisting to hear it in-person, Cochran brought the recording over to her house, along with a bottle of alcohol. Upon listening to it again, she liked the song and wanted to record it. Owen Bradley also liked the song and it was officially recorded on December 17, 1961. "She's Got You" became her third country-pop crossover hit by early 1962. "She's Got You" would also be her second number 1 hit on the Billboard country chart. It was also Cline's first entry in the United Kingdom singles chart, reaching number 43. The cover by Alma Cogan, one of Britain's most popular female artists of the 1950s, performed notably as well.
In 1962, Cline had three major hits with "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Imagine That". Cline's career successes helped her become financially stable enough to purchase her first home. She bought a ranch house located Goodlettsville, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The home was decorated by Cline and included a music room, several bedrooms and a large backyard. According to Dottie West, "the house was her mansion, the sign she'd arrived." Cline called it her "dream home" and often had friends over to visit. After her death, the house was sold to country artist Wilma Burgess. In the summer of 1962, manager Randy Hughes got her a role in a country music vehicle film. It also starred Dottie West, Webb Pierce and Sonny James. After arriving to film in DeLand, Florida, the producer had "ran off with the money", according to West. The movie was never made. In August, her third studio album Sentimentally Yours was released. It featured "She's Got You" as well as several country and pop standards. According to biographer Ellis Nassour, her royalties "were coming in slim" and she needed "financial security". Therefore, Randy Hughes arranged Cline to work at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada for 35 days. Cline would later dislike the experience. During the engagement, she developed a dry throat. She also was homesick and wanted to spend time with her children. By appearing at the engagement, Cline became the first female country artist to headline her own show in Las Vegas.
During this period Cline was said to have experienced premonitions of her own death. Dottie West, June Carter Cash, and Loretta Lynn recalled Cline telling them she felt a sense of impending doom and did not expect to live much longer. In letters, she would also describe the happiness of her new career successes. In January 1963, her next single "Leavin' on Your Mind" was released and debuted on the Billboard country chart soon after. In February, she recorded her final sessions for Decca Records. Among the songs recorded were "Sweet Dreams", "He Called Me Baby", and "Faded Love". Cline arranged for friends Jan Howard and Dottie West to come and hear the session playbacks. According to Howard, "I was in awe of Patsy. You know, afterward you're supposed to say something nice. I couldn't talk. I was dumbfounded."
Personal life
Friendships
Cline had close friendships with several country artists and performers. Her friendship with Loretta Lynn has been the subject of numerous books, songs, films and other projects. The pair first met when Lynn performed "I Fall to Pieces" on the radio shortly after Cline's 1961 car accident. Cline heard the broadcast and sent her husband to pick up Lynn so they could meet. According to Lynn, the pair became close friends "right away". Lynn later described their friendship in detail, "She taught me a lot about show business, like how to go on a stage and how to get off. She even bought me a lot of clothes...She even bought me curtains and drapes for my house because I was too broke to buy them...She was a great human being and a great friend." Lynn also noted they became so close that Cline even gave her underwear. Lynn still has the underwear in storage, saying it was "well-made".
Dottie West was another female country artist with whom Cline became friends. They first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. West wrote Cline a fan letter after hearing her first hit "Walkin' After Midnight". According to West, Cline "showed a genuine interest in her career" and they became close friends. The pair often spent time at their homes and worked on packaged tour dates together. West also stated Cline was a supportive friend who helped out in times of need.
Jan Howard was a third female artist with whom Cline had a close friendship. The pair first met when Cline tried starting an argument with Howard backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. She said to Howard, "You're a conceited little son of a bitch! You just go out there, do your spot, and leave without saying hello to anyone." Howard was upset and replied angrily back. Cline then laughed and said, "Slow down! Hoss, you're all right. Anybody that'll stand there and talk back to the Cline like that is all right...I can tell we're gonna be good friends!" The pair remained close for the remainder of Cline's life. Other friendships Cline had with female artists included Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and pianist Del Wood. She also became friends with male country artists including Roger Miller, who helped Cline find material to record. Faron Young was another male artist whom Cline befriended from working on tour together. While on tour, the pair would spend time together, including a trip to Hawaii where the pair saw a hula show.
Family
Cline's mother Hilda Hensley continued living in Winchester, Virginia following her daughter's death. She rented out the family's childhood home on South Kent Street and lived across the street. Following Cline's death, Hensley briefly spent time raising her two grandchildren in Virginia. Hensley maintained a closet full of her daughter's stage costumes, including a sequined dress Cline wore while performing in Las Vegas in 1962. She worked as a seamstress and made many of her daughter's stage costumes. Hensley died from natural causes in 1998. Cline's father Samuel Hensley died of lung cancer in 1956. Hensley had previously deserted the family in 1947 and shortly before his death, Cline and her mother visited him at a hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. After discovering his current state, Cline said to her mother, "Mama, I know what-all he did, but it seems he's real sick and may not make it. In spite of everything, I want to visit him." Both of Cline's surviving siblings fought in court over their mother's estate. Because of legal fees, many of Cline's possessions were sold at auction.
Cline had two surviving children at the time of her death: Julie Simadore (born 1958) and Allen Randolph "Randy" (born 1961). Julie has been a significant factor in keeping her mother's legacy alive. She has appeared at numerous public appearances in support of her mother's music and career. Following the death of her father in 2015, she helped open a museum dedicated to Cline in Nashville, Tennessee. Julie has few memories of her mother due to Cline's death while she was young. In an interview with People Magazine, Julie discussed her mother's legacy, "I do understand her position in history, and the history of Nashville and country music...I'm still kind of amazed at it myself, because there's 'Mom' and then there's 'Patsy Cline,' and I'm actually a fan."
The present day American female blues, swing, and rock and roll singer, songwriter and record producer, Casey Hensley, is a distant relation of Cline's.
Marriages
Cline was married twice. Her first marriage was to Gerald Cline, on March 7, 1953. His family had owned a contracting and excavating company in Frederick, Maryland. According to Cline's brother Sam, he liked "flashy cars and women." The two met while she was performing with Bill Peer at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland. According to Gerald Cline, "It might not have been love at first sight when Patsy saw me, but it was for me." Gerald Cline often took her to "one-nighters" and other concerts she performed in. Although he enjoyed her performances, he could not get used to her touring and road schedule. Patsy had told a friend during their marriage that she didn't think she "knew what love was" upon marrying Gerald. The pair began living separately by the end of 1956 and divorced in 1957.
Cline married her second husband Charlie Dick on September 15, 1957. The pair met in 1956 while Cline was performing with a local Virginia band. At the time, Dick was a linotype operator for local newspaper, The Winchester Star. According to Dick, he had asked Cline to dance and she replied, "I can't dance while I'm working, okay?" They eventually started spending time together and Cline began telling close friends about their relationship. Cline told Grand Ole Opry pianist Del Wood in 1956, "Hoss, I got some news. I met a boy my own age who's a hurricane in pants! Del, I'm in love, and this time, it's for real." The pair had children Julie and Randy together. Their relationship was considered both romantic and tempestuous. According to Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack, Cline and Dick's marriage was "fueled by alcohol, argument, passion, jealousy, success, tears and laughter." According to biographer Ellis Nassour, the pair fought often but remained together. They had gained a reputation as "heavy drinkers", but according to Dick himself, they were not "drunks". During one particular fight, Cline had Dick arrested after they became physical with one another. Following Cline's death in 1963, Dick married country artist Jamey Ryan in 1965. The pair divorced in the early 1970s after having one child together. Dick helped with keeping Cline's legacy alive for the remainder of his own life. He assisted in producing several documentaries about Cline's career including Remembering Patsy and The Real Patsy Cline. He became involved with Hallway Productions in the 1990s and helped produce videos on other artists including Willie Nelson and The Mamas and the Papas. Dick died in 2015.
Death
On March 3, 1963, Cline performed a benefit at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call; he had died in an automobile crash a little over a month earlier. Also performing in the show were George Jones, George Riddle and The Jones Boys, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, George McCormick, the Clinch Mountain Boys as well as Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Despite having a cold, Cline gave three performances: 2:00, 5:15 and 8:15 pm. All the shows were standing-room only. For the 2 p.m. show, she wore a sky-blue tulle-laden dress; for the 5:15 show a red shocker; and for the closing show at 8 p.m., Cline wore white chiffon. Her final song was the last she had recorded the previous month, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone".
Cline, who had spent the night at the Town House Motor Hotel, was unable to fly out the day after the concert because Fairfax Airport was fogged in. West asked Patsy to ride in the car with her and husband, Bill, back to Nashville, a 16-hour drive, but Cline refused, saying, "Don't worry about me, Hoss. When it's my time to go, it's my time." On March 5, she called her mother from the motel and checked out at 12:30 p.m., going the short distance to the airport and boarding a Piper PA-24 Comanche plane, aircraft registration number N7000P. On board were Cline, Copas, Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes.
The plane stopped once in Rogers, Arkansas to refuel and subsequently landed at Dyersburg Municipal Airport in Dyersburg, Tennessee at 5 p.m. Hawkins had accepted Billy Walker's place after Walker left on a commercial flight to take care of a stricken family member. The Dyersburg, Tennessee, airfield manager suggested that they stay the night because of high winds and inclement weather, offering them free rooms and meals. But Hughes, who was not trained in instrument flying, said "I've already come this far. We'll be there before you know it." The plane took off at 6:07 p.m.
Cline's flight crashed in heavy weather on the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 1963. Her recovered wristwatch had stopped at 6:20 p.m. The plane was found some from its Nashville destination, in a forest outside of Camden, Tennessee. Forensic examination concluded that everyone aboard had been killed instantly. Until the wreckage was discovered the following dawn and reported on the radio, friends and family had not given up hope. Endless calls tied up the local telephone exchanges to such a degree that other emergency calls had trouble getting through. The lights at the destination Cornelia Fort Airpark were kept on throughout the night, as reports of the missing plane were broadcast on radio and TV.
Early in the morning, Roger Miller and a friend went searching for survivors: "As fast as I could, I ran through the woods screaming their names—through the brush and the trees—and I came up over this little rise, oh, my God, there they were. It was ghastly. The plane had crashed nose down." Shortly after the bodies were removed, looters scavenged the area. Some of the items which were recovered were eventually donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Among them were Cline's wristwatch, a Confederate flag cigarette lighter, studded belt and three pairs of gold lamé slippers. Cline's fee in cash from the last performance was never recovered. Per her wishes, Cline's body was brought home for her memorial service, which thousands attended. People jammed against the small tent over her gold casket and the grave to take all the flowers they could reach as keepsakes. She was buried at Shenandoah Memorial Park in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia. Her grave is marked with a bronze plaque, which reads: "Virginia H. Dick ('Patsy Cline' is noted under her name) 'Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love'." A memorial marks the exact place off Mt Carmel Road in Camden, Tennessee, where the plane crashed in the still-remote forest.
Posthumous releases
Music
Since Cline's death, Decca Records (later bought by MCA) has re-released her music which has made her commercially successful posthumously. The Patsy Cline Story was the first compilation album the label released following her death. It included the songs "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" and "Faded Love". Both tracks were released as singles in 1963. "Sweet Dreams" would reach number 5 on the Billboard country charts and 44 on the Hot 100. "Faded Love" would also become a top 10 hit on the Billboard country chart, peaking at number 7 in October 1963. In 1967, Decca released the compilation Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits. The album would not only peak at number 17 on the Billboard country chart, but also certified diamond in sales from the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2005, the Guinness World Book of Records included Greatest Hits for being the longest album on any record chart by any female artist.
Cline's music continued making the charts into the 1980s. Her version of "Always" made the Billboard country chart in 1980. An album of the same was also released in 1980 that peaked within the top 30 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Two overdubbed duets between Cline and Jim Reeves became major hits during this time as well. Following the release of the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), there was renewed interest in Cline's career. Therefore, MCA Records reissued much of Cline's earlier studio and compilation releases. Her 1967 greatest hits album for example was repackaged in 1988 and labeled 12 Greatest Hits. The record reached number 27 on the Top Country Albums list in 1990. The soundtrack for Cline's own film biopic was released concurrently with the movie in 1985. The soundtrack would peak at number 6 on the Billboard country albums chart upon its release.
In 1991, MCA records issued her first box set entitled The Patsy Cline Collection. The album chronicled all of Cline's recorded material for Four Star and Decca Records. The boxed set received positive reviews, notably by Thom Jurek of Allmusic who rated it five out of five stars. Jurek commented, If an artist ever deserved a box set chronicling her entire career, it is Patsy Cline. Having recorded 102 sides between 1955 and her death at the age of 30 in 1963, Cline changed not only country music forever, but affected the world of pop as well. Over four CDs, arranged chronologically, the listener gets treated to a story in the development and maturation of a cultural icon who was at least, in terms of her gift, the equal of her legend. Rolling Stone listed the box set among their "50 Greatest Albums of All-Time". Writer Rob Sheffield called Cline "a badass cowgirl drama queen belts some of the torchiest, weepiest country songs ever, hitting high notes that make you sob into your margarita." The Patsy Cline Collection would reach number 29 on the Billboard country albums chart in January 1992. In 1997, MCA released Live at the Cimarron Ballroom, a rare recording that had recently resurfaced. Jeweler Bill Frazee had originally purchased a tape in 1975 which he discovered included Cline's live recording. The live performance on the record took place in July 1961, following Cline's car accident. She appeared at the Cimarron Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma to give a one-night performance. Included on the record was unreleased live performances and dialog with the audience. The album peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard country albums chart. Cline's former MCA label continues releasing material to this day. Cline is listed among the Recording Industry of America's "Best Selling Artists" with a total of over 14 million records sold to date.
Film and television
Cline has been portrayed on film and television several times since the 1980s. The Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) renewed interest in her life and career. Cline and Lynn's friendship was portrayed in the 1980 film. Actress Beverly D'Angelo played Cline in the movie and did her own singing of Cline's original material. D'Angelo earned a Golden Globe award nomination for her role. In an interview D'Angelo did for a 2017 PBS documentary, playing the role of Patsy Cline "had a profound impact" on her life and career.
In 1985, a feature film about Cline's life was released entitled Sweet Dreams. The film starred Jessica Lange as Cline and Ed Harris as husband Charlie Dick. Originally, Meryl Streep auditioned for Cline's role but ultimately lost to Lange. The film was produced by Bernard Schwartz, who also produced Coal Miner's Daughter. Original ideas called for scenes between Cline and Lynn, however they were ultimately removed from the final script. The film has been criticized for its lack of accuracy to Cline's own life and its musical production. Kurt Wolff wrote, "the soundtrack, however, featured overdubbed versions of Cline's material – better to stick with the originals." Mark Deming of Allmovie only gave the release two out of five stars. Deming commented, "While it's a wise approach to show how her turbulent marriage paralleled her crossover to Countrypolitan ballads, the melodrama tends to overshadow the celebrity story by relegating her rise to stardom to the background. Due to the historically dubious concerts at carnivals and fairgrounds, it appears as though she wasn't as big a star as she actually was." Deming did praise Lange's performance saying she created a "cheerful and spirited" depiction of Cline. Roger Ebert gave it two stars in his original 1985 review. Ebert said, "There isn't the sense of a well-shaped structure in this movie; there's no clear idea of what the filmmakers thought about Patsy Cline, or what thoughts her life is supposed to inspire." Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Cline.
Cline was also portrayed in television films. In 1995, a film about the life and career of Cline's friend Dottie West debuted on CBS titled, Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. It included several scenes that showcased West's friendship with Cline. Actress Tere Myers played her in the television movie. Deborah Wilker of the Sun-Sentinel called her performance "terrific" and authentic.
Lifetime aired an original television film Patsy & Loretta in October 2019 on the network. It chronicles Cline's friendship with Loretta Lynn. Cline is portrayed by Megan Hilty and Lynn by Jessie Mueller. The film is directed by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri. The trailer for the movie was released in July 2019. Patsy & Loretta was filmed on location in Nashville, Tennessee and is co-produced by Lynn's daughter and Cline's daughter, Julie Fudge.
There have been several documentaries made about Cline's life and career. The first was a 1989 documentary entitled The Real Patsy Cline which featured interviews with friends and fellow artists. This included Carl Perkins and Willie Nelson. Another documentary was filmed in 1994 entitled Remembering Patsy. The show was hosted by country artist Michelle Wright, who read letters Cline wrote to friends and family. It included interviews with several artists such as Roy Clark, George Jones and Trisha Yearwood. Both documentaries were produced by Cline's widower Charlie Dick. In March 2017, PBS released a documentary on Cline as part of their American Masters series. The film was narrated by Rosanne Cash and featured interviews with fans of Cline. These interviews included Beverly D'Angelo and Reba McEntire. It also included rare performances of songs such as "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Walkin' After Midnight".
Plays and musicals
Cline's life and career has also been re-created in the theater sector. In 1988, the show Always...Patsy Cline premiered. The show was created by Ted Swindley who derived it from a friendship Cline had with Texas resident Louise Seger. The pair met while Cline was performing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, Texas. Seger brought Cline home following the show and they spent the night together. The pair would remain in contact through letters before Cline's death. Much of the script relied from letters exchanged between the two during the course of several years. Seger acts as the show's narrator and revisits memories she shared with Cline through their letter exchanges. Among the show's original performers was Mandy Barnett, who debuted the show at the Ryman Auditorium in 1994. Barnett would go on to have a music and performing career. A second musical was later released in 1991 titled A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. The show was written by Dean Regan and has been called a "musical retelling" of Cline's career.
Artistry
Influences
Cline was influenced by various music artists. Among her earliest influences were pop singers of the 1940s and 1950s. These included Kay Starr, Helen Morgan, Patti Page, and Kate Smith. Patti Page recollected that Cline's husband said to her, "I just wish Patsy could have met you because she just adored you and listened to you all the time and wanted to be like you." Among her primary influences was Kay Starr, of whom Cline was a "fervent devotee" according to The Washington Post. Jack Hurst of the Chicago Tribune remarked that "Her rich, powerful voice, obviously influenced by that of pop's Kay Starr, has continued and perhaps even grown in popularity over the decades." Cline was also attracted to country music radio programs, notably the Grand Ole Opry. According to Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann, Cline became "obsessed" with the program at a young age. Cline's mother Hilda Hensley commented on her daughter's admiration, "I know she never wanted anything so badly as to be a star on the Grand Ole Opry..." Among performers from the program she admired was Patsy Montana. Cline was also influenced by other types of performers including early rockabilly artist Charline Arthur.
Voice and style
Cline possessed a contralto voice. Time magazine writer Richard Corliss called her voice "bold". Her voice has also been praised for its display of emotion. Kurt Wolff called it one of the most "emotionally expressive voices in modern country music". Tony Gabrielle of the Daily Press wrote that Cline had "a voice of tremendous emotional power." Cline was at times taken by her own emotion. Husband Charlie Dick recounted that Cline's producer Owen Bradley told him to leave a recording session because she was very emotional and he didn't want to disturb the mood. Cline was once quoted in describing the emotion she felt, saying, "Oh Lord, I sing just like I hurt inside."
During her early career, Cline recorded in styles such as gospel, rockabilly, and honky-tonk. These styles she cut for Four Star Records have been considered below the quality of her later work for Decca Records. Steve Leggett of Allmusic commented, Her recordings prior to 1960, though, were something else again, and with the exception of 1956's "Walkin' After Midnight" and perhaps one or two other songs, she seemed reined in and stifled as a singer, even though she was working with the same producer, Owen Bradley, who was to produce her 1960s successes. Oh the difference a song makes, because in the end the material she recorded between 1955 and 1960 – all of which is collected on these two discs – was simply too weak for Cline to turn into anything resembling gold, even with her obvious vocal skills.
Cline's style has been largely associated with the Nashville Sound, a sub-genre of country music that linked traditional lyrics with orchestrated pop music styles. This new sound helped many of her singles to crossover onto the Billboard Hot 100 and gain a larger audience that did not always hear country music. Her producer Owen Bradley built this sound onto her Decca recordings, sensing a potential in her voice that went beyond traditional country music. At first, she resisted the pop-sounding style, but was ultimately convinced to record in this new style. Stephen M. Desuner of Pitchfork explained that Cline has been an identifiable factor with the Nashville Sound: "She essentially rewrote their songs simply by singing them, elevating their words and wringing every one of their rhymes for maximum dramatic potential." Mark Deming of Allmusic commented, "Cline and Bradley didn't invent "countrypolitan," but precious few artists managed to meld the sophistication of pop and the emotional honesty of country as brilliantly as this music accomplishes with seemingly effortless grace, and these songs still sound fresh and brilliantly crafted decades after the fact."
Image
Cline's public image changed during the course of her career. She began her career wearing cowgirl dresses and hats designed by her mother. However, as her music crossed over into pop, she began wearing sequined gowns and cocktail dresses. While she would often wear cowgirl costumes for live performances, she would also wear evening dresses for television and metropolitan performances. For her 1957 performance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, the show's producer insisted that Cline wear an evening dress instead of the fringed cowgirl attire she had intended to wear. Her 1962 engagement at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas represented this particular image shift. For one of her performances, Cline wore a sequined cocktail dress designed by her mother.
Cline has also been seen as a pioneer for women in country music. She has been cited as an inspiration by many performers in diverse styles of music. Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide said that Cline had an "aggression" and "boisterous attitude" that gained her the respect of her male counterparts. Wolff explained, "She swaggered her way past stereotypes and other forces of resistance, showing the men in charge – and the public in general – that women were more than capable of singing about such hard subjects as divorce and drinking as well as love and understanding. Sean O'Hagan of The Guardian commented that along with Minnie Pearl, Jean Shepard and Kitty Wells, Cline helped prove that country music was not "macho" and that "strong women" could have a "strong voice". In 2013, The Washington Post wrote, "she was what I call a pre-feminist woman. She didn't open doors; she kicked them down." Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann wrote in 2003 that Cline "transformed what it meant to be a female country star".
Legacy
Cline has been cited in both country and pop music as of one of the greatest vocalists of all-time. Her voice has also been called "haunting", "powerful", and "emotional". Cline's emotional expression and delivery of lyrics helped influence various musical genres and artists. With the support of producer Owen Bradley, Cline has been said to "help define" the Nashville Sound style of country music. While the subgenre has received mixed opinions, it has also been said to be a significant part of country music's "authenticity", with Cline being the center focal point of the subgenre. Other artists have noted her impact, including LeAnn Rimes who stated, "I remember my dad telling me to listen to the way she told a story... I remember feeling more emotion when she sang than anyone else I had ever heard." Lucinda Williams commented on Cline's vocal talent in helping define her legacy, stating, "Even though her style is considered country, her delivery is more like a classic pop singer... That's what set her apart from Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette. You'd almost think she was classically trained."
Cline has been a major influence on various music artists including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, k.d. lang, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, Dottie West, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Cyndi Lauper, Trixie Mattel and Brandi Carlile. Dottie West (also a close friend of Cline's) spoke about her influence on her own career, "I think I was most influenced by Patsy Cline, she said things for people. There was so much feeling in there. In fact, she told me, 'Hoss, if you can't do it with feeling, don't'". In 2019, Sara Evans discussed how Cline has been an influence since she was a young girl, "I learned everything I could learn about her. I tried to mimic her singing to the ‘t’. We grew up singing in bars — my brothers, sisters and I — from the time I was really little. So I started covering every Patsy Cline song. Then when I first got my record deal I came to Winchester to visit a radio station to try to get them to play my song Three Chords and the Truth."
In 1973, Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. With the induction, she became the first solo female artist to be included. In 1977, Cline's friend and mentee Loretta Lynn released a tribute album entitled I Remember Patsy. The record contained covers of Cline's songs, including "Back in Baby's Arms" and "Crazy". The album's lead single was "She's Got You", which would reach the number 1 spot on the Billboard country chart in 1977. In 1995, Cline received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her legacy and career. Additionally, her hits "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy" received inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Cline was included on United States postal stamps as part of their "Legends" series. Other country artists that were included on stamp series were The Carter Family, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills. The stamps were dedicated in an official ceremony at the Grand Ole Opry by Postmaster General Marvin Runyon. In August 1999, Cline received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony was attended by her widower Charlie Dick and daughter Julie Fudge. During the 1990s, two of her songs were voted among the "Greatest Juke Box Hits of All-Time". "Crazy" was voted as the number 1 greatest, along with "I Fall to Pieces" ranking at number 17.
Since the late 1990s, she received additional rankings and honors. In 1999, Cline was ranked at number 11 among VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll". In 2003, she was included by Country Music Television on their list of the "40 Greatest Women of Country Music". In 2010, Cline ranked at number 46 on Rolling Stones list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All-Time". The magazine would rank her on their 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Country Artists of All-Time", where she placed at number 12.
Forty years after her death, MCA Nashville released a tribute album entitled Remembering Patsy Cline (2003). A television special also followed around the same time. The album consisted of cover versions of songs taken from Cline's 1967 greatest hits album. It included songs covered by country artists such as Terri Clark and Martina McBride. It also featured artists from other genres such as Michelle Branch, Diana Krall and Patti Griffin.
Cline's hometown of Winchester, Virginia has helped honor her legacy and career. In 1987, the local government approved the placing of markers within the town denoting it as the birthplace of Cline. The same year, a bell tower was erected in her burial location at Shenandoah Memorial Park. The bell tower cost thirty five thousand dollars and was partially funded by Cline's friends Jan Howard and Loretta Lynn. In 2005, Cline's childhood home was given an official on-site marker and included on the National Register of Historic Places. With the development of an organization entitled Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., renovations began on Cline's childhood home. In August 2011, the Patsy Cline House officially opened as a historic home for tours. In almost three months, about three thousand people visited the home. The home was restored to the era in which Cline lived in it during the 1950s with her mother and siblings. Replicas of furniture and stage clothes are also included. Daughter Julie Fudge spoke of the house in 2011, stating, “I think when you go into the house, you will kind of feel like this is a snapshot of what it would have been like to visit when Mom lived there.”
In 2017, the Patsy Cline Museum opened in Nashville, Tennessee, located at 119 3rd Ave. S., on the second floor in the same building as the Johnny Cash Museum. The museum includes Cline's actual stage costumes, as well as her original scrapbook and record albums. The Patsy Cline Museum features other artifacts, such as the soda fountain machine from Gaunt's Drug Store, where Cline worked as a teenager. Original letters that Cline wrote to friends are also included as part of the museum.
Discography
Studio albums
1957: Patsy Cline
1961: Patsy Cline Showcase
1962: Sentimentally Yours
Posthumous studio albums
1964: A Portrait of Patsy Cline
1964: That's How a Heartache Begins
1980: Always
References
Footnotes
Books
Further reading
Bego, Mark. I Fall to Pieces: The Music and the Life of Patsy Cline. Adams Media Corporation.
Hazen, Cindy and Mike Freeman. Love Always, Patsy. The Berkley Publishing Group.
Jones, Margaret (1998). "Patsy Cline". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–9.
Gomery, Douglas Patsy Cline: The Making of an Icon. Trafford Publishing.
External links
Celebrating Patsy Cline an official organization sponsoring several projects
Patsy Cline Home and Museum located in Winchester, Virginia
Patsy Cline recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
The Patsy Cline Plane Crash
1932 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century women composers
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American contraltos
American country singer-songwriters
American women composers
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women singer-songwriters
American rockabilly musicians
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Country musicians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Virginia
Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
Deaths in Tennessee
Decca Records artists
Four Star Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Grand Ole Opry members
People from Goodlettsville, Tennessee
People from Winchester, Virginia
Rock and roll musicians
Singer-songwriters from Virginia
Torch singers
Traditional pop music singers
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee | false | [
"Jolán Simon (31 May 1885, Újpest – 24 September 1938, Budapest) was a Hungarian actor active in the Hungarian avant-garde during the early nineteenth century.\n\nHer father died when she was still a child, so she was obliged to start work at an early age. She was largely self-taught but she did attend Kálmán Rózsahegyi’s drama school.\n\nReferences\n\n1885 births\n1938 deaths\n1938 suicides\n20th-century Hungarian actresses\nPeople from Újpest\nSuicides in Hungary",
"Ann O'Grady Bagnall (25 March 1927 - 8 September 2017) was a British school teacher and publisher who specialised in republishing historic cookbooks.\n\nBiography\nShe was born Ann Haly in Edinburgh on 25 March 1927, the daughter of John Haly, a naval officer, and his wife Marie. She was raised in Bexhill on Sea. She was educated at Ancaster Gate School but did not attend university, instead working as a chambermaid after her father fell on hard times. She paid her own fees to attend art college in Devon and then the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.\n\nBagnall worked as an art teacher in schools in East Sussex. Late in life she had the idea to reprint old cookbooks and in 1987 set up her own publishing company, Southover Press, which was very successful in finding forgotten Tudor and Georgian works. She retired and sold the list to Equinox Books in 2007.\n\nAnn Haly married the journalist Nicholas Bagnall. She died in 2017, aged 90 years.\n\nReferences \n\n1927 births\n2017 deaths\nPublishers (people) from Edinburgh\nSchoolteachers from Sussex\nBritish publishers (people)\n20th-century British businesspeople"
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"What school did she attend?",
"Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk"
] | C_b40d68fe4a1946b280e019709405a608_1 | What is a soda jerk? | 3 | What is a soda jerk? | Patsy Cline | Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia, in the city's Memorial Hospital. She was the eldest child of seamstress Hilda Virginia (nee Patterson, 1916-1998) and blacksmith Samuel Lawrence Hensley (1889-1956). She had a brother Samuel Jr. (1939-2004) and a sister Sylvia. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16. Sam Hensley deserted his family in 1947, but the children's home was reportedly happy nonetheless. When Patsy was 13, she was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. She later said, "The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith." Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk at Gaunt's Drug Store and a waitress at the Triangle Diner. She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing on his show. Her performance in 1947 was well received and she was asked back. This led to appearances at local nightclubs wearing fringed Western outfits that her mother made from Patsy's designs. Cline performed in variety and talent shows in the Winchester and Tri-State areas, and she gained a large following through the shows and local radio appearances. Jimmy Dean was already a country star in 1954, and she became a regular with him on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Jamboree radio show on WAVA (AM) in Arlington County, Virginia. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Cline's first professional performances began at the local WINC radio station when she was fifteen. In the early 1950s, Cline began appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. It also led to the signing of her first recording contract with the Four Star label in 1954. She had minor success with her earliest Four Star singles including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957 however, Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnight", the single would become her first major hit on both the country and pop charts.
Cline's further singles with Four Star Records were unsuccessful, although she continued performing and recording. After marrying in 1957 and giving birth in 1958, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to further her career. Working with new manager Randy Hughes, Cline would become a member of the Grand Ole Opry and then move to Decca Records in 1960. Under the direction of producer Owen Bradley, her musical sound shifted and she achieved consistent success. The 1961 single "I Fall to Pieces" would become her first to top the Billboard country chart. As the song became a hit, Cline was severely injured in an automobile accident, which caused her to spend a month in the hospital. After she recovered, her next single release "Crazy" would also become a major hit.
Between 1962 and 1963, Cline had hits with "She's Got You", "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Leavin' on Your Mind". She also toured and headlined shows with more frequency. In March 1963, Cline was killed in a plane crash along with country performers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Kansas back to Nashville.
Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected and influential performers of the 20th century. Her music has influenced performers of various styles and genres. She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts. In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, Cline's posthumous successes continued in the mass media. She was portrayed twice in major motion pictures, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange. Several documentaries and stage shows were released during this time, including the 1988 musical Always...Patsy Cline. A 1991 box set of her recordings was issued that received critical acclaim. Her greatest hits album sold over 10 million copies in 2005. In 2011, Cline's childhood home was restored as a museum for visitors and fans to tour. In 2017, Cline’s Dream Home in Nashville, TN was placed on the Tennessee Historical Markers List by the Patsy Cline Fan Home Owners, Steven Shirey and Thomas Corritore.
Early life
Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932, to Hilda Virginia (née Patterson; 1916–1998) and Samuel Lawerence Hensley (1889–1956). Mrs. Hensley was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Sam Hensley had been married before; Cline had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15) that lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, Hilda Hensley would also have Samuel Jr. (called John) and Sylvia Mae. Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was also referred to as "Ginny". She temporarily lived with her mother's family in Gore, Virginia before relocating many times throughout the state. In her childhood, the family relocated where Samuel Hensley, a blacksmith, could find employment, including Elkton, Staunton, and Norfolk. When the family had little money, she would find work. This included an Elkton poultry factory, where her job was to pluck and cut chickens. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia on South Kent Street. Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her. When confiding about the abuse to friend Loretta Lynn, Cline told her, "take this to your grave". Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams.
At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. Speaking of the incident in 1957 she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's." It was during this time she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events. She also taught herself how to play the piano.
With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing only grew further and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances began at WINC in the Winchester area. According to WINC's radio disc jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy, Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition. McCoy was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you." While also performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer Helen Morgan.
Cline's mother and father had marital conflicts during her childhood and by 1947, her father deserted the family. Author Ellis Nassour of the biography Honky Tonk Angel: An Intimate Story of Patsy Cline reported Cline had a "beautiful relationship" with her mother. In his interviews with Hilda Hensley, he quoted Cline's mother in saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child. Upon entering the ninth grade, Cline enrolled at John Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia. However, the family had trouble sustaining an income after her father's desertion. Therefore, Cline dropped out of high school to help support the family. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and soda jerk.
Career
1948–1953: Early career
At age 15, Cline wrote a letter to the Grand Ole Opry asking for an audition. She told local photographer Ralph Grubbs about the letter, "A friend thinks I'm crazy to send it. What do you think?" Grubbs encouraged Cline to send it. Several weeks later, she received a return letter from the Opry asking for pictures and recordings. At the same time, Gospel performer Wally Fowler headlined a concert in her hometown. Cline convinced concert employees to let her backstage where she asked Fowler for an audition. Following a successful audition, Cline's family received a call asking for her to audition for the Opry. She traveled with her mother, two siblings, and a family friend on an eight-hour journey to Nashville, Tennessee. With limited finances, they drove overnight and slept in a Nashville park the following morning. Cline auditioned for Opry performer Moon Mullican the same day. The audition was well-received and Cline expected to hear from the Opry the same day. However, she never received news and the family returned to Virginia.
By the early 1950s, Cline continued performing around the local area. In 1952, she asked to audition for local country bandleader Bill Peer. Following her audition, she began performing regularly as a member of Bill Peer's Melody Boys and Girls. The pair's relationship turned romantic, continuing an affair for several years. Nonetheless, the pair remained married to their spouses. Peer's group played primarily at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland where she would meet her first husband, Gerald Cline. Peer encouraged her to have a more appropriate stage name. She changed her first name from Virginia to Patsy (taken from her middle name "Patterson"). She kept her new last name, Cline. Ultimately, she became professionally known as "Patsy Cline".
In August 1953, Cline was a contestant in a local country music contest. She won 100 dollars and the opportunity to perform as a regular on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Time. The show included country stars Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV and Billy Grammer, and was filmed in Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. She was not officially added to the program's television shows until October 1955. Cline's television performances received critical acclaim. The Washington Star magazine praised her stage presence, commenting, "She creates the moods through movement of her hands and body and by the lilt of her voice, reaching way down deep in her soul to bring forth the melody. Most female country music vocalists stand motionless, sing with monotonous high-pitched nasal twang. Patsy's come up with a throaty style loaded with motion and E-motion."
1954–1960: Four Star Records
In 1954, Bill Peer created and distributed a series of demonstration tapes with Cline's voice on it. A tape was brought to the attention of Bill McCall, president of Four Star Records. On September 30, 1954, she signed a two-year recording contract with the label alongside Peer and her husband Gerald Cline. The original contract allowed Four Star to receive most of the money for the songs she recorded. Therefore, Cline received little of the royalties from the label, totaling out to 2.34 percent on her recording contract. Her first recording session took place in Nashville, Tennessee on January 5, 1955. Songs for the session were handpicked by McCall and Paul Cohen. Four Star leased the recordings to the larger Decca Records. For those reasons Owen Bradley was chosen as the session's producer, a professional relationship that would continue into the 1960s. Her first single release was 1955's "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye". Although Cline promoted it with an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry the song was not successful.
Cline recorded a variety of musical styles while recording for Four Star. This included genres such as gospel, rockabilly, traditional country and pop. Writers and music journalists have had mixed beliefs on Cline's Four Star material. Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack of Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music called the label's choice of material "mediocre". They also commented that Cline seemed to have "groped for her own sound on the label". Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide commented that the music was "sturdy enough, but they only hinted at the potential that lurked inside her. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic claimed it was Cline's voice that made the Four Star material less appealing: "Circumstances were not wholly to blame for Cline's commercial failures. She would have never made it as a rockabilly singer, lacking the conviction of Wanda Jackson or the spunk of Brenda Lee. In fact, in comparison with her best work, she sounds rather stiff and ill-at-ease on most of her early singles."
Between 1955 and 1956, Cline's four singles for Four Star failed to become hits. However, she continued performing regionally, including on the Town and Country Jamboree. In 1956, she appeared on ABC's Country Music Jubilee, Ozark Jubilee. It was at one of her local performances that she met her second husband, Charlie Dick. In 1956, Cline received a call to perform on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a national television show she had auditioned for several months prior. She accepted the offer, using her mother Hilda Hensley as her talent scout for the show. According to the show's rules, talent scouts could not be family members. For those reasons, Cline's mother lied in order to appear on the show. When Arthur Godfrey asked if Hensley had known Cline her entire life, she replied, "Yes, just about!"
Cline and Mrs. Hensley flew into LaGuardia Airport in New York City on January 18, 1957. She made her debut appearance on the program on January 21. The day of the show, she met with the show's producer Janette Davis. Cline had chosen "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" to perform on the program, but Davis preferred another song she had recorded, "Walkin' After Midnight". Cline initially refused to perform it, but ultimately agreed to it. Davis also suggested Cline wear a cocktail dress instead of the cowgirl outfit created by her mother. She performed "Walkin' After Midnight" and won the program's contest that night. The song had not yet been released as a single. In order to keep up with public demand, Decca Records rush-released the song as a single on February 11. The song ultimately became Cline's breakthrough hit, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. The song also reached number 12 on the Billboard pop music chart. The song has since been considered a classic in country music since its release.
Music critics and writers have positively praised "Walkin' After Midnight". Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann called the song "bluesy". Richie Unterberger noted "it's well-suited for the almost bemused aura of loneliness of the lyric." The success of "Walkin' After Midnight" brought Cline numerous appearances on shows and major networks. She continued working for Arthur Godfrey over the next several months. She also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in February and the television program Western Ranch Party in March. The money she had earned from her numerous engagements totaled out to ten thousand dollars. Cline gave all the money to her mother, which she used to the pay the mortgage on her Winchester house. In August 1957, her debut studio album was issued via Decca Records.
Cline's follow-up singles to "Walkin' After Midnight" did not yield any success. This was partially due to the quality of material chosen for her to record. Cline was dissatisfied with the limited success following "Walkin' After Midnight". Bradley recounted how she often came to him saying, "Hoss, can't you do something? I feel like a prisoner." Around the same time, Cline was fired from her regular slot on Town and Country Jamboree. According to Connie B. Gay, she ran late for shows and "showed up with liquor on her breath". In September 1957, Cline married Charlie Dick and he was soon sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on a military assignment. Cline also gave birth to her first daughter Julie. In hopes of restarting her career, Cline and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
1960–1961: New beginnings and car accident
Cline's professional decisions yielded more positive results by the early 1960s. Upon moving to Nashville, she signed a management deal with Randy Hughes. She originally wished to work with Hubert Long, however, he was busy managing other artists. Instead, she turned her attention to Hughes. With the help of Hughes, she began working steadier jobs. He organized fifty dollar bookings and got her multiple performances on the Grand Ole Opry. In January 1960, Cline officially became a member of the Opry. When she asked general manager Ott Devine about a membership he replied, "Patsy, if that's all you want, you're on the Opry." Also in January 1960, Cline made her final recording sessions set forth in her contract with Four Star Records. Later that year, her final singles with the label were released: "Lovesick Blues" and "Crazy Dreams". Leaving Four Star, Cline officially signed with Decca Records in late 1960, working exclusively under Bradley's direction. Insisting on receiving an advance, she received $1,000 from Bradley once she began at the label.
Her first release under Decca was 1961's "I Fall to Pieces". The song was written by newly established Nashville songwriters Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. "I Fall to Pieces" had first been turned down by Roy Drusky and Brenda Lee before Cline cut it in November 1960. At the recording session, she worried about the song's production, particularly the background vocals performed by The Jordanaires. After much arguing between both Cline and Bradley, they negotiated that she would record "I Fall to Pieces" (a song Bradley favored) and "Lovin' in Vain" (a song she favored). Released as a single in January 1961, "I Fall to Pieces" attracted little attention upon its initial issue. In April, the song debuted on the Hot Country and Western Sides chart. By August 7, the song became her first to top the country chart. Additionally, "I Fall to Pieces" crossed over onto the Billboard Pop chart, peaking at number 12.
On June 14, 1961, Cline and her brother Sam Hensley, Jr. were involved in an automobile accident. Cline had brought her mother, sister and brother to see her new Nashville home the day before. On the day of the accident, Cline and her brother went shopping to buy material for her mother to make clothing. Upon driving home, their car was struck head-on by another vehicle. The impact threw her directly into the car windshield, causing extensive facial injuries. Among her injuries, Cline suffered a broken wrist, dislocated hip and a large cut across her forehead, barely missing her eyes. Friend Dottie West heard about the accident via the radio and rushed to the scene, helping to remove pieces of broken glass from Cline's hair. When first responders arrived, Cline insisted the driver in the other vehicle be treated first. Two of the three passengers riding in the car that struck Cline died after arriving at the hospital. When she was brought to the hospital, her injuries were life-threatening and she was not expected to live. She underwent surgery and survived. According to her husband Charlie Dick, upon waking up she said to him, "Jesus was here, Charlie. Don't worry. He took my hand and told me, 'No, not now. I have other things for you to do.'" She spent a month recovering in the hospital.
1961–1963: Career peak
Cline returned to her career six weeks after her 1961 car accident. Her first public appearance was on the Grand Ole Opry where she assured fans she would continue performing. She said to the audience that night, "You're wonderful. I'll tell you one thing: the greatest gift, I think, that you folks coulda given me was the encouragement that you gave me. Right at the very time I needed you the most, you came through with the flying-est colors. And I just want to say you'll just never know how happy you made this ol' country gal." Cline's follow-up single to "I Fall to Pieces" was the song "Crazy". It was written by Willie Nelson, whose version of the song was first heard by Dick. When Dick brought the song to Cline she did not like it. When Dick encouraged her to record "Crazy", Cline replied, "I don't care what you say. I don't like it and I ain't gonna record it. And that's that." Bradley liked the song and set the date for its recording for August 17. When Cline got to Bradley's studio, he convinced her to record it. She listened to Nelson's version of "Crazy" and decided she was going to perform it differently. Nelson's version included a spoken section that Cline removed. She cut additional material on August 17 and when she got to "Crazy", it became difficult to perform. Because Cline was still recovering from the accident, performing the song's high notes caused rib pain. Giving her time to rest, Bradley sent her home while musicians laid down the track without her. A week later she returned and recorded her vocal in a single take.
"Crazy" was released as a single in October 1961, debuting on the Billboard country charts in November. It would peak at number 2 there and number 9 on the same publication's pop charts. "Crazy" would also become Cline's biggest pop hit. "Crazy" has since been called a country music standard. Cline's vocal performance and the song's production have received positive praise over time. Cub Koda of AllMusic noted the "ache" in her voice that makes the song stand out: "Cline's reading of the lyric is filled with an aching world weariness that transforms the tune into one of the first big crossover hits without even trying hard." Country music historian Paul Kingsbury also highlighted her "ache", saying in 2007, "Cline's hit recording swings with such velvety finesse, and her voice throbs and aches so exquisitely, that the entire production sounds absolutely effortless." Jhoni Jackon of Paste Magazine called the recording "iconic", highlighting the "pain" Cline had in her vocal technique. Her second studio album Patsy Cline Showcase was released in late 1961. The album featured both major hits from that year and re-recorded versions of "Walkin' After Midnight" and "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)".
"Crazy" and Cline's further Decca recordings have received critical praise. Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann noted "Her thrilling voice invariably invested these with new depth. Patsy's dramatic volume control, stretched-note effects, sobs, pauses and unique ways of holding back, then bursting into full-throated phrases also breathed new life into country chestnuts like "San Antonio Rose", "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Half as Much". Richie Unterberger of AllMusic commented that her voice "sounded richer, more confident, and more mature, with ageless wise and vulnerable qualities that have enabled her records to maintain their appeal with subsequent generations." Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide reported that Owen Bradley recognized potential in Cline's and once he gained studio control, he smoothed arrangements and "refine her voice into an instrument of torch-singing glory."
In November 1961, she was invited to perform as part of the Grand Ole Opry's show at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She was joined by Opry stars Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Jim Reeves, Bill Monroe, Marty Robbins, and Faron Young. Despite positive reviews, New York Journal-American columnist Dorothy Kilgallen commented, "everybody should get out of town because the hillbillies are coming!" The comment upset Cline and did not affect ticket sales. The Opry performance would later be sold out. By the end of year, Cline had won several major industry awards including "Favorite Female Vocalist" from Billboard Magazine and Cashbox Magazines "Most Programmed Female Artist". Also in 1961, Cline was back in the studio to record an upcoming album. Among the first songs she recorded was "She's Got You". Written by Hank Cochran, he pitched the song to Cline over the phone. Insisting to hear it in-person, Cochran brought the recording over to her house, along with a bottle of alcohol. Upon listening to it again, she liked the song and wanted to record it. Owen Bradley also liked the song and it was officially recorded on December 17, 1961. "She's Got You" became her third country-pop crossover hit by early 1962. "She's Got You" would also be her second number 1 hit on the Billboard country chart. It was also Cline's first entry in the United Kingdom singles chart, reaching number 43. The cover by Alma Cogan, one of Britain's most popular female artists of the 1950s, performed notably as well.
In 1962, Cline had three major hits with "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Imagine That". Cline's career successes helped her become financially stable enough to purchase her first home. She bought a ranch house located Goodlettsville, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The home was decorated by Cline and included a music room, several bedrooms and a large backyard. According to Dottie West, "the house was her mansion, the sign she'd arrived." Cline called it her "dream home" and often had friends over to visit. After her death, the house was sold to country artist Wilma Burgess. In the summer of 1962, manager Randy Hughes got her a role in a country music vehicle film. It also starred Dottie West, Webb Pierce and Sonny James. After arriving to film in DeLand, Florida, the producer had "ran off with the money", according to West. The movie was never made. In August, her third studio album Sentimentally Yours was released. It featured "She's Got You" as well as several country and pop standards. According to biographer Ellis Nassour, her royalties "were coming in slim" and she needed "financial security". Therefore, Randy Hughes arranged Cline to work at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada for 35 days. Cline would later dislike the experience. During the engagement, she developed a dry throat. She also was homesick and wanted to spend time with her children. By appearing at the engagement, Cline became the first female country artist to headline her own show in Las Vegas.
During this period Cline was said to have experienced premonitions of her own death. Dottie West, June Carter Cash, and Loretta Lynn recalled Cline telling them she felt a sense of impending doom and did not expect to live much longer. In letters, she would also describe the happiness of her new career successes. In January 1963, her next single "Leavin' on Your Mind" was released and debuted on the Billboard country chart soon after. In February, she recorded her final sessions for Decca Records. Among the songs recorded were "Sweet Dreams", "He Called Me Baby", and "Faded Love". Cline arranged for friends Jan Howard and Dottie West to come and hear the session playbacks. According to Howard, "I was in awe of Patsy. You know, afterward you're supposed to say something nice. I couldn't talk. I was dumbfounded."
Personal life
Friendships
Cline had close friendships with several country artists and performers. Her friendship with Loretta Lynn has been the subject of numerous books, songs, films and other projects. The pair first met when Lynn performed "I Fall to Pieces" on the radio shortly after Cline's 1961 car accident. Cline heard the broadcast and sent her husband to pick up Lynn so they could meet. According to Lynn, the pair became close friends "right away". Lynn later described their friendship in detail, "She taught me a lot about show business, like how to go on a stage and how to get off. She even bought me a lot of clothes...She even bought me curtains and drapes for my house because I was too broke to buy them...She was a great human being and a great friend." Lynn also noted they became so close that Cline even gave her underwear. Lynn still has the underwear in storage, saying it was "well-made".
Dottie West was another female country artist with whom Cline became friends. They first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. West wrote Cline a fan letter after hearing her first hit "Walkin' After Midnight". According to West, Cline "showed a genuine interest in her career" and they became close friends. The pair often spent time at their homes and worked on packaged tour dates together. West also stated Cline was a supportive friend who helped out in times of need.
Jan Howard was a third female artist with whom Cline had a close friendship. The pair first met when Cline tried starting an argument with Howard backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. She said to Howard, "You're a conceited little son of a bitch! You just go out there, do your spot, and leave without saying hello to anyone." Howard was upset and replied angrily back. Cline then laughed and said, "Slow down! Hoss, you're all right. Anybody that'll stand there and talk back to the Cline like that is all right...I can tell we're gonna be good friends!" The pair remained close for the remainder of Cline's life. Other friendships Cline had with female artists included Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and pianist Del Wood. She also became friends with male country artists including Roger Miller, who helped Cline find material to record. Faron Young was another male artist whom Cline befriended from working on tour together. While on tour, the pair would spend time together, including a trip to Hawaii where the pair saw a hula show.
Family
Cline's mother Hilda Hensley continued living in Winchester, Virginia following her daughter's death. She rented out the family's childhood home on South Kent Street and lived across the street. Following Cline's death, Hensley briefly spent time raising her two grandchildren in Virginia. Hensley maintained a closet full of her daughter's stage costumes, including a sequined dress Cline wore while performing in Las Vegas in 1962. She worked as a seamstress and made many of her daughter's stage costumes. Hensley died from natural causes in 1998. Cline's father Samuel Hensley died of lung cancer in 1956. Hensley had previously deserted the family in 1947 and shortly before his death, Cline and her mother visited him at a hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. After discovering his current state, Cline said to her mother, "Mama, I know what-all he did, but it seems he's real sick and may not make it. In spite of everything, I want to visit him." Both of Cline's surviving siblings fought in court over their mother's estate. Because of legal fees, many of Cline's possessions were sold at auction.
Cline had two surviving children at the time of her death: Julie Simadore (born 1958) and Allen Randolph "Randy" (born 1961). Julie has been a significant factor in keeping her mother's legacy alive. She has appeared at numerous public appearances in support of her mother's music and career. Following the death of her father in 2015, she helped open a museum dedicated to Cline in Nashville, Tennessee. Julie has few memories of her mother due to Cline's death while she was young. In an interview with People Magazine, Julie discussed her mother's legacy, "I do understand her position in history, and the history of Nashville and country music...I'm still kind of amazed at it myself, because there's 'Mom' and then there's 'Patsy Cline,' and I'm actually a fan."
The present day American female blues, swing, and rock and roll singer, songwriter and record producer, Casey Hensley, is a distant relation of Cline's.
Marriages
Cline was married twice. Her first marriage was to Gerald Cline, on March 7, 1953. His family had owned a contracting and excavating company in Frederick, Maryland. According to Cline's brother Sam, he liked "flashy cars and women." The two met while she was performing with Bill Peer at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland. According to Gerald Cline, "It might not have been love at first sight when Patsy saw me, but it was for me." Gerald Cline often took her to "one-nighters" and other concerts she performed in. Although he enjoyed her performances, he could not get used to her touring and road schedule. Patsy had told a friend during their marriage that she didn't think she "knew what love was" upon marrying Gerald. The pair began living separately by the end of 1956 and divorced in 1957.
Cline married her second husband Charlie Dick on September 15, 1957. The pair met in 1956 while Cline was performing with a local Virginia band. At the time, Dick was a linotype operator for local newspaper, The Winchester Star. According to Dick, he had asked Cline to dance and she replied, "I can't dance while I'm working, okay?" They eventually started spending time together and Cline began telling close friends about their relationship. Cline told Grand Ole Opry pianist Del Wood in 1956, "Hoss, I got some news. I met a boy my own age who's a hurricane in pants! Del, I'm in love, and this time, it's for real." The pair had children Julie and Randy together. Their relationship was considered both romantic and tempestuous. According to Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack, Cline and Dick's marriage was "fueled by alcohol, argument, passion, jealousy, success, tears and laughter." According to biographer Ellis Nassour, the pair fought often but remained together. They had gained a reputation as "heavy drinkers", but according to Dick himself, they were not "drunks". During one particular fight, Cline had Dick arrested after they became physical with one another. Following Cline's death in 1963, Dick married country artist Jamey Ryan in 1965. The pair divorced in the early 1970s after having one child together. Dick helped with keeping Cline's legacy alive for the remainder of his own life. He assisted in producing several documentaries about Cline's career including Remembering Patsy and The Real Patsy Cline. He became involved with Hallway Productions in the 1990s and helped produce videos on other artists including Willie Nelson and The Mamas and the Papas. Dick died in 2015.
Death
On March 3, 1963, Cline performed a benefit at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call; he had died in an automobile crash a little over a month earlier. Also performing in the show were George Jones, George Riddle and The Jones Boys, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, George McCormick, the Clinch Mountain Boys as well as Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Despite having a cold, Cline gave three performances: 2:00, 5:15 and 8:15 pm. All the shows were standing-room only. For the 2 p.m. show, she wore a sky-blue tulle-laden dress; for the 5:15 show a red shocker; and for the closing show at 8 p.m., Cline wore white chiffon. Her final song was the last she had recorded the previous month, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone".
Cline, who had spent the night at the Town House Motor Hotel, was unable to fly out the day after the concert because Fairfax Airport was fogged in. West asked Patsy to ride in the car with her and husband, Bill, back to Nashville, a 16-hour drive, but Cline refused, saying, "Don't worry about me, Hoss. When it's my time to go, it's my time." On March 5, she called her mother from the motel and checked out at 12:30 p.m., going the short distance to the airport and boarding a Piper PA-24 Comanche plane, aircraft registration number N7000P. On board were Cline, Copas, Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes.
The plane stopped once in Rogers, Arkansas to refuel and subsequently landed at Dyersburg Municipal Airport in Dyersburg, Tennessee at 5 p.m. Hawkins had accepted Billy Walker's place after Walker left on a commercial flight to take care of a stricken family member. The Dyersburg, Tennessee, airfield manager suggested that they stay the night because of high winds and inclement weather, offering them free rooms and meals. But Hughes, who was not trained in instrument flying, said "I've already come this far. We'll be there before you know it." The plane took off at 6:07 p.m.
Cline's flight crashed in heavy weather on the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 1963. Her recovered wristwatch had stopped at 6:20 p.m. The plane was found some from its Nashville destination, in a forest outside of Camden, Tennessee. Forensic examination concluded that everyone aboard had been killed instantly. Until the wreckage was discovered the following dawn and reported on the radio, friends and family had not given up hope. Endless calls tied up the local telephone exchanges to such a degree that other emergency calls had trouble getting through. The lights at the destination Cornelia Fort Airpark were kept on throughout the night, as reports of the missing plane were broadcast on radio and TV.
Early in the morning, Roger Miller and a friend went searching for survivors: "As fast as I could, I ran through the woods screaming their names—through the brush and the trees—and I came up over this little rise, oh, my God, there they were. It was ghastly. The plane had crashed nose down." Shortly after the bodies were removed, looters scavenged the area. Some of the items which were recovered were eventually donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Among them were Cline's wristwatch, a Confederate flag cigarette lighter, studded belt and three pairs of gold lamé slippers. Cline's fee in cash from the last performance was never recovered. Per her wishes, Cline's body was brought home for her memorial service, which thousands attended. People jammed against the small tent over her gold casket and the grave to take all the flowers they could reach as keepsakes. She was buried at Shenandoah Memorial Park in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia. Her grave is marked with a bronze plaque, which reads: "Virginia H. Dick ('Patsy Cline' is noted under her name) 'Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love'." A memorial marks the exact place off Mt Carmel Road in Camden, Tennessee, where the plane crashed in the still-remote forest.
Posthumous releases
Music
Since Cline's death, Decca Records (later bought by MCA) has re-released her music which has made her commercially successful posthumously. The Patsy Cline Story was the first compilation album the label released following her death. It included the songs "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" and "Faded Love". Both tracks were released as singles in 1963. "Sweet Dreams" would reach number 5 on the Billboard country charts and 44 on the Hot 100. "Faded Love" would also become a top 10 hit on the Billboard country chart, peaking at number 7 in October 1963. In 1967, Decca released the compilation Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits. The album would not only peak at number 17 on the Billboard country chart, but also certified diamond in sales from the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2005, the Guinness World Book of Records included Greatest Hits for being the longest album on any record chart by any female artist.
Cline's music continued making the charts into the 1980s. Her version of "Always" made the Billboard country chart in 1980. An album of the same was also released in 1980 that peaked within the top 30 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Two overdubbed duets between Cline and Jim Reeves became major hits during this time as well. Following the release of the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), there was renewed interest in Cline's career. Therefore, MCA Records reissued much of Cline's earlier studio and compilation releases. Her 1967 greatest hits album for example was repackaged in 1988 and labeled 12 Greatest Hits. The record reached number 27 on the Top Country Albums list in 1990. The soundtrack for Cline's own film biopic was released concurrently with the movie in 1985. The soundtrack would peak at number 6 on the Billboard country albums chart upon its release.
In 1991, MCA records issued her first box set entitled The Patsy Cline Collection. The album chronicled all of Cline's recorded material for Four Star and Decca Records. The boxed set received positive reviews, notably by Thom Jurek of Allmusic who rated it five out of five stars. Jurek commented, If an artist ever deserved a box set chronicling her entire career, it is Patsy Cline. Having recorded 102 sides between 1955 and her death at the age of 30 in 1963, Cline changed not only country music forever, but affected the world of pop as well. Over four CDs, arranged chronologically, the listener gets treated to a story in the development and maturation of a cultural icon who was at least, in terms of her gift, the equal of her legend. Rolling Stone listed the box set among their "50 Greatest Albums of All-Time". Writer Rob Sheffield called Cline "a badass cowgirl drama queen belts some of the torchiest, weepiest country songs ever, hitting high notes that make you sob into your margarita." The Patsy Cline Collection would reach number 29 on the Billboard country albums chart in January 1992. In 1997, MCA released Live at the Cimarron Ballroom, a rare recording that had recently resurfaced. Jeweler Bill Frazee had originally purchased a tape in 1975 which he discovered included Cline's live recording. The live performance on the record took place in July 1961, following Cline's car accident. She appeared at the Cimarron Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma to give a one-night performance. Included on the record was unreleased live performances and dialog with the audience. The album peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard country albums chart. Cline's former MCA label continues releasing material to this day. Cline is listed among the Recording Industry of America's "Best Selling Artists" with a total of over 14 million records sold to date.
Film and television
Cline has been portrayed on film and television several times since the 1980s. The Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) renewed interest in her life and career. Cline and Lynn's friendship was portrayed in the 1980 film. Actress Beverly D'Angelo played Cline in the movie and did her own singing of Cline's original material. D'Angelo earned a Golden Globe award nomination for her role. In an interview D'Angelo did for a 2017 PBS documentary, playing the role of Patsy Cline "had a profound impact" on her life and career.
In 1985, a feature film about Cline's life was released entitled Sweet Dreams. The film starred Jessica Lange as Cline and Ed Harris as husband Charlie Dick. Originally, Meryl Streep auditioned for Cline's role but ultimately lost to Lange. The film was produced by Bernard Schwartz, who also produced Coal Miner's Daughter. Original ideas called for scenes between Cline and Lynn, however they were ultimately removed from the final script. The film has been criticized for its lack of accuracy to Cline's own life and its musical production. Kurt Wolff wrote, "the soundtrack, however, featured overdubbed versions of Cline's material – better to stick with the originals." Mark Deming of Allmovie only gave the release two out of five stars. Deming commented, "While it's a wise approach to show how her turbulent marriage paralleled her crossover to Countrypolitan ballads, the melodrama tends to overshadow the celebrity story by relegating her rise to stardom to the background. Due to the historically dubious concerts at carnivals and fairgrounds, it appears as though she wasn't as big a star as she actually was." Deming did praise Lange's performance saying she created a "cheerful and spirited" depiction of Cline. Roger Ebert gave it two stars in his original 1985 review. Ebert said, "There isn't the sense of a well-shaped structure in this movie; there's no clear idea of what the filmmakers thought about Patsy Cline, or what thoughts her life is supposed to inspire." Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Cline.
Cline was also portrayed in television films. In 1995, a film about the life and career of Cline's friend Dottie West debuted on CBS titled, Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. It included several scenes that showcased West's friendship with Cline. Actress Tere Myers played her in the television movie. Deborah Wilker of the Sun-Sentinel called her performance "terrific" and authentic.
Lifetime aired an original television film Patsy & Loretta in October 2019 on the network. It chronicles Cline's friendship with Loretta Lynn. Cline is portrayed by Megan Hilty and Lynn by Jessie Mueller. The film is directed by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri. The trailer for the movie was released in July 2019. Patsy & Loretta was filmed on location in Nashville, Tennessee and is co-produced by Lynn's daughter and Cline's daughter, Julie Fudge.
There have been several documentaries made about Cline's life and career. The first was a 1989 documentary entitled The Real Patsy Cline which featured interviews with friends and fellow artists. This included Carl Perkins and Willie Nelson. Another documentary was filmed in 1994 entitled Remembering Patsy. The show was hosted by country artist Michelle Wright, who read letters Cline wrote to friends and family. It included interviews with several artists such as Roy Clark, George Jones and Trisha Yearwood. Both documentaries were produced by Cline's widower Charlie Dick. In March 2017, PBS released a documentary on Cline as part of their American Masters series. The film was narrated by Rosanne Cash and featured interviews with fans of Cline. These interviews included Beverly D'Angelo and Reba McEntire. It also included rare performances of songs such as "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Walkin' After Midnight".
Plays and musicals
Cline's life and career has also been re-created in the theater sector. In 1988, the show Always...Patsy Cline premiered. The show was created by Ted Swindley who derived it from a friendship Cline had with Texas resident Louise Seger. The pair met while Cline was performing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, Texas. Seger brought Cline home following the show and they spent the night together. The pair would remain in contact through letters before Cline's death. Much of the script relied from letters exchanged between the two during the course of several years. Seger acts as the show's narrator and revisits memories she shared with Cline through their letter exchanges. Among the show's original performers was Mandy Barnett, who debuted the show at the Ryman Auditorium in 1994. Barnett would go on to have a music and performing career. A second musical was later released in 1991 titled A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. The show was written by Dean Regan and has been called a "musical retelling" of Cline's career.
Artistry
Influences
Cline was influenced by various music artists. Among her earliest influences were pop singers of the 1940s and 1950s. These included Kay Starr, Helen Morgan, Patti Page, and Kate Smith. Patti Page recollected that Cline's husband said to her, "I just wish Patsy could have met you because she just adored you and listened to you all the time and wanted to be like you." Among her primary influences was Kay Starr, of whom Cline was a "fervent devotee" according to The Washington Post. Jack Hurst of the Chicago Tribune remarked that "Her rich, powerful voice, obviously influenced by that of pop's Kay Starr, has continued and perhaps even grown in popularity over the decades." Cline was also attracted to country music radio programs, notably the Grand Ole Opry. According to Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann, Cline became "obsessed" with the program at a young age. Cline's mother Hilda Hensley commented on her daughter's admiration, "I know she never wanted anything so badly as to be a star on the Grand Ole Opry..." Among performers from the program she admired was Patsy Montana. Cline was also influenced by other types of performers including early rockabilly artist Charline Arthur.
Voice and style
Cline possessed a contralto voice. Time magazine writer Richard Corliss called her voice "bold". Her voice has also been praised for its display of emotion. Kurt Wolff called it one of the most "emotionally expressive voices in modern country music". Tony Gabrielle of the Daily Press wrote that Cline had "a voice of tremendous emotional power." Cline was at times taken by her own emotion. Husband Charlie Dick recounted that Cline's producer Owen Bradley told him to leave a recording session because she was very emotional and he didn't want to disturb the mood. Cline was once quoted in describing the emotion she felt, saying, "Oh Lord, I sing just like I hurt inside."
During her early career, Cline recorded in styles such as gospel, rockabilly, and honky-tonk. These styles she cut for Four Star Records have been considered below the quality of her later work for Decca Records. Steve Leggett of Allmusic commented, Her recordings prior to 1960, though, were something else again, and with the exception of 1956's "Walkin' After Midnight" and perhaps one or two other songs, she seemed reined in and stifled as a singer, even though she was working with the same producer, Owen Bradley, who was to produce her 1960s successes. Oh the difference a song makes, because in the end the material she recorded between 1955 and 1960 – all of which is collected on these two discs – was simply too weak for Cline to turn into anything resembling gold, even with her obvious vocal skills.
Cline's style has been largely associated with the Nashville Sound, a sub-genre of country music that linked traditional lyrics with orchestrated pop music styles. This new sound helped many of her singles to crossover onto the Billboard Hot 100 and gain a larger audience that did not always hear country music. Her producer Owen Bradley built this sound onto her Decca recordings, sensing a potential in her voice that went beyond traditional country music. At first, she resisted the pop-sounding style, but was ultimately convinced to record in this new style. Stephen M. Desuner of Pitchfork explained that Cline has been an identifiable factor with the Nashville Sound: "She essentially rewrote their songs simply by singing them, elevating their words and wringing every one of their rhymes for maximum dramatic potential." Mark Deming of Allmusic commented, "Cline and Bradley didn't invent "countrypolitan," but precious few artists managed to meld the sophistication of pop and the emotional honesty of country as brilliantly as this music accomplishes with seemingly effortless grace, and these songs still sound fresh and brilliantly crafted decades after the fact."
Image
Cline's public image changed during the course of her career. She began her career wearing cowgirl dresses and hats designed by her mother. However, as her music crossed over into pop, she began wearing sequined gowns and cocktail dresses. While she would often wear cowgirl costumes for live performances, she would also wear evening dresses for television and metropolitan performances. For her 1957 performance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, the show's producer insisted that Cline wear an evening dress instead of the fringed cowgirl attire she had intended to wear. Her 1962 engagement at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas represented this particular image shift. For one of her performances, Cline wore a sequined cocktail dress designed by her mother.
Cline has also been seen as a pioneer for women in country music. She has been cited as an inspiration by many performers in diverse styles of music. Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide said that Cline had an "aggression" and "boisterous attitude" that gained her the respect of her male counterparts. Wolff explained, "She swaggered her way past stereotypes and other forces of resistance, showing the men in charge – and the public in general – that women were more than capable of singing about such hard subjects as divorce and drinking as well as love and understanding. Sean O'Hagan of The Guardian commented that along with Minnie Pearl, Jean Shepard and Kitty Wells, Cline helped prove that country music was not "macho" and that "strong women" could have a "strong voice". In 2013, The Washington Post wrote, "she was what I call a pre-feminist woman. She didn't open doors; she kicked them down." Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann wrote in 2003 that Cline "transformed what it meant to be a female country star".
Legacy
Cline has been cited in both country and pop music as of one of the greatest vocalists of all-time. Her voice has also been called "haunting", "powerful", and "emotional". Cline's emotional expression and delivery of lyrics helped influence various musical genres and artists. With the support of producer Owen Bradley, Cline has been said to "help define" the Nashville Sound style of country music. While the subgenre has received mixed opinions, it has also been said to be a significant part of country music's "authenticity", with Cline being the center focal point of the subgenre. Other artists have noted her impact, including LeAnn Rimes who stated, "I remember my dad telling me to listen to the way she told a story... I remember feeling more emotion when she sang than anyone else I had ever heard." Lucinda Williams commented on Cline's vocal talent in helping define her legacy, stating, "Even though her style is considered country, her delivery is more like a classic pop singer... That's what set her apart from Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette. You'd almost think she was classically trained."
Cline has been a major influence on various music artists including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, k.d. lang, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, Dottie West, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Cyndi Lauper, Trixie Mattel and Brandi Carlile. Dottie West (also a close friend of Cline's) spoke about her influence on her own career, "I think I was most influenced by Patsy Cline, she said things for people. There was so much feeling in there. In fact, she told me, 'Hoss, if you can't do it with feeling, don't'". In 2019, Sara Evans discussed how Cline has been an influence since she was a young girl, "I learned everything I could learn about her. I tried to mimic her singing to the ‘t’. We grew up singing in bars — my brothers, sisters and I — from the time I was really little. So I started covering every Patsy Cline song. Then when I first got my record deal I came to Winchester to visit a radio station to try to get them to play my song Three Chords and the Truth."
In 1973, Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. With the induction, she became the first solo female artist to be included. In 1977, Cline's friend and mentee Loretta Lynn released a tribute album entitled I Remember Patsy. The record contained covers of Cline's songs, including "Back in Baby's Arms" and "Crazy". The album's lead single was "She's Got You", which would reach the number 1 spot on the Billboard country chart in 1977. In 1995, Cline received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her legacy and career. Additionally, her hits "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy" received inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Cline was included on United States postal stamps as part of their "Legends" series. Other country artists that were included on stamp series were The Carter Family, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills. The stamps were dedicated in an official ceremony at the Grand Ole Opry by Postmaster General Marvin Runyon. In August 1999, Cline received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony was attended by her widower Charlie Dick and daughter Julie Fudge. During the 1990s, two of her songs were voted among the "Greatest Juke Box Hits of All-Time". "Crazy" was voted as the number 1 greatest, along with "I Fall to Pieces" ranking at number 17.
Since the late 1990s, she received additional rankings and honors. In 1999, Cline was ranked at number 11 among VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll". In 2003, she was included by Country Music Television on their list of the "40 Greatest Women of Country Music". In 2010, Cline ranked at number 46 on Rolling Stones list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All-Time". The magazine would rank her on their 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Country Artists of All-Time", where she placed at number 12.
Forty years after her death, MCA Nashville released a tribute album entitled Remembering Patsy Cline (2003). A television special also followed around the same time. The album consisted of cover versions of songs taken from Cline's 1967 greatest hits album. It included songs covered by country artists such as Terri Clark and Martina McBride. It also featured artists from other genres such as Michelle Branch, Diana Krall and Patti Griffin.
Cline's hometown of Winchester, Virginia has helped honor her legacy and career. In 1987, the local government approved the placing of markers within the town denoting it as the birthplace of Cline. The same year, a bell tower was erected in her burial location at Shenandoah Memorial Park. The bell tower cost thirty five thousand dollars and was partially funded by Cline's friends Jan Howard and Loretta Lynn. In 2005, Cline's childhood home was given an official on-site marker and included on the National Register of Historic Places. With the development of an organization entitled Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., renovations began on Cline's childhood home. In August 2011, the Patsy Cline House officially opened as a historic home for tours. In almost three months, about three thousand people visited the home. The home was restored to the era in which Cline lived in it during the 1950s with her mother and siblings. Replicas of furniture and stage clothes are also included. Daughter Julie Fudge spoke of the house in 2011, stating, “I think when you go into the house, you will kind of feel like this is a snapshot of what it would have been like to visit when Mom lived there.”
In 2017, the Patsy Cline Museum opened in Nashville, Tennessee, located at 119 3rd Ave. S., on the second floor in the same building as the Johnny Cash Museum. The museum includes Cline's actual stage costumes, as well as her original scrapbook and record albums. The Patsy Cline Museum features other artifacts, such as the soda fountain machine from Gaunt's Drug Store, where Cline worked as a teenager. Original letters that Cline wrote to friends are also included as part of the museum.
Discography
Studio albums
1957: Patsy Cline
1961: Patsy Cline Showcase
1962: Sentimentally Yours
Posthumous studio albums
1964: A Portrait of Patsy Cline
1964: That's How a Heartache Begins
1980: Always
References
Footnotes
Books
Further reading
Bego, Mark. I Fall to Pieces: The Music and the Life of Patsy Cline. Adams Media Corporation.
Hazen, Cindy and Mike Freeman. Love Always, Patsy. The Berkley Publishing Group.
Jones, Margaret (1998). "Patsy Cline". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–9.
Gomery, Douglas Patsy Cline: The Making of an Icon. Trafford Publishing.
External links
Celebrating Patsy Cline an official organization sponsoring several projects
Patsy Cline Home and Museum located in Winchester, Virginia
Patsy Cline recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
The Patsy Cline Plane Crash
1932 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century women composers
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American contraltos
American country singer-songwriters
American women composers
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women singer-songwriters
American rockabilly musicians
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Country musicians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Virginia
Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
Deaths in Tennessee
Decca Records artists
Four Star Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Grand Ole Opry members
People from Goodlettsville, Tennessee
People from Winchester, Virginia
Rock and roll musicians
Singer-songwriters from Virginia
Torch singers
Traditional pop music singers
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee | false | [
"Soda jerk (or soda jerker) is an American term used to refer to a person — typically a young man — who would operate the soda fountain in a drugstore, preparing and serving soda drinks and ice cream sodas. The drinks were made by mixing flavored syrup, carbonated water, and occasionally malt powder over either ice or a few scoops of ice cream. The drink would then be served in a tall glass with a long-handled spoon, most commonly known as a \"soda spoon\", and drinking straws.\n\nSoda jerks were relatively common in the United States from the 1920s until the late 1950s; the occupation essentially no longer exists, due to economic and social trends.\n\nOrigin of term\n \nThe term soda jerk was a pun on soda clerk, the formal job title of the drugstore assistants who operated soda fountains. It was inspired by the \"jerking\" action the server would implement to drive the fountain handle back and forth when adding soda. The soda fountain spigot itself was typically a sturdy, shiny fixture attached at the end of a pipe which protruded over the counter and curved down at the end for filling glasses. Since most drinks required carbonated water, the tap handle was built large to accommodate frequent use of the fountain.\n\nHistory\nThe practice of operating a soda fountain in a drugstore reached its peak popularity in the 1940s but was popular from the '20s through the '50s. The position was coveted, and was commonly only awarded after protracted menial labor in the store. Soda jerking was dominated by popular young men with loud personalities and good people skills because of the popular environment and \"cool\" association. These boys who worked at the shops were expected to serve the drinks and also socialize and entertain the guests.\n\nMichael Karl Witzel describes an archetypal soda jerk as \"[a] consummate showman, innovator and freelance linguist ... the pop culture star of the Gilded Age\".\n\nThe proliferation of ice cream parlors declined as drive-ins and walk-up fast food stands grew in popularity, and grill and fry cooks replaced soda jerks. Some modern theme diners are styled after establishments in the 1950s and include a soda jerk, along with retro jukeboxes and booth seating.\n\nGenerally, soda jerks wore iconic white paper or cloth caps called \"soda jerk caps\", button-up shirts with a bow tie and an apron as their uniform.\n\nLingo \nSoda jerks were known for having their own lingo for how their drinks were made. They created nicknames for different drinks. For example, they called a glass of milk \"baby\" and a strawberry milkshake \"in the hay\". A Coca-Cola with ice was called \"scratch one\". They also had lingo to express how they wanted their drink to be served. Coffee, or \"draw one\" would be served strong if called \"draw one from the south\". If a drink was ordered with extra ice it was \"heavy on the hail\".\n\nSome of these terms are still used today. Egg creams, the shorthand for a chocolate soda with some milk, are served in many places and are especially known in New York where they originated.\n\nAnother term from soda jerk lingo that remains in use is \"concrete,\" a name for a super thick milkshake or custard. For example, Culver's continues to serve their famous Concrete Mixers.\n\nSee also\n\n Barista\n Bartender\n Lunch counter\n Milk bar\n Milkshake\n Coffeehouse\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Albright, Andrea. \"Longtime soda jerk closes up shop\", The Topeka Capital-Journal, July 9, 2000.\n\nCultural history of the United States\nObsolete occupations\nFood services occupations",
"An iced tea spoon, also called a soda spoon or a latte spoon, is a thin spoon with a very long handle. It is used primarily in the United States, for stirring sugar or other sweeteners into iced tea, which is traditionally served in a tall glass. This is why the spoon has a very long handle.\n\nOriginally known as a parfait spoon, it is also commonly used for eating ice cream, especially floats and sundaes. As these desserts are usually served in tall glasses, regular teaspoons or dessert spoons become inconvenient choices due to their limited reach.\n\nSee also\n List of types of spoons\n Bar spoon\n Demitasse spoon\n Soda jerk\n\nReferences\n\nSpoons\nTeaware\nCuisine of the Southern United States"
] |
[
"Patsy Cline",
"Early years",
"What were patsy's early years like",
"The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16.",
"What school did she attend?",
"Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk",
"What is a soda jerk?",
"I don't know."
] | C_b40d68fe4a1946b280e019709405a608_1 | Did she go to college | 4 | Did Patsy Cline go to college? | Patsy Cline | Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia, in the city's Memorial Hospital. She was the eldest child of seamstress Hilda Virginia (nee Patterson, 1916-1998) and blacksmith Samuel Lawrence Hensley (1889-1956). She had a brother Samuel Jr. (1939-2004) and a sister Sylvia. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16. Sam Hensley deserted his family in 1947, but the children's home was reportedly happy nonetheless. When Patsy was 13, she was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. She later said, "The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith." Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk at Gaunt's Drug Store and a waitress at the Triangle Diner. She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing on his show. Her performance in 1947 was well received and she was asked back. This led to appearances at local nightclubs wearing fringed Western outfits that her mother made from Patsy's designs. Cline performed in variety and talent shows in the Winchester and Tri-State areas, and she gained a large following through the shows and local radio appearances. Jimmy Dean was already a country star in 1954, and she became a regular with him on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Jamboree radio show on WAVA (AM) in Arlington County, Virginia. CANNOTANSWER | She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing | Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Cline's first professional performances began at the local WINC radio station when she was fifteen. In the early 1950s, Cline began appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. It also led to the signing of her first recording contract with the Four Star label in 1954. She had minor success with her earliest Four Star singles including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957 however, Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnight", the single would become her first major hit on both the country and pop charts.
Cline's further singles with Four Star Records were unsuccessful, although she continued performing and recording. After marrying in 1957 and giving birth in 1958, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to further her career. Working with new manager Randy Hughes, Cline would become a member of the Grand Ole Opry and then move to Decca Records in 1960. Under the direction of producer Owen Bradley, her musical sound shifted and she achieved consistent success. The 1961 single "I Fall to Pieces" would become her first to top the Billboard country chart. As the song became a hit, Cline was severely injured in an automobile accident, which caused her to spend a month in the hospital. After she recovered, her next single release "Crazy" would also become a major hit.
Between 1962 and 1963, Cline had hits with "She's Got You", "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Leavin' on Your Mind". She also toured and headlined shows with more frequency. In March 1963, Cline was killed in a plane crash along with country performers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Kansas back to Nashville.
Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected and influential performers of the 20th century. Her music has influenced performers of various styles and genres. She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts. In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, Cline's posthumous successes continued in the mass media. She was portrayed twice in major motion pictures, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange. Several documentaries and stage shows were released during this time, including the 1988 musical Always...Patsy Cline. A 1991 box set of her recordings was issued that received critical acclaim. Her greatest hits album sold over 10 million copies in 2005. In 2011, Cline's childhood home was restored as a museum for visitors and fans to tour. In 2017, Cline’s Dream Home in Nashville, TN was placed on the Tennessee Historical Markers List by the Patsy Cline Fan Home Owners, Steven Shirey and Thomas Corritore.
Early life
Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932, to Hilda Virginia (née Patterson; 1916–1998) and Samuel Lawerence Hensley (1889–1956). Mrs. Hensley was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Sam Hensley had been married before; Cline had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15) that lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, Hilda Hensley would also have Samuel Jr. (called John) and Sylvia Mae. Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was also referred to as "Ginny". She temporarily lived with her mother's family in Gore, Virginia before relocating many times throughout the state. In her childhood, the family relocated where Samuel Hensley, a blacksmith, could find employment, including Elkton, Staunton, and Norfolk. When the family had little money, she would find work. This included an Elkton poultry factory, where her job was to pluck and cut chickens. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia on South Kent Street. Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her. When confiding about the abuse to friend Loretta Lynn, Cline told her, "take this to your grave". Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams.
At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. Speaking of the incident in 1957 she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's." It was during this time she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events. She also taught herself how to play the piano.
With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing only grew further and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances began at WINC in the Winchester area. According to WINC's radio disc jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy, Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition. McCoy was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you." While also performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer Helen Morgan.
Cline's mother and father had marital conflicts during her childhood and by 1947, her father deserted the family. Author Ellis Nassour of the biography Honky Tonk Angel: An Intimate Story of Patsy Cline reported Cline had a "beautiful relationship" with her mother. In his interviews with Hilda Hensley, he quoted Cline's mother in saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child. Upon entering the ninth grade, Cline enrolled at John Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia. However, the family had trouble sustaining an income after her father's desertion. Therefore, Cline dropped out of high school to help support the family. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and soda jerk.
Career
1948–1953: Early career
At age 15, Cline wrote a letter to the Grand Ole Opry asking for an audition. She told local photographer Ralph Grubbs about the letter, "A friend thinks I'm crazy to send it. What do you think?" Grubbs encouraged Cline to send it. Several weeks later, she received a return letter from the Opry asking for pictures and recordings. At the same time, Gospel performer Wally Fowler headlined a concert in her hometown. Cline convinced concert employees to let her backstage where she asked Fowler for an audition. Following a successful audition, Cline's family received a call asking for her to audition for the Opry. She traveled with her mother, two siblings, and a family friend on an eight-hour journey to Nashville, Tennessee. With limited finances, they drove overnight and slept in a Nashville park the following morning. Cline auditioned for Opry performer Moon Mullican the same day. The audition was well-received and Cline expected to hear from the Opry the same day. However, she never received news and the family returned to Virginia.
By the early 1950s, Cline continued performing around the local area. In 1952, she asked to audition for local country bandleader Bill Peer. Following her audition, she began performing regularly as a member of Bill Peer's Melody Boys and Girls. The pair's relationship turned romantic, continuing an affair for several years. Nonetheless, the pair remained married to their spouses. Peer's group played primarily at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland where she would meet her first husband, Gerald Cline. Peer encouraged her to have a more appropriate stage name. She changed her first name from Virginia to Patsy (taken from her middle name "Patterson"). She kept her new last name, Cline. Ultimately, she became professionally known as "Patsy Cline".
In August 1953, Cline was a contestant in a local country music contest. She won 100 dollars and the opportunity to perform as a regular on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Time. The show included country stars Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV and Billy Grammer, and was filmed in Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. She was not officially added to the program's television shows until October 1955. Cline's television performances received critical acclaim. The Washington Star magazine praised her stage presence, commenting, "She creates the moods through movement of her hands and body and by the lilt of her voice, reaching way down deep in her soul to bring forth the melody. Most female country music vocalists stand motionless, sing with monotonous high-pitched nasal twang. Patsy's come up with a throaty style loaded with motion and E-motion."
1954–1960: Four Star Records
In 1954, Bill Peer created and distributed a series of demonstration tapes with Cline's voice on it. A tape was brought to the attention of Bill McCall, president of Four Star Records. On September 30, 1954, she signed a two-year recording contract with the label alongside Peer and her husband Gerald Cline. The original contract allowed Four Star to receive most of the money for the songs she recorded. Therefore, Cline received little of the royalties from the label, totaling out to 2.34 percent on her recording contract. Her first recording session took place in Nashville, Tennessee on January 5, 1955. Songs for the session were handpicked by McCall and Paul Cohen. Four Star leased the recordings to the larger Decca Records. For those reasons Owen Bradley was chosen as the session's producer, a professional relationship that would continue into the 1960s. Her first single release was 1955's "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye". Although Cline promoted it with an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry the song was not successful.
Cline recorded a variety of musical styles while recording for Four Star. This included genres such as gospel, rockabilly, traditional country and pop. Writers and music journalists have had mixed beliefs on Cline's Four Star material. Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack of Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music called the label's choice of material "mediocre". They also commented that Cline seemed to have "groped for her own sound on the label". Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide commented that the music was "sturdy enough, but they only hinted at the potential that lurked inside her. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic claimed it was Cline's voice that made the Four Star material less appealing: "Circumstances were not wholly to blame for Cline's commercial failures. She would have never made it as a rockabilly singer, lacking the conviction of Wanda Jackson or the spunk of Brenda Lee. In fact, in comparison with her best work, she sounds rather stiff and ill-at-ease on most of her early singles."
Between 1955 and 1956, Cline's four singles for Four Star failed to become hits. However, she continued performing regionally, including on the Town and Country Jamboree. In 1956, she appeared on ABC's Country Music Jubilee, Ozark Jubilee. It was at one of her local performances that she met her second husband, Charlie Dick. In 1956, Cline received a call to perform on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a national television show she had auditioned for several months prior. She accepted the offer, using her mother Hilda Hensley as her talent scout for the show. According to the show's rules, talent scouts could not be family members. For those reasons, Cline's mother lied in order to appear on the show. When Arthur Godfrey asked if Hensley had known Cline her entire life, she replied, "Yes, just about!"
Cline and Mrs. Hensley flew into LaGuardia Airport in New York City on January 18, 1957. She made her debut appearance on the program on January 21. The day of the show, she met with the show's producer Janette Davis. Cline had chosen "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" to perform on the program, but Davis preferred another song she had recorded, "Walkin' After Midnight". Cline initially refused to perform it, but ultimately agreed to it. Davis also suggested Cline wear a cocktail dress instead of the cowgirl outfit created by her mother. She performed "Walkin' After Midnight" and won the program's contest that night. The song had not yet been released as a single. In order to keep up with public demand, Decca Records rush-released the song as a single on February 11. The song ultimately became Cline's breakthrough hit, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. The song also reached number 12 on the Billboard pop music chart. The song has since been considered a classic in country music since its release.
Music critics and writers have positively praised "Walkin' After Midnight". Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann called the song "bluesy". Richie Unterberger noted "it's well-suited for the almost bemused aura of loneliness of the lyric." The success of "Walkin' After Midnight" brought Cline numerous appearances on shows and major networks. She continued working for Arthur Godfrey over the next several months. She also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in February and the television program Western Ranch Party in March. The money she had earned from her numerous engagements totaled out to ten thousand dollars. Cline gave all the money to her mother, which she used to the pay the mortgage on her Winchester house. In August 1957, her debut studio album was issued via Decca Records.
Cline's follow-up singles to "Walkin' After Midnight" did not yield any success. This was partially due to the quality of material chosen for her to record. Cline was dissatisfied with the limited success following "Walkin' After Midnight". Bradley recounted how she often came to him saying, "Hoss, can't you do something? I feel like a prisoner." Around the same time, Cline was fired from her regular slot on Town and Country Jamboree. According to Connie B. Gay, she ran late for shows and "showed up with liquor on her breath". In September 1957, Cline married Charlie Dick and he was soon sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on a military assignment. Cline also gave birth to her first daughter Julie. In hopes of restarting her career, Cline and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
1960–1961: New beginnings and car accident
Cline's professional decisions yielded more positive results by the early 1960s. Upon moving to Nashville, she signed a management deal with Randy Hughes. She originally wished to work with Hubert Long, however, he was busy managing other artists. Instead, she turned her attention to Hughes. With the help of Hughes, she began working steadier jobs. He organized fifty dollar bookings and got her multiple performances on the Grand Ole Opry. In January 1960, Cline officially became a member of the Opry. When she asked general manager Ott Devine about a membership he replied, "Patsy, if that's all you want, you're on the Opry." Also in January 1960, Cline made her final recording sessions set forth in her contract with Four Star Records. Later that year, her final singles with the label were released: "Lovesick Blues" and "Crazy Dreams". Leaving Four Star, Cline officially signed with Decca Records in late 1960, working exclusively under Bradley's direction. Insisting on receiving an advance, she received $1,000 from Bradley once she began at the label.
Her first release under Decca was 1961's "I Fall to Pieces". The song was written by newly established Nashville songwriters Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. "I Fall to Pieces" had first been turned down by Roy Drusky and Brenda Lee before Cline cut it in November 1960. At the recording session, she worried about the song's production, particularly the background vocals performed by The Jordanaires. After much arguing between both Cline and Bradley, they negotiated that she would record "I Fall to Pieces" (a song Bradley favored) and "Lovin' in Vain" (a song she favored). Released as a single in January 1961, "I Fall to Pieces" attracted little attention upon its initial issue. In April, the song debuted on the Hot Country and Western Sides chart. By August 7, the song became her first to top the country chart. Additionally, "I Fall to Pieces" crossed over onto the Billboard Pop chart, peaking at number 12.
On June 14, 1961, Cline and her brother Sam Hensley, Jr. were involved in an automobile accident. Cline had brought her mother, sister and brother to see her new Nashville home the day before. On the day of the accident, Cline and her brother went shopping to buy material for her mother to make clothing. Upon driving home, their car was struck head-on by another vehicle. The impact threw her directly into the car windshield, causing extensive facial injuries. Among her injuries, Cline suffered a broken wrist, dislocated hip and a large cut across her forehead, barely missing her eyes. Friend Dottie West heard about the accident via the radio and rushed to the scene, helping to remove pieces of broken glass from Cline's hair. When first responders arrived, Cline insisted the driver in the other vehicle be treated first. Two of the three passengers riding in the car that struck Cline died after arriving at the hospital. When she was brought to the hospital, her injuries were life-threatening and she was not expected to live. She underwent surgery and survived. According to her husband Charlie Dick, upon waking up she said to him, "Jesus was here, Charlie. Don't worry. He took my hand and told me, 'No, not now. I have other things for you to do.'" She spent a month recovering in the hospital.
1961–1963: Career peak
Cline returned to her career six weeks after her 1961 car accident. Her first public appearance was on the Grand Ole Opry where she assured fans she would continue performing. She said to the audience that night, "You're wonderful. I'll tell you one thing: the greatest gift, I think, that you folks coulda given me was the encouragement that you gave me. Right at the very time I needed you the most, you came through with the flying-est colors. And I just want to say you'll just never know how happy you made this ol' country gal." Cline's follow-up single to "I Fall to Pieces" was the song "Crazy". It was written by Willie Nelson, whose version of the song was first heard by Dick. When Dick brought the song to Cline she did not like it. When Dick encouraged her to record "Crazy", Cline replied, "I don't care what you say. I don't like it and I ain't gonna record it. And that's that." Bradley liked the song and set the date for its recording for August 17. When Cline got to Bradley's studio, he convinced her to record it. She listened to Nelson's version of "Crazy" and decided she was going to perform it differently. Nelson's version included a spoken section that Cline removed. She cut additional material on August 17 and when she got to "Crazy", it became difficult to perform. Because Cline was still recovering from the accident, performing the song's high notes caused rib pain. Giving her time to rest, Bradley sent her home while musicians laid down the track without her. A week later she returned and recorded her vocal in a single take.
"Crazy" was released as a single in October 1961, debuting on the Billboard country charts in November. It would peak at number 2 there and number 9 on the same publication's pop charts. "Crazy" would also become Cline's biggest pop hit. "Crazy" has since been called a country music standard. Cline's vocal performance and the song's production have received positive praise over time. Cub Koda of AllMusic noted the "ache" in her voice that makes the song stand out: "Cline's reading of the lyric is filled with an aching world weariness that transforms the tune into one of the first big crossover hits without even trying hard." Country music historian Paul Kingsbury also highlighted her "ache", saying in 2007, "Cline's hit recording swings with such velvety finesse, and her voice throbs and aches so exquisitely, that the entire production sounds absolutely effortless." Jhoni Jackon of Paste Magazine called the recording "iconic", highlighting the "pain" Cline had in her vocal technique. Her second studio album Patsy Cline Showcase was released in late 1961. The album featured both major hits from that year and re-recorded versions of "Walkin' After Midnight" and "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)".
"Crazy" and Cline's further Decca recordings have received critical praise. Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann noted "Her thrilling voice invariably invested these with new depth. Patsy's dramatic volume control, stretched-note effects, sobs, pauses and unique ways of holding back, then bursting into full-throated phrases also breathed new life into country chestnuts like "San Antonio Rose", "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Half as Much". Richie Unterberger of AllMusic commented that her voice "sounded richer, more confident, and more mature, with ageless wise and vulnerable qualities that have enabled her records to maintain their appeal with subsequent generations." Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide reported that Owen Bradley recognized potential in Cline's and once he gained studio control, he smoothed arrangements and "refine her voice into an instrument of torch-singing glory."
In November 1961, she was invited to perform as part of the Grand Ole Opry's show at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She was joined by Opry stars Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Jim Reeves, Bill Monroe, Marty Robbins, and Faron Young. Despite positive reviews, New York Journal-American columnist Dorothy Kilgallen commented, "everybody should get out of town because the hillbillies are coming!" The comment upset Cline and did not affect ticket sales. The Opry performance would later be sold out. By the end of year, Cline had won several major industry awards including "Favorite Female Vocalist" from Billboard Magazine and Cashbox Magazines "Most Programmed Female Artist". Also in 1961, Cline was back in the studio to record an upcoming album. Among the first songs she recorded was "She's Got You". Written by Hank Cochran, he pitched the song to Cline over the phone. Insisting to hear it in-person, Cochran brought the recording over to her house, along with a bottle of alcohol. Upon listening to it again, she liked the song and wanted to record it. Owen Bradley also liked the song and it was officially recorded on December 17, 1961. "She's Got You" became her third country-pop crossover hit by early 1962. "She's Got You" would also be her second number 1 hit on the Billboard country chart. It was also Cline's first entry in the United Kingdom singles chart, reaching number 43. The cover by Alma Cogan, one of Britain's most popular female artists of the 1950s, performed notably as well.
In 1962, Cline had three major hits with "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Imagine That". Cline's career successes helped her become financially stable enough to purchase her first home. She bought a ranch house located Goodlettsville, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The home was decorated by Cline and included a music room, several bedrooms and a large backyard. According to Dottie West, "the house was her mansion, the sign she'd arrived." Cline called it her "dream home" and often had friends over to visit. After her death, the house was sold to country artist Wilma Burgess. In the summer of 1962, manager Randy Hughes got her a role in a country music vehicle film. It also starred Dottie West, Webb Pierce and Sonny James. After arriving to film in DeLand, Florida, the producer had "ran off with the money", according to West. The movie was never made. In August, her third studio album Sentimentally Yours was released. It featured "She's Got You" as well as several country and pop standards. According to biographer Ellis Nassour, her royalties "were coming in slim" and she needed "financial security". Therefore, Randy Hughes arranged Cline to work at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada for 35 days. Cline would later dislike the experience. During the engagement, she developed a dry throat. She also was homesick and wanted to spend time with her children. By appearing at the engagement, Cline became the first female country artist to headline her own show in Las Vegas.
During this period Cline was said to have experienced premonitions of her own death. Dottie West, June Carter Cash, and Loretta Lynn recalled Cline telling them she felt a sense of impending doom and did not expect to live much longer. In letters, she would also describe the happiness of her new career successes. In January 1963, her next single "Leavin' on Your Mind" was released and debuted on the Billboard country chart soon after. In February, she recorded her final sessions for Decca Records. Among the songs recorded were "Sweet Dreams", "He Called Me Baby", and "Faded Love". Cline arranged for friends Jan Howard and Dottie West to come and hear the session playbacks. According to Howard, "I was in awe of Patsy. You know, afterward you're supposed to say something nice. I couldn't talk. I was dumbfounded."
Personal life
Friendships
Cline had close friendships with several country artists and performers. Her friendship with Loretta Lynn has been the subject of numerous books, songs, films and other projects. The pair first met when Lynn performed "I Fall to Pieces" on the radio shortly after Cline's 1961 car accident. Cline heard the broadcast and sent her husband to pick up Lynn so they could meet. According to Lynn, the pair became close friends "right away". Lynn later described their friendship in detail, "She taught me a lot about show business, like how to go on a stage and how to get off. She even bought me a lot of clothes...She even bought me curtains and drapes for my house because I was too broke to buy them...She was a great human being and a great friend." Lynn also noted they became so close that Cline even gave her underwear. Lynn still has the underwear in storage, saying it was "well-made".
Dottie West was another female country artist with whom Cline became friends. They first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. West wrote Cline a fan letter after hearing her first hit "Walkin' After Midnight". According to West, Cline "showed a genuine interest in her career" and they became close friends. The pair often spent time at their homes and worked on packaged tour dates together. West also stated Cline was a supportive friend who helped out in times of need.
Jan Howard was a third female artist with whom Cline had a close friendship. The pair first met when Cline tried starting an argument with Howard backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. She said to Howard, "You're a conceited little son of a bitch! You just go out there, do your spot, and leave without saying hello to anyone." Howard was upset and replied angrily back. Cline then laughed and said, "Slow down! Hoss, you're all right. Anybody that'll stand there and talk back to the Cline like that is all right...I can tell we're gonna be good friends!" The pair remained close for the remainder of Cline's life. Other friendships Cline had with female artists included Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and pianist Del Wood. She also became friends with male country artists including Roger Miller, who helped Cline find material to record. Faron Young was another male artist whom Cline befriended from working on tour together. While on tour, the pair would spend time together, including a trip to Hawaii where the pair saw a hula show.
Family
Cline's mother Hilda Hensley continued living in Winchester, Virginia following her daughter's death. She rented out the family's childhood home on South Kent Street and lived across the street. Following Cline's death, Hensley briefly spent time raising her two grandchildren in Virginia. Hensley maintained a closet full of her daughter's stage costumes, including a sequined dress Cline wore while performing in Las Vegas in 1962. She worked as a seamstress and made many of her daughter's stage costumes. Hensley died from natural causes in 1998. Cline's father Samuel Hensley died of lung cancer in 1956. Hensley had previously deserted the family in 1947 and shortly before his death, Cline and her mother visited him at a hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. After discovering his current state, Cline said to her mother, "Mama, I know what-all he did, but it seems he's real sick and may not make it. In spite of everything, I want to visit him." Both of Cline's surviving siblings fought in court over their mother's estate. Because of legal fees, many of Cline's possessions were sold at auction.
Cline had two surviving children at the time of her death: Julie Simadore (born 1958) and Allen Randolph "Randy" (born 1961). Julie has been a significant factor in keeping her mother's legacy alive. She has appeared at numerous public appearances in support of her mother's music and career. Following the death of her father in 2015, she helped open a museum dedicated to Cline in Nashville, Tennessee. Julie has few memories of her mother due to Cline's death while she was young. In an interview with People Magazine, Julie discussed her mother's legacy, "I do understand her position in history, and the history of Nashville and country music...I'm still kind of amazed at it myself, because there's 'Mom' and then there's 'Patsy Cline,' and I'm actually a fan."
The present day American female blues, swing, and rock and roll singer, songwriter and record producer, Casey Hensley, is a distant relation of Cline's.
Marriages
Cline was married twice. Her first marriage was to Gerald Cline, on March 7, 1953. His family had owned a contracting and excavating company in Frederick, Maryland. According to Cline's brother Sam, he liked "flashy cars and women." The two met while she was performing with Bill Peer at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland. According to Gerald Cline, "It might not have been love at first sight when Patsy saw me, but it was for me." Gerald Cline often took her to "one-nighters" and other concerts she performed in. Although he enjoyed her performances, he could not get used to her touring and road schedule. Patsy had told a friend during their marriage that she didn't think she "knew what love was" upon marrying Gerald. The pair began living separately by the end of 1956 and divorced in 1957.
Cline married her second husband Charlie Dick on September 15, 1957. The pair met in 1956 while Cline was performing with a local Virginia band. At the time, Dick was a linotype operator for local newspaper, The Winchester Star. According to Dick, he had asked Cline to dance and she replied, "I can't dance while I'm working, okay?" They eventually started spending time together and Cline began telling close friends about their relationship. Cline told Grand Ole Opry pianist Del Wood in 1956, "Hoss, I got some news. I met a boy my own age who's a hurricane in pants! Del, I'm in love, and this time, it's for real." The pair had children Julie and Randy together. Their relationship was considered both romantic and tempestuous. According to Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack, Cline and Dick's marriage was "fueled by alcohol, argument, passion, jealousy, success, tears and laughter." According to biographer Ellis Nassour, the pair fought often but remained together. They had gained a reputation as "heavy drinkers", but according to Dick himself, they were not "drunks". During one particular fight, Cline had Dick arrested after they became physical with one another. Following Cline's death in 1963, Dick married country artist Jamey Ryan in 1965. The pair divorced in the early 1970s after having one child together. Dick helped with keeping Cline's legacy alive for the remainder of his own life. He assisted in producing several documentaries about Cline's career including Remembering Patsy and The Real Patsy Cline. He became involved with Hallway Productions in the 1990s and helped produce videos on other artists including Willie Nelson and The Mamas and the Papas. Dick died in 2015.
Death
On March 3, 1963, Cline performed a benefit at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call; he had died in an automobile crash a little over a month earlier. Also performing in the show were George Jones, George Riddle and The Jones Boys, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, George McCormick, the Clinch Mountain Boys as well as Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Despite having a cold, Cline gave three performances: 2:00, 5:15 and 8:15 pm. All the shows were standing-room only. For the 2 p.m. show, she wore a sky-blue tulle-laden dress; for the 5:15 show a red shocker; and for the closing show at 8 p.m., Cline wore white chiffon. Her final song was the last she had recorded the previous month, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone".
Cline, who had spent the night at the Town House Motor Hotel, was unable to fly out the day after the concert because Fairfax Airport was fogged in. West asked Patsy to ride in the car with her and husband, Bill, back to Nashville, a 16-hour drive, but Cline refused, saying, "Don't worry about me, Hoss. When it's my time to go, it's my time." On March 5, she called her mother from the motel and checked out at 12:30 p.m., going the short distance to the airport and boarding a Piper PA-24 Comanche plane, aircraft registration number N7000P. On board were Cline, Copas, Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes.
The plane stopped once in Rogers, Arkansas to refuel and subsequently landed at Dyersburg Municipal Airport in Dyersburg, Tennessee at 5 p.m. Hawkins had accepted Billy Walker's place after Walker left on a commercial flight to take care of a stricken family member. The Dyersburg, Tennessee, airfield manager suggested that they stay the night because of high winds and inclement weather, offering them free rooms and meals. But Hughes, who was not trained in instrument flying, said "I've already come this far. We'll be there before you know it." The plane took off at 6:07 p.m.
Cline's flight crashed in heavy weather on the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 1963. Her recovered wristwatch had stopped at 6:20 p.m. The plane was found some from its Nashville destination, in a forest outside of Camden, Tennessee. Forensic examination concluded that everyone aboard had been killed instantly. Until the wreckage was discovered the following dawn and reported on the radio, friends and family had not given up hope. Endless calls tied up the local telephone exchanges to such a degree that other emergency calls had trouble getting through. The lights at the destination Cornelia Fort Airpark were kept on throughout the night, as reports of the missing plane were broadcast on radio and TV.
Early in the morning, Roger Miller and a friend went searching for survivors: "As fast as I could, I ran through the woods screaming their names—through the brush and the trees—and I came up over this little rise, oh, my God, there they were. It was ghastly. The plane had crashed nose down." Shortly after the bodies were removed, looters scavenged the area. Some of the items which were recovered were eventually donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Among them were Cline's wristwatch, a Confederate flag cigarette lighter, studded belt and three pairs of gold lamé slippers. Cline's fee in cash from the last performance was never recovered. Per her wishes, Cline's body was brought home for her memorial service, which thousands attended. People jammed against the small tent over her gold casket and the grave to take all the flowers they could reach as keepsakes. She was buried at Shenandoah Memorial Park in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia. Her grave is marked with a bronze plaque, which reads: "Virginia H. Dick ('Patsy Cline' is noted under her name) 'Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love'." A memorial marks the exact place off Mt Carmel Road in Camden, Tennessee, where the plane crashed in the still-remote forest.
Posthumous releases
Music
Since Cline's death, Decca Records (later bought by MCA) has re-released her music which has made her commercially successful posthumously. The Patsy Cline Story was the first compilation album the label released following her death. It included the songs "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" and "Faded Love". Both tracks were released as singles in 1963. "Sweet Dreams" would reach number 5 on the Billboard country charts and 44 on the Hot 100. "Faded Love" would also become a top 10 hit on the Billboard country chart, peaking at number 7 in October 1963. In 1967, Decca released the compilation Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits. The album would not only peak at number 17 on the Billboard country chart, but also certified diamond in sales from the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2005, the Guinness World Book of Records included Greatest Hits for being the longest album on any record chart by any female artist.
Cline's music continued making the charts into the 1980s. Her version of "Always" made the Billboard country chart in 1980. An album of the same was also released in 1980 that peaked within the top 30 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Two overdubbed duets between Cline and Jim Reeves became major hits during this time as well. Following the release of the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), there was renewed interest in Cline's career. Therefore, MCA Records reissued much of Cline's earlier studio and compilation releases. Her 1967 greatest hits album for example was repackaged in 1988 and labeled 12 Greatest Hits. The record reached number 27 on the Top Country Albums list in 1990. The soundtrack for Cline's own film biopic was released concurrently with the movie in 1985. The soundtrack would peak at number 6 on the Billboard country albums chart upon its release.
In 1991, MCA records issued her first box set entitled The Patsy Cline Collection. The album chronicled all of Cline's recorded material for Four Star and Decca Records. The boxed set received positive reviews, notably by Thom Jurek of Allmusic who rated it five out of five stars. Jurek commented, If an artist ever deserved a box set chronicling her entire career, it is Patsy Cline. Having recorded 102 sides between 1955 and her death at the age of 30 in 1963, Cline changed not only country music forever, but affected the world of pop as well. Over four CDs, arranged chronologically, the listener gets treated to a story in the development and maturation of a cultural icon who was at least, in terms of her gift, the equal of her legend. Rolling Stone listed the box set among their "50 Greatest Albums of All-Time". Writer Rob Sheffield called Cline "a badass cowgirl drama queen belts some of the torchiest, weepiest country songs ever, hitting high notes that make you sob into your margarita." The Patsy Cline Collection would reach number 29 on the Billboard country albums chart in January 1992. In 1997, MCA released Live at the Cimarron Ballroom, a rare recording that had recently resurfaced. Jeweler Bill Frazee had originally purchased a tape in 1975 which he discovered included Cline's live recording. The live performance on the record took place in July 1961, following Cline's car accident. She appeared at the Cimarron Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma to give a one-night performance. Included on the record was unreleased live performances and dialog with the audience. The album peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard country albums chart. Cline's former MCA label continues releasing material to this day. Cline is listed among the Recording Industry of America's "Best Selling Artists" with a total of over 14 million records sold to date.
Film and television
Cline has been portrayed on film and television several times since the 1980s. The Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) renewed interest in her life and career. Cline and Lynn's friendship was portrayed in the 1980 film. Actress Beverly D'Angelo played Cline in the movie and did her own singing of Cline's original material. D'Angelo earned a Golden Globe award nomination for her role. In an interview D'Angelo did for a 2017 PBS documentary, playing the role of Patsy Cline "had a profound impact" on her life and career.
In 1985, a feature film about Cline's life was released entitled Sweet Dreams. The film starred Jessica Lange as Cline and Ed Harris as husband Charlie Dick. Originally, Meryl Streep auditioned for Cline's role but ultimately lost to Lange. The film was produced by Bernard Schwartz, who also produced Coal Miner's Daughter. Original ideas called for scenes between Cline and Lynn, however they were ultimately removed from the final script. The film has been criticized for its lack of accuracy to Cline's own life and its musical production. Kurt Wolff wrote, "the soundtrack, however, featured overdubbed versions of Cline's material – better to stick with the originals." Mark Deming of Allmovie only gave the release two out of five stars. Deming commented, "While it's a wise approach to show how her turbulent marriage paralleled her crossover to Countrypolitan ballads, the melodrama tends to overshadow the celebrity story by relegating her rise to stardom to the background. Due to the historically dubious concerts at carnivals and fairgrounds, it appears as though she wasn't as big a star as she actually was." Deming did praise Lange's performance saying she created a "cheerful and spirited" depiction of Cline. Roger Ebert gave it two stars in his original 1985 review. Ebert said, "There isn't the sense of a well-shaped structure in this movie; there's no clear idea of what the filmmakers thought about Patsy Cline, or what thoughts her life is supposed to inspire." Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Cline.
Cline was also portrayed in television films. In 1995, a film about the life and career of Cline's friend Dottie West debuted on CBS titled, Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. It included several scenes that showcased West's friendship with Cline. Actress Tere Myers played her in the television movie. Deborah Wilker of the Sun-Sentinel called her performance "terrific" and authentic.
Lifetime aired an original television film Patsy & Loretta in October 2019 on the network. It chronicles Cline's friendship with Loretta Lynn. Cline is portrayed by Megan Hilty and Lynn by Jessie Mueller. The film is directed by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri. The trailer for the movie was released in July 2019. Patsy & Loretta was filmed on location in Nashville, Tennessee and is co-produced by Lynn's daughter and Cline's daughter, Julie Fudge.
There have been several documentaries made about Cline's life and career. The first was a 1989 documentary entitled The Real Patsy Cline which featured interviews with friends and fellow artists. This included Carl Perkins and Willie Nelson. Another documentary was filmed in 1994 entitled Remembering Patsy. The show was hosted by country artist Michelle Wright, who read letters Cline wrote to friends and family. It included interviews with several artists such as Roy Clark, George Jones and Trisha Yearwood. Both documentaries were produced by Cline's widower Charlie Dick. In March 2017, PBS released a documentary on Cline as part of their American Masters series. The film was narrated by Rosanne Cash and featured interviews with fans of Cline. These interviews included Beverly D'Angelo and Reba McEntire. It also included rare performances of songs such as "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Walkin' After Midnight".
Plays and musicals
Cline's life and career has also been re-created in the theater sector. In 1988, the show Always...Patsy Cline premiered. The show was created by Ted Swindley who derived it from a friendship Cline had with Texas resident Louise Seger. The pair met while Cline was performing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, Texas. Seger brought Cline home following the show and they spent the night together. The pair would remain in contact through letters before Cline's death. Much of the script relied from letters exchanged between the two during the course of several years. Seger acts as the show's narrator and revisits memories she shared with Cline through their letter exchanges. Among the show's original performers was Mandy Barnett, who debuted the show at the Ryman Auditorium in 1994. Barnett would go on to have a music and performing career. A second musical was later released in 1991 titled A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. The show was written by Dean Regan and has been called a "musical retelling" of Cline's career.
Artistry
Influences
Cline was influenced by various music artists. Among her earliest influences were pop singers of the 1940s and 1950s. These included Kay Starr, Helen Morgan, Patti Page, and Kate Smith. Patti Page recollected that Cline's husband said to her, "I just wish Patsy could have met you because she just adored you and listened to you all the time and wanted to be like you." Among her primary influences was Kay Starr, of whom Cline was a "fervent devotee" according to The Washington Post. Jack Hurst of the Chicago Tribune remarked that "Her rich, powerful voice, obviously influenced by that of pop's Kay Starr, has continued and perhaps even grown in popularity over the decades." Cline was also attracted to country music radio programs, notably the Grand Ole Opry. According to Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann, Cline became "obsessed" with the program at a young age. Cline's mother Hilda Hensley commented on her daughter's admiration, "I know she never wanted anything so badly as to be a star on the Grand Ole Opry..." Among performers from the program she admired was Patsy Montana. Cline was also influenced by other types of performers including early rockabilly artist Charline Arthur.
Voice and style
Cline possessed a contralto voice. Time magazine writer Richard Corliss called her voice "bold". Her voice has also been praised for its display of emotion. Kurt Wolff called it one of the most "emotionally expressive voices in modern country music". Tony Gabrielle of the Daily Press wrote that Cline had "a voice of tremendous emotional power." Cline was at times taken by her own emotion. Husband Charlie Dick recounted that Cline's producer Owen Bradley told him to leave a recording session because she was very emotional and he didn't want to disturb the mood. Cline was once quoted in describing the emotion she felt, saying, "Oh Lord, I sing just like I hurt inside."
During her early career, Cline recorded in styles such as gospel, rockabilly, and honky-tonk. These styles she cut for Four Star Records have been considered below the quality of her later work for Decca Records. Steve Leggett of Allmusic commented, Her recordings prior to 1960, though, were something else again, and with the exception of 1956's "Walkin' After Midnight" and perhaps one or two other songs, she seemed reined in and stifled as a singer, even though she was working with the same producer, Owen Bradley, who was to produce her 1960s successes. Oh the difference a song makes, because in the end the material she recorded between 1955 and 1960 – all of which is collected on these two discs – was simply too weak for Cline to turn into anything resembling gold, even with her obvious vocal skills.
Cline's style has been largely associated with the Nashville Sound, a sub-genre of country music that linked traditional lyrics with orchestrated pop music styles. This new sound helped many of her singles to crossover onto the Billboard Hot 100 and gain a larger audience that did not always hear country music. Her producer Owen Bradley built this sound onto her Decca recordings, sensing a potential in her voice that went beyond traditional country music. At first, she resisted the pop-sounding style, but was ultimately convinced to record in this new style. Stephen M. Desuner of Pitchfork explained that Cline has been an identifiable factor with the Nashville Sound: "She essentially rewrote their songs simply by singing them, elevating their words and wringing every one of their rhymes for maximum dramatic potential." Mark Deming of Allmusic commented, "Cline and Bradley didn't invent "countrypolitan," but precious few artists managed to meld the sophistication of pop and the emotional honesty of country as brilliantly as this music accomplishes with seemingly effortless grace, and these songs still sound fresh and brilliantly crafted decades after the fact."
Image
Cline's public image changed during the course of her career. She began her career wearing cowgirl dresses and hats designed by her mother. However, as her music crossed over into pop, she began wearing sequined gowns and cocktail dresses. While she would often wear cowgirl costumes for live performances, she would also wear evening dresses for television and metropolitan performances. For her 1957 performance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, the show's producer insisted that Cline wear an evening dress instead of the fringed cowgirl attire she had intended to wear. Her 1962 engagement at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas represented this particular image shift. For one of her performances, Cline wore a sequined cocktail dress designed by her mother.
Cline has also been seen as a pioneer for women in country music. She has been cited as an inspiration by many performers in diverse styles of music. Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide said that Cline had an "aggression" and "boisterous attitude" that gained her the respect of her male counterparts. Wolff explained, "She swaggered her way past stereotypes and other forces of resistance, showing the men in charge – and the public in general – that women were more than capable of singing about such hard subjects as divorce and drinking as well as love and understanding. Sean O'Hagan of The Guardian commented that along with Minnie Pearl, Jean Shepard and Kitty Wells, Cline helped prove that country music was not "macho" and that "strong women" could have a "strong voice". In 2013, The Washington Post wrote, "she was what I call a pre-feminist woman. She didn't open doors; she kicked them down." Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann wrote in 2003 that Cline "transformed what it meant to be a female country star".
Legacy
Cline has been cited in both country and pop music as of one of the greatest vocalists of all-time. Her voice has also been called "haunting", "powerful", and "emotional". Cline's emotional expression and delivery of lyrics helped influence various musical genres and artists. With the support of producer Owen Bradley, Cline has been said to "help define" the Nashville Sound style of country music. While the subgenre has received mixed opinions, it has also been said to be a significant part of country music's "authenticity", with Cline being the center focal point of the subgenre. Other artists have noted her impact, including LeAnn Rimes who stated, "I remember my dad telling me to listen to the way she told a story... I remember feeling more emotion when she sang than anyone else I had ever heard." Lucinda Williams commented on Cline's vocal talent in helping define her legacy, stating, "Even though her style is considered country, her delivery is more like a classic pop singer... That's what set her apart from Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette. You'd almost think she was classically trained."
Cline has been a major influence on various music artists including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, k.d. lang, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, Dottie West, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Cyndi Lauper, Trixie Mattel and Brandi Carlile. Dottie West (also a close friend of Cline's) spoke about her influence on her own career, "I think I was most influenced by Patsy Cline, she said things for people. There was so much feeling in there. In fact, she told me, 'Hoss, if you can't do it with feeling, don't'". In 2019, Sara Evans discussed how Cline has been an influence since she was a young girl, "I learned everything I could learn about her. I tried to mimic her singing to the ‘t’. We grew up singing in bars — my brothers, sisters and I — from the time I was really little. So I started covering every Patsy Cline song. Then when I first got my record deal I came to Winchester to visit a radio station to try to get them to play my song Three Chords and the Truth."
In 1973, Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. With the induction, she became the first solo female artist to be included. In 1977, Cline's friend and mentee Loretta Lynn released a tribute album entitled I Remember Patsy. The record contained covers of Cline's songs, including "Back in Baby's Arms" and "Crazy". The album's lead single was "She's Got You", which would reach the number 1 spot on the Billboard country chart in 1977. In 1995, Cline received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her legacy and career. Additionally, her hits "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy" received inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Cline was included on United States postal stamps as part of their "Legends" series. Other country artists that were included on stamp series were The Carter Family, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills. The stamps were dedicated in an official ceremony at the Grand Ole Opry by Postmaster General Marvin Runyon. In August 1999, Cline received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony was attended by her widower Charlie Dick and daughter Julie Fudge. During the 1990s, two of her songs were voted among the "Greatest Juke Box Hits of All-Time". "Crazy" was voted as the number 1 greatest, along with "I Fall to Pieces" ranking at number 17.
Since the late 1990s, she received additional rankings and honors. In 1999, Cline was ranked at number 11 among VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll". In 2003, she was included by Country Music Television on their list of the "40 Greatest Women of Country Music". In 2010, Cline ranked at number 46 on Rolling Stones list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All-Time". The magazine would rank her on their 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Country Artists of All-Time", where she placed at number 12.
Forty years after her death, MCA Nashville released a tribute album entitled Remembering Patsy Cline (2003). A television special also followed around the same time. The album consisted of cover versions of songs taken from Cline's 1967 greatest hits album. It included songs covered by country artists such as Terri Clark and Martina McBride. It also featured artists from other genres such as Michelle Branch, Diana Krall and Patti Griffin.
Cline's hometown of Winchester, Virginia has helped honor her legacy and career. In 1987, the local government approved the placing of markers within the town denoting it as the birthplace of Cline. The same year, a bell tower was erected in her burial location at Shenandoah Memorial Park. The bell tower cost thirty five thousand dollars and was partially funded by Cline's friends Jan Howard and Loretta Lynn. In 2005, Cline's childhood home was given an official on-site marker and included on the National Register of Historic Places. With the development of an organization entitled Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., renovations began on Cline's childhood home. In August 2011, the Patsy Cline House officially opened as a historic home for tours. In almost three months, about three thousand people visited the home. The home was restored to the era in which Cline lived in it during the 1950s with her mother and siblings. Replicas of furniture and stage clothes are also included. Daughter Julie Fudge spoke of the house in 2011, stating, “I think when you go into the house, you will kind of feel like this is a snapshot of what it would have been like to visit when Mom lived there.”
In 2017, the Patsy Cline Museum opened in Nashville, Tennessee, located at 119 3rd Ave. S., on the second floor in the same building as the Johnny Cash Museum. The museum includes Cline's actual stage costumes, as well as her original scrapbook and record albums. The Patsy Cline Museum features other artifacts, such as the soda fountain machine from Gaunt's Drug Store, where Cline worked as a teenager. Original letters that Cline wrote to friends are also included as part of the museum.
Discography
Studio albums
1957: Patsy Cline
1961: Patsy Cline Showcase
1962: Sentimentally Yours
Posthumous studio albums
1964: A Portrait of Patsy Cline
1964: That's How a Heartache Begins
1980: Always
References
Footnotes
Books
Further reading
Bego, Mark. I Fall to Pieces: The Music and the Life of Patsy Cline. Adams Media Corporation.
Hazen, Cindy and Mike Freeman. Love Always, Patsy. The Berkley Publishing Group.
Jones, Margaret (1998). "Patsy Cline". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–9.
Gomery, Douglas Patsy Cline: The Making of an Icon. Trafford Publishing.
External links
Celebrating Patsy Cline an official organization sponsoring several projects
Patsy Cline Home and Museum located in Winchester, Virginia
Patsy Cline recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
The Patsy Cline Plane Crash
1932 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century women composers
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American contraltos
American country singer-songwriters
American women composers
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women singer-songwriters
American rockabilly musicians
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Country musicians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Virginia
Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
Deaths in Tennessee
Decca Records artists
Four Star Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Grand Ole Opry members
People from Goodlettsville, Tennessee
People from Winchester, Virginia
Rock and roll musicians
Singer-songwriters from Virginia
Torch singers
Traditional pop music singers
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee | false | [
"Diána Kőszegi (born 1983 in Hungary) is the first Hungarian professional Go player. She became only the sixth European professional when she was promoted to professional by the Korean Go Association on 4 January 2008.\n\nBiography\n\n \nDiána Kőszegi was born in August 1983 in Budapest. She began playing Go at age 9. She was initially taught by her father, Sándor Kőszegi (who teaches Go to elementary schools students). At age 11 she began studying under Tibor Pocsai, the winner of the European Go Championship in 1988. During her study of Go, she also began to teach others. She teaches Go on the KGS Go Server.\n\nIn 1996, she met 9 dan professional Yasutoshi Yasuda, with whom she kept in contact thanks to Shigeno Yuki, a friend who Diána considers as close as a sister. Diána wanted to be Yasuda's pupil, but this was not to be. Yasuda was very busy at that time. Both Yasuda and Yuki were a big influence on her.\n\nWhen she was 14 she came 4th at the 1st World Women Amateur Baduk Championship, held in 1997 in Seoul. In the following autumn, she finished 2nd in the 2nd European Women Amateur Go Championship.\n\nShe came 9th at the female equivalent of the World Amateur Go Championship in 1998, and was invited to Japan and Korea to study as an insei. Considering her young age, her family did not let her go.\n\nIn March 2000, she won the European Youth Go Championship that was held in Sinaia. She came 2nd in the previous two years, and again in 2001. In the same year, even though she finished only joint 8th at the Hungarian Go Championship, winning the play-offs between the top 6, she became the Hungarian Go Champion. She was the first Hungarian invited to professional competitions in China, while still an amateur. Representing Europe, she entered three competitions in 2000 (Shanghai), 2001 (Guiyang), and 2002 (Hong Kong).\n\nSince 2001 she has continued studying Go, without a tutor. In 2001, she stayed in Japan for 1.5 months thanks to the sister and brother Kobayashi Chizu and Kobayashi Satoru. In 2003 she went to the Hungarian university, ELTE. She studied at the programming mathematician department, but she did not complete her course, because of an invitation from the KimWon Baduk Academy, thanks to Mr Eo Jong Soo (7 dan Korean). She got to know him at the World Championship held in Korea in 2003.\n\nShe went to Korea in 2004 for 3 months, but then returned because she could not extend her visa. Until she was promoted to professional, from 2005 as an insei she was competing at the league in Seoul. In 2005, she studied at the Korean Myongji University and started teaching Go on-line. She became the sixth European professional, when she was promoted to professional by the Korean Go Association on 4 January 2008.\n\nShe translated the Go book 21st Century New Openings, by Kim Sung Rae (4 Dan), into English.\n\nPromotion record\n\nSee also \n\n List of Go organizations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Diána's page on the site of the Korean Baduk Association\n Diána's page on the Hungarian Go Wiki\n\n1983 births\nLiving people\nHungarian Go players\nFemale Go players",
"True Believer is a verse novel for young adults, written by Virginia Euwer Wolff and published by Atheneum Books in 2001.\nIt has been published as an audiobook read by Heather Alicia Simms, and translated into Chinese, German, Italian, and Japanese.\nIt won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature and was named a Michael L. Printz Honor book.\n\nA review in Publishers Weekly observed that Wolff writes with \"delicacy and sensitivity\".\n\nPlot summary\n\nCharacters\n\nVerna LaVaughn: LaVaughn is the protagonist of the story. She is named after her two grand aunts, Verna and LaVaughn, but goes by the name LaVaughn. LaVaughn is fifteen years old, telling what her life is like through that age. She tells how she falls in love with Jody, only to find him kissing another guy. LaVaughn briefly tells how her father dies, (he was an innocent bystander of a tragic shooting.) She tells how her mom is raising her in a slightly destitute type neighborhood, and also a little about her past.\nLaVaughn's mother: In the story, LaVaughn's mother does not get a name. LaVaughn's mom is a single mother. She is taking care of her daughter and herself alone, because her husband died. In True Believer, LaVaughn doesn't talk about her as much as she does with others, but when she does, you can get a feel for how wonderful and supportive her mother is LaVaughn even tells of her mother possibly finding love.\nJody: Jody comes back to live in LaVaughn's apartment. He left because where he and LaVaughn are from, children die at a young age and he and his mother did not want that to be the result of his life. He is the same age as LaVaughn, (fifteen). In the book, not many people get the chance to go to college. Like LaVaughn, he is determined not be another statistic. He wants to get into college and move away from the neighborhood. He hopes to win a swimming scholarship for college.\nMyrtle: In the book, Myrtle is LaVaughn's best friend. She grew up with LaVaughn, her father is a drug addict, trying to turn his life around in rehabilitation. Myrtle may not be as determined to go to college as Jody and LaVaughn are but she does want to stay on the right track. Myrtle joins a church, but this also pushes back their close friendship with LaVaughn, because LaVaughn doesn't go to church.\nAnnie: Annie is another childhood friend of LaVaughn's in the book. She did not grow up with LaVaughn like Myrtle did, but she did go to school with them, and after a while became their best friend. Annie's background isn't really described in True Believer. Annie also joined a church and after a while became very attached to it. LaVaughn did not attend church with them at all, therefore their friendship of dwindled. Myrtle and Annie did not have as much to talk to LaVaughn about, because LaVaughn had different views. LaVaughn questions God a lot throughout the book, while Annie and Myrtle goes go with what is dealt to them through the church.\nPatrick: Patrick, born into a poor family, is described as LaVaughn's new biology partner in the book. When she is moved into that class, Patrick is really nice to her, As days progress, she says Patrick wears the same green shirt everyday, and Patrick's speech is terribly slow. he is really good at science, biology in particular. \nJolly: Jolly is an old friend of LaVaughn's. LaVaughn babysat Jolly's kids when she was younger. (In the book before True Believer, Make Lemonade told Jolly’s story). Jolly is a senior in true Believer, and is eighteen with two children, Jeremy, and Jilly. Jolly had a rough time growing up, the guys that impregnated her left her way before the children were born, she raises the kids on her own, in a substandard apartment. Jolly is trying to make a way for her kids, and herself so she goes back to high school so she too can graduate on time.\nLester: LaVaughn's mom's new “boyfriend.’” She describes him as: “His name is Lester. He is at her new job. He is in charge of something there. And he is coming to our house to eat supper.” (page 105). Lester comes over to dinner that night, and compliments on everything LaVaughn's mom cooks. For a while everything is going good, and her mom is even thinking about moving into a house with Lester and LaVaughn as a sort of “family”. LaVaughn's mom finds out that Lester calls her every night from a pay phone, and the worse: he took out money from LaVaughn's savings account to pay for his own mortgage. After that, LaVaughn's mom leaves him.\nb's up\n\nReception and themes\nAccording to an interview with Horn Book Magazine, Wolff never identified the race of the characters purposefully, because she wanted readers to have their own views of them.\n\nHorn Book Magazine mentioned the theme of romantic feeling that can take over everyday life. Roger Sutton, the reviewer, said that \"LaVaughn's portrayal of her life at school and home becomes shaped by her feelings for Jody.\" \nPublishers Weekly summarized the overall theme as \"one of the pivotal issues of puberty\": abstinence.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n True Believer on Google Books\n\n2001 American novels\nVerse novels\nAmerican young adult novels\nNational Book Award for Young People's Literature winning works\nGolden Kite Award-winning works\nAtheneum Books books"
] |
[
"Patsy Cline",
"Early years",
"What were patsy's early years like",
"The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16.",
"What school did she attend?",
"Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk",
"What is a soda jerk?",
"I don't know.",
"Did she go to college",
"She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing"
] | C_b40d68fe4a1946b280e019709405a608_1 | Did she gain recognition? | 5 | Did Patsy Cline gain recognition for singing? | Patsy Cline | Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia, in the city's Memorial Hospital. She was the eldest child of seamstress Hilda Virginia (nee Patterson, 1916-1998) and blacksmith Samuel Lawrence Hensley (1889-1956). She had a brother Samuel Jr. (1939-2004) and a sister Sylvia. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16. Sam Hensley deserted his family in 1947, but the children's home was reportedly happy nonetheless. When Patsy was 13, she was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. She later said, "The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith." Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk at Gaunt's Drug Store and a waitress at the Triangle Diner. She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing on his show. Her performance in 1947 was well received and she was asked back. This led to appearances at local nightclubs wearing fringed Western outfits that her mother made from Patsy's designs. Cline performed in variety and talent shows in the Winchester and Tri-State areas, and she gained a large following through the shows and local radio appearances. Jimmy Dean was already a country star in 1954, and she became a regular with him on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Jamboree radio show on WAVA (AM) in Arlington County, Virginia. CANNOTANSWER | Jimmy McCoy if she could sing on his show. Her performance in 1947 was well received and she was asked back. | Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Cline's first professional performances began at the local WINC radio station when she was fifteen. In the early 1950s, Cline began appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. It also led to the signing of her first recording contract with the Four Star label in 1954. She had minor success with her earliest Four Star singles including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957 however, Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnight", the single would become her first major hit on both the country and pop charts.
Cline's further singles with Four Star Records were unsuccessful, although she continued performing and recording. After marrying in 1957 and giving birth in 1958, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to further her career. Working with new manager Randy Hughes, Cline would become a member of the Grand Ole Opry and then move to Decca Records in 1960. Under the direction of producer Owen Bradley, her musical sound shifted and she achieved consistent success. The 1961 single "I Fall to Pieces" would become her first to top the Billboard country chart. As the song became a hit, Cline was severely injured in an automobile accident, which caused her to spend a month in the hospital. After she recovered, her next single release "Crazy" would also become a major hit.
Between 1962 and 1963, Cline had hits with "She's Got You", "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Leavin' on Your Mind". She also toured and headlined shows with more frequency. In March 1963, Cline was killed in a plane crash along with country performers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Kansas back to Nashville.
Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected and influential performers of the 20th century. Her music has influenced performers of various styles and genres. She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts. In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, Cline's posthumous successes continued in the mass media. She was portrayed twice in major motion pictures, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange. Several documentaries and stage shows were released during this time, including the 1988 musical Always...Patsy Cline. A 1991 box set of her recordings was issued that received critical acclaim. Her greatest hits album sold over 10 million copies in 2005. In 2011, Cline's childhood home was restored as a museum for visitors and fans to tour. In 2017, Cline’s Dream Home in Nashville, TN was placed on the Tennessee Historical Markers List by the Patsy Cline Fan Home Owners, Steven Shirey and Thomas Corritore.
Early life
Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932, to Hilda Virginia (née Patterson; 1916–1998) and Samuel Lawerence Hensley (1889–1956). Mrs. Hensley was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Sam Hensley had been married before; Cline had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15) that lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, Hilda Hensley would also have Samuel Jr. (called John) and Sylvia Mae. Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was also referred to as "Ginny". She temporarily lived with her mother's family in Gore, Virginia before relocating many times throughout the state. In her childhood, the family relocated where Samuel Hensley, a blacksmith, could find employment, including Elkton, Staunton, and Norfolk. When the family had little money, she would find work. This included an Elkton poultry factory, where her job was to pluck and cut chickens. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia on South Kent Street. Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her. When confiding about the abuse to friend Loretta Lynn, Cline told her, "take this to your grave". Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams.
At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. Speaking of the incident in 1957 she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's." It was during this time she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events. She also taught herself how to play the piano.
With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing only grew further and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances began at WINC in the Winchester area. According to WINC's radio disc jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy, Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition. McCoy was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you." While also performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer Helen Morgan.
Cline's mother and father had marital conflicts during her childhood and by 1947, her father deserted the family. Author Ellis Nassour of the biography Honky Tonk Angel: An Intimate Story of Patsy Cline reported Cline had a "beautiful relationship" with her mother. In his interviews with Hilda Hensley, he quoted Cline's mother in saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child. Upon entering the ninth grade, Cline enrolled at John Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia. However, the family had trouble sustaining an income after her father's desertion. Therefore, Cline dropped out of high school to help support the family. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and soda jerk.
Career
1948–1953: Early career
At age 15, Cline wrote a letter to the Grand Ole Opry asking for an audition. She told local photographer Ralph Grubbs about the letter, "A friend thinks I'm crazy to send it. What do you think?" Grubbs encouraged Cline to send it. Several weeks later, she received a return letter from the Opry asking for pictures and recordings. At the same time, Gospel performer Wally Fowler headlined a concert in her hometown. Cline convinced concert employees to let her backstage where she asked Fowler for an audition. Following a successful audition, Cline's family received a call asking for her to audition for the Opry. She traveled with her mother, two siblings, and a family friend on an eight-hour journey to Nashville, Tennessee. With limited finances, they drove overnight and slept in a Nashville park the following morning. Cline auditioned for Opry performer Moon Mullican the same day. The audition was well-received and Cline expected to hear from the Opry the same day. However, she never received news and the family returned to Virginia.
By the early 1950s, Cline continued performing around the local area. In 1952, she asked to audition for local country bandleader Bill Peer. Following her audition, she began performing regularly as a member of Bill Peer's Melody Boys and Girls. The pair's relationship turned romantic, continuing an affair for several years. Nonetheless, the pair remained married to their spouses. Peer's group played primarily at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland where she would meet her first husband, Gerald Cline. Peer encouraged her to have a more appropriate stage name. She changed her first name from Virginia to Patsy (taken from her middle name "Patterson"). She kept her new last name, Cline. Ultimately, she became professionally known as "Patsy Cline".
In August 1953, Cline was a contestant in a local country music contest. She won 100 dollars and the opportunity to perform as a regular on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Time. The show included country stars Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV and Billy Grammer, and was filmed in Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. She was not officially added to the program's television shows until October 1955. Cline's television performances received critical acclaim. The Washington Star magazine praised her stage presence, commenting, "She creates the moods through movement of her hands and body and by the lilt of her voice, reaching way down deep in her soul to bring forth the melody. Most female country music vocalists stand motionless, sing with monotonous high-pitched nasal twang. Patsy's come up with a throaty style loaded with motion and E-motion."
1954–1960: Four Star Records
In 1954, Bill Peer created and distributed a series of demonstration tapes with Cline's voice on it. A tape was brought to the attention of Bill McCall, president of Four Star Records. On September 30, 1954, she signed a two-year recording contract with the label alongside Peer and her husband Gerald Cline. The original contract allowed Four Star to receive most of the money for the songs she recorded. Therefore, Cline received little of the royalties from the label, totaling out to 2.34 percent on her recording contract. Her first recording session took place in Nashville, Tennessee on January 5, 1955. Songs for the session were handpicked by McCall and Paul Cohen. Four Star leased the recordings to the larger Decca Records. For those reasons Owen Bradley was chosen as the session's producer, a professional relationship that would continue into the 1960s. Her first single release was 1955's "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye". Although Cline promoted it with an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry the song was not successful.
Cline recorded a variety of musical styles while recording for Four Star. This included genres such as gospel, rockabilly, traditional country and pop. Writers and music journalists have had mixed beliefs on Cline's Four Star material. Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack of Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music called the label's choice of material "mediocre". They also commented that Cline seemed to have "groped for her own sound on the label". Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide commented that the music was "sturdy enough, but they only hinted at the potential that lurked inside her. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic claimed it was Cline's voice that made the Four Star material less appealing: "Circumstances were not wholly to blame for Cline's commercial failures. She would have never made it as a rockabilly singer, lacking the conviction of Wanda Jackson or the spunk of Brenda Lee. In fact, in comparison with her best work, she sounds rather stiff and ill-at-ease on most of her early singles."
Between 1955 and 1956, Cline's four singles for Four Star failed to become hits. However, she continued performing regionally, including on the Town and Country Jamboree. In 1956, she appeared on ABC's Country Music Jubilee, Ozark Jubilee. It was at one of her local performances that she met her second husband, Charlie Dick. In 1956, Cline received a call to perform on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a national television show she had auditioned for several months prior. She accepted the offer, using her mother Hilda Hensley as her talent scout for the show. According to the show's rules, talent scouts could not be family members. For those reasons, Cline's mother lied in order to appear on the show. When Arthur Godfrey asked if Hensley had known Cline her entire life, she replied, "Yes, just about!"
Cline and Mrs. Hensley flew into LaGuardia Airport in New York City on January 18, 1957. She made her debut appearance on the program on January 21. The day of the show, she met with the show's producer Janette Davis. Cline had chosen "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" to perform on the program, but Davis preferred another song she had recorded, "Walkin' After Midnight". Cline initially refused to perform it, but ultimately agreed to it. Davis also suggested Cline wear a cocktail dress instead of the cowgirl outfit created by her mother. She performed "Walkin' After Midnight" and won the program's contest that night. The song had not yet been released as a single. In order to keep up with public demand, Decca Records rush-released the song as a single on February 11. The song ultimately became Cline's breakthrough hit, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. The song also reached number 12 on the Billboard pop music chart. The song has since been considered a classic in country music since its release.
Music critics and writers have positively praised "Walkin' After Midnight". Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann called the song "bluesy". Richie Unterberger noted "it's well-suited for the almost bemused aura of loneliness of the lyric." The success of "Walkin' After Midnight" brought Cline numerous appearances on shows and major networks. She continued working for Arthur Godfrey over the next several months. She also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in February and the television program Western Ranch Party in March. The money she had earned from her numerous engagements totaled out to ten thousand dollars. Cline gave all the money to her mother, which she used to the pay the mortgage on her Winchester house. In August 1957, her debut studio album was issued via Decca Records.
Cline's follow-up singles to "Walkin' After Midnight" did not yield any success. This was partially due to the quality of material chosen for her to record. Cline was dissatisfied with the limited success following "Walkin' After Midnight". Bradley recounted how she often came to him saying, "Hoss, can't you do something? I feel like a prisoner." Around the same time, Cline was fired from her regular slot on Town and Country Jamboree. According to Connie B. Gay, she ran late for shows and "showed up with liquor on her breath". In September 1957, Cline married Charlie Dick and he was soon sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on a military assignment. Cline also gave birth to her first daughter Julie. In hopes of restarting her career, Cline and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
1960–1961: New beginnings and car accident
Cline's professional decisions yielded more positive results by the early 1960s. Upon moving to Nashville, she signed a management deal with Randy Hughes. She originally wished to work with Hubert Long, however, he was busy managing other artists. Instead, she turned her attention to Hughes. With the help of Hughes, she began working steadier jobs. He organized fifty dollar bookings and got her multiple performances on the Grand Ole Opry. In January 1960, Cline officially became a member of the Opry. When she asked general manager Ott Devine about a membership he replied, "Patsy, if that's all you want, you're on the Opry." Also in January 1960, Cline made her final recording sessions set forth in her contract with Four Star Records. Later that year, her final singles with the label were released: "Lovesick Blues" and "Crazy Dreams". Leaving Four Star, Cline officially signed with Decca Records in late 1960, working exclusively under Bradley's direction. Insisting on receiving an advance, she received $1,000 from Bradley once she began at the label.
Her first release under Decca was 1961's "I Fall to Pieces". The song was written by newly established Nashville songwriters Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. "I Fall to Pieces" had first been turned down by Roy Drusky and Brenda Lee before Cline cut it in November 1960. At the recording session, she worried about the song's production, particularly the background vocals performed by The Jordanaires. After much arguing between both Cline and Bradley, they negotiated that she would record "I Fall to Pieces" (a song Bradley favored) and "Lovin' in Vain" (a song she favored). Released as a single in January 1961, "I Fall to Pieces" attracted little attention upon its initial issue. In April, the song debuted on the Hot Country and Western Sides chart. By August 7, the song became her first to top the country chart. Additionally, "I Fall to Pieces" crossed over onto the Billboard Pop chart, peaking at number 12.
On June 14, 1961, Cline and her brother Sam Hensley, Jr. were involved in an automobile accident. Cline had brought her mother, sister and brother to see her new Nashville home the day before. On the day of the accident, Cline and her brother went shopping to buy material for her mother to make clothing. Upon driving home, their car was struck head-on by another vehicle. The impact threw her directly into the car windshield, causing extensive facial injuries. Among her injuries, Cline suffered a broken wrist, dislocated hip and a large cut across her forehead, barely missing her eyes. Friend Dottie West heard about the accident via the radio and rushed to the scene, helping to remove pieces of broken glass from Cline's hair. When first responders arrived, Cline insisted the driver in the other vehicle be treated first. Two of the three passengers riding in the car that struck Cline died after arriving at the hospital. When she was brought to the hospital, her injuries were life-threatening and she was not expected to live. She underwent surgery and survived. According to her husband Charlie Dick, upon waking up she said to him, "Jesus was here, Charlie. Don't worry. He took my hand and told me, 'No, not now. I have other things for you to do.'" She spent a month recovering in the hospital.
1961–1963: Career peak
Cline returned to her career six weeks after her 1961 car accident. Her first public appearance was on the Grand Ole Opry where she assured fans she would continue performing. She said to the audience that night, "You're wonderful. I'll tell you one thing: the greatest gift, I think, that you folks coulda given me was the encouragement that you gave me. Right at the very time I needed you the most, you came through with the flying-est colors. And I just want to say you'll just never know how happy you made this ol' country gal." Cline's follow-up single to "I Fall to Pieces" was the song "Crazy". It was written by Willie Nelson, whose version of the song was first heard by Dick. When Dick brought the song to Cline she did not like it. When Dick encouraged her to record "Crazy", Cline replied, "I don't care what you say. I don't like it and I ain't gonna record it. And that's that." Bradley liked the song and set the date for its recording for August 17. When Cline got to Bradley's studio, he convinced her to record it. She listened to Nelson's version of "Crazy" and decided she was going to perform it differently. Nelson's version included a spoken section that Cline removed. She cut additional material on August 17 and when she got to "Crazy", it became difficult to perform. Because Cline was still recovering from the accident, performing the song's high notes caused rib pain. Giving her time to rest, Bradley sent her home while musicians laid down the track without her. A week later she returned and recorded her vocal in a single take.
"Crazy" was released as a single in October 1961, debuting on the Billboard country charts in November. It would peak at number 2 there and number 9 on the same publication's pop charts. "Crazy" would also become Cline's biggest pop hit. "Crazy" has since been called a country music standard. Cline's vocal performance and the song's production have received positive praise over time. Cub Koda of AllMusic noted the "ache" in her voice that makes the song stand out: "Cline's reading of the lyric is filled with an aching world weariness that transforms the tune into one of the first big crossover hits without even trying hard." Country music historian Paul Kingsbury also highlighted her "ache", saying in 2007, "Cline's hit recording swings with such velvety finesse, and her voice throbs and aches so exquisitely, that the entire production sounds absolutely effortless." Jhoni Jackon of Paste Magazine called the recording "iconic", highlighting the "pain" Cline had in her vocal technique. Her second studio album Patsy Cline Showcase was released in late 1961. The album featured both major hits from that year and re-recorded versions of "Walkin' After Midnight" and "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)".
"Crazy" and Cline's further Decca recordings have received critical praise. Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann noted "Her thrilling voice invariably invested these with new depth. Patsy's dramatic volume control, stretched-note effects, sobs, pauses and unique ways of holding back, then bursting into full-throated phrases also breathed new life into country chestnuts like "San Antonio Rose", "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Half as Much". Richie Unterberger of AllMusic commented that her voice "sounded richer, more confident, and more mature, with ageless wise and vulnerable qualities that have enabled her records to maintain their appeal with subsequent generations." Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide reported that Owen Bradley recognized potential in Cline's and once he gained studio control, he smoothed arrangements and "refine her voice into an instrument of torch-singing glory."
In November 1961, she was invited to perform as part of the Grand Ole Opry's show at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She was joined by Opry stars Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Jim Reeves, Bill Monroe, Marty Robbins, and Faron Young. Despite positive reviews, New York Journal-American columnist Dorothy Kilgallen commented, "everybody should get out of town because the hillbillies are coming!" The comment upset Cline and did not affect ticket sales. The Opry performance would later be sold out. By the end of year, Cline had won several major industry awards including "Favorite Female Vocalist" from Billboard Magazine and Cashbox Magazines "Most Programmed Female Artist". Also in 1961, Cline was back in the studio to record an upcoming album. Among the first songs she recorded was "She's Got You". Written by Hank Cochran, he pitched the song to Cline over the phone. Insisting to hear it in-person, Cochran brought the recording over to her house, along with a bottle of alcohol. Upon listening to it again, she liked the song and wanted to record it. Owen Bradley also liked the song and it was officially recorded on December 17, 1961. "She's Got You" became her third country-pop crossover hit by early 1962. "She's Got You" would also be her second number 1 hit on the Billboard country chart. It was also Cline's first entry in the United Kingdom singles chart, reaching number 43. The cover by Alma Cogan, one of Britain's most popular female artists of the 1950s, performed notably as well.
In 1962, Cline had three major hits with "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Imagine That". Cline's career successes helped her become financially stable enough to purchase her first home. She bought a ranch house located Goodlettsville, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The home was decorated by Cline and included a music room, several bedrooms and a large backyard. According to Dottie West, "the house was her mansion, the sign she'd arrived." Cline called it her "dream home" and often had friends over to visit. After her death, the house was sold to country artist Wilma Burgess. In the summer of 1962, manager Randy Hughes got her a role in a country music vehicle film. It also starred Dottie West, Webb Pierce and Sonny James. After arriving to film in DeLand, Florida, the producer had "ran off with the money", according to West. The movie was never made. In August, her third studio album Sentimentally Yours was released. It featured "She's Got You" as well as several country and pop standards. According to biographer Ellis Nassour, her royalties "were coming in slim" and she needed "financial security". Therefore, Randy Hughes arranged Cline to work at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada for 35 days. Cline would later dislike the experience. During the engagement, she developed a dry throat. She also was homesick and wanted to spend time with her children. By appearing at the engagement, Cline became the first female country artist to headline her own show in Las Vegas.
During this period Cline was said to have experienced premonitions of her own death. Dottie West, June Carter Cash, and Loretta Lynn recalled Cline telling them she felt a sense of impending doom and did not expect to live much longer. In letters, she would also describe the happiness of her new career successes. In January 1963, her next single "Leavin' on Your Mind" was released and debuted on the Billboard country chart soon after. In February, she recorded her final sessions for Decca Records. Among the songs recorded were "Sweet Dreams", "He Called Me Baby", and "Faded Love". Cline arranged for friends Jan Howard and Dottie West to come and hear the session playbacks. According to Howard, "I was in awe of Patsy. You know, afterward you're supposed to say something nice. I couldn't talk. I was dumbfounded."
Personal life
Friendships
Cline had close friendships with several country artists and performers. Her friendship with Loretta Lynn has been the subject of numerous books, songs, films and other projects. The pair first met when Lynn performed "I Fall to Pieces" on the radio shortly after Cline's 1961 car accident. Cline heard the broadcast and sent her husband to pick up Lynn so they could meet. According to Lynn, the pair became close friends "right away". Lynn later described their friendship in detail, "She taught me a lot about show business, like how to go on a stage and how to get off. She even bought me a lot of clothes...She even bought me curtains and drapes for my house because I was too broke to buy them...She was a great human being and a great friend." Lynn also noted they became so close that Cline even gave her underwear. Lynn still has the underwear in storage, saying it was "well-made".
Dottie West was another female country artist with whom Cline became friends. They first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. West wrote Cline a fan letter after hearing her first hit "Walkin' After Midnight". According to West, Cline "showed a genuine interest in her career" and they became close friends. The pair often spent time at their homes and worked on packaged tour dates together. West also stated Cline was a supportive friend who helped out in times of need.
Jan Howard was a third female artist with whom Cline had a close friendship. The pair first met when Cline tried starting an argument with Howard backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. She said to Howard, "You're a conceited little son of a bitch! You just go out there, do your spot, and leave without saying hello to anyone." Howard was upset and replied angrily back. Cline then laughed and said, "Slow down! Hoss, you're all right. Anybody that'll stand there and talk back to the Cline like that is all right...I can tell we're gonna be good friends!" The pair remained close for the remainder of Cline's life. Other friendships Cline had with female artists included Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and pianist Del Wood. She also became friends with male country artists including Roger Miller, who helped Cline find material to record. Faron Young was another male artist whom Cline befriended from working on tour together. While on tour, the pair would spend time together, including a trip to Hawaii where the pair saw a hula show.
Family
Cline's mother Hilda Hensley continued living in Winchester, Virginia following her daughter's death. She rented out the family's childhood home on South Kent Street and lived across the street. Following Cline's death, Hensley briefly spent time raising her two grandchildren in Virginia. Hensley maintained a closet full of her daughter's stage costumes, including a sequined dress Cline wore while performing in Las Vegas in 1962. She worked as a seamstress and made many of her daughter's stage costumes. Hensley died from natural causes in 1998. Cline's father Samuel Hensley died of lung cancer in 1956. Hensley had previously deserted the family in 1947 and shortly before his death, Cline and her mother visited him at a hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. After discovering his current state, Cline said to her mother, "Mama, I know what-all he did, but it seems he's real sick and may not make it. In spite of everything, I want to visit him." Both of Cline's surviving siblings fought in court over their mother's estate. Because of legal fees, many of Cline's possessions were sold at auction.
Cline had two surviving children at the time of her death: Julie Simadore (born 1958) and Allen Randolph "Randy" (born 1961). Julie has been a significant factor in keeping her mother's legacy alive. She has appeared at numerous public appearances in support of her mother's music and career. Following the death of her father in 2015, she helped open a museum dedicated to Cline in Nashville, Tennessee. Julie has few memories of her mother due to Cline's death while she was young. In an interview with People Magazine, Julie discussed her mother's legacy, "I do understand her position in history, and the history of Nashville and country music...I'm still kind of amazed at it myself, because there's 'Mom' and then there's 'Patsy Cline,' and I'm actually a fan."
The present day American female blues, swing, and rock and roll singer, songwriter and record producer, Casey Hensley, is a distant relation of Cline's.
Marriages
Cline was married twice. Her first marriage was to Gerald Cline, on March 7, 1953. His family had owned a contracting and excavating company in Frederick, Maryland. According to Cline's brother Sam, he liked "flashy cars and women." The two met while she was performing with Bill Peer at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland. According to Gerald Cline, "It might not have been love at first sight when Patsy saw me, but it was for me." Gerald Cline often took her to "one-nighters" and other concerts she performed in. Although he enjoyed her performances, he could not get used to her touring and road schedule. Patsy had told a friend during their marriage that she didn't think she "knew what love was" upon marrying Gerald. The pair began living separately by the end of 1956 and divorced in 1957.
Cline married her second husband Charlie Dick on September 15, 1957. The pair met in 1956 while Cline was performing with a local Virginia band. At the time, Dick was a linotype operator for local newspaper, The Winchester Star. According to Dick, he had asked Cline to dance and she replied, "I can't dance while I'm working, okay?" They eventually started spending time together and Cline began telling close friends about their relationship. Cline told Grand Ole Opry pianist Del Wood in 1956, "Hoss, I got some news. I met a boy my own age who's a hurricane in pants! Del, I'm in love, and this time, it's for real." The pair had children Julie and Randy together. Their relationship was considered both romantic and tempestuous. According to Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack, Cline and Dick's marriage was "fueled by alcohol, argument, passion, jealousy, success, tears and laughter." According to biographer Ellis Nassour, the pair fought often but remained together. They had gained a reputation as "heavy drinkers", but according to Dick himself, they were not "drunks". During one particular fight, Cline had Dick arrested after they became physical with one another. Following Cline's death in 1963, Dick married country artist Jamey Ryan in 1965. The pair divorced in the early 1970s after having one child together. Dick helped with keeping Cline's legacy alive for the remainder of his own life. He assisted in producing several documentaries about Cline's career including Remembering Patsy and The Real Patsy Cline. He became involved with Hallway Productions in the 1990s and helped produce videos on other artists including Willie Nelson and The Mamas and the Papas. Dick died in 2015.
Death
On March 3, 1963, Cline performed a benefit at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call; he had died in an automobile crash a little over a month earlier. Also performing in the show were George Jones, George Riddle and The Jones Boys, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, George McCormick, the Clinch Mountain Boys as well as Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Despite having a cold, Cline gave three performances: 2:00, 5:15 and 8:15 pm. All the shows were standing-room only. For the 2 p.m. show, she wore a sky-blue tulle-laden dress; for the 5:15 show a red shocker; and for the closing show at 8 p.m., Cline wore white chiffon. Her final song was the last she had recorded the previous month, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone".
Cline, who had spent the night at the Town House Motor Hotel, was unable to fly out the day after the concert because Fairfax Airport was fogged in. West asked Patsy to ride in the car with her and husband, Bill, back to Nashville, a 16-hour drive, but Cline refused, saying, "Don't worry about me, Hoss. When it's my time to go, it's my time." On March 5, she called her mother from the motel and checked out at 12:30 p.m., going the short distance to the airport and boarding a Piper PA-24 Comanche plane, aircraft registration number N7000P. On board were Cline, Copas, Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes.
The plane stopped once in Rogers, Arkansas to refuel and subsequently landed at Dyersburg Municipal Airport in Dyersburg, Tennessee at 5 p.m. Hawkins had accepted Billy Walker's place after Walker left on a commercial flight to take care of a stricken family member. The Dyersburg, Tennessee, airfield manager suggested that they stay the night because of high winds and inclement weather, offering them free rooms and meals. But Hughes, who was not trained in instrument flying, said "I've already come this far. We'll be there before you know it." The plane took off at 6:07 p.m.
Cline's flight crashed in heavy weather on the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 1963. Her recovered wristwatch had stopped at 6:20 p.m. The plane was found some from its Nashville destination, in a forest outside of Camden, Tennessee. Forensic examination concluded that everyone aboard had been killed instantly. Until the wreckage was discovered the following dawn and reported on the radio, friends and family had not given up hope. Endless calls tied up the local telephone exchanges to such a degree that other emergency calls had trouble getting through. The lights at the destination Cornelia Fort Airpark were kept on throughout the night, as reports of the missing plane were broadcast on radio and TV.
Early in the morning, Roger Miller and a friend went searching for survivors: "As fast as I could, I ran through the woods screaming their names—through the brush and the trees—and I came up over this little rise, oh, my God, there they were. It was ghastly. The plane had crashed nose down." Shortly after the bodies were removed, looters scavenged the area. Some of the items which were recovered were eventually donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Among them were Cline's wristwatch, a Confederate flag cigarette lighter, studded belt and three pairs of gold lamé slippers. Cline's fee in cash from the last performance was never recovered. Per her wishes, Cline's body was brought home for her memorial service, which thousands attended. People jammed against the small tent over her gold casket and the grave to take all the flowers they could reach as keepsakes. She was buried at Shenandoah Memorial Park in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia. Her grave is marked with a bronze plaque, which reads: "Virginia H. Dick ('Patsy Cline' is noted under her name) 'Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love'." A memorial marks the exact place off Mt Carmel Road in Camden, Tennessee, where the plane crashed in the still-remote forest.
Posthumous releases
Music
Since Cline's death, Decca Records (later bought by MCA) has re-released her music which has made her commercially successful posthumously. The Patsy Cline Story was the first compilation album the label released following her death. It included the songs "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" and "Faded Love". Both tracks were released as singles in 1963. "Sweet Dreams" would reach number 5 on the Billboard country charts and 44 on the Hot 100. "Faded Love" would also become a top 10 hit on the Billboard country chart, peaking at number 7 in October 1963. In 1967, Decca released the compilation Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits. The album would not only peak at number 17 on the Billboard country chart, but also certified diamond in sales from the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2005, the Guinness World Book of Records included Greatest Hits for being the longest album on any record chart by any female artist.
Cline's music continued making the charts into the 1980s. Her version of "Always" made the Billboard country chart in 1980. An album of the same was also released in 1980 that peaked within the top 30 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Two overdubbed duets between Cline and Jim Reeves became major hits during this time as well. Following the release of the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), there was renewed interest in Cline's career. Therefore, MCA Records reissued much of Cline's earlier studio and compilation releases. Her 1967 greatest hits album for example was repackaged in 1988 and labeled 12 Greatest Hits. The record reached number 27 on the Top Country Albums list in 1990. The soundtrack for Cline's own film biopic was released concurrently with the movie in 1985. The soundtrack would peak at number 6 on the Billboard country albums chart upon its release.
In 1991, MCA records issued her first box set entitled The Patsy Cline Collection. The album chronicled all of Cline's recorded material for Four Star and Decca Records. The boxed set received positive reviews, notably by Thom Jurek of Allmusic who rated it five out of five stars. Jurek commented, If an artist ever deserved a box set chronicling her entire career, it is Patsy Cline. Having recorded 102 sides between 1955 and her death at the age of 30 in 1963, Cline changed not only country music forever, but affected the world of pop as well. Over four CDs, arranged chronologically, the listener gets treated to a story in the development and maturation of a cultural icon who was at least, in terms of her gift, the equal of her legend. Rolling Stone listed the box set among their "50 Greatest Albums of All-Time". Writer Rob Sheffield called Cline "a badass cowgirl drama queen belts some of the torchiest, weepiest country songs ever, hitting high notes that make you sob into your margarita." The Patsy Cline Collection would reach number 29 on the Billboard country albums chart in January 1992. In 1997, MCA released Live at the Cimarron Ballroom, a rare recording that had recently resurfaced. Jeweler Bill Frazee had originally purchased a tape in 1975 which he discovered included Cline's live recording. The live performance on the record took place in July 1961, following Cline's car accident. She appeared at the Cimarron Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma to give a one-night performance. Included on the record was unreleased live performances and dialog with the audience. The album peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard country albums chart. Cline's former MCA label continues releasing material to this day. Cline is listed among the Recording Industry of America's "Best Selling Artists" with a total of over 14 million records sold to date.
Film and television
Cline has been portrayed on film and television several times since the 1980s. The Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) renewed interest in her life and career. Cline and Lynn's friendship was portrayed in the 1980 film. Actress Beverly D'Angelo played Cline in the movie and did her own singing of Cline's original material. D'Angelo earned a Golden Globe award nomination for her role. In an interview D'Angelo did for a 2017 PBS documentary, playing the role of Patsy Cline "had a profound impact" on her life and career.
In 1985, a feature film about Cline's life was released entitled Sweet Dreams. The film starred Jessica Lange as Cline and Ed Harris as husband Charlie Dick. Originally, Meryl Streep auditioned for Cline's role but ultimately lost to Lange. The film was produced by Bernard Schwartz, who also produced Coal Miner's Daughter. Original ideas called for scenes between Cline and Lynn, however they were ultimately removed from the final script. The film has been criticized for its lack of accuracy to Cline's own life and its musical production. Kurt Wolff wrote, "the soundtrack, however, featured overdubbed versions of Cline's material – better to stick with the originals." Mark Deming of Allmovie only gave the release two out of five stars. Deming commented, "While it's a wise approach to show how her turbulent marriage paralleled her crossover to Countrypolitan ballads, the melodrama tends to overshadow the celebrity story by relegating her rise to stardom to the background. Due to the historically dubious concerts at carnivals and fairgrounds, it appears as though she wasn't as big a star as she actually was." Deming did praise Lange's performance saying she created a "cheerful and spirited" depiction of Cline. Roger Ebert gave it two stars in his original 1985 review. Ebert said, "There isn't the sense of a well-shaped structure in this movie; there's no clear idea of what the filmmakers thought about Patsy Cline, or what thoughts her life is supposed to inspire." Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Cline.
Cline was also portrayed in television films. In 1995, a film about the life and career of Cline's friend Dottie West debuted on CBS titled, Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. It included several scenes that showcased West's friendship with Cline. Actress Tere Myers played her in the television movie. Deborah Wilker of the Sun-Sentinel called her performance "terrific" and authentic.
Lifetime aired an original television film Patsy & Loretta in October 2019 on the network. It chronicles Cline's friendship with Loretta Lynn. Cline is portrayed by Megan Hilty and Lynn by Jessie Mueller. The film is directed by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri. The trailer for the movie was released in July 2019. Patsy & Loretta was filmed on location in Nashville, Tennessee and is co-produced by Lynn's daughter and Cline's daughter, Julie Fudge.
There have been several documentaries made about Cline's life and career. The first was a 1989 documentary entitled The Real Patsy Cline which featured interviews with friends and fellow artists. This included Carl Perkins and Willie Nelson. Another documentary was filmed in 1994 entitled Remembering Patsy. The show was hosted by country artist Michelle Wright, who read letters Cline wrote to friends and family. It included interviews with several artists such as Roy Clark, George Jones and Trisha Yearwood. Both documentaries were produced by Cline's widower Charlie Dick. In March 2017, PBS released a documentary on Cline as part of their American Masters series. The film was narrated by Rosanne Cash and featured interviews with fans of Cline. These interviews included Beverly D'Angelo and Reba McEntire. It also included rare performances of songs such as "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Walkin' After Midnight".
Plays and musicals
Cline's life and career has also been re-created in the theater sector. In 1988, the show Always...Patsy Cline premiered. The show was created by Ted Swindley who derived it from a friendship Cline had with Texas resident Louise Seger. The pair met while Cline was performing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, Texas. Seger brought Cline home following the show and they spent the night together. The pair would remain in contact through letters before Cline's death. Much of the script relied from letters exchanged between the two during the course of several years. Seger acts as the show's narrator and revisits memories she shared with Cline through their letter exchanges. Among the show's original performers was Mandy Barnett, who debuted the show at the Ryman Auditorium in 1994. Barnett would go on to have a music and performing career. A second musical was later released in 1991 titled A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. The show was written by Dean Regan and has been called a "musical retelling" of Cline's career.
Artistry
Influences
Cline was influenced by various music artists. Among her earliest influences were pop singers of the 1940s and 1950s. These included Kay Starr, Helen Morgan, Patti Page, and Kate Smith. Patti Page recollected that Cline's husband said to her, "I just wish Patsy could have met you because she just adored you and listened to you all the time and wanted to be like you." Among her primary influences was Kay Starr, of whom Cline was a "fervent devotee" according to The Washington Post. Jack Hurst of the Chicago Tribune remarked that "Her rich, powerful voice, obviously influenced by that of pop's Kay Starr, has continued and perhaps even grown in popularity over the decades." Cline was also attracted to country music radio programs, notably the Grand Ole Opry. According to Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann, Cline became "obsessed" with the program at a young age. Cline's mother Hilda Hensley commented on her daughter's admiration, "I know she never wanted anything so badly as to be a star on the Grand Ole Opry..." Among performers from the program she admired was Patsy Montana. Cline was also influenced by other types of performers including early rockabilly artist Charline Arthur.
Voice and style
Cline possessed a contralto voice. Time magazine writer Richard Corliss called her voice "bold". Her voice has also been praised for its display of emotion. Kurt Wolff called it one of the most "emotionally expressive voices in modern country music". Tony Gabrielle of the Daily Press wrote that Cline had "a voice of tremendous emotional power." Cline was at times taken by her own emotion. Husband Charlie Dick recounted that Cline's producer Owen Bradley told him to leave a recording session because she was very emotional and he didn't want to disturb the mood. Cline was once quoted in describing the emotion she felt, saying, "Oh Lord, I sing just like I hurt inside."
During her early career, Cline recorded in styles such as gospel, rockabilly, and honky-tonk. These styles she cut for Four Star Records have been considered below the quality of her later work for Decca Records. Steve Leggett of Allmusic commented, Her recordings prior to 1960, though, were something else again, and with the exception of 1956's "Walkin' After Midnight" and perhaps one or two other songs, she seemed reined in and stifled as a singer, even though she was working with the same producer, Owen Bradley, who was to produce her 1960s successes. Oh the difference a song makes, because in the end the material she recorded between 1955 and 1960 – all of which is collected on these two discs – was simply too weak for Cline to turn into anything resembling gold, even with her obvious vocal skills.
Cline's style has been largely associated with the Nashville Sound, a sub-genre of country music that linked traditional lyrics with orchestrated pop music styles. This new sound helped many of her singles to crossover onto the Billboard Hot 100 and gain a larger audience that did not always hear country music. Her producer Owen Bradley built this sound onto her Decca recordings, sensing a potential in her voice that went beyond traditional country music. At first, she resisted the pop-sounding style, but was ultimately convinced to record in this new style. Stephen M. Desuner of Pitchfork explained that Cline has been an identifiable factor with the Nashville Sound: "She essentially rewrote their songs simply by singing them, elevating their words and wringing every one of their rhymes for maximum dramatic potential." Mark Deming of Allmusic commented, "Cline and Bradley didn't invent "countrypolitan," but precious few artists managed to meld the sophistication of pop and the emotional honesty of country as brilliantly as this music accomplishes with seemingly effortless grace, and these songs still sound fresh and brilliantly crafted decades after the fact."
Image
Cline's public image changed during the course of her career. She began her career wearing cowgirl dresses and hats designed by her mother. However, as her music crossed over into pop, she began wearing sequined gowns and cocktail dresses. While she would often wear cowgirl costumes for live performances, she would also wear evening dresses for television and metropolitan performances. For her 1957 performance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, the show's producer insisted that Cline wear an evening dress instead of the fringed cowgirl attire she had intended to wear. Her 1962 engagement at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas represented this particular image shift. For one of her performances, Cline wore a sequined cocktail dress designed by her mother.
Cline has also been seen as a pioneer for women in country music. She has been cited as an inspiration by many performers in diverse styles of music. Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide said that Cline had an "aggression" and "boisterous attitude" that gained her the respect of her male counterparts. Wolff explained, "She swaggered her way past stereotypes and other forces of resistance, showing the men in charge – and the public in general – that women were more than capable of singing about such hard subjects as divorce and drinking as well as love and understanding. Sean O'Hagan of The Guardian commented that along with Minnie Pearl, Jean Shepard and Kitty Wells, Cline helped prove that country music was not "macho" and that "strong women" could have a "strong voice". In 2013, The Washington Post wrote, "she was what I call a pre-feminist woman. She didn't open doors; she kicked them down." Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann wrote in 2003 that Cline "transformed what it meant to be a female country star".
Legacy
Cline has been cited in both country and pop music as of one of the greatest vocalists of all-time. Her voice has also been called "haunting", "powerful", and "emotional". Cline's emotional expression and delivery of lyrics helped influence various musical genres and artists. With the support of producer Owen Bradley, Cline has been said to "help define" the Nashville Sound style of country music. While the subgenre has received mixed opinions, it has also been said to be a significant part of country music's "authenticity", with Cline being the center focal point of the subgenre. Other artists have noted her impact, including LeAnn Rimes who stated, "I remember my dad telling me to listen to the way she told a story... I remember feeling more emotion when she sang than anyone else I had ever heard." Lucinda Williams commented on Cline's vocal talent in helping define her legacy, stating, "Even though her style is considered country, her delivery is more like a classic pop singer... That's what set her apart from Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette. You'd almost think she was classically trained."
Cline has been a major influence on various music artists including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, k.d. lang, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, Dottie West, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Cyndi Lauper, Trixie Mattel and Brandi Carlile. Dottie West (also a close friend of Cline's) spoke about her influence on her own career, "I think I was most influenced by Patsy Cline, she said things for people. There was so much feeling in there. In fact, she told me, 'Hoss, if you can't do it with feeling, don't'". In 2019, Sara Evans discussed how Cline has been an influence since she was a young girl, "I learned everything I could learn about her. I tried to mimic her singing to the ‘t’. We grew up singing in bars — my brothers, sisters and I — from the time I was really little. So I started covering every Patsy Cline song. Then when I first got my record deal I came to Winchester to visit a radio station to try to get them to play my song Three Chords and the Truth."
In 1973, Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. With the induction, she became the first solo female artist to be included. In 1977, Cline's friend and mentee Loretta Lynn released a tribute album entitled I Remember Patsy. The record contained covers of Cline's songs, including "Back in Baby's Arms" and "Crazy". The album's lead single was "She's Got You", which would reach the number 1 spot on the Billboard country chart in 1977. In 1995, Cline received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her legacy and career. Additionally, her hits "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy" received inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Cline was included on United States postal stamps as part of their "Legends" series. Other country artists that were included on stamp series were The Carter Family, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills. The stamps were dedicated in an official ceremony at the Grand Ole Opry by Postmaster General Marvin Runyon. In August 1999, Cline received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony was attended by her widower Charlie Dick and daughter Julie Fudge. During the 1990s, two of her songs were voted among the "Greatest Juke Box Hits of All-Time". "Crazy" was voted as the number 1 greatest, along with "I Fall to Pieces" ranking at number 17.
Since the late 1990s, she received additional rankings and honors. In 1999, Cline was ranked at number 11 among VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll". In 2003, she was included by Country Music Television on their list of the "40 Greatest Women of Country Music". In 2010, Cline ranked at number 46 on Rolling Stones list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All-Time". The magazine would rank her on their 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Country Artists of All-Time", where she placed at number 12.
Forty years after her death, MCA Nashville released a tribute album entitled Remembering Patsy Cline (2003). A television special also followed around the same time. The album consisted of cover versions of songs taken from Cline's 1967 greatest hits album. It included songs covered by country artists such as Terri Clark and Martina McBride. It also featured artists from other genres such as Michelle Branch, Diana Krall and Patti Griffin.
Cline's hometown of Winchester, Virginia has helped honor her legacy and career. In 1987, the local government approved the placing of markers within the town denoting it as the birthplace of Cline. The same year, a bell tower was erected in her burial location at Shenandoah Memorial Park. The bell tower cost thirty five thousand dollars and was partially funded by Cline's friends Jan Howard and Loretta Lynn. In 2005, Cline's childhood home was given an official on-site marker and included on the National Register of Historic Places. With the development of an organization entitled Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., renovations began on Cline's childhood home. In August 2011, the Patsy Cline House officially opened as a historic home for tours. In almost three months, about three thousand people visited the home. The home was restored to the era in which Cline lived in it during the 1950s with her mother and siblings. Replicas of furniture and stage clothes are also included. Daughter Julie Fudge spoke of the house in 2011, stating, “I think when you go into the house, you will kind of feel like this is a snapshot of what it would have been like to visit when Mom lived there.”
In 2017, the Patsy Cline Museum opened in Nashville, Tennessee, located at 119 3rd Ave. S., on the second floor in the same building as the Johnny Cash Museum. The museum includes Cline's actual stage costumes, as well as her original scrapbook and record albums. The Patsy Cline Museum features other artifacts, such as the soda fountain machine from Gaunt's Drug Store, where Cline worked as a teenager. Original letters that Cline wrote to friends are also included as part of the museum.
Discography
Studio albums
1957: Patsy Cline
1961: Patsy Cline Showcase
1962: Sentimentally Yours
Posthumous studio albums
1964: A Portrait of Patsy Cline
1964: That's How a Heartache Begins
1980: Always
References
Footnotes
Books
Further reading
Bego, Mark. I Fall to Pieces: The Music and the Life of Patsy Cline. Adams Media Corporation.
Hazen, Cindy and Mike Freeman. Love Always, Patsy. The Berkley Publishing Group.
Jones, Margaret (1998). "Patsy Cline". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–9.
Gomery, Douglas Patsy Cline: The Making of an Icon. Trafford Publishing.
External links
Celebrating Patsy Cline an official organization sponsoring several projects
Patsy Cline Home and Museum located in Winchester, Virginia
Patsy Cline recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
The Patsy Cline Plane Crash
1932 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century women composers
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American contraltos
American country singer-songwriters
American women composers
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women singer-songwriters
American rockabilly musicians
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Country musicians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Virginia
Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
Deaths in Tennessee
Decca Records artists
Four Star Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Grand Ole Opry members
People from Goodlettsville, Tennessee
People from Winchester, Virginia
Rock and roll musicians
Singer-songwriters from Virginia
Torch singers
Traditional pop music singers
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee | false | [
"Jayashree Chandramohan popularly known as Jaya Mahesh is an Indian pageant winner, model and Fitness therapist. She was born into a Tamil family in South Indian city Coimbatore. She was a homemaker before overcoming her post-pregnancy health issues she started her career.\n\nBackground and family \nJaya Mahesh was born in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India into a Tamil family. She did her schooling at GRG Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore. She went on to graduate in B.Com from PSGR Krishnammal College in Coimbatore. She is married to Mahesh Kumar G a business professional in the year 1995 and has one daughter Sanjana M Kumar.\n\nCareer \n\nJaya Mahesh was suffering from Post Pregnancy trauma and abnormal weight gain. She gained over after her pregnancy. She also lost her eyesight due to her abnormal weight gain.\n\nShe overcame her personal struggles with support from her husband and children - as she quotes, she framed her own routines of food and exercise habits.\n\nJaya Mahesh had her first big success and recognition when she was crowned Mrs. Coimbatore in the year 2006. She went on to win and crowned as Mrs. India Earth Classic in the year 2016.\n\nJaya Mahesh was recently adjudged the third runner up at Mrs Globe Classic event in California. She also bagged the Mrs. Photogenic crown.\n\nHonorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) from University of SouthAmerica\n\nAwards and recognition\n\nReferences \n\n1969 births\nLiving people\nFemale models from Tamil Nadu\nIndian beauty pageant winners\nPeople from Coimbatore",
"Nomarussia Bonase (born 1966) is a South African human rights activist.\n\nBiography\nNomarussia Bonase was born in 1966 in Baragwanath Hospital, South Africa. Bonase was a politically active schoolgirl but had no opportunity to go to university so she got a job working in a transport company in Johannesburg. There she organised the workers into a union, becoming their first shop steward. Bonase became concerned about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission when it did not deal with sexual violence. She joined the Khulumani Support Group and has become the National Coordinator. The group works to gain recognition and recompense for the victims and survivors of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Bonase has organised against racism on many fronts from the Marikana massacre to the lack of toilets available in a town. In 2017, she won the Anne Klein Women's prize.\n\nSources\n\n1966 births\nLiving people\nSouth African women lawyers\nHuman rights"
] |
[
"Patsy Cline",
"Early years",
"What were patsy's early years like",
"The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16.",
"What school did she attend?",
"Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk",
"What is a soda jerk?",
"I don't know.",
"Did she go to college",
"She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing",
"Did she gain recognition?",
"Jimmy McCoy if she could sing on his show. Her performance in 1947 was well received and she was asked back."
] | C_b40d68fe4a1946b280e019709405a608_1 | What are some other interesting aspects about this article? | 6 | Besides Patsy Cline singing on Jimmy McCoy's show, what are some other interesting aspects about this article? | Patsy Cline | Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia, in the city's Memorial Hospital. She was the eldest child of seamstress Hilda Virginia (nee Patterson, 1916-1998) and blacksmith Samuel Lawrence Hensley (1889-1956). She had a brother Samuel Jr. (1939-2004) and a sister Sylvia. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia when Patsy was 16. Sam Hensley deserted his family in 1947, but the children's home was reportedly happy nonetheless. When Patsy was 13, she was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. She later said, "The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith." Cline enrolled at John Handley High School but never attended classes. To help her mother support their family, she worked as a soda jerk at Gaunt's Drug Store and a waitress at the Triangle Diner. She watched performers through the window at the local radio station, and she asked WINC (AM) disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if she could sing on his show. Her performance in 1947 was well received and she was asked back. This led to appearances at local nightclubs wearing fringed Western outfits that her mother made from Patsy's designs. Cline performed in variety and talent shows in the Winchester and Tri-State areas, and she gained a large following through the shows and local radio appearances. Jimmy Dean was already a country star in 1954, and she became a regular with him on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Jamboree radio show on WAVA (AM) in Arlington County, Virginia. CANNOTANSWER | This led to appearances at local nightclubs wearing fringed Western outfits that her mother made from Patsy's designs. | Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Cline's first professional performances began at the local WINC radio station when she was fifteen. In the early 1950s, Cline began appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. It also led to the signing of her first recording contract with the Four Star label in 1954. She had minor success with her earliest Four Star singles including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957 however, Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnight", the single would become her first major hit on both the country and pop charts.
Cline's further singles with Four Star Records were unsuccessful, although she continued performing and recording. After marrying in 1957 and giving birth in 1958, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to further her career. Working with new manager Randy Hughes, Cline would become a member of the Grand Ole Opry and then move to Decca Records in 1960. Under the direction of producer Owen Bradley, her musical sound shifted and she achieved consistent success. The 1961 single "I Fall to Pieces" would become her first to top the Billboard country chart. As the song became a hit, Cline was severely injured in an automobile accident, which caused her to spend a month in the hospital. After she recovered, her next single release "Crazy" would also become a major hit.
Between 1962 and 1963, Cline had hits with "She's Got You", "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Leavin' on Your Mind". She also toured and headlined shows with more frequency. In March 1963, Cline was killed in a plane crash along with country performers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Kansas back to Nashville.
Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected and influential performers of the 20th century. Her music has influenced performers of various styles and genres. She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts. In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, Cline's posthumous successes continued in the mass media. She was portrayed twice in major motion pictures, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange. Several documentaries and stage shows were released during this time, including the 1988 musical Always...Patsy Cline. A 1991 box set of her recordings was issued that received critical acclaim. Her greatest hits album sold over 10 million copies in 2005. In 2011, Cline's childhood home was restored as a museum for visitors and fans to tour. In 2017, Cline’s Dream Home in Nashville, TN was placed on the Tennessee Historical Markers List by the Patsy Cline Fan Home Owners, Steven Shirey and Thomas Corritore.
Early life
Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932, to Hilda Virginia (née Patterson; 1916–1998) and Samuel Lawerence Hensley (1889–1956). Mrs. Hensley was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Sam Hensley had been married before; Cline had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15) that lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, Hilda Hensley would also have Samuel Jr. (called John) and Sylvia Mae. Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was also referred to as "Ginny". She temporarily lived with her mother's family in Gore, Virginia before relocating many times throughout the state. In her childhood, the family relocated where Samuel Hensley, a blacksmith, could find employment, including Elkton, Staunton, and Norfolk. When the family had little money, she would find work. This included an Elkton poultry factory, where her job was to pluck and cut chickens. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia on South Kent Street. Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her. When confiding about the abuse to friend Loretta Lynn, Cline told her, "take this to your grave". Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams.
At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. Speaking of the incident in 1957 she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's." It was during this time she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events. She also taught herself how to play the piano.
With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing only grew further and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances began at WINC in the Winchester area. According to WINC's radio disc jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy, Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition. McCoy was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you." While also performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer Helen Morgan.
Cline's mother and father had marital conflicts during her childhood and by 1947, her father deserted the family. Author Ellis Nassour of the biography Honky Tonk Angel: An Intimate Story of Patsy Cline reported Cline had a "beautiful relationship" with her mother. In his interviews with Hilda Hensley, he quoted Cline's mother in saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child. Upon entering the ninth grade, Cline enrolled at John Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia. However, the family had trouble sustaining an income after her father's desertion. Therefore, Cline dropped out of high school to help support the family. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and soda jerk.
Career
1948–1953: Early career
At age 15, Cline wrote a letter to the Grand Ole Opry asking for an audition. She told local photographer Ralph Grubbs about the letter, "A friend thinks I'm crazy to send it. What do you think?" Grubbs encouraged Cline to send it. Several weeks later, she received a return letter from the Opry asking for pictures and recordings. At the same time, Gospel performer Wally Fowler headlined a concert in her hometown. Cline convinced concert employees to let her backstage where she asked Fowler for an audition. Following a successful audition, Cline's family received a call asking for her to audition for the Opry. She traveled with her mother, two siblings, and a family friend on an eight-hour journey to Nashville, Tennessee. With limited finances, they drove overnight and slept in a Nashville park the following morning. Cline auditioned for Opry performer Moon Mullican the same day. The audition was well-received and Cline expected to hear from the Opry the same day. However, she never received news and the family returned to Virginia.
By the early 1950s, Cline continued performing around the local area. In 1952, she asked to audition for local country bandleader Bill Peer. Following her audition, she began performing regularly as a member of Bill Peer's Melody Boys and Girls. The pair's relationship turned romantic, continuing an affair for several years. Nonetheless, the pair remained married to their spouses. Peer's group played primarily at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland where she would meet her first husband, Gerald Cline. Peer encouraged her to have a more appropriate stage name. She changed her first name from Virginia to Patsy (taken from her middle name "Patterson"). She kept her new last name, Cline. Ultimately, she became professionally known as "Patsy Cline".
In August 1953, Cline was a contestant in a local country music contest. She won 100 dollars and the opportunity to perform as a regular on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Time. The show included country stars Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV and Billy Grammer, and was filmed in Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. She was not officially added to the program's television shows until October 1955. Cline's television performances received critical acclaim. The Washington Star magazine praised her stage presence, commenting, "She creates the moods through movement of her hands and body and by the lilt of her voice, reaching way down deep in her soul to bring forth the melody. Most female country music vocalists stand motionless, sing with monotonous high-pitched nasal twang. Patsy's come up with a throaty style loaded with motion and E-motion."
1954–1960: Four Star Records
In 1954, Bill Peer created and distributed a series of demonstration tapes with Cline's voice on it. A tape was brought to the attention of Bill McCall, president of Four Star Records. On September 30, 1954, she signed a two-year recording contract with the label alongside Peer and her husband Gerald Cline. The original contract allowed Four Star to receive most of the money for the songs she recorded. Therefore, Cline received little of the royalties from the label, totaling out to 2.34 percent on her recording contract. Her first recording session took place in Nashville, Tennessee on January 5, 1955. Songs for the session were handpicked by McCall and Paul Cohen. Four Star leased the recordings to the larger Decca Records. For those reasons Owen Bradley was chosen as the session's producer, a professional relationship that would continue into the 1960s. Her first single release was 1955's "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye". Although Cline promoted it with an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry the song was not successful.
Cline recorded a variety of musical styles while recording for Four Star. This included genres such as gospel, rockabilly, traditional country and pop. Writers and music journalists have had mixed beliefs on Cline's Four Star material. Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack of Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music called the label's choice of material "mediocre". They also commented that Cline seemed to have "groped for her own sound on the label". Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide commented that the music was "sturdy enough, but they only hinted at the potential that lurked inside her. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic claimed it was Cline's voice that made the Four Star material less appealing: "Circumstances were not wholly to blame for Cline's commercial failures. She would have never made it as a rockabilly singer, lacking the conviction of Wanda Jackson or the spunk of Brenda Lee. In fact, in comparison with her best work, she sounds rather stiff and ill-at-ease on most of her early singles."
Between 1955 and 1956, Cline's four singles for Four Star failed to become hits. However, she continued performing regionally, including on the Town and Country Jamboree. In 1956, she appeared on ABC's Country Music Jubilee, Ozark Jubilee. It was at one of her local performances that she met her second husband, Charlie Dick. In 1956, Cline received a call to perform on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a national television show she had auditioned for several months prior. She accepted the offer, using her mother Hilda Hensley as her talent scout for the show. According to the show's rules, talent scouts could not be family members. For those reasons, Cline's mother lied in order to appear on the show. When Arthur Godfrey asked if Hensley had known Cline her entire life, she replied, "Yes, just about!"
Cline and Mrs. Hensley flew into LaGuardia Airport in New York City on January 18, 1957. She made her debut appearance on the program on January 21. The day of the show, she met with the show's producer Janette Davis. Cline had chosen "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" to perform on the program, but Davis preferred another song she had recorded, "Walkin' After Midnight". Cline initially refused to perform it, but ultimately agreed to it. Davis also suggested Cline wear a cocktail dress instead of the cowgirl outfit created by her mother. She performed "Walkin' After Midnight" and won the program's contest that night. The song had not yet been released as a single. In order to keep up with public demand, Decca Records rush-released the song as a single on February 11. The song ultimately became Cline's breakthrough hit, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. The song also reached number 12 on the Billboard pop music chart. The song has since been considered a classic in country music since its release.
Music critics and writers have positively praised "Walkin' After Midnight". Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann called the song "bluesy". Richie Unterberger noted "it's well-suited for the almost bemused aura of loneliness of the lyric." The success of "Walkin' After Midnight" brought Cline numerous appearances on shows and major networks. She continued working for Arthur Godfrey over the next several months. She also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in February and the television program Western Ranch Party in March. The money she had earned from her numerous engagements totaled out to ten thousand dollars. Cline gave all the money to her mother, which she used to the pay the mortgage on her Winchester house. In August 1957, her debut studio album was issued via Decca Records.
Cline's follow-up singles to "Walkin' After Midnight" did not yield any success. This was partially due to the quality of material chosen for her to record. Cline was dissatisfied with the limited success following "Walkin' After Midnight". Bradley recounted how she often came to him saying, "Hoss, can't you do something? I feel like a prisoner." Around the same time, Cline was fired from her regular slot on Town and Country Jamboree. According to Connie B. Gay, she ran late for shows and "showed up with liquor on her breath". In September 1957, Cline married Charlie Dick and he was soon sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on a military assignment. Cline also gave birth to her first daughter Julie. In hopes of restarting her career, Cline and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
1960–1961: New beginnings and car accident
Cline's professional decisions yielded more positive results by the early 1960s. Upon moving to Nashville, she signed a management deal with Randy Hughes. She originally wished to work with Hubert Long, however, he was busy managing other artists. Instead, she turned her attention to Hughes. With the help of Hughes, she began working steadier jobs. He organized fifty dollar bookings and got her multiple performances on the Grand Ole Opry. In January 1960, Cline officially became a member of the Opry. When she asked general manager Ott Devine about a membership he replied, "Patsy, if that's all you want, you're on the Opry." Also in January 1960, Cline made her final recording sessions set forth in her contract with Four Star Records. Later that year, her final singles with the label were released: "Lovesick Blues" and "Crazy Dreams". Leaving Four Star, Cline officially signed with Decca Records in late 1960, working exclusively under Bradley's direction. Insisting on receiving an advance, she received $1,000 from Bradley once she began at the label.
Her first release under Decca was 1961's "I Fall to Pieces". The song was written by newly established Nashville songwriters Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. "I Fall to Pieces" had first been turned down by Roy Drusky and Brenda Lee before Cline cut it in November 1960. At the recording session, she worried about the song's production, particularly the background vocals performed by The Jordanaires. After much arguing between both Cline and Bradley, they negotiated that she would record "I Fall to Pieces" (a song Bradley favored) and "Lovin' in Vain" (a song she favored). Released as a single in January 1961, "I Fall to Pieces" attracted little attention upon its initial issue. In April, the song debuted on the Hot Country and Western Sides chart. By August 7, the song became her first to top the country chart. Additionally, "I Fall to Pieces" crossed over onto the Billboard Pop chart, peaking at number 12.
On June 14, 1961, Cline and her brother Sam Hensley, Jr. were involved in an automobile accident. Cline had brought her mother, sister and brother to see her new Nashville home the day before. On the day of the accident, Cline and her brother went shopping to buy material for her mother to make clothing. Upon driving home, their car was struck head-on by another vehicle. The impact threw her directly into the car windshield, causing extensive facial injuries. Among her injuries, Cline suffered a broken wrist, dislocated hip and a large cut across her forehead, barely missing her eyes. Friend Dottie West heard about the accident via the radio and rushed to the scene, helping to remove pieces of broken glass from Cline's hair. When first responders arrived, Cline insisted the driver in the other vehicle be treated first. Two of the three passengers riding in the car that struck Cline died after arriving at the hospital. When she was brought to the hospital, her injuries were life-threatening and she was not expected to live. She underwent surgery and survived. According to her husband Charlie Dick, upon waking up she said to him, "Jesus was here, Charlie. Don't worry. He took my hand and told me, 'No, not now. I have other things for you to do.'" She spent a month recovering in the hospital.
1961–1963: Career peak
Cline returned to her career six weeks after her 1961 car accident. Her first public appearance was on the Grand Ole Opry where she assured fans she would continue performing. She said to the audience that night, "You're wonderful. I'll tell you one thing: the greatest gift, I think, that you folks coulda given me was the encouragement that you gave me. Right at the very time I needed you the most, you came through with the flying-est colors. And I just want to say you'll just never know how happy you made this ol' country gal." Cline's follow-up single to "I Fall to Pieces" was the song "Crazy". It was written by Willie Nelson, whose version of the song was first heard by Dick. When Dick brought the song to Cline she did not like it. When Dick encouraged her to record "Crazy", Cline replied, "I don't care what you say. I don't like it and I ain't gonna record it. And that's that." Bradley liked the song and set the date for its recording for August 17. When Cline got to Bradley's studio, he convinced her to record it. She listened to Nelson's version of "Crazy" and decided she was going to perform it differently. Nelson's version included a spoken section that Cline removed. She cut additional material on August 17 and when she got to "Crazy", it became difficult to perform. Because Cline was still recovering from the accident, performing the song's high notes caused rib pain. Giving her time to rest, Bradley sent her home while musicians laid down the track without her. A week later she returned and recorded her vocal in a single take.
"Crazy" was released as a single in October 1961, debuting on the Billboard country charts in November. It would peak at number 2 there and number 9 on the same publication's pop charts. "Crazy" would also become Cline's biggest pop hit. "Crazy" has since been called a country music standard. Cline's vocal performance and the song's production have received positive praise over time. Cub Koda of AllMusic noted the "ache" in her voice that makes the song stand out: "Cline's reading of the lyric is filled with an aching world weariness that transforms the tune into one of the first big crossover hits without even trying hard." Country music historian Paul Kingsbury also highlighted her "ache", saying in 2007, "Cline's hit recording swings with such velvety finesse, and her voice throbs and aches so exquisitely, that the entire production sounds absolutely effortless." Jhoni Jackon of Paste Magazine called the recording "iconic", highlighting the "pain" Cline had in her vocal technique. Her second studio album Patsy Cline Showcase was released in late 1961. The album featured both major hits from that year and re-recorded versions of "Walkin' After Midnight" and "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)".
"Crazy" and Cline's further Decca recordings have received critical praise. Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann noted "Her thrilling voice invariably invested these with new depth. Patsy's dramatic volume control, stretched-note effects, sobs, pauses and unique ways of holding back, then bursting into full-throated phrases also breathed new life into country chestnuts like "San Antonio Rose", "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Half as Much". Richie Unterberger of AllMusic commented that her voice "sounded richer, more confident, and more mature, with ageless wise and vulnerable qualities that have enabled her records to maintain their appeal with subsequent generations." Kurt Wolff of Country Music the Rough Guide reported that Owen Bradley recognized potential in Cline's and once he gained studio control, he smoothed arrangements and "refine her voice into an instrument of torch-singing glory."
In November 1961, she was invited to perform as part of the Grand Ole Opry's show at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She was joined by Opry stars Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Jim Reeves, Bill Monroe, Marty Robbins, and Faron Young. Despite positive reviews, New York Journal-American columnist Dorothy Kilgallen commented, "everybody should get out of town because the hillbillies are coming!" The comment upset Cline and did not affect ticket sales. The Opry performance would later be sold out. By the end of year, Cline had won several major industry awards including "Favorite Female Vocalist" from Billboard Magazine and Cashbox Magazines "Most Programmed Female Artist". Also in 1961, Cline was back in the studio to record an upcoming album. Among the first songs she recorded was "She's Got You". Written by Hank Cochran, he pitched the song to Cline over the phone. Insisting to hear it in-person, Cochran brought the recording over to her house, along with a bottle of alcohol. Upon listening to it again, she liked the song and wanted to record it. Owen Bradley also liked the song and it was officially recorded on December 17, 1961. "She's Got You" became her third country-pop crossover hit by early 1962. "She's Got You" would also be her second number 1 hit on the Billboard country chart. It was also Cline's first entry in the United Kingdom singles chart, reaching number 43. The cover by Alma Cogan, one of Britain's most popular female artists of the 1950s, performed notably as well.
In 1962, Cline had three major hits with "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Imagine That". Cline's career successes helped her become financially stable enough to purchase her first home. She bought a ranch house located Goodlettsville, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The home was decorated by Cline and included a music room, several bedrooms and a large backyard. According to Dottie West, "the house was her mansion, the sign she'd arrived." Cline called it her "dream home" and often had friends over to visit. After her death, the house was sold to country artist Wilma Burgess. In the summer of 1962, manager Randy Hughes got her a role in a country music vehicle film. It also starred Dottie West, Webb Pierce and Sonny James. After arriving to film in DeLand, Florida, the producer had "ran off with the money", according to West. The movie was never made. In August, her third studio album Sentimentally Yours was released. It featured "She's Got You" as well as several country and pop standards. According to biographer Ellis Nassour, her royalties "were coming in slim" and she needed "financial security". Therefore, Randy Hughes arranged Cline to work at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada for 35 days. Cline would later dislike the experience. During the engagement, she developed a dry throat. She also was homesick and wanted to spend time with her children. By appearing at the engagement, Cline became the first female country artist to headline her own show in Las Vegas.
During this period Cline was said to have experienced premonitions of her own death. Dottie West, June Carter Cash, and Loretta Lynn recalled Cline telling them she felt a sense of impending doom and did not expect to live much longer. In letters, she would also describe the happiness of her new career successes. In January 1963, her next single "Leavin' on Your Mind" was released and debuted on the Billboard country chart soon after. In February, she recorded her final sessions for Decca Records. Among the songs recorded were "Sweet Dreams", "He Called Me Baby", and "Faded Love". Cline arranged for friends Jan Howard and Dottie West to come and hear the session playbacks. According to Howard, "I was in awe of Patsy. You know, afterward you're supposed to say something nice. I couldn't talk. I was dumbfounded."
Personal life
Friendships
Cline had close friendships with several country artists and performers. Her friendship with Loretta Lynn has been the subject of numerous books, songs, films and other projects. The pair first met when Lynn performed "I Fall to Pieces" on the radio shortly after Cline's 1961 car accident. Cline heard the broadcast and sent her husband to pick up Lynn so they could meet. According to Lynn, the pair became close friends "right away". Lynn later described their friendship in detail, "She taught me a lot about show business, like how to go on a stage and how to get off. She even bought me a lot of clothes...She even bought me curtains and drapes for my house because I was too broke to buy them...She was a great human being and a great friend." Lynn also noted they became so close that Cline even gave her underwear. Lynn still has the underwear in storage, saying it was "well-made".
Dottie West was another female country artist with whom Cline became friends. They first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. West wrote Cline a fan letter after hearing her first hit "Walkin' After Midnight". According to West, Cline "showed a genuine interest in her career" and they became close friends. The pair often spent time at their homes and worked on packaged tour dates together. West also stated Cline was a supportive friend who helped out in times of need.
Jan Howard was a third female artist with whom Cline had a close friendship. The pair first met when Cline tried starting an argument with Howard backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. She said to Howard, "You're a conceited little son of a bitch! You just go out there, do your spot, and leave without saying hello to anyone." Howard was upset and replied angrily back. Cline then laughed and said, "Slow down! Hoss, you're all right. Anybody that'll stand there and talk back to the Cline like that is all right...I can tell we're gonna be good friends!" The pair remained close for the remainder of Cline's life. Other friendships Cline had with female artists included Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and pianist Del Wood. She also became friends with male country artists including Roger Miller, who helped Cline find material to record. Faron Young was another male artist whom Cline befriended from working on tour together. While on tour, the pair would spend time together, including a trip to Hawaii where the pair saw a hula show.
Family
Cline's mother Hilda Hensley continued living in Winchester, Virginia following her daughter's death. She rented out the family's childhood home on South Kent Street and lived across the street. Following Cline's death, Hensley briefly spent time raising her two grandchildren in Virginia. Hensley maintained a closet full of her daughter's stage costumes, including a sequined dress Cline wore while performing in Las Vegas in 1962. She worked as a seamstress and made many of her daughter's stage costumes. Hensley died from natural causes in 1998. Cline's father Samuel Hensley died of lung cancer in 1956. Hensley had previously deserted the family in 1947 and shortly before his death, Cline and her mother visited him at a hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. After discovering his current state, Cline said to her mother, "Mama, I know what-all he did, but it seems he's real sick and may not make it. In spite of everything, I want to visit him." Both of Cline's surviving siblings fought in court over their mother's estate. Because of legal fees, many of Cline's possessions were sold at auction.
Cline had two surviving children at the time of her death: Julie Simadore (born 1958) and Allen Randolph "Randy" (born 1961). Julie has been a significant factor in keeping her mother's legacy alive. She has appeared at numerous public appearances in support of her mother's music and career. Following the death of her father in 2015, she helped open a museum dedicated to Cline in Nashville, Tennessee. Julie has few memories of her mother due to Cline's death while she was young. In an interview with People Magazine, Julie discussed her mother's legacy, "I do understand her position in history, and the history of Nashville and country music...I'm still kind of amazed at it myself, because there's 'Mom' and then there's 'Patsy Cline,' and I'm actually a fan."
The present day American female blues, swing, and rock and roll singer, songwriter and record producer, Casey Hensley, is a distant relation of Cline's.
Marriages
Cline was married twice. Her first marriage was to Gerald Cline, on March 7, 1953. His family had owned a contracting and excavating company in Frederick, Maryland. According to Cline's brother Sam, he liked "flashy cars and women." The two met while she was performing with Bill Peer at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland. According to Gerald Cline, "It might not have been love at first sight when Patsy saw me, but it was for me." Gerald Cline often took her to "one-nighters" and other concerts she performed in. Although he enjoyed her performances, he could not get used to her touring and road schedule. Patsy had told a friend during their marriage that she didn't think she "knew what love was" upon marrying Gerald. The pair began living separately by the end of 1956 and divorced in 1957.
Cline married her second husband Charlie Dick on September 15, 1957. The pair met in 1956 while Cline was performing with a local Virginia band. At the time, Dick was a linotype operator for local newspaper, The Winchester Star. According to Dick, he had asked Cline to dance and she replied, "I can't dance while I'm working, okay?" They eventually started spending time together and Cline began telling close friends about their relationship. Cline told Grand Ole Opry pianist Del Wood in 1956, "Hoss, I got some news. I met a boy my own age who's a hurricane in pants! Del, I'm in love, and this time, it's for real." The pair had children Julie and Randy together. Their relationship was considered both romantic and tempestuous. According to Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwack, Cline and Dick's marriage was "fueled by alcohol, argument, passion, jealousy, success, tears and laughter." According to biographer Ellis Nassour, the pair fought often but remained together. They had gained a reputation as "heavy drinkers", but according to Dick himself, they were not "drunks". During one particular fight, Cline had Dick arrested after they became physical with one another. Following Cline's death in 1963, Dick married country artist Jamey Ryan in 1965. The pair divorced in the early 1970s after having one child together. Dick helped with keeping Cline's legacy alive for the remainder of his own life. He assisted in producing several documentaries about Cline's career including Remembering Patsy and The Real Patsy Cline. He became involved with Hallway Productions in the 1990s and helped produce videos on other artists including Willie Nelson and The Mamas and the Papas. Dick died in 2015.
Death
On March 3, 1963, Cline performed a benefit at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call; he had died in an automobile crash a little over a month earlier. Also performing in the show were George Jones, George Riddle and The Jones Boys, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, George McCormick, the Clinch Mountain Boys as well as Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Despite having a cold, Cline gave three performances: 2:00, 5:15 and 8:15 pm. All the shows were standing-room only. For the 2 p.m. show, she wore a sky-blue tulle-laden dress; for the 5:15 show a red shocker; and for the closing show at 8 p.m., Cline wore white chiffon. Her final song was the last she had recorded the previous month, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone".
Cline, who had spent the night at the Town House Motor Hotel, was unable to fly out the day after the concert because Fairfax Airport was fogged in. West asked Patsy to ride in the car with her and husband, Bill, back to Nashville, a 16-hour drive, but Cline refused, saying, "Don't worry about me, Hoss. When it's my time to go, it's my time." On March 5, she called her mother from the motel and checked out at 12:30 p.m., going the short distance to the airport and boarding a Piper PA-24 Comanche plane, aircraft registration number N7000P. On board were Cline, Copas, Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes.
The plane stopped once in Rogers, Arkansas to refuel and subsequently landed at Dyersburg Municipal Airport in Dyersburg, Tennessee at 5 p.m. Hawkins had accepted Billy Walker's place after Walker left on a commercial flight to take care of a stricken family member. The Dyersburg, Tennessee, airfield manager suggested that they stay the night because of high winds and inclement weather, offering them free rooms and meals. But Hughes, who was not trained in instrument flying, said "I've already come this far. We'll be there before you know it." The plane took off at 6:07 p.m.
Cline's flight crashed in heavy weather on the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 1963. Her recovered wristwatch had stopped at 6:20 p.m. The plane was found some from its Nashville destination, in a forest outside of Camden, Tennessee. Forensic examination concluded that everyone aboard had been killed instantly. Until the wreckage was discovered the following dawn and reported on the radio, friends and family had not given up hope. Endless calls tied up the local telephone exchanges to such a degree that other emergency calls had trouble getting through. The lights at the destination Cornelia Fort Airpark were kept on throughout the night, as reports of the missing plane were broadcast on radio and TV.
Early in the morning, Roger Miller and a friend went searching for survivors: "As fast as I could, I ran through the woods screaming their names—through the brush and the trees—and I came up over this little rise, oh, my God, there they were. It was ghastly. The plane had crashed nose down." Shortly after the bodies were removed, looters scavenged the area. Some of the items which were recovered were eventually donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Among them were Cline's wristwatch, a Confederate flag cigarette lighter, studded belt and three pairs of gold lamé slippers. Cline's fee in cash from the last performance was never recovered. Per her wishes, Cline's body was brought home for her memorial service, which thousands attended. People jammed against the small tent over her gold casket and the grave to take all the flowers they could reach as keepsakes. She was buried at Shenandoah Memorial Park in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia. Her grave is marked with a bronze plaque, which reads: "Virginia H. Dick ('Patsy Cline' is noted under her name) 'Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love'." A memorial marks the exact place off Mt Carmel Road in Camden, Tennessee, where the plane crashed in the still-remote forest.
Posthumous releases
Music
Since Cline's death, Decca Records (later bought by MCA) has re-released her music which has made her commercially successful posthumously. The Patsy Cline Story was the first compilation album the label released following her death. It included the songs "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" and "Faded Love". Both tracks were released as singles in 1963. "Sweet Dreams" would reach number 5 on the Billboard country charts and 44 on the Hot 100. "Faded Love" would also become a top 10 hit on the Billboard country chart, peaking at number 7 in October 1963. In 1967, Decca released the compilation Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits. The album would not only peak at number 17 on the Billboard country chart, but also certified diamond in sales from the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2005, the Guinness World Book of Records included Greatest Hits for being the longest album on any record chart by any female artist.
Cline's music continued making the charts into the 1980s. Her version of "Always" made the Billboard country chart in 1980. An album of the same was also released in 1980 that peaked within the top 30 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Two overdubbed duets between Cline and Jim Reeves became major hits during this time as well. Following the release of the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), there was renewed interest in Cline's career. Therefore, MCA Records reissued much of Cline's earlier studio and compilation releases. Her 1967 greatest hits album for example was repackaged in 1988 and labeled 12 Greatest Hits. The record reached number 27 on the Top Country Albums list in 1990. The soundtrack for Cline's own film biopic was released concurrently with the movie in 1985. The soundtrack would peak at number 6 on the Billboard country albums chart upon its release.
In 1991, MCA records issued her first box set entitled The Patsy Cline Collection. The album chronicled all of Cline's recorded material for Four Star and Decca Records. The boxed set received positive reviews, notably by Thom Jurek of Allmusic who rated it five out of five stars. Jurek commented, If an artist ever deserved a box set chronicling her entire career, it is Patsy Cline. Having recorded 102 sides between 1955 and her death at the age of 30 in 1963, Cline changed not only country music forever, but affected the world of pop as well. Over four CDs, arranged chronologically, the listener gets treated to a story in the development and maturation of a cultural icon who was at least, in terms of her gift, the equal of her legend. Rolling Stone listed the box set among their "50 Greatest Albums of All-Time". Writer Rob Sheffield called Cline "a badass cowgirl drama queen belts some of the torchiest, weepiest country songs ever, hitting high notes that make you sob into your margarita." The Patsy Cline Collection would reach number 29 on the Billboard country albums chart in January 1992. In 1997, MCA released Live at the Cimarron Ballroom, a rare recording that had recently resurfaced. Jeweler Bill Frazee had originally purchased a tape in 1975 which he discovered included Cline's live recording. The live performance on the record took place in July 1961, following Cline's car accident. She appeared at the Cimarron Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma to give a one-night performance. Included on the record was unreleased live performances and dialog with the audience. The album peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard country albums chart. Cline's former MCA label continues releasing material to this day. Cline is listed among the Recording Industry of America's "Best Selling Artists" with a total of over 14 million records sold to date.
Film and television
Cline has been portrayed on film and television several times since the 1980s. The Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) renewed interest in her life and career. Cline and Lynn's friendship was portrayed in the 1980 film. Actress Beverly D'Angelo played Cline in the movie and did her own singing of Cline's original material. D'Angelo earned a Golden Globe award nomination for her role. In an interview D'Angelo did for a 2017 PBS documentary, playing the role of Patsy Cline "had a profound impact" on her life and career.
In 1985, a feature film about Cline's life was released entitled Sweet Dreams. The film starred Jessica Lange as Cline and Ed Harris as husband Charlie Dick. Originally, Meryl Streep auditioned for Cline's role but ultimately lost to Lange. The film was produced by Bernard Schwartz, who also produced Coal Miner's Daughter. Original ideas called for scenes between Cline and Lynn, however they were ultimately removed from the final script. The film has been criticized for its lack of accuracy to Cline's own life and its musical production. Kurt Wolff wrote, "the soundtrack, however, featured overdubbed versions of Cline's material – better to stick with the originals." Mark Deming of Allmovie only gave the release two out of five stars. Deming commented, "While it's a wise approach to show how her turbulent marriage paralleled her crossover to Countrypolitan ballads, the melodrama tends to overshadow the celebrity story by relegating her rise to stardom to the background. Due to the historically dubious concerts at carnivals and fairgrounds, it appears as though she wasn't as big a star as she actually was." Deming did praise Lange's performance saying she created a "cheerful and spirited" depiction of Cline. Roger Ebert gave it two stars in his original 1985 review. Ebert said, "There isn't the sense of a well-shaped structure in this movie; there's no clear idea of what the filmmakers thought about Patsy Cline, or what thoughts her life is supposed to inspire." Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Cline.
Cline was also portrayed in television films. In 1995, a film about the life and career of Cline's friend Dottie West debuted on CBS titled, Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. It included several scenes that showcased West's friendship with Cline. Actress Tere Myers played her in the television movie. Deborah Wilker of the Sun-Sentinel called her performance "terrific" and authentic.
Lifetime aired an original television film Patsy & Loretta in October 2019 on the network. It chronicles Cline's friendship with Loretta Lynn. Cline is portrayed by Megan Hilty and Lynn by Jessie Mueller. The film is directed by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri. The trailer for the movie was released in July 2019. Patsy & Loretta was filmed on location in Nashville, Tennessee and is co-produced by Lynn's daughter and Cline's daughter, Julie Fudge.
There have been several documentaries made about Cline's life and career. The first was a 1989 documentary entitled The Real Patsy Cline which featured interviews with friends and fellow artists. This included Carl Perkins and Willie Nelson. Another documentary was filmed in 1994 entitled Remembering Patsy. The show was hosted by country artist Michelle Wright, who read letters Cline wrote to friends and family. It included interviews with several artists such as Roy Clark, George Jones and Trisha Yearwood. Both documentaries were produced by Cline's widower Charlie Dick. In March 2017, PBS released a documentary on Cline as part of their American Masters series. The film was narrated by Rosanne Cash and featured interviews with fans of Cline. These interviews included Beverly D'Angelo and Reba McEntire. It also included rare performances of songs such as "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Walkin' After Midnight".
Plays and musicals
Cline's life and career has also been re-created in the theater sector. In 1988, the show Always...Patsy Cline premiered. The show was created by Ted Swindley who derived it from a friendship Cline had with Texas resident Louise Seger. The pair met while Cline was performing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, Texas. Seger brought Cline home following the show and they spent the night together. The pair would remain in contact through letters before Cline's death. Much of the script relied from letters exchanged between the two during the course of several years. Seger acts as the show's narrator and revisits memories she shared with Cline through their letter exchanges. Among the show's original performers was Mandy Barnett, who debuted the show at the Ryman Auditorium in 1994. Barnett would go on to have a music and performing career. A second musical was later released in 1991 titled A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. The show was written by Dean Regan and has been called a "musical retelling" of Cline's career.
Artistry
Influences
Cline was influenced by various music artists. Among her earliest influences were pop singers of the 1940s and 1950s. These included Kay Starr, Helen Morgan, Patti Page, and Kate Smith. Patti Page recollected that Cline's husband said to her, "I just wish Patsy could have met you because she just adored you and listened to you all the time and wanted to be like you." Among her primary influences was Kay Starr, of whom Cline was a "fervent devotee" according to The Washington Post. Jack Hurst of the Chicago Tribune remarked that "Her rich, powerful voice, obviously influenced by that of pop's Kay Starr, has continued and perhaps even grown in popularity over the decades." Cline was also attracted to country music radio programs, notably the Grand Ole Opry. According to Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann, Cline became "obsessed" with the program at a young age. Cline's mother Hilda Hensley commented on her daughter's admiration, "I know she never wanted anything so badly as to be a star on the Grand Ole Opry..." Among performers from the program she admired was Patsy Montana. Cline was also influenced by other types of performers including early rockabilly artist Charline Arthur.
Voice and style
Cline possessed a contralto voice. Time magazine writer Richard Corliss called her voice "bold". Her voice has also been praised for its display of emotion. Kurt Wolff called it one of the most "emotionally expressive voices in modern country music". Tony Gabrielle of the Daily Press wrote that Cline had "a voice of tremendous emotional power." Cline was at times taken by her own emotion. Husband Charlie Dick recounted that Cline's producer Owen Bradley told him to leave a recording session because she was very emotional and he didn't want to disturb the mood. Cline was once quoted in describing the emotion she felt, saying, "Oh Lord, I sing just like I hurt inside."
During her early career, Cline recorded in styles such as gospel, rockabilly, and honky-tonk. These styles she cut for Four Star Records have been considered below the quality of her later work for Decca Records. Steve Leggett of Allmusic commented, Her recordings prior to 1960, though, were something else again, and with the exception of 1956's "Walkin' After Midnight" and perhaps one or two other songs, she seemed reined in and stifled as a singer, even though she was working with the same producer, Owen Bradley, who was to produce her 1960s successes. Oh the difference a song makes, because in the end the material she recorded between 1955 and 1960 – all of which is collected on these two discs – was simply too weak for Cline to turn into anything resembling gold, even with her obvious vocal skills.
Cline's style has been largely associated with the Nashville Sound, a sub-genre of country music that linked traditional lyrics with orchestrated pop music styles. This new sound helped many of her singles to crossover onto the Billboard Hot 100 and gain a larger audience that did not always hear country music. Her producer Owen Bradley built this sound onto her Decca recordings, sensing a potential in her voice that went beyond traditional country music. At first, she resisted the pop-sounding style, but was ultimately convinced to record in this new style. Stephen M. Desuner of Pitchfork explained that Cline has been an identifiable factor with the Nashville Sound: "She essentially rewrote their songs simply by singing them, elevating their words and wringing every one of their rhymes for maximum dramatic potential." Mark Deming of Allmusic commented, "Cline and Bradley didn't invent "countrypolitan," but precious few artists managed to meld the sophistication of pop and the emotional honesty of country as brilliantly as this music accomplishes with seemingly effortless grace, and these songs still sound fresh and brilliantly crafted decades after the fact."
Image
Cline's public image changed during the course of her career. She began her career wearing cowgirl dresses and hats designed by her mother. However, as her music crossed over into pop, she began wearing sequined gowns and cocktail dresses. While she would often wear cowgirl costumes for live performances, she would also wear evening dresses for television and metropolitan performances. For her 1957 performance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, the show's producer insisted that Cline wear an evening dress instead of the fringed cowgirl attire she had intended to wear. Her 1962 engagement at the Merri-Mint Theatre in Las Vegas represented this particular image shift. For one of her performances, Cline wore a sequined cocktail dress designed by her mother.
Cline has also been seen as a pioneer for women in country music. She has been cited as an inspiration by many performers in diverse styles of music. Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide said that Cline had an "aggression" and "boisterous attitude" that gained her the respect of her male counterparts. Wolff explained, "She swaggered her way past stereotypes and other forces of resistance, showing the men in charge – and the public in general – that women were more than capable of singing about such hard subjects as divorce and drinking as well as love and understanding. Sean O'Hagan of The Guardian commented that along with Minnie Pearl, Jean Shepard and Kitty Wells, Cline helped prove that country music was not "macho" and that "strong women" could have a "strong voice". In 2013, The Washington Post wrote, "she was what I call a pre-feminist woman. She didn't open doors; she kicked them down." Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann wrote in 2003 that Cline "transformed what it meant to be a female country star".
Legacy
Cline has been cited in both country and pop music as of one of the greatest vocalists of all-time. Her voice has also been called "haunting", "powerful", and "emotional". Cline's emotional expression and delivery of lyrics helped influence various musical genres and artists. With the support of producer Owen Bradley, Cline has been said to "help define" the Nashville Sound style of country music. While the subgenre has received mixed opinions, it has also been said to be a significant part of country music's "authenticity", with Cline being the center focal point of the subgenre. Other artists have noted her impact, including LeAnn Rimes who stated, "I remember my dad telling me to listen to the way she told a story... I remember feeling more emotion when she sang than anyone else I had ever heard." Lucinda Williams commented on Cline's vocal talent in helping define her legacy, stating, "Even though her style is considered country, her delivery is more like a classic pop singer... That's what set her apart from Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette. You'd almost think she was classically trained."
Cline has been a major influence on various music artists including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, k.d. lang, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, Dottie West, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Cyndi Lauper, Trixie Mattel and Brandi Carlile. Dottie West (also a close friend of Cline's) spoke about her influence on her own career, "I think I was most influenced by Patsy Cline, she said things for people. There was so much feeling in there. In fact, she told me, 'Hoss, if you can't do it with feeling, don't'". In 2019, Sara Evans discussed how Cline has been an influence since she was a young girl, "I learned everything I could learn about her. I tried to mimic her singing to the ‘t’. We grew up singing in bars — my brothers, sisters and I — from the time I was really little. So I started covering every Patsy Cline song. Then when I first got my record deal I came to Winchester to visit a radio station to try to get them to play my song Three Chords and the Truth."
In 1973, Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. With the induction, she became the first solo female artist to be included. In 1977, Cline's friend and mentee Loretta Lynn released a tribute album entitled I Remember Patsy. The record contained covers of Cline's songs, including "Back in Baby's Arms" and "Crazy". The album's lead single was "She's Got You", which would reach the number 1 spot on the Billboard country chart in 1977. In 1995, Cline received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her legacy and career. Additionally, her hits "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy" received inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Cline was included on United States postal stamps as part of their "Legends" series. Other country artists that were included on stamp series were The Carter Family, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills. The stamps were dedicated in an official ceremony at the Grand Ole Opry by Postmaster General Marvin Runyon. In August 1999, Cline received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony was attended by her widower Charlie Dick and daughter Julie Fudge. During the 1990s, two of her songs were voted among the "Greatest Juke Box Hits of All-Time". "Crazy" was voted as the number 1 greatest, along with "I Fall to Pieces" ranking at number 17.
Since the late 1990s, she received additional rankings and honors. In 1999, Cline was ranked at number 11 among VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll". In 2003, she was included by Country Music Television on their list of the "40 Greatest Women of Country Music". In 2010, Cline ranked at number 46 on Rolling Stones list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All-Time". The magazine would rank her on their 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Country Artists of All-Time", where she placed at number 12.
Forty years after her death, MCA Nashville released a tribute album entitled Remembering Patsy Cline (2003). A television special also followed around the same time. The album consisted of cover versions of songs taken from Cline's 1967 greatest hits album. It included songs covered by country artists such as Terri Clark and Martina McBride. It also featured artists from other genres such as Michelle Branch, Diana Krall and Patti Griffin.
Cline's hometown of Winchester, Virginia has helped honor her legacy and career. In 1987, the local government approved the placing of markers within the town denoting it as the birthplace of Cline. The same year, a bell tower was erected in her burial location at Shenandoah Memorial Park. The bell tower cost thirty five thousand dollars and was partially funded by Cline's friends Jan Howard and Loretta Lynn. In 2005, Cline's childhood home was given an official on-site marker and included on the National Register of Historic Places. With the development of an organization entitled Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., renovations began on Cline's childhood home. In August 2011, the Patsy Cline House officially opened as a historic home for tours. In almost three months, about three thousand people visited the home. The home was restored to the era in which Cline lived in it during the 1950s with her mother and siblings. Replicas of furniture and stage clothes are also included. Daughter Julie Fudge spoke of the house in 2011, stating, “I think when you go into the house, you will kind of feel like this is a snapshot of what it would have been like to visit when Mom lived there.”
In 2017, the Patsy Cline Museum opened in Nashville, Tennessee, located at 119 3rd Ave. S., on the second floor in the same building as the Johnny Cash Museum. The museum includes Cline's actual stage costumes, as well as her original scrapbook and record albums. The Patsy Cline Museum features other artifacts, such as the soda fountain machine from Gaunt's Drug Store, where Cline worked as a teenager. Original letters that Cline wrote to friends are also included as part of the museum.
Discography
Studio albums
1957: Patsy Cline
1961: Patsy Cline Showcase
1962: Sentimentally Yours
Posthumous studio albums
1964: A Portrait of Patsy Cline
1964: That's How a Heartache Begins
1980: Always
References
Footnotes
Books
Further reading
Bego, Mark. I Fall to Pieces: The Music and the Life of Patsy Cline. Adams Media Corporation.
Hazen, Cindy and Mike Freeman. Love Always, Patsy. The Berkley Publishing Group.
Jones, Margaret (1998). "Patsy Cline". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–9.
Gomery, Douglas Patsy Cline: The Making of an Icon. Trafford Publishing.
External links
Celebrating Patsy Cline an official organization sponsoring several projects
Patsy Cline Home and Museum located in Winchester, Virginia
Patsy Cline recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
The Patsy Cline Plane Crash
1932 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century women composers
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American contraltos
American country singer-songwriters
American women composers
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women singer-songwriters
American rockabilly musicians
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Country musicians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Virginia
Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
Deaths in Tennessee
Decca Records artists
Four Star Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Grand Ole Opry members
People from Goodlettsville, Tennessee
People from Winchester, Virginia
Rock and roll musicians
Singer-songwriters from Virginia
Torch singers
Traditional pop music singers
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee | false | [
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts",
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls"
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | When did he return to the NY Red Bulls? | 1 | When did Thierry Henry return to the NY Red Bulls? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | true | [
"Vincent Bezecourt (born 10 June 1993) is a French footballer who plays as a midfielder for Geylang International.\n\nCareer\n\nEarly career\nBezecourt began his football career in France with Jeunesse Villenavaise and made his debut with the first team during the 2012 season in Championnat de France amateur. In two season with the first team, he appeared in 52 league matches scoring 9 goals. In 2014, he went to the United States to play College soccer for St. Francis Brooklyn under head coach Tom Giovatto. In his first year, Bezecourt helped lead St. Francis Brooklyn to an NEC Championship and to an NCAA Tournament appearance. He was also named as a Second Team All-NEC player. In his two seasons with the Terriers, Bezecourt appeared in 39 matches scoring 10 goals and recording 9 assists. Following his senior season he was named a Third Team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and a First Team All-NEC player.\n\nProfessional career\nWhile at St. Francis, during the 2015 season, Bezecourt played with the Brooklyn Italians of the National Premier Soccer League under head coach Dominic Casciato. After graduation from St. Francis College, Bezecourt trained with the New York Red Bulls during the preseason and subsequently signed a professional contract with the New York Red Bulls II of the United Soccer League on 18 March 2016. On 11 August 2017, it was announced that the New York Red Bulls signed Bezecourt to an MLS contract. At the time of his signing, he had scored 12 goals and recorded 10 assists in the regular season, along with 2 goals and 4 assists in the 2016 USL playoffs en route to the team's first USL Championship.\n\n2016\nIn his first professional season, Bezecourt appeared in 22 matches, recording 8 goals and 6 assists en route to winning the 2016 USL Championship as a starting midfielder for the New York Red Bulls II. His 8 goals and 6 assists were second and third most on the team, respectively.\n\nA week after signing on with New York Red Bulls II, Bezecourt featured in his first professional match with the club appearing as a second-half substitute in a 2–2 draw against Toronto FC II. During the second game of the season, Bezecourt suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for 2–3 months. On 2 August 2016 Bezecourt came off the bench to score his first two goals for the New York Red Bulls II in a 5–0 rout over Harrisburg City Islanders. On 7 September 2016, he again scored two goals against the Harrisburg City Islanders, this time to help win the 2016 USL Regular Season Championship for the Red Bulls II. As a result of his performance (2 goals and 1 assist), Bezecourt was named USLSoccer.com Man of the Match. Later that week, he scored another goal in the 89th minute against the Rochester Rhinos to tie the game. Due to both performances Bezecourt was selected to the USL Team of the Week. In the last game of the regular season against the Charleston Battery, Bezecourt scored on a free kick in the 38th minute for his 6th goal of the season. He was also named USLSoccer.com Man of the Match for the second time this season.\n\nUSL playoffs\nBezecourt scored two goals and recorded four assists, as he helped NY Red Bulls II win the 2016 USL Championship. On 2 October 2016, Bezecourt scored a goal and assisted on two others to help New York Red Bulls II advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2016 USL Playoffs in a 4–0 victory over Orlando City B. In the two games leading to the USL Championship, Bezecourt recorded three assists and scored on a penalty shoot-out in overtime against Louisville City FC to help win the game. In the Championship game against the Swope Park Rangers, Bezecourt scored a goal in the 92 minute to put the finishing touch on a 5–1 victory.\n\n2017\nBezecourt made 24 appearances with the NY Red Bulls II and 3 appearances with the major league club; NY Red Bulls. Half-way through the USL season, Bezecourt was given an MLS contract and loaned to NY Red Bulls II. He finished the USL regular season with 6 goals and 11 assists. His 11 assists, led the team and the USL Eastern Conference, and was second overall in the USL. Bezecourt was also tied for leader on the team, in being named to the USL team of the Week three times. At the end of the season, he was named to the 2017 USL All-League Second Team.\n\nOn 21 November 2016 it was announced that the New York Red Bulls II would exercise their option on the contract of Bezecourt. On 25 March 2017, Bezecourt helped New York to a 3–3 draw with Pittsburgh Riverhounds, scoring two goals in the opening match of the season. Bezecourt went on to be named to the USL Team of the Week three times for weeks 1, 4, and 11. He was also named to the USL Bench Players of the Week, for weeks 2 and 18.\n\nOn 12 July 2017 Bezecourt was promoted to the New York Red Bulls for a 13 July match against the New England Revolution as part of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals, as a consequence he missed the Red Bulls II game against Harrisburg City Islanders. Bezecourt was on the senior squad's bench for the match, but did not play against the Revolution. He was back in action with Red Bulls II for the 15 July match against Charlotte Independence, a losing effort that saw Bezecourt notch his league leading eighth assist of the season. Bezecourt, then scored the only goal in a win against Toronto FC II, snapping a three-game losing streak, before missing two games due to injury.\n\nOn 11 August 2017, it was announced that the New York Red Bulls signed Bezecourt to an MLS contract. At the time of the signing, Bezecourt had 19 appearances with Red Bulls II, scored six goals and was leading the league with eight assists and 45 chances created. On 18 August 2017, Bezecourt made his first appearance for NY Red Bulls as a starting central midfielder against the Portland Timbers in a 0–2 losing effort. Bezecourt was then sent back to NY Red Bulls II.\n\nBezecourt's next appearance with NYRB II was against Toronto FC II on 9 September 2017, a 2–1 victory. He made 4 starts, recording 2 assists and against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on 30 September Bezecourt through a corner kick forced an own goal. The NY Red Bulls II went 2–2 in those games and qualified for the USL Cup, Bezecourt was then sent to the major league club for his second stint.\n\nOn 7 October 2017, Bezecourt was a substitute for Bradley Wright-Phillips in the 80th minute against the Vancouver White Caps, a 3–0 victory for the NY Red Bulls. It was his second MLS appearance.\n\nOn 14 October 2017, Bezecourt started against the Rochester Rhinos in 1-2 losing effort. Bezecourt recorded an assist in the NY Red Bulls II only goal of the game, it was his 11th assist of the year, which tied for second-most in the USL.\n\nOn 22 October 2017, Bezecourt made his second MLS start and third appearance in the final game of the season for the NY Red Bulls against D.C. United. Because of the start, Bezecourt did not participate in the Red Bulls II USL cup pursuit.\n\nMLS Cup Playoffs\nBezecourt made his first playoff appearance as a substitute for Damien Perrinelle in the 82nd minute against Toronto FC.\n\n2018\nOn December 22, 2017, it was announced that Bezecourt was retained by NY Red Bulls. On 10 March 2018 he started in the Red Bulls' MLS season opener against Portland Timbers recording two assists in the 4–0 win. On June 6, 2018, Bezecourt opened the scoring in New York's 4-0 derby win over New York City FC in the fourth round of the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.\n\n2020\nIn January 2020, Bezecourt signed with Miami FC of the USL Championship.\n\n2021\nOn 9 March 2021, Bezecourt signed for Armenian Premier League club Alashkert.\n\nOn 19 December 2021, Bezecourt signed for Geylang International of the Singapore Premier League.\n\nInternational career\nBefore playing at St. Francis College, Bezecourt won a gold medal with France at the 2013 Summer Universiade tournament in Russia.\n\nCareer statistics\n\nClub\n\nHonors\n\nClub\nNew York Red Bulls II\nUSL Cup (1): 2016 USL Cup Champions \nUSL (1): 2016 Regular Season Champions\n\nNew York Red Bulls\nMLS Supporters' Shield (1): 2018\n\nAlashkert\nArmenian Premier League (1): 2020–21\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1993 births\nLiving people\nAssociation football midfielders\nExpatriate soccer players in the United States\nFrench expatriate footballers\nFrench expatriate sportspeople in the United States\nFrench footballers\nMajor League Soccer players\nNew York Red Bulls II players\nNew York Red Bulls players\nSportspeople from Landes (department)\nSt. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer players\nUSL Championship players\nUniversiade gold medalists for France\nUniversiade medalists in football\nMiami FC players\nMedalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade",
"The 2011 New York Red Bulls season was the club's seventeenth year of existence, as well as its sixteenth season in Major League Soccer, the top-flight of American soccer.\n\nAfter a successful turnaround season in 2010, in which Red Bulls finished in third place overall before losing in the quarterfinals of the post-season tournament, the club started 2011 hoping to find consistency, make a deeper run in the MLS Cup Playoffs, and vie for the Supporters Shield. By season's end it was clear the club failed on all three fronts. Red Bulls were labeled the biggest underachievers in MLS after performing with a maddening inconsistency, struggling even to earn the 10th and final spot in an expanded playoff field, and falling again in the playoff quarterfinals.\n\nPrior to the 2011 MLS season, New York Red Bulls manager Hans Backe declared that the club's goal for the season was to win the Shield, claiming that it was more of a test for the league title rather than the MLS Cup, which he called a crapshoot. As this goal drifted out of reach, Backe backtracked from his Supporters' Shield emphasis and remarkably blamed international call-ups due to the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup as the reason the Shield was unobtainable. New York ended the season 21 points shy of the Shield. At the conclusion of the season, Backe acknowledged that he didn't know the biennial CONCACAF tournament was being held in 2011. That lack of awareness seemed to haunt the club throughout the season, both on field and off. The average MLS regular season and playoff home attendance of the New York Red Bulls in 2011 was 20,000.\n\nTeam uniform\n\nMonth-by-Month Overview\n\nNovember 2010 \nOn 4 November, due to the 2010 season ending with a disappointing home playoff loss to San Jose Earthquakes, the roster changes began immediately. The playoff loss marked the end of the careers for defender Mike Petke and midfielder Seth Stammler, each of whom had announced his retirement upon completion of the season. Petke joined the Red Bulls front office in January; Stammler pursued an MBA degree at the University of Chicago.\n\nOn 22 November, the Red Bulls traded midfielder/defender Jeremy Hall to the expansion Portland Timbers in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. Two days later the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft was held but neither Portland nor fellow expansion side Vancouver Whitecaps selected an available Red Bulls player.\n\nThe coaching staff saw assistant Coach Goran Aral leave the club after one season.\n\nInternationally, forward Juan Agudelo and defender Tim Ream each earned their first senior caps with the U.S. National Team on 17 November. Playing in Cape Town against South Africa, Ream started and played 67 minutes while Agudelo came on as a 60th-minute substitute. Agudelo then scored the game's only goal in the 85th minute, winning the match and becoming the youngest scorer in U.S. Men's Team history at 17 years, 359 days. Agudelo bested the mark previously held by Jozy Altidore, who also set the mark while a member of New York Red Bulls.\n\nDecember 2010 \nThe departure of captain Juan Pablo Ángel was made official when Red Bulls declined his 2011 contract option and he opted to participate in the inaugural MLS Re-Entry Draft. Midfielder Luke Sassano and defender Carey Talley also elected to participate in the Re-Entry draft when their 2011 contract options were declined. On 15 December, Los Angeles Galaxy traded up in the draft order to select Ángel. On 19 January the sides agreed terms on a multi-year, Designated Player contract.\n\nSassano was also selected by Los Angeles Galaxy in the Re-Entry Draft but his rights were traded to Sporting Kansas City later that same day. He signed with Sporting KC on 12 January 2011. Talley was not selected and subsequently announced his retirement on 19 January 2011. Red Bulls did not select any players in the Re-Entry draft.\n\nOn 17 December, the club announced a trade with Houston Dynamo in which Red Bulls received an undisclosed amount of allocation money. In return, Houston received New York's natural third-round selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and the rights to defender Hunter Freeman, whom Houston immediately signed. Red Bulls had traded Freeman to Toronto FC for the last months of the 2008 MLS season even though Freeman had already agreed a pre-contract with IK Start of the Norwegian Premier League. The trade with Toronto included a provision that Red Bulls retain Freeman's MLS rights should he return to the league.\n\nIn international duty, midfielder Dane Richards scored three goals over five games to help Jamaica win the 2010 Caribbean Cup.\n\nJanuary 2011 \nThe club was active in January 2011 with a number of players coming and going. The long-rumored acquisitions of Norwegian midfielder Jan Gunnar Solli and English forward Luke Rodgers were finalized on 26 January and 28 January, respectively. The club also signed young Brazilian midfielder Marcos Paullo, who had trialed with New York in 2010, on 30 January.\n\nRed Bulls announced the signing of two more Homegrown players from Red Bull Academy in January: midfielder Matt Kassel and defender Šaćir Hot. Kassel and Hot joined prior Academy signings Juan Agudelo and Giorgi Chirgadze on the Red Bulls roster.\n\nAt the 13 January 2011 SuperDraft, the club selected Generation adidas forward Corey Hertzog in round one, English midfielder John Rooney (brother of English international Wayne Rooney) and defender Tyler Lassiter in round two, and defender Billy Cortes in round three. The following week, Red Bulls selected goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer and defender Teddy Schneider in the 2011 Supplemental Draft. Of the draft choices, Hertzog and Rooney were immediately added to the club's roster as both had already signed contracts with Major League Soccer. Lassiter, Cortes, Maurer, and Schneider were not guaranteed contracts and were invited to preseason training camp to earn a spot on the club's final roster.\n\nOn 17 January, the club announced that Jan Halvor Halvorsen had been hired as assistant coach, replacing Goran Aral.\n\nIn the final week of January, the club announced that midfielder Siniša Ubiparipović and defender Andrew Boyens would not be returning to the club in 2011. Boyens signed with Chivas USA in early February.\n\nThe club announced its preseason schedule would include training stints in Cancún, Guadalajara, Fort Lauderdale, and Arizona. The list of preseason opponents included Mexico's Chivas, D2 side Miami FC, plus Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City, and FC Dallas of MLS.\n\nFebruary \nOn 1 February, MLS announced that Red Bull Arena would host the 2011 MLS All-Star Game on 27 July when the MLS All-Stars would take on perennial Premier League power Manchester United for the second consecutive season.\n\nOn 9 February, the preseason schedule kicked off when the Red Bulls defeated Mexican side Atlante F.C. 0–0 (4–3 penalties) in Cancún. Preseason continued with very little to report in roster changes or injuries. The club brought in a few trialists, most notably Teemu Tainio, and late in the month released third-round SuperDraft pick Billy Cortes.\n\nA major shake-up occurred on 28 February when Red Bulls fired longtime assistant coaches Richie Williams and Des McAleenan. Williams was a popular figure among club supporters and guided the club as caretaker manager in two different seasons. His MLS experience had been credited with helping Sporting Director Erik Solér and Head Coach Hans Backe adjust to the peculiarities of the league, such as the MLS SuperDraft. Williams had played the 2001 and 2003 seasons for the club before returning as assistant coach in 2006. McAleenan had been goalkeeping coach since 2002, a remarkable run given the ownership change and constant turnover around him in the coaching and front office ranks.\n\nMarch \nThe club met the 1 March official MLS roster compliance of 30 players by waiving two second-year players, forward Conor Chinn and midfielder Irving Garcia. While neither made an impact during the 2010 regular season, each performed well as part of the \"Baby Bulls\" squad in the 2010 U.S. Open Cup.\n\nA few injuries did hit the squad as preseason came to an end. Strikers Luke Rodgers and Juan Agudelo battled nagging injuries which limited their participation in exhibition matches. The club announced on 8 March that defender Chris Albright had undergone knee surgery and would miss 4–6 weeks. On 9 March, Red Bulls announced the signings of two trialists, midfielder/defender Teemu Tainio and defender Stephen Keel. Tainio was penciled in for a starting role while Keel was signed to provide defensive depth from the bench.\n\nThe club released Giorgi Chirgadze, its first ever homegrown player signing, on 15 March. Though Chirgadze signed with the club in 2009 he never did appear in a league match with Red Bulls.\n\nThe 2011 Major League Soccer season officially kicked off for Red Bulls when the club hosted Seattle Sounders FC on 19 March. New York dominated possession 63%-37% and out-shot Seattle 13-8 en route to a 1-0 victory. The lone goal was scored in the 70th minute by Juan Agudelo off a long ball by MLS debutante Teemu Tainio.\n\nTwo days later the club announced it had waived forward Salou Ibrahim which was a bit surprising given New York's thin ranks at forward. Ibrahim's release left only four forwards on the roster: Juan Agudelo, Thierry Henry, Luke Rodgers, and Corey Hertzog. Salou spent the 2010 season with Red Bulls, scoring 3 goals in 19 league games (8 starts).\n\nRed Bulls signed second-round SuperDraft choice Tyler Lassiter on 23 March. The rookie defender earned much praise from the club in pre-season, with coach Hans Backe stating, \"The way he started this preseason, he looks better in February than Tim Ream did when he arrived.\" Ream went on to be an MLS Rookie of the Year finalist. The club also signed Alex Horwath as the third-string goalkeeper on 25 March. Horwath was immediately placed into action on 26 March at Columbus Crew due to an injury to starting goalkeeper Greg Sutton and the international call-up of backup keeper Bouna Coundoul. Horwath and a lineup sprinkled with reserves earned a point with a 0-0 draw. Injuries kept Sutton and Thierry Henry from traveling with the club, while international duty removed Coundoul, Juan Agudelo, Tim Ream, Dane Richards, and Rafael Marquez from the Red Bulls lineup. In addition to Horwath, forward Luke Rodgers made his Major League Soccer debut, backups Carlos Mendes and Stephen Keel started in central defense, and backup Danleigh Borman started in midfield. Rookie Corey Hertzog made his MLS debut as a late substitute.\n\nSeveral Red Bulls players enjoyed productive spells with their national sides during the late March international window. Forward Juan Agudelo came on as a second-half substitute and scored the tying goal for the United States in its 1-1 draw with Argentina on 26 March. Three days later, Agudelo and defender Tim Ream went the full 90 for the U.S. in its 1-0 loss to Paraguay. Midfielder Dane Richards scored two goals for Jamaica in a 3-2 victory over El Salvador on 29 March while defender Rafael Marquez earned his 100th cap for Mexico when he captained El Tri to a victory over Paraguay on 26 March.\n\nMLS Results for March: 1 victory, 1 draw, 0 losses\nMLS Results Season-to-Date: 1 victory, 1 draw, 0 losses; 4 points, 7th overall through 2 matches\n\nApril \nThe month started off with a blockbuster trade to acquire the #10 that Red Bull fans have long wanted. On 1 April, the club pulled the trigger and sent second-year midfielder Tony Tchani, defender Danleigh Borman, and a first-round pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft to Toronto FC in exchange for midfielder Dwayne De Rosario. The deal provided New York with its most dangerous midfield playmaker since Amado Guevara left the squad in 2006. The trade of De Rosario by his hometown side was predicated on his demand for a new contract. The money issue was solved by Red Bulls with De Rosario's agent stating, \"We have a very satisfactory agreement with NY and Dwayne can't wait to get on the field for them. Press reports also stated that Toronto would pay \"a significant amount\" of De Rosario's salary for 2011 and that De Rosario possesses a U.S. green card so he would not occupy an international roster slot for New York.\n\nDe Rosario debuted for New York as a second-half substitute versus Houston on 2 April. His assist to Dane Richards proved the lone New York goal in a 1-1 draw. One week later, Red Bulls fell at Philadelphia Union by a 1-0 score, the lone goal a result of a horrible gaffe by defender Tim Ream.\n\nRed Bulls then dominated the next two matches, winning by scorelines of 3-0 over San Jose Earthquakes and 4-0 at D.C. United. Luke Rodgers was named MLS Player of the Week for his 2-goal, 1 assist performance against San Jose. The thrashing of rivals D.C. United was especially sweet for Red Bull fans, marking New York's first 4-goal margin of victory on the road since 1996 and the largest ever margin of victory against DC. New York finished the month with a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City with Rodgers again supplying the goal, giving him 3 goals in 3 matches. Likewise, strike partner Thierry Henry closed the month with a tally of 4 goals in 4 matches.\n\nThe club signed Supplemental Draft pick Teddy Schneider on 12 April to provide defensive cover. Two days later Red Bulls added Todd Hoffard as goalkeeping coach. Sporting Director Erik Solér stated, \"Todd has a great deal of experience in American soccer and will be a valuable asset to our coaching squad.\"\n\nRed Bulls also announced on 28 April that the club would go to London in late July to participate in the Emirates Cup, hosted by English Premier League side Arsenal. Red Bulls would become the first MLS club to participate in the tournament. It was widely viewed that the invitation came due to the storied past of New York Designated Player Thierry Henry with Arsenal. Opponents were announced as Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal.MLS Results for April: 3 victories, 1 draw, 1 lossMLS Results Season-to-Date: 4 victories, 2 draws, 1 loss; 14 points, 2nd overall through 7 matches\n\n May \n7 May 2011 witnessed the most expensive match in MLS history as New York traveled to play at Los Angeles Galaxy. For the first time ever five designated players were on the field for a league match: Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez for Red Bulls and Landon Donovan, David Beckham, and former Red Bull Juan Pablo Ángel for Los Angeles. The game did not disappoint. Henry's early goal was matched by a Donovan score just before half. Tim Ream made an outstanding goal-line clearance, winning MLS Save of the Week, to thwart a second Donovan scoring chance before the break. The match ended a 1-1 draw, a fair result for Red Bulls against a quality opponent.\n\nFrom Los Angeles, the club traveled cross-continent to Montreal for a mid-week friendly versus Montreal Impact. The timing of the match, which New York lost 1-0, left fans perplexed as Red Bulls had an upcoming match versus Chivas USA in just 4 days time. Sure enough, Red Bulls lost at home to Chivas USA in a driving rain by a 3-2 scoreline. Two Goats' goals came from set pieces, which quickly emerged as Red Bulls largest defensive failing for the rest of the season.\n\nThe remaining three matches of May all resulted in draws: at Houston 2-2, home to Colorado 2-2, and at Vancouver 1-1.\n\nNear month's end, five players were called to international duty for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup: Juan Agudelo and Tim Ream for the United States, Rafa Marquez for Mexico, Dane Richards for Jamaica, and Dwayne De Rosario for Canada. New York faced the prospect of losing the services of these 5 players for the entire month of June.\n MLS Results for May: 0 victories, 4 draws, 1 lossMLS Results Season-to-Date: 4 victories, 6 draws, 2 losses; 18 points, 5th overall through 12 matches\n\n June \nThe loss of the regulars was keenly felt during a 1-1 draw at Columbus on 4 June. A makeshift squad including Mehdi Ballouchy, Stephen Keel, Carlos Mendes, Austin da Luz, and substitute Matt Kassel conceded a 92nd-minute goal to drop 2 points. This match exposed the lack of depth on the squad, a shortcoming exacerbated by the reluctance of Hans Backe to give his younger players any meaningful minutes. The lack of depth, the unwillingness to use the bench, and consistently poor set piece defending became the defining points of the 2011 Red Bulls.\n\nOn 10 June, Red Bulls saw their first victory in over a month when they defeated New England 2–1 at Red Bull Arena. GK Greg Sutton played hero as he saved a penalty in the 33rd minute.\n\nOff the field, the club announced on 10 June that Chris Heck, a former National Basketball Association executive, would take over business operations from Erik Stover, who had overseen the construction of Red Bull Arena. As the season progressed, Heck expanded marketing and promotions geared more toward casual fans and families, including the use of Groupon.\n\nThe club signed rookie defender Mike Jones on 12 June. Jones was released earlier in the season by Sporting Kansas City.\n\nOn 19 June, Red Bulls made a fighting comeback against Portland Timbers to draw 3–3. After being down 3–1 and with less than 20 minutes to play, Henry started the comeback with a goal in the 73rd minute and De Rosario sealed the draw with a penalty goal in extra time by converting the spot kick in the 96th minute.\n\nFrom Portland, Red Bulls traveled to Seattle Sounders FC and left with a tough 4–2 loss in front of a crowd of over 46,000. Seattle forward Roger Levesque came off the bench to score two goals within 10 minutes to assure his side's victory. GK Greg Sutton this time played goat, conceding one goal while arguing with the referee and another after being stripped of possession under little pressure. Also, New York played without Henry after the captain was controversially red carded late in the Portland match.\n\nThe road warrior segment of the schedule continued with a 26 June match at Chicago Fire. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with Joel Lindpere scoring the Red Bulls goal.\n\nInternationally, the Gold Cup concluded with Rafa Marquez's Mexico squad beating Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo's United States side in the final on 25 June.\n\nOn 28 June, the first New York Derby was contested when Red Bulls faced F.C. New York in the third round of the 2011 U.S. Open Cup. The match ended with a 2–1 Red Bulls victory at Red Bull Arena. Rookies Corey Hertzog and John Rooney were the Red Bull goal scorers.\n\nThe shock of the month - if not the season - was provided on 27 June when the club announced it traded Dwayne De Rosario to rivals D.C. United for midfielder Dax McCarty. Red Bulls General Manager and Sporting Director Erik Soler said \"Dax is an exciting young player who will immediately add his dynamic style of play to our midfield,\" and \"he is an excellent two-way player who will contribute both to our defense and to our attack for seasons to come.\" The trading of perennial All Star De Rosario after only three months with New York stunned fans and media alike. That the club received only McCarty, who was left exposed in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft just months earlier and had since fallen out of favor with his new D.C. club, was difficult to understand as captured in this actual column title from a Washington Post article: D.C. United trades McCarty for De Rosario, New York watches, giggles. The bewildering trade left Red Bull fans questioning the competence of General Manager Erik Soler. With only one league victory in the past two months, the abilities of Coach Hans Backe also became a growing subject of consternation.MLS Results for June: 1 victory, 3 draws, 1 lossMLS Results Season-to-Date: 5 victories, 9 draws, 3 losses; 24 points, 6th overall through 17 matches\n\n July \nRed Bulls opened July in similar fashion as June, with a 2-2 draw against San Jose Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium. Joel Lindpere saved the point for New York with his first brace of the season. He earned MLS Player of the Week for his performance.\n\nOn 6 July, the team emphatically beat Toronto 5–0 with goals from Henry, Rodgers, Lindpere and a brace by Agudelo. The win was the club's biggest of the season and gave hope heading into the 9 July home match against D.C. United and De Rosario. The hope was misplaced, as a De Rosario goal gave D.C. a 1–0 victory at Red Bull Arena. This match would also prove to be the last started by Luke Rodgers for two months as the striker battled plantar fasciitis.\n\nThe league announced on 10 July that forward Thierry Henry and defenders Rafa Marquez and Tim Ream were selected to the 2011 MLS All-Star Game to be held at Red Bull Arena on 27 July. Later in the month MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced that Juan Agudelo had been added to the MLS All-Star Game roster and that Joel Lindpere had been added as an inactive participant.\n\nAnother season low point was reached on 12 July when Red Bulls were eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup by a 4–0 thrashing at Chicago Fire in a quarterfinal match-up. Despite the fact that New York is the only original MLS club to never win a major trophy, team management decided that the U.S. Open Cup was not a priority and sent a squad lacking any regular starters to Chicago. Making matters worse, neither Coach Backe nor top assistant Jan Halvor Halvorsen traveled to Chicago. Instead, first-year assistant coach Mike Petke and injured player Carl Robinson were assigned to coach the squad of reserves against the Chicago starters. The ambivalence toward the Open Cup quarterfinal match infuriated Supporters Groups.\n\nThe following day, Red Bulls announced the signing of veteran German goalkeeper Frank Rost from Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. General Manager Erik Soler stated \"Frank is a very experienced goalkeeper who will provide a strong presence in-between the posts for our club during our quest for a MLS title,\" and \"we are thrilled that he has decided to join us in the middle of our campaign and look forward to his contributions for the remainder of the season.\" Rost became the club's third Designated Player.\n\nThe club traveled west to face Chivas USA on 16 July and came away with yet another draw, this one scoreless, in Rost's debut.\n\nOff the field that same day, the club announced that goalkeeper Greg Sutton, made redundant with the arrival of Frank Rost, had been loaned to North American Soccer League side Montreal Impact for the remainder of the season. This marked a homecoming of sorts for Sutton, a native Canadian who spent six years with Montreal earlier in his career. The club also announced that it had acquired an international roster slot from D.C. United for future considerations. Two days later, the future considerations were confirmed as second-year midfielder Austin da Luz. Supporters were again confused by the move, this time for trading an inexpensive, capable, domestic player to rivals D.C. for an international slot that reverts to D.C. at season's end.\n\nCoach Backe did not help his standing with the fanbase by publicly conceding his preseason goal of winning the Supporters Shield. Backe told the New York Post on 18 July: \"...even if I wanted to win the Shield, but that is gone.\"\n\nThe downward spiral continued with a 4-1 loss at Colorado on 20 July. Three days later, Red Bulls did rescue a point from FC Dallas in a 2-2 home draw. Playing in stifling heat, Thierry Henry scored a late equalizer after Dane Richards had been sent off for his caution. That concluded league play for the month, with Red Bulls having now won 2 league matches in 3 months and having slipped to 9th place overall.\n\nThe All-Star game was held at Red Bull Arena on 27 July. Coach Backe managed the MLS squad to a 4–0 defeat at the hands of English Premier League champions Manchester United.\n\nOn 31 July, Red Bulls did manage to win a (meaningless) trophy: the 2011 Emirates Cup. After defeating Paris Saint-Germain of French Ligue 1 on 30 July by a 1–0 scoreline, Red Bulls then drew 1–1 against hosts, Arsenal of the English Premier League. Returning hero Thierry Henry was warmly received by Arsenal fans.MLS Results for July: 1 victory, 3 draws, 2 lossesMLS Results Season-to-Date: 6 victories, 12 draws, 5 losses; 30 points, 9th overall through 23 matches\n\n August \nThe next league match was 6 August at Real Salt Lake. Red Bulls showed the effects of the long journey from England, losing badly 3–0. The loss dropped New York back to a dead even won-lost record. To make matters worse, new goalkeeper Frank Rost was removed at halftime due to an injury he suffered while sitting on the airplane on the flight from London to America.\n\nDraws by a 2–2 scoreline followed against Chicago on 13 August and New England on 20 August, Dane Richards netting both goals in the latter game. The Chicago game featured emergency goalkeeper Chris Konopka as starter due to Rost's injury, the loan of Greg Sutton, an international call-up for Bouna Coundoul, and an apparent lack of faith by Coach Backe in third-string keeper Alex Horwath. It proved to be Konopka's only appearance of the season.\n\nThe marquee match of the month, the visit by first place Los Angeles Galaxy on 28 August, was postponed until 4 October due to Hurricane Irene.\n\nDuring August, Red Bulls traded a 2013 MLS SuperDraft pick to Sporting Kansas City for midfielder Stéphane Auvray and loaned rookie defender Tyler Lassiter to North American Soccer League side Carolina RailHawks. The club also continued its shakeup of staff members, relieving athletic trainer Rick Guter of his duties following 5 years of service. A replacement was not named.\n\nThe consistent lack of victories resulted in a continued fall in the standings. At month's end, Red Bulls had fallen to 11th place through 26 rounds. For the first time all season the club was outside the playoff picture.MLS Results for August: 0 victories, 2 draws, 1 lossMLS Results Season-to-Date: 6 victories, 14 draws, 6 losses; 32 points, 11th overall through 26 matches\n\n September \nWith 8 matches to go and fighting for the playoffs, New York could ill afford to lose a starter but they did just that when Roy Miller was injured while playing internationally for Costa Rica on 6 September. Miller missed two weeks. The club did regain the services of Luke Rodgers after 2 months out of the starting lineup.\n\nRed Bulls hosted last place Vancouver on 10 September and earned another draw, this time 1–1. One week later Rodgers scored the only goal in a surprising 1–0 victory at Dallas. The joy of a victory was short-lived as the club returned home on 21 September and fell flat versus Salt Lake, losing 3–1. All 3 Salt Lake goals were conceded in the first 21 minutes of play.\n\nAfter the Salt Lake match, Designated Player Rafa Marquez, who had been singled out recently by fans for his indifferent performance and lack of hustle, gave a scathing interview in which he denigrated his teammates, Tim Ream specifically. Among Marquez's statements were: \"I think I am playing at my maximum level, and doing everything I can. I don't have, unfortunately, four defenders on my level that can help me out.\"; \"Tim is still a young player with a lot to learn. He still has quite a lot to learn, and well, he has committed errors that are very infantile and cost us goals.\"; and \"I think that this is a team game, and unfortunately, there isn't an equal level between perhaps (Thierry Henry) and myself, and our teammates.\" Despite Marquez's initial claims that he was misquoted, the interview was videotaped and posted in its entirety at a fan website. Two days later the club suspended Marquez for one match.\n\nRed Bulls won the match that Marquez missed, beating Portland 2–0 on 24 September. This result meant that Marquez had not played in any of the four most recent Red Bulls victories or in any of the four most recent Red Bulls shutouts. The win moved the club back into playoff position, 9th overall.MLS Results for September: 2 victories, 1 draw, 1 lossMLS Results Season-to-Date: 8 victories, 15 draws, 7 losses; 39 points, 9th overall through 30 matches\n\n October \nMarquez returned for the 1 October match at Toronto and his impact was felt. His early second-half giveaway and failure to hustle back defensively resulted in a Toronto goal. Only a sterling late game finish by Thierry Henry allowed Red Bulls to rescue a point through a 1–1 draw.\n\nThe rescheduled home match against Los Angeles was played on 4 October. Red Bulls looked sharp and earned a 2–0 victory which placed them on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot. However, in the inconsistent manner exhibited by the club all season long, a flat New York squad next fell at Kansas City 2–0. Henry was issued a straight red card in the match, causing him to miss the final league match with the club needing a result to ensure a playoff spot.\n\nPrior to the final match, General Manager Erik Soler told The New York Times that Coach Hans Backe would return for 2012. Soler also addressed the June trade of Dwayne De Rosario to D.C. United, deflecting blame by stating: \"He didn't work out, he didn't score. He's a great player as long as he has the ball, and we already have those kinds of players here. Our problem is not scoring goals, our problem is defensive mistakes. He's not a guy who likes to play a complementary role. He didn't fit in. I'm happy for him. He's a great guy, but he wouldn't score 15 goals here. We know that Thierry Henry needs the ball, and on a smaller scale DeRo is the same. It's not our mistake. It just didn't work out.\"\n\nThe last league match was home to Philadelphia on 20 October. An early Dane Richards goal proved enough for a 1–0 victory that clinched the 10th and final playoff spot for Red Bulls.MLS Results for October: 2 victories, 1 draw, 1 lossMLS Results Regular Season (Final): 10 victories, 16 draws, 8 losses; 44 points, 10th overall\n\nNew York opened the postseason with a one-game Wild Card round playoff at Dallas. Goals by Joel Lindpere and Thierry Henry led Red Bulls to a surprising 2–0 win.\n\nThe victory over Dallas earned New York a two-game series with Supporters Shield winners Los Angeles Galaxy. The first match was played 30 October at Red Bull Arena. Former Red Bull Mike Magee scored the game's lone goal to win the match for Galaxy. After the match, a skirmish erupted when Marquez threw the ball at Galaxy captain Landon Donovan, hitting the American international in the foot. Nearby Galaxy player Adam Cristman took offense and confronted Marquez, who responded by punching (and missing) wildly and seemingly attempting to headbutt Cristman. Other players joined the fray, with Los Angeles midfielder Juninho landing an elbow to the face of unsuspecting Red Bulls defender Stephen Keel. Marquez inexplicably grabbed his face and flopped to the ground when other players approached, though no player was near enough to make contact with him. He and Juninho were both shown red cards for their actions, causing them to miss the return leg in Los Angeles. Two days later, the league suspended Marquez an additional two matches for: \"attempting to head butt Adam Cristman, attempting to punch Adam Cristman; striking Cristman, and simulating that he had been struck in the face.\" The extra suspension ended Marquez's 2011 season.MLS Playoff Results: Wild Card victory over FC Dallas; trailing 1–0 in aggregate to Los Angeles Galaxy\n\n November \nRed Bulls faced a daunting task needing to win in Los Angeles, something no visiting club had managed all season. In the return leg on 3 November, an early Luke Rodgers goal tied the series and gave Red Bulls hope. New York carried play until midfielder Teemu Tainio was forced out with injury at 16 minutes. From there, the match turned toward Los Angeles with Galaxy finally regaining the aggregate lead on a Mike Magee goal minutes before halftime. A second-half goal by Landon Donovan cemented the series victory for Los Angeles and ended another disappointing season for New York Red Bulls.\n\nOn 9 November the club announced team awards for 2011: Most Valuable Player - Thierry Henry; Newcomer of the Year - Luke Rodgers; Defender of the Year - Jan Gunnar Solli; Humanitarian of the Year - Stephen Keel.\n\nTo add insult to injury, Dwayne De Rosario, discarded after less than three months with New York, was named 2011 Most Valuable Player of Major League Soccer.\n\nRafa Marquez's suspension will carry over to the first two matches of 2012.MLS Playoff Results: Conference Semifinal defeat to Los Angeles Galaxy\n\n Team information\n\n Squad At close of the 2011 season. Formation \n\n International players \nThe following players on the club have received international call-ups during the season or within the previous year:\n\n Player movement \n\n Transfers \n\n In \n\n Out \n\n Loans \n\n In \n\n Out \n\n Player statistics \n\nStatistics for MLS league matches through October 21, 2011.* = No longer with the club.** = Goals total includes 2 own goals scored by opposition.''\n\nGoalkeeper statistics\n\nStatistics for MLS league matches through October 21, 2011.\n\nClub staff\n\nCompetitions\n\nOverall\n\nStandings\n\nOverall standings\n\nResults summary\n\nResults by rounds\n\nMatch results\n\nPre-season \nKickoff times are in EST.\n\nMajor League Soccer \nKickoff times are in EDT.\n\nMLS Cup Playoffs\n\nWild Card Round\n\nConference Semi-finals\n\nFriendlies\n\n2011 Emirates Cup\n\nU.S. Open Cup\n\nMLS Reserve League \nKickoff times are in EDT.\n\nPre-season\n\nFriendlies\n\nSeason\n\nRecognition\n\nMLS Player of the Week\n\nMLS Goal of the Week\n\nMLS Save of the Week\n\nMLS All-Stars 2011\n\nMiscellany\n\nAllocation ranking \nNew York did not use its spot in the MLS Allocation Ranking during the 2011 season. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.\n\nInternational roster spots \nIt is believed that New York has 12 international roster spots. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots, which can be traded. New York acquired its first additional spot from San Jose Earthquakes on 2 March 2009. Press reports did not indicate if or when this roster spot was to revert to San Jose. New York acquired a second additional spot from Houston Dynamo on 17 March 2009. It is not known if or when this roster spot is to revert to Houston. The club also acquired a spot from Colorado Rapids on 14 September 2010 in the Macoumba Kandji trade. The trade of this spot was not included in the press release and it is not known when this spot reverts to Colorado. The club acquired a fourth additional international spot from D.C. United on 16 July 2011. This spot will return to D.C. after the 2011 season.\n\nThere is no limit on the number of international slots on each club's roster. The remaining roster slots must belong to domestic players. For clubs based in the United States, a domestic player is either a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident (green card holder) or the holder of other special status (e.g., refugee or asylum status).\n\nFuture draft pick trades \nFuture picks acquired: None.\nFuture picks traded: 2012 SuperDraft Round 1 pick traded to Toronto FC; 2012 Supplemental Draft Round 1 pick traded to Houston Dynamo; 2013 SuperDraft Round 2 pick traded to Sporting Kansas City.\n\nReferences \n\nNew York Red Bulls seasons\nNew York Red Bulls\nNew York Red Bulls\nRed bulls"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season."
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | Did they offer him a lot of money to come back? | 2 | Did the Red Bulls offer Thierry Henry a lot of money to come back to the Red Bulls? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | false | [
"In the Bible, Lot's wife is a figure first mentioned in . The Book of Genesis describes how she became a pillar of salt after she looked back at Sodom. She is not named in the Bible but is called \"Ado\" or \"Edith\" in some Jewish traditions. She is also referred to in the deuterocanonical books at the Book of Wisdom () and the New Testament at Luke 17:32. Islamic accounts also talk about the wife of Prophet Lut (Lot) when mentioning 'People of Lut'.\n\nGenesis narrative \n\nThe story of Lot's wife begins in after two angels arrived in Sodom at eventide and were invited to spend the night at Lot's home. The men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and prompted Lot to offer up these men/angels; instead, Lot offered up his two daughters but they were refused. As dawn was breaking, Lot's visiting angels urged him to get his family and flee, so as to avoid being caught in the impending disaster for the iniquity of the city. The command was given, \"Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.\" While fleeing, Lot's wife turned to look back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.\n\nComposition\nThe Hebrew verb used for Lot's wife \"looking\" back is , tāḇeṭ. Her looking back at Sodom differs in word usage from Abraham \"looking\" , šāqap toward Sodom in (18:16).\n\nPillar of salt\n\nThe story appears to be based in part on a folk legend explaining a geographic feature.\n\nA pillar of salt named \"Lot's wife\" is located near the Dead Sea at Mount Sodom in Israel. The Mishnah states that a blessing should be said at the place where the pillar of salt is. The term \"Lot's wife\" for such geographical features subsequently entered common parlance, as one of the outcrops comprising Long Ya Men was also nicknamed thus.\n\nThe Jewish historian Josephus claimed to have seen the pillar of salt which was Lot's wife. Its existence is also attested to by the early church fathers Clement of Rome and Irenaeus.\n\nJewish commentaries\nIn Judaism, one common view of Lot's wife turning to salt was as punishment for disobeying the angels' warning. By looking back at the \"evil cities,\" she betrayed her secret longing for that way of life. She was deemed unworthy to be saved and thus was turned to a pillar of salt.\n\nAnother view in the Jewish exegesis of Genesis 19:26, is that when Lot's wife looked back, she turned to a pillar of salt upon the \"sight of God,\" who was descending down to rain destruction upon Sodom and Gomorrah. One reason that is given in the tradition is that she turned back to look in order to see if her daughters, who were married to men of Sodom, were coming or not.\n\nAnother Jewish legend says that because Lot's wife sinned with salt, she was punished with salt. On the night the two angels visited Lot, he requested that his wife prepare a feast for them. Not having any salt, Lot's wife asked her neighbors for salt, which alerted them to the presence of their guests, resulting in the mob action that endangered Lot's family.\n\nIn the Midrash, Lot's wife's name is given as Edith.\n\nIslamic view\n\nLut () in the Quran is considered to be the same as Lot in the Hebrew Bible. He is considered to be a messenger of God and a prophet of God.\n\nIn the Quranic telling, Lut warned his people of their imminent destruction lest they change their wicked ways, but they refused to listen to him. Lut was ordered by Allah to leave the city with his followers at night, but to leave his wife. As soon as he left, Allah brought down upon them a shower of stones of clay.\n\nThe difference between this telling and the Judeo-Christian telling from the Book of Genesis is that Lut's wife was destroyed alongside the wicked; in other words, she did not flee with Lut. This is because Lut's wife was as guilty as those who were punished. So much so, that she is mentioned in the Quran alongside Nuh's wife as two impious and disbelieving women who were punished for their wickedness, irrespective of their being married to prophets.\n\nIn the Quran, surah (chapter) 26 Ash-Shu'ara (The Poets) –\n\nOther biblical references\nLot's wife is mentioned by Jesus at in the context of warning his disciples about difficult times in the future when the Son of Man would return; he told them to remember Lot's wife as a warning to not waver at that time. Lot's wife is also referred to in the apocrypha in .\n\nPopular culture\nLot's wife is the subject of the poem \"Lot's Wife\" by Anna Akhmatova, which offers a more sympathetic view of Lot's wife's choice to look back. Scott Cairns' poem \"The Turning of Lot's Wife\" also reimagines the story from a feminist perspective. Lot's wife is mentioned in the opening chapter of Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut also offers a sympathetic view and compares her looking back at Sodom to his recalling the fire bombing of Dresden.\n\nThe story of Lot's wife is paralleled in Shirley Jackson's short story \"Pillar of Salt\", in which a woman visiting New York with her husband becomes obsessed with the crumbling of the city.\n\nGallery\n\nSee also \n Baucis and Philemon\n List of names for the biblical nameless\n Lot's Wife (crag)\n Orpheus\n Vayeira\n\nReferences \n\nFamily of Abraham\nLot (biblical person)\nUnnamed people of the Bible\nWomen in the Hebrew Bible\nVayeira\nGospel of Luke",
"Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure ( also known as A Friend Is a Treasure) is an Italian adventure-comedy movie directed in 1981 by Sergio Corbucci. It was filmed at Key Biscayne, Florida.\n\nPlot \nAlan Lloyd (Hill) is an inveterate gambler who accumulates a lot of debt and therefore is forced to flee, pursued by shady employers in the area. Charlie O'Brien (Spencer) is an actor who is hired to advertise a jam (that tastes horrible) and is embarking on a long promotional boat trip. Alan, still fleeing, hides inside Charlie's boat behind his back.\n\nAfter Alan is discovered, the two get into a fight and fall out of the boat, eventually reaching a remote island in the Pacific. There, the two initially believe they are on a deserted island, but then discover that it is inhabited and familiarize themselves with the natives. The welcome party is interrupted by a group of pirates who come each year to capture some natives to sell them as slaves, but they do not know that Alan and Charlie are there now. After a lot of punches and blows the pirates are expelled. The two friends and the natives celebrate and make peace with an old Japanese general in a fort on the island who still believes that World War II is not over. The man receives Alan and Charlie in his bunker and shows them a huge amount of money (stolen from the American navy during the war) that he kept hidden for years. Charlie is crazy with joy and secretly steals all the money, while the Japanese confides to Alan that the money is all fake.\n\nCharlie plans to leave with an old plane but the pirates inadvertently come back to the island more aggressive and with the incursion of a group of criminals who had the honor to clash with Alan at the beginning of the story. The natives are captured and humiliated, so Alan and Charlie, who had gone off (without the latter having discovered the secret of fake money), come back, swoop down with the plane on the attackers and fight their enemies in a battle to the sound of blows and punches, finally defeating them and bringing lasting peace to the island.\n\nFinally Alan and Charlie are rescued by the crew of USS Forrestal. They give the fake money to the navy, only to be told that it is real (the government spread the tale the money was fake to prevent the Japanese from spending it). They get hailed as heroes but end up without any money and a hand-made idol (a gift from the grateful natives for Alan and Charlie) ends up donated to a museum.\n\nIn the final scene we see the idol in a museum with a card saying that it is worth a fortune and Alan and Charlie working as janitors and planning to steal it.\n\nCast \nTerence Hill: Alan Lloyd\nBud Spencer: Charlie O'Brien\nSal Borgese: Anulu\nJohn Fujioka: Kamasuka, a Japanese holdout\nLouise Bennett: Mama\nTom Tully: Marine Captain\n\nSee also \n List of Italian films of 1981\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1981 films\n1980s adventure comedy films\nItalian adventure comedy films\nItalian films\nTerence Hill and Bud Spencer\nFilms directed by Sergio Corbucci\nFilms shot in Florida\nFilms set in Oceania\nFilms set on islands\nJapanese holdouts\n1981 comedy films"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season.",
"Did they offer him a lot of money to come back?",
"His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS"
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | Did he play well? | 3 | Did Thierry Henry play well in the MLS? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | false | [
"Michael Patrick (born September 9, 1944) is a retired American sportscaster, known for his long tenure with ESPN.\n\nEarly career\nPatrick began his broadcasting career in the fall of 1966 at WVSC-Radio in Somerset, Pennsylvania. In 1970, he was named Sports Director at WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, where he provided play-by-play for Jacksonville Sharks' World Football League (WFL) telecasts (1973–74). He also called Jacksonville University basketball games on both radio and television.\n\nFrom 1975 until 1982, he worked for WJLA-TV as a sports reporter and weekend anchor. During this period, Patrick also did play-by-play for Maryland Terrapins football and basketball broadcasts as well as pre-season games for the Washington Football Team when WJLA had the TV rights to broadcast those games.\n\nESPN\n\nBeginning in 1982, Patrick worked for ESPN, where he is best known for his role as play-by-play announcer on the network's Sunday Night Football telecasts, with Paul Maguire and Joe Theismann from 1987–2005. Patrick was briefly replaced in 2004 by Pat Summerall, while he recovered from heart bypass surgery.\n\nHe has also called college football, men's and women's college basketball, and the College World Series for the network, as well as several NFL playoff games for ABC Sports while the network held the Monday Night Football television package.\n\nIn 2006, Patrick became the lead play-by-play announcer for ESPN on College Football Primetime, along with Todd Blackledge and field reporter Holly Rowe. In July 2009, ESPN announced that Patrick would begin calling Saturday afternoon ESPN/ABC college football for the 2009 college football season, which he did through 2017.\n\nIn addition, Patrick called the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship from 1996 through 2009 and the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska from 2003 until 2014.\n\nOn February 21, 2018, Patrick retired from ESPN after 35 years with the network.\n\nNon ESPN-related assignments\n\nPatrick also did play-by-play of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football and basketball games for Jefferson-Pilot (now Lincoln Financial Sports) between 1984 and 1986.\n\nPatrick is the play-by-play man for MVP 06: NCAA Baseball as well as MVP 07: NCAA Baseball.\n\nFor 2015, 2016 and 2017, Patrick did play-by-play for the Cleveland Browns preseason football games.\n\nPatrick resides in northern Virginia with his wife, Janet.\n\nReferences\n\n1944 births\nLiving people\nAmerican television sports announcers\nCollege baseball announcers in the United States\nWomen's college basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege football announcers\nGeorge Washington University alumni\nMaryland Terrapins men's basketball announcers\nMaryland Terrapins football announcers\nNational Football League announcers\nPeople from Clarksburg, West Virginia\nWorld Football League announcers\nJournalists from West Virginia\nTelevision anchors from Jacksonville, Florida",
"The Paraguay national futsal team represents Paraguay during international futsal competitions and is controlled by a branch of the Paraguayan Football Association (Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol). Its biggest accomplishment is becoming champions of the AMF Futsal World Cup on three occasions (1988, 2003, 2007).\n\nResults and fixtures\n\nThe following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.\nLegend\n\n2021\n\nCompetitive record\n\nFIFA Futsal World Cup\n\nFIFUSA/AMF Futsal World Cup\n1982 - Second place\n1985 - Third place\n1988 - Champions\n1991 - Second place\n1994 - Quarterfinals\n1997 - did not play\n2000 - Second round\n2003 - Champions (host)\n2007 - Champions\n2011 - Second place\n2015 - Second place\n2019 - TBD\n\nSouth American Futsal Championship\n1965 - Champions (host)\n1969 - Second place (host)\n1971 - Third place\n1973 - Third place\n1975 - Third place\n1976 - Second place\n1977 - Second place\n1979 - did not play\n1983 - Second place\n1986 - Second place\n1989 - Second place\n1992 - Third place\n1995 - Fourth place\n1996 - Fourth place\n1997 - Third place\n1998 - Second place\n1999 - Second place\n2000 - First round\n2003 - Third place (host)\n2008 - Fourth place\n2011 - Third place\n2015 - Second place\n2017 - Third place\n\nFIFA Futsal World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)\n2012 - Second place\n2016 - Third place (host)\n\nGrand Prix de Futsal\n2005 – Fifth place\n2006 – did not play\n2007 – Twelfth place\n2008 – Fourth place\n2009 – Eighth place\n2010 – Bronze medal\n2011 – Sixth place\n2013 – Fourth place\n2014 – did not play\n2015 – Fourth place\n\nFutsal Mundialito\n1994 – did not play\n1995 – did not play\n1996 – Second place\n1998 – did not play\n2001 – did not play\n2002 – did not play\n2006 – did not play\n2007 – did not play\n2008 – did not play\n\nPan American Games\n2007 - Bronze Medal\n\nHonours\nAMF Futsal World Cup\nWinners (3): 1988, 2003, 2007\nSouth American Futsal Championship\nWinners (1): 1965\nFutsal Mundialito\nSilver Medal (1): 1996\nPan American Games\nBronze Medal (1): 2007\nGrand Prix de Futsal\nBronze Medal (1): 2010\n\nSee also\nParaguay national football team\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Historia de Futsal (APF)\n\nSouth American national futsal teams\nFutsal\nNational"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season.",
"Did they offer him a lot of money to come back?",
"His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS",
"Did he play well?",
"On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact."
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 4 | In addition to Thierry Henry's return to the NY Red Bulls, how much Thierry Henry was paid, and how well Thierry Henry played, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | false | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season.",
"Did they offer him a lot of money to come back?",
"His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS",
"Did he play well?",
"On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"I don't know."
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | What teams did he play against? | 5 | What teams did Thierry Henry play against? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | false | [
"The 2020 Eurohockey Indoor Championship II was the 7th edition of the tournament. It took take place from 17 to 19 January 2020 in Lucerne, Switzerland.\n\nQualified Teams\n\nSweden finished 3rd in the previous tournament, but did not take part in 2020. Instead Turkey, which as 7th placed team in 2018 were originally relegated, took part.\n\nFormat\nThe eight teams are split into two groups of four teams. The bottom two teams from pool A and B, play in a new group, pool C, against the teams they did not play against in the group stage. The top two teams from pool A and B, will also play in a new group, pool D, where they play the teams they did not play against in the group stage to determine the winner. All points from pools A and B will be taken over in pools C and D. The top two teams will be promoted to the 2022 Men's EuroHockey Indoor Nations Championship. The last two teams will be relegated to the 2022 Eurohockey Indoor Championship III.\n\nResults\n''All times are local (UTC+1).\n\nPreliminary round\n\nPool A\n\nPool B\n\nFifth to eighth place classification\n\nPool C\nThe points obtained in the preliminary round against the other team are taken over.\n\nPool D\nThe points obtained in the preliminary round against the other team are taken over.\n\nFinal standings\n\nReferences\n\nMen's EuroHockey Indoor Championship II\nInternational indoor hockey competitions hosted by Switzerland\nEuroHockey Indoor Nations Championship Men\nIndoor Men\nEuroHockey Indoor Nations Championship Men\nEvents in Lucerne",
"The 2018–19 of the Finnish Basketball Cup is at its 33rd edition.\n\nThe competition was interrupted in 2013 and resumed for the season 2018–19. The Opening match was played on 30 October 2018.\n\nFormat \nEvery Finnish basketball team from any league could join voluntarily the Finnish Basketball Cup. The competition is structured in single game play-off series, with the exception that the teams that lose at the first and second round have a second chance to qualify by playing an additional play-out round.\n\nTeams\n\nFirst round \nIn the first round all the teams qualify to the second round, no matter what the result is. But the winners from the first round play against each other in a single game play-off format, while the losers go in a play-out round.\n\nSecond round \nThe second round play-offs are played amongst the teams that won in the first round. The winning teams go directly to the fourth round, while the losing teams play an extra third round with the chance to qualify to the fourth round.\n\nThe play-outs are played amongst the teams that lost the first play off round. The losing teams are out from the competition, while the winning teams play in the additional round against the losing team from the play-offs of the second round, with a chance to qualify to the fourth round.\n\nPlay off\n\nPlay out\n\nThird round \nIn the third round the teams who won the play-outs play against the teams that lost the second round of play-offs. The winners will qualify to the fourth round and will play against the teams that won the second round of play-offs\n\nBracket \nThe final stage is played in single match quarters, semifinals and final.\n\nFinal\n\nReferences\n\n2018–19 in European basketball leagues\n2018–19 in Finnish basketball"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season.",
"Did they offer him a lot of money to come back?",
"His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS",
"Did he play well?",
"On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"I don't know.",
"What teams did he play against?",
"Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact."
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | How long did he play for the team? | 6 | How long did Thierry Henry play for the Red Bulls? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | true | [
"The Shreveport Knights were a professional American football team that played during the 1999 season as part of the Regional Football League. They played their home games at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.\n\nThe team was announced as one of the league's charter members on November 12, 1998. The team was initially named the \"Shreveport-Bossier City Southern Knights\", however this was too long and the name was shortened. For their lone season, Fred Akers served as head coach, and Jason Martin, who had played college football for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, was the starting quarterback. The team's colors were purple, green, and gold.\n\nAlthough the team was scheduled to play a 12-game regular season, poor attendance and sagging revenues would prove too much for the new league. After playing to a 3–4 record, the Knights were unable to use their home stadium, for financial reasons. For the eighth game of the season, adjustment by the league resulted in Shreveport being rescheduled to play on the road, but when the Knights did not travel to the game, they were assessed a forfeit. Shortly thereafter, the league ended the regular season, and the Knights did not qualify for the playoffs with their 3–5 record. After the season, the team and the league ceased operation.\n\n1999 season schedule\n\n Shreveport had been scheduled to host New Orleans on June 5, but Shreveport was unable to use their stadium. The league rescheduled New Orleans to play in Mississippi on that date, and Shreveport was rescheduled to play in Ohio on June 6. A forfeit was assessed to Shreveport when they did not travel to play Ohio.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\nRemember the RFL\n\nSouthern\nRegional Football League teams\nAmerican football teams established in 1998\nAmerican football teams disestablished in 1999\n1998 establishments in Louisiana\n1999 disestablishments in Louisiana",
"The following list shows NCAA Division I football programs by winning percentage during the 1910–1919 football seasons. During this time the NCAA did not have any formal divisions. The following list reflects the records according to the NCAA. Due to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, many teams did not field a team during the 1918 season. This list takes into account results modified later due to NCAA action, such as vacated victories and forfeits.\n\n Chart notes\n\n Did not field a team during the 1918 season due to the Spanish flu pandemic.\n Centre joined Division I in 1919.\n Mare Island Marines was a military team that competed in 1917 & 1918 during World War I.\n Great Lakes Navy was a military team that competed in 1918 during World War I.\n Swarthmore joined Division I for the 1912 season.\n Tulsa joined Division I in 1914.\n Princeton did not field a team during the 1917 & 1918 seasons.\n Rice's first season was in 1912.\n Chattanooga left Division I after the 1910 season.\n Georgia did not field a team in 1917 & 1918.\n Rutgers rejoined Division I in 1914, but did not play Division I during the 1915 season.\n Presbyterian joined Division I in 1915.\n USC did not field a team during the 1911-1913 seasons.\n California resumed football play in 1915.\n Carlisle dropped football after the 1917 season.\n North Carolina did not field a team during the 1917 & 1918 seasons.\n Stanford restarted their football team in 1919.\n Temple did not field a team from 1918-1921.\n Columbia resumed football play in 1915.\n Furman joined Division I in 1915.\n Spring Hill played Division I during the 1919 season.\n West Virginia Wesleyan joined Division I for the 1913-1916 seasons.\n UTEP's first season was in 1914.\n SMU's first season was in 1916.\n Mississippi College joined Division I for the 1911, 1912, 1915, 1916 & 1919 seasons.\n Arizona State only fielded a team for the 1914-1916 and 1919 seasons.\n Haskell joined Division I for the 1910 & 1914-1916 seasons.\n Newberry joined Division I in 1914 and also did not field a team in 1918.\n Idaho joined Division I for the 1917 season.\n Wofford joined Division I in 1914.\n Dickinson left Division I after the 1910 season.\n Erskine joined Division I for the 1919 season.\n Oglethorpe joined Division I in 1919.\n UCLA's first season was in 1919.\n Grinnell joined Division I in 1919.\n Samford did not play Division I during the 1913-1918 seasons.\n Montana joined Division I for the 1917 season.\n Carnegie Mellon joined Division I for the 1910 season.\n\nSee also\n NCAA Division I FBS football win-loss records\n NCAA Division I football win-loss records in the 1920s\n\nReferences\n\nLists of college football team records"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season.",
"Did they offer him a lot of money to come back?",
"His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS",
"Did he play well?",
"On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"I don't know.",
"What teams did he play against?",
"Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"How long did he play for the team?",
"On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club."
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | Did he win MVP or any trophies while playing with the Bulls? | 7 | Did Thierry Henry win MVP or any trophies while playing with the Bulls? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | false | [
"The Karoliina Rantamäki Award () is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the playoff MVP of the Naisten Liiga. During 1982 to 2017, the league was called the Naisten SM-sarja. The Naisten SM-sarja Playoff MVP trophy was first awarded in the 1999–2000 season and the first recipient was forward Kati Kovalainen of the Espoo Blues Naiset.\n\nThe most Karoliina Rantamäki Awards won by a single player is three, a record rather appropriately held by HIFK Naiset captain Karoliina Rantamäki. Rantamäki was recognized as the Naisten SM-sarja Playoff MVP in 2001, 2005, and 2007, all while playing with the Espoo Blues Naiset. The Playoff MVP award was named after Rantamäki in the 2010–11 season. Of the ten players with Naisten Liiga trophies named in their honor, she is the only player to hold the most wins of her eponymous award. Rantamäki also holds the record for most Marianne Ihalainen Awards won, with six, and most Tiia Reima Awards won, with eight.\n\nThe Karoliina Rantamäki Award correlates with post-retirement coaching positions more than any other Naisten Liiga award; of the eight retired players who won the award during their playing careers, five have held or currently hold coaching positions: Maija Hassinen-Sullanmaa (2006), Sanna Lankosaari (2002), and Linda Leppänen (; 2010, 2014) in the Naisten Liiga, Riikka Sallinen (2016) in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL), and Mira Jalosuo (2017) with the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA).\n\nAward winners \n\nSource: Elite Prospects\n\nAll time award recipients\n\nReferences\n\nNaisten Liiga (ice hockey) trophies and awards\nMost valuable player awards",
"The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York, United States. The Sabres are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team was founded as an expansion franchise in 1970, and , 51 goaltenders and 448 skaters (forwards and defensemen) have appeared in at least one regular season or playoff game with the Sabres.\n\nNine former Buffalo Sabres players are enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame: Dave Andreychuk, Dick Duff, Grant Fuhr, Clark Gillies, Dale Hawerchuk, Tim Horton, Pat LaFontaine, Dominik Hasek, and Gilbert Perreault. Dominik Hasek won two Hart Memorial Trophies as NHL MVP while playing for the Sabres. In addition, Hasek won six Vezina Trophies as the NHL's top goaltender while playing for Buffalo; Ryan Miller and Tom Barrasso have won the Vezina while playing for the Sabres, while Don Edwards and Bob Sauve shared the trophy as Sabres in the 1979–80 season. Barrasso also won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year while playing for the Sabres, as did Gilbert Perreault and Tyler Myers. Michael Peca won the Frank J. Selke Trophy while with the team.\n\nKey\n Appeared in an Sabres game during the 2020–21 NHL season or is still part of the organization.\n retired jersey or elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame\n\n* - Save percentage did not become an official NHL statistic until the 1982–83 season. Therefore, goaltenders who played before 1982 do not have official save percentages.\n\nThe \"Seasons\" column lists the first year of the season of the player's first game and the last year of the season of the player's last game. For example, a player who played one game in the 2000–01 season would be listed as playing with the team from 2000–2001, regardless of what calendar year the game occurred within.\n\nStatistics complete as of the 2020–21 NHL season.\n\nGoaltenders\n\nSkaters\n\nReferences\n\n \n\n \nplayers\nBuffalo Sabres players"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season.",
"Did they offer him a lot of money to come back?",
"His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS",
"Did he play well?",
"On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"I don't know.",
"What teams did he play against?",
"Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"How long did he play for the team?",
"On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club.",
"Did he win MVP or any trophies while playing with the Bulls?",
"Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month"
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | Did they pay him more because of that? | 8 | Did the MLS pay Thierry Henry more because Thierry Henry scored Thierry Henry's first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact and Thierry Henry was named MLS Player of the Month? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | false | [
"Judah bar Meremar (or Judah Mar bar Meremar, or Rab Judah;, or Judah b. Amemar, Hebrew: יהודה בר מרימר) was a Babylonian rabbi, of the seventh generation of amoraim.\n\nBiography\nHe was the son of Maremar, dean of the Sura Yeshiva Academy. His rulings are mentioned in the Talmud, and so are his halakhic habits. For example, he would tell his assistant to hire a laborer to work for him, while committing Judah himself to pay the worker. Since the employer was not same person as the wage payer, there was no danger of accidentally violating the commandment of paying one's workers on time.\n\nHe was highly respected by his peers. Once when Rav Papa was marrying his son to the daughter of Abba of Sura, and wanted to visit Abba's house to discuss Abba's dowry payment, Papa met Judah bar Meremar. Papa invited him to come in, but Judah refused, explaining that he did not want Abba of Sura to be ashamed because of him, and therefore would give his daughter more than he truly wished. At Papa's further urging, though, Judah agreed to come. When Abba of Sura stated the dowry's amount, Judah said nothing. Abba thought Judah was silent out of anger that the dowry amount was too small, so he added vast amounts to the dowry. When he saw that Judah was still silent, he said to Judah: \"I left myself nothing, and you still want me to give more?\" Judah replied: \"What you gave is already against my opinion, in my opinion you did not have to give so much, but since you already gave - you should not retract.\"\n\nOnce he ate together with Mar bar Rav Ashi and R. Aha of Difti. Because the three were equal in wisdom, they thought they were exempt from the zimun before birkat hamazon. However, Amemar ruled out they did this in error.\n\nReferences\n\nTalmud rabbis of Babylonia",
"In English folklore, the Apple Tree Man is the name given to the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard, and in whom the fertility of the orchard is thought to reside. Tales about the Apple Tree Man were collected by the folklorist Ruth Tongue in the cider-producing county of Somerset. In one story a man offers his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard on Christmas Eve (a reflection of the custom and ritual of apple wassailing). He is rewarded by the Apple Tree Man who reveals to him the location of buried gold, more than enough to pay his rent.\n\nIn another tale a farm cat was curious to explore some fields that people avoided working because they were haunted by ghosts and witches. She set out one day and got as far as the orchard when the Apple Tree Man cautioned her to go back home, because folks were coming to pour cider for his roots and shoot guns to drive away the witches. He persuaded her not to go wandering around at night until St. Tibb's Eve, and she never did because she did not know when St. Tibb's Eve was, nor did anyone else.\n\nSee also\nApple (symbolism)\nGreen Man\nVegetation deity\nWish tree\n\nReferences\n\nEnglish folklore\nTrees in mythology\nApples\nChristmas characters"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season.",
"Did they offer him a lot of money to come back?",
"His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS",
"Did he play well?",
"On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"I don't know.",
"What teams did he play against?",
"Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"How long did he play for the team?",
"On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club.",
"Did he win MVP or any trophies while playing with the Bulls?",
"Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month",
"Did they pay him more because of that?",
"I don't know."
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | what position did he play? | 9 | What position did Thierry Henry play? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | true | [
"is a former Japanese football player.\n\nPlaying career\nIwamaru was born in Fujioka on December 4, 1981. After graduating from high school, he joined the J1 League club Vissel Kobe in 2000. However he did not play as much as Makoto Kakegawa until 2003. In 2004, he played more often, after Kakegawa got hurt. In September 2004, he moved to Júbilo Iwata. In late 2004, he played often, after regular goalkeeper Yohei Sato got hurt. In 2005, he moved to the newly promoted J2 League club, Thespa Kusatsu (later Thespakusatsu Gunma), based in his home region. He competed with Nobuyuki Kojima for the position and played often. \n\nIn 2006, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Avispa Fukuoka. However he did not play as much as Yuichi Mizutani. In 2007, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Yokohama FC. However he did not play as much as Takanori Sugeno and the club was relegated to J2 within a year. Although he did not play as much as Kenji Koyama in 2008, he played often in 2009. He did not play at all in 2010. \n\nIn 2011, he moved to the J2 club Roasso Kumamoto. He did not play as much as Yuta Minami. In 2013, he moved to the newly promoted J2 club, V-Varen Nagasaki. Although he played in the first three matches, he did play at all after the fourth match, when Junki Kanayama played in his place. In 2014, he moved to the J2 club Thespakusatsu Gunma based in his local region. However he did not play at all, and retired at the end of the 2014 season.\n\nClub statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \n\n1981 births\nLiving people\nAssociation football people from Gunma Prefecture\nJapanese footballers\nJ1 League players\nJ2 League players\nVissel Kobe players\nJúbilo Iwata players\nThespakusatsu Gunma players\nAvispa Fukuoka players\nYokohama FC players\nRoasso Kumamoto players\nV-Varen Nagasaki players\nAssociation football goalkeepers",
"John Stirk (born 5 September 1955) is an English former footballer. His primary position was as a right back. During his career he played for Ipswich Town, Watford, Chesterfield and North Shields. He also made two appearances for England at youth level.\n\nCareer \n\nBorn in Consett, Stirk played youth football for local non-league team Consett A.F.C. He joined Ipswich Town on schoolboy terms in 1971, and after making two appearances for the England youth team, turned professional in 1973. During his time at Ipswich he was largely a reserve. He made his first-team debut on 5 November 1977, in a Football League First Division match against Manchester City at Portman Road. His manager at the time was Bobby Robson, who later went on to manage the England national football team. Ipswich won the FA Cup in 1978, in what proved to be Stirk's final season at the club. However, Stirk himself did not play in the final, nor did he play in any of the rounds en route to the final.\n\nAnother future England manager, Watford's Graham Taylor, signed Stirk for a transfer fee of £30,000 at the end of the 1977–78 season. Stirk went on to play every Watford league game in the 1978–79 season, as Watford gained promotion to the Second Division. However, Stirk did not play for Watford in the Second Division. Two months before the end of the 1979–80 season, Stirk was sold to Third Division side Chesterfield, at a profit to Watford of £10,000. After making 56 league appearances over two and a half seasons, Stirk left Chesterfield in 1983 moving on to Blyth Spartans then Tow Law Town, and finished his career at non-league North Shields.\n\nReferences \n\n1955 births\nLiving people\nConsett A.F.C. players\nIpswich Town F.C. players\nWatford F.C. players\nChesterfield F.C. players\nEnglish Football League players\nNorth Shields F.C. players\nSportspeople from Consett\nAssociation football fullbacks\nEnglish footballers"
] |
[
"Thierry Henry",
"Return to New York Red Bulls",
"When did he return to the NY Red Bulls?",
"On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season.",
"Did they offer him a lot of money to come back?",
"His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS",
"Did he play well?",
"On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"I don't know.",
"What teams did he play against?",
"Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact.",
"How long did he play for the team?",
"On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club.",
"Did he win MVP or any trophies while playing with the Bulls?",
"Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month",
"Did they pay him more because of that?",
"I don't know.",
"what position did he play?",
"With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos."
] | C_bba792f4aab147809465ba582ed1f30a_0 | Did he have any well-known team mates? | 10 | Did Thierry Henry have any well-known team mates? | Thierry Henry | On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in the MLS--surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5-2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5-2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4-1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. In 2003 and 2004, Henry was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in the former year. He was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, the FWA Footballer of the Year three times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. He was one of the most commercially marketed footballers during the 2000s. Henry, along with Alan Shearer, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for English Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times, won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles with the club, including one during an unbeaten season dubbed The Invincibles. He spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, he transferred to Barcelona. In the 2008–09 season, Henry was a key part of the club's historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS), but returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012, before retiring in 2014.
Henry enjoyed sustained success with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named the French Player of the Year a record five times. He was also named to the UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament, awarded both the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and was named to the 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. In October 2007, he became his country's record goalscorer. After amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After retiring, Henry transitioned into coaching. He began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work as a pundit for Sky Sports. In 2016, he was appointed as an assistant coach at Belgium, before assuming the role as the head coach at former club Monaco in 2018. He was relieved of his duties at Monaco in January 2019 and returned to MLS less than a year later to manage Montréal Impact. He led Montréal to the playoffs in the 2020 season before stepping down in 2021.
Early years
Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.
Club career
1992–1999: Beginnings at Monaco and transfer to Juventus
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite INF Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice. Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full backs than centre-backs.
After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his intimate and closest teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, as well as at wing back and wide midfield, but he was ineffective as a goal scorer, struggling against the defensive discipline exhibited by teams in Serie A, registering just three goals in 16 appearances. In 2019, on Jamie Carragher’s podcast The Greatest Game, Henry attributed disagreements with Juve director Luciano Moggi as his rationale behind departing the club.
1999–2007: Move to Arsenal, breakthrough, and success
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer. His goal tally included a spectacular strike against Manchester United where he flicked the ball up (with his back turned to goal), before he swivelled and volleyed in from 30 yards out. The strike also featured a memorable goal celebration where he recreated the Budweiser "Whassup?" advertisement. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal finished runner-up to perennial rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. The team also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the Premier League title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goalscorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League title. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the Dutchman edged Henry to the Golden Boot by a single goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 24 goals and 20 assists in the league, Henry set a new record for most assists in a single Premier League season, and also became the first player in history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top–five leagues—this feat has since been matched by Lionel Messi in 2020.
Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, becoming the first player to officially win the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist had won two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of Arsenal's captain Patrick Vieira in the 2005 close season led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goalscorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. On the final day of the Premier League season, Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury. He completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, with Henry assisting the team's only goal from a free kick, and Arsenal's inability to win the league title for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialised, it would have surpassed the then-world record £47 million paid for Zinedine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.
2007–2010: Barcelona and a historic treble
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry said that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated, "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goalscorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goalscorer in European competitions with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a Primera División match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC’s Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press." However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, with 26 goals and 10 assists from the left wing. He won the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Primera División and UEFA Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season (this was later surpassed by Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín who scored 89 goals in 2011–12). Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The following season, the emergence of Pedro meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants." After Henry returned from the 2010 World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.
2010–2014: New York Red Bulls and retirement
In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Ángel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarter-finals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league, and bowed out in the Conference semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Return to Arsenal (loan)
After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Henry was given the number 12 jersey – his old Arsenal number 14 jersey, the same number he wore at Barcelona and New York, was unavailable, with Theo Walcott inheriting it following Henry's departure from the club in 2007. Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal. In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His final goals for the club meant he finished his Arsenal career with a record 228 goals; 175 of them came in the Premier League.
Return to New York Red Bulls
On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. His base salary of $5 million ($5.6 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid player in MLS—surpassing David Beckham, who had taken a salary cut for his last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In 2013, Henry's base salary dropped to $3.75 million setting him behind Robbie Keane's $4 million base salary. With bonuses, however, Henry remained the highest-paid player with $4.35 million compared to Keane's $4.33 million.
On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over the Montreal Impact. He was named MLS Player of the Month that same month. On 27 October 2013, Henry scored once and provided two assists in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team win 5–2 and become champions of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history.
On 12 July 2014, Henry provided a goal and three assists in a 4–1 Red Bulls win over the Columbus Crew. With that effort he became the all-time assist leader for the New York Red Bulls with 37, surpassing Amado Guevara and Tab Ramos.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Henry had left the Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years at the club. On 16 December, he announced his retirement as a player and stated that he would begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit. After working at Sky for over three years, Henry quit his position in July 2018 to focus on his career as a coach.
International career
Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trezeguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man of the match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost against Senegal in their first group match and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final group match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the Adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the Adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goalscorer with four goals.
In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stage but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil in the quarter-final. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of ten nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goalscorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goalscorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for the national team in a match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being drawn in the same group as Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.
Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus, thus finishing his international career as France's all-time top scorer, and second most capped player after Lilian Thuram.
Style of play
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. According to his father Antoine, Henry learned precision shooting from watching his idol Marco van Basten. He was also influenced by Romário, Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, a new breed of strikers in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal. At his physical peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, Henry's ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, meant that he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. In 2004, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best."
When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Ranking Henry the greatest player in Premier League history, in February 2020 FourFourTwo magazine stated, "No one assisted more in a season. No one has terrorised defenders with such a combination of bewitching grace and phenomenal power."
Coming in from the left, Henry's trademark finish saw him place the ball inside the far right corner of the goal. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, scoring regularly from those positions. Henry was also a notable exponent of a no-look pass where he would feint to pass the ball with his right foot, but would make contact with the ball using his standing foot (his left).
Managerial career
Arsenal youth
Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams in February 2015, in tandem with his work for Sky Sports. His influence on the team was praised by players such as Alex Iwobi, who dedicated a goal against Bayern Munich in the 2015–16 UEFA Youth League to his advice. Having earned a UEFA A Licence, he was offered the job of under-18 coach by Academy head Andries Jonker, but the decision was overruled by Wenger, who wanted a full-time coach for the team.
Belgium (assistant)
In August 2016, Henry became second assistant coach of the Belgium national team, working alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. In an interview with NBC Sports, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku praised Henry for his work with him, stating, "Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.” At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium reached the semi-final, but lost to Henry's home nation France 1–0. Henry picked up a Bronze medal after Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the third-place play-off to secure their best ever World Cup finish.
Henry was reportedly offered the position of head coach by Bordeaux in August 2018. However, the offer was not accepted by Henry after disagreements with the club's owners. Days after turning down the Bordeaux job, and following Jones's departure from the Belgium national team, Henry, who had been the forwards coach, was promoted to Belgium assistant coach. However, his tenure in the role was short-lived, after he accepted the role as head coach at former club Monaco in October.
Monaco
On 11 October 2018, Monaco dismissed Leonardo Jardim as club manager. Jardim's position had become untenable after struggling heavily in domestic competition, with the club 18th at the time of his departure, and disputes over the club's transfer policy. Monaco's search for a new coach coincided with the regulatory mid-season international break, allowing the club sufficient time to search for a replacement, however, they quickly decided on Henry, and he was appointed a mere two days later. He signed a three-year deal, and was unveiled as Monaco manager on 18 October. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "This club will always have a big place in my heart, so to be able to come here and start again, it is a dream come true. There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine – but I am more than happy to be here".
Henry's arrival at Monaco was greeted with mixed reactions by some media outlets, due to his relative inexperience as a top-level coach and the task of overturning Monaco's misfortunes. Despite inheriting a squad of sub-standard quality, Henry expressed a desire of replicating the football he played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as well as instilling the "professionalism" taught to him by Arsène Wenger. Henry also adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions, being regularly involved in devising schemes and instructing drills. His first match was a 2–1 away defeat against Strasbourg on 20 October. He was unable to secure a win for over a month, enduring a period which included two high-profile defeats against Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain, prior to defeating Caen on 1–0 on 25 November. He secured two wins in December, defeating Amiens in the league and Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue, however, this was on the backdrop of three additional Ligue 1 defeats to close 2018 in the relegation zone.
In January 2019, Henry entered the winter transfer window, where he signed left-back Fodé Ballo-Touré, and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas from Chelsea. He also sanctioned the loan signing of French defensive midfielder William Vainqueur on 12 January, and experienced defender Naldo. However, these signings would not turn around the club's fate, and on 24 January, Henry was dismissed at Monaco. The club were 19th at the time of his departure, and Henry left with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 11 defeats, from 20 games in charge.
Montreal Impact
On 14 November 2019, Henry signed with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2021 season, with an option to extend it by a year until the 2022 season. In his first press conference, Henry stated he had to "confront" the relative disappointment of his short stint as manager of Monaco, before undertaking a new job.
After leading Montreal to their first playoff berth in four seasons, on 25 February 2021, prior to the 2021 season, Henry stepped down as head coach of the renamed CF Montreal to be closer to his children in London. He had not been able to see them in the 2020 season due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with restrictions continuing into the 2021 season, he decided to end the separation.
Return to Belgium (assistant)
In May 2021, Henry rejoined the coaching staff of Belgium prior to the UEFA Euro 2020.
Reception
Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé on the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005). Henry was also the top goalscorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). With 175, Henry is currently sixth in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers, behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Sergio Agüero, and Frank Lampard. He held the record for most goals in the competition for one club, until it was broken by Rooney in 2016, and held the record for most goals by a foreign player in the competition until surpassed by Agüero in 2020. France's all-time record goalscorer was, in his prime in the mid 2000s, regarded by many coaches, footballers and journalists as one of the best players in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers."
Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report. Arsenal fan and The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey mentions Henry in the tribute song "Highbury Highs", which he performed at Arsenal's last game at Highbury on 7 May 2006. On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. In 2017, FourFourTwo magazine ranked him first in their list of the 30 best strikers in Premier League history. Daniel Girard of The Toronto Star described Henry as "one of the best players of his generation" in 2010. Henry's former Arsenal manager, Wenger, described him as "one of the greatest players [he had] ever seen" in 2014. In 2019, The Independent ranked Henry in first place in their list of the "100 greatest Premier League players."
Outside football
Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal following Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Appearance on screen
Henry makes a short cameo appearance in the 2015 film Entourage. Henry's part sees him walking a dog and having exchange with Ari Gold (character played by Jeremy Piven), who is an over-the-top Hollywood agent.
Henry makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the Apple TV+ football comedy series Ted Lasso.
Social causes
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.
Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's teammate at Arsenal. The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Henry has also played in charity football games for various causes. In June 2018, he reunited with his France 1998 World Cup winning teammates to play a charity game against an All-Star team which included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with proceeds going to the Mecenet Cardiac Charity and the Children of the World fund. In a 3–2 win for France, Henry played a trademark no-look one-two pass with Zinedine Zidane before scoring with a 20-yard curling strike.
Endorsements
In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth-most commercially marketable footballer in the world, and throughout his career he has signed many endorsements and appeared in commercials.
Sportswear
At the beginning of his career, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Henry featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement, directed by Terry Gilliam, along with 24 superstar football players. In a 2004 advertisement, Henry pits his wits against others footballers in locations such as his bedroom and living room, which was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game."
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about himself directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega. In 2011, Henry switched to Puma boots.
Other endorsements
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion." His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three global ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France vs Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. He starred in a 2014 advert for Beats headphones with other global football stars including Neymar and Luis Suárez, with the theme of "The Game Before the Game" and the players pre-game ritual of listening to music.
Henry featured on the front cover of the editions of EA Sports' FIFA video game series from FIFA 2001 to FIFA 2005. He was included as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 18. He was also a cover star for the Konami Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, and was featured on the covers of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 to Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
Career statistics
Club
International
Note
Includes one appearance from the match against FIFA XI on 16 August 2000 which FIFA and the French Football Federation count as an official friendly match.
Coaching record
Honours
Club
Monaco
Division 1: 1996–97
Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06
UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
New York Red Bulls
Supporters' Shield: 2013
International
France
FIFA World Cup: 1998; runner-up: 2006
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
Ballon d'Or runner-up: 2003; third-place: 2006
FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 2003, 2004
European Golden Shoe: 2003–04, 2004–05
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: Germany 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: France 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: France 2003
UNFP Division 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League, 2002–03 Premier League, 2003–04 Premier League, 2004–05 Premier League, 2005–06 Premier League
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007):
Team of the Century 1997–2007
Overall Team of the Century
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Season: 2003–04, 2005–06
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League top assist provider: 2002–03
Golden Boot Landmark Award 10: 2004–05
Golden Boot Landmark Award 20: 2004–05
Premier League Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
BBC Goal of the Season: 2002–03
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MLS Best XI: 2011, 2012, 2014
MLS Player of the Month: March 2012
Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2013
MLS All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 2003
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2006
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FIFA 100: 2004
Time 100 Heroes & Pioneers no.16 : 2007
English Football Hall of Fame : 2008
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Overseas Team of the Decade
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards
Fantasy Team (Panel choice)
Fantasy Team (Public choice)
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)
Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998
Records
Arsenal
All-time top scorer: 228 goals
Most league goals: 175 goals
Most European goals: 42
Most Champions League goals: 35
Most Premier League goals in a season: 30 (2003–04) (shared with Robin van Persie)
Most Premier League hat-tricks: 8
Most European appearances: 86
Most Champions League appearances: 78
Continental
Most European Golden Shoe wins while playing in England: 2 (2003–04 & 2004–05)
One of four players to win back-to-back European Golden Shoes (shared with Ally McCoist, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo)
England
Most FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 3 (2002–03, 2003–04 & 2005–06)
Most consecutive FWA Footballer of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most consecutive PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Most PFA Players' Player of the Year wins: 2 (2002–03 & 2003–04) (shared with Gareth Bale, Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes & Cristiano Ronaldo)
France
Only French player to win the European Golden Shoe
Most goals for France national team: 51
Most French Player of the Year wins: 5 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Most consecutive French Player of the Year wins: 4 (2003–2006)
Most goals by a Frenchman playing at a foreign club: 228 goals for Arsenal
Most world cup matches for France: 17 (shared with Fabien Barthez)
Most appearances at World Cup final tournaments for France: 4 (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010)
Premier League
Most assists in a season: 20 (2002–03)
Most goals with right foot in a 38-game season: 24 (2005–06) (shared with Alan Shearer)
Most Player of the Season awards: 2 (2003–04 & 2005–06) (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo & Nemanja Vidić)
Most goals in London derbies: 43
Most Golden Boot wins: 4
Most goals on a Friday: 10
Most consecutive 20+ goal seasons: 5 (2001–02 to 2004–05) (shared with Sergio Aguero)
Most goals scored under one manager: 175 goals under Arsène Wenger
Most goals at a single ground: 114 goals at Highbury
Most direct free-kicks goals by a foreign player: 12 (shared with Gianfranco Zola)
Most Golden Boot's won in consecutive years: 3 (shared with Alan Sherear)
The only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03)
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
Notes and references
External links
Thierry Henry at FC Barcelona
Thierry Henry at JockBio.com
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
People from Les Ulis
Black French sportspeople
Sportspeople from Essonne
French footballers
Association football forwards
ES Viry-Châtillon players
INF Clairefontaine players
AS Monaco FC players
Juventus F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
FC Barcelona players
New York Red Bulls players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Premier League players
La Liga players
Major League Soccer players
Designated Players (MLS)
Major League Soccer All-Stars
First Division/Premier League top scorers
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
France youth international footballers
France under-21 international footballers
France international footballers
1998 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
FIFA Century Club
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
French expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
French football managers
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
AS Monaco FC managers
CF Montréal coaches
Ligue 1 managers
Major League Soccer coaches
French expatriate football managers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate football managers in Monaco
Expatriate soccer managers in Canada
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
French anti-racism activists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
FA Cup Final players | false | [
"Stanislav Govedarov () (born November 13, 1980) is a Bulgarian professional basketball player, who is currently playing for BC Yambol in the Bulgarian League, as a shooting guard or point guard. He is well known as 'Mainata' among his team mates. Govedarov is born in Plovdiv and began his career in the local team - BC Akademic Plovdiv.\n\nReferences\n \n \n \n\n1980 births\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Plovdiv\nBC Yambol players\nBulgarian men's basketball players\nPoint guards\nShooting guards",
"Greatest Hits is a six-issue comic book limited series, published in 2008 by DC Comics as a part of the Vertigo imprint. The series was written by David Tischman, with art by Glenn Fabry.\n\nThe series focuses on The Mates, a super-powered foursome from The Sixties, in the first superhero series from Vertigo since Grant Morrison's The Invisibles.\n\nPublication history\nThe series ran for six issues dated November 2008 to April 2009.\n\nCharacters\nThe main character team are The Mates. While there are parallels with The Beatles and each character is a pastiche of a superhero, Tischman insisted the concept was much broader than that: \"The persona of the Mates is an iconic one for both superhero teams and rock bands. You are always going to have the really cute one. You are going to have the quiet one. You are going to have the spiritual one and you are going to have the goofy one. That’s the case from every group from Justice League to 'N Sync\".\n Solicitor is the Batman of the team who has no actual superpowers but is an excellent martial artist.\n Crusader is the team's Superman-equivalent although, while strong and invulnerable, he lacks the power of flight. He is the result of a WWII super soldier program his father took part in, which failed but the powers appeared in his only son.\n Vizier, Dr. Fate who, as a druid, has mystical powers that are drawn from the Earth.\n Golem takes the Hulk role in the Mates and is Vizier's older brother. He leaves the team to be replaced by Zipper, and is the Pete Best figure of the group.\n Zipper, the Flash-style speedster of the group and the only actual mutant.\n\nPlot\nThe story is told through Come Together, a Behind the Music-like documentary looking back on the team directed by Nick Mansfield, the son of one of The Mates. It then relates the history of thefictional universe's through the decades, each one bringing their own types of superhero.\n\nReception\nMartijn Form reviewed the first issue for Comics Bulletin and was not impressed with the story, also finding the dialogue \"mediocre\" and the plotting \"forced\". However, Kris Bather at Broken Frontier felt that, while there was a lot going on, it still works well, with hints of Warren Ellis's superhero work (in particular his series No Hero) and the art worked well with parallels to Steve Dillon's work. Comic Book Resources' Timothy Callahan was somewhere in between. He liked Fabry's cleaner line work suggesting \"he's just about the perfect guy for this particular job\" and while he didn't struggle as much with the plot jumping about in time he felt the part in the present was not as engaging or interesting as The Mates during the Sixties, although even this fell into a predictable pattern: \"Okay, it's the Beatles as superheroes, but then what?\".\n\nTroy Stith at Comics Bulletin was positive about all aspects of the second issue. Fabry's art has \"perfect feel for the story\" and Tishman's dialogue \"continues to capture the era and feeling of the situation\". He concluded: \"I can only hope the art and storyline continue to carry on the way they have thus far\".\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nReview: Greatest Hits #4, Comic Book Resources"
] |
[
"Rick Price",
"1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles"
] | C_984b6d75f31e4697ba63d505e646783c_0 | What did he do in this time period? | 1 | What did Rick Price do between 1997 and 2003? | Rick Price | In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers. For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album. Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album. In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album. CANNOTANSWER | In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. | Rick Allan Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, Heaven Knows, was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It provided two top ten singles, "Not a Day Goes By" and the title track.
At the APRA Music Awards of 1992 "Heaven Knows" won Song of the Year for Price and his co-writer, Heather Field.
His second album in 1995 Tamborine Mountain contained the single "River of Love", which peaked at No. 18. Since 2009 he has been a resident of Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with numerous artists as a vocalist, songwriter and record producer, including Tina Arena, Tommy Emmanuel, Mitch Grainger, Jack Jones, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and numerous others. As a music producer, he has worked for Girlfriend and Dami Im.
Early life
Rick Allan Price was born on 6 July 1961 in Beaudesert, a small country town south of Brisbane. At the age of nine he appeared touring with his family band, "Union Beau", performing at local bush dances in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Price has cited Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Carole King as his inspirations.
At the age of 18, Price moved to Sydney, where he worked as a session and touring musician, playing bass guitar with various inner city outfits. In September 1983 he was recorded on David Fennell's album Harbour Crossing, where he provided bass guitar and backing vocals. During the mid-1980s Price turned more towards his singing. His distinctive vocals were soon in demand – he was a backing vocalist for Marcia Hines, Jon English, Dragon, Kerrie Biddell and Jade Hurley. He joined the Tommy Emmanuel Band during 1988.
Career
1988-1990: Career beginnings
In 1988, he sang "Celebration of a Nation", with Keren Minshull (later a member of band Euphoria), the theme song for the Australian Bicentenary. Price later opined "That song made me realise I wanted a recording career of my own. I knew I needed a deal but it was also clear to me that before I did that, I had to write songs I was happy with." He also provided vocals on "You're not Alone" (April 1988) by the Australian Olympians – an ensemble of various local artists – as a theme song for the national Summer Olympics campaign. It reached the top 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart. These opportunities helped lay the foundation for his solo career. Price began writing his own material in the late 1980s. He was recorded on the single, "Living Without Your Love", in 1990, which was written by Mike Perjanik. It was performed on TV teen soap opera, Home and Away, by a fictitious group, Image, with Price providing lead vocals.
1991-1992: Heaven Knows
In 1991, Price signed a deal with Columbia Records and he travelled to Los Angeles to work with producer, Chris Lord-Alge (Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Roxette). He issued his debut solo single, "Not a Day Goes By", in February 1992. It was co-written by Price with Pamela Reswick and Steve Werfel. The track was placed on high rotation on radio with the associated music video presented on national TV. It peaked at No. 5 and spent 13 weeks in the Top 40.
In June 1992, his second single, "Heaven Knows", was released. Price co-wrote that track with Heather Field. It reached No. 6. The song helped launch his international career. In May of that year, he joined the Wizard of Oz showcase in Los Angeles, where he performed alongside Tina Arena and other Australian artists. In July, Price released his debut album, Heaven Knows, entered the ARIA Albums Chart at No. 3 and stayed in the Top 40 chart for nine weeks – it returned to the Top 40 in May of the following year.
Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the album as "a well-crafted blend of radio-friendly Adult Oriented Rock (AOR), pop and soul material" where Price had used "hot US session players who had collectively worked with everyone from Michael Jackson and Madonna to Steve Winwood and Barbra Streisand." It had also been produced by Lord-Alge. Price explained to Nicole Leedham of The Canberra Times, "I could have made the album earlier but I didn't want to go ahead and sign the wrong deal, that can really destroy an artist's career. I also wanted to make sure that I was absolutely happy with every single track on the record." To promote the album, he formed the Rick Price Band with P. J. Becker on backing vocals, Mike Caen on guitar, Mitch Farmer on drums, Shauna Jensen on backing vocals, Peter Northcote on guitar and Victor Rounds on bass guitar.
In August, Heaven Knows was released in Europe and Asia, it reached the top 100 on the German Albums Chart in the following February. In September Price embarked on his first solo tour of Australia. He followed with a promotional trip to Europe including the United Kingdom. In October, he returned to Europe for further TV appearances and then a three-week promotional trip to Southeast Asia. By the end of the year, his group's line-up was P.J. Becker, Chris Becker on bass guitar, Phil Gildea on guitar, Robert Parde on keyboards and David Porter on drums.
In November 1992, Price returned to Australia where he, and his co-writer Field, won the Song of the Year category for "Heaven Knows" at the APRA Music Awards. In December 1992 Price was invited to Germany to perform on a variety show. He then made a 36-hour stopover in Manila where he made six TV appearances, two radio interviews and a handful of press.
"Heaven Knows" held the top spot in Malaysia for four consecutive weeks while "Not a Day Goes By" sat just behind it in the Top 5. In the Philippines, "Heaven Knows" sat at number 1 for all of November and December. During this time, the album sold over 250,000 units alone in Southeast Asia. Price went on to say, "It was an exhausting experience, but it was stimulating at the same time. It was all new to me, going to places I'd never been and doing stuff I'd never done, so I certainly didn't get tired of it."
1993-1994: Touring and recognition
In January and February 1993, Price once again toured Australia to sold-out venues. In April, he was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards and on the night performed a tribute to Peter Allen with "Tenterfield Saddler". Later in May, he was asked to perform the song on Good Morning America who were in Australia for 2 weeks. The performance was aired to 5 million people. Later that month, Heaven Knows was re-released and included the bonus CD Rarities. Rick spent 2 weeks travelling the country and promoting the re-release performing in acoustic mode.
In July 1993, Heaven Knows was released in America and Canada. Back home, Price continued his touring, this time in the Northern Territory and northern Queensland area, which he had not previously performed in. The tour was extremely successful, with all shows being theatres and all sold out.
In October 1993, Rick performed more concerts in Southeast Asia, which incorporated 7 shows in 9 days. They were all sell-outs. The Sentosa Music Festival in Singapore saw Rick perform in front of 15,000 people. Before returning to Australia, Rick visited Korea for short promotional and concert tour.
Price once again joined the Wizard of Oz showcases in Japan, where the album was launched. Whilst in Japan, Rick won Song of the Year for "Walk Away Renee" and Album of the Year for Heaven Knows at the Australian Music Awards. On his return from Japan, Rick was awarded the 1993 Australian Export Award for recognition of his international success. During the month, a new single "Where Is the Love", a duet with New Zealand musician Margaret Urlich, was released.
In December 1993, Price was invited to the Singapore Music Awards as a special guest. He picked up Song of the Year for "Heaven Knows", then came back home to Australia for more touring before being invited to perform on the numerous Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and performing "White Christmas". The year was topped off when Price was presented with an Advance Australia Foundation award (in recognition of making an outstanding contribution to the growth and enhancement of Australia and its people).
During 1994, Price spent the majority of time writing material for his anticipated follow-up album. From September to December, Price recorded his second album in Melbourne with a host of Australia's leading musicians.
1995-1996: Tamborine Mountain
In April 1995, the single "River of Love" was released, the first from Price's album Tamborine Mountain, which was later released in July. Price said "It was quite difficult, because I knew it was going to be a different album to Heaven Knows. I made that album as pop as I could make it, I wanted to be certain of airplay and all those kind of things. After the first album was released, I went out and played a lot of acoustic gigs. My audience tripled and people really liked it, which surprised me because I thought it would be a bit too internal, a bit too self-conscious. But it worked, which gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to write more like that, just simple little stories. And that's the kind of music I've always been drawn to - people like James Taylor and Carole King, great songwriters who have the ability to say something really simple".
The album was produced by Price and American Ben Wisch, who Price was drawn to as a result of his production of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis". Special guests on the album include Tommy Emmanuel on guitar and Tina Arena on backing vocals, and the duet "Trust Me This Is Love".
After the success of the first single, "River of Love", a second single "Bridge Building Man" was released. The song was written for his father and grandfather. The album title itself refers to a small town near Beaudesert where Price grew up.
In November and December 1995, following the album release, Price then toured with Australia's legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The tour, Rick Price & Tommy Emmanuel - Together & Alone, was a sell-out. It received rave reviews from critics and the public alike.
In conjunction with the tour, a third single, "To Be with You" was released in Australia. Price performed at several Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and continued to tour during early 1996. "You're Never Alone", a song Price wrote for his son, was released in Australia while he travelled the country on further promotional tours throughout the year.
1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles
In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers.
For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.
Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field, who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle, who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album.
In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album.
2004-2010: 2UP, Revisited and John Denver tour
Starting from around 2004 Price spent much of his time writing with and recording and producing for other artists such as Melinda Schneider, Tamara Stewart, Lisa Chappell and David Franj. In 2004, The Best of Rick Price CD and DVD was released, containing all of Price's bigger hits.
In 2007 Price recorded an album with Mitch Grainger called 2UP, featuring acoustic-style covers of such artists as Chris Isaac, and was featured in the soundtrack to the film December Boys.
In 2008, Revisited, an album of his greatest hits recorded in an "intimate acoustic style", was released. He toured Tasmania with the band Invisible Boy at the year's conclusion.
In 2009, after having relocated to Nashville, Price toured the US with Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel before returning to Australia and touring in a legacy show to singer-songwriter John Denver, with "The John Denver Story".
2011-2016: The Waters Edge and Tennessee Sky
An album titled The Water's Edge was released in 2011, featuring the singles "Shape of My Heart" and "I'm Coming Home". It also includes a cover of the Joni Mitchell hit "River".
In April 2015, the album Tennessee Sky was released exclusively through the PledgeMusic campaign, where fans could have input into the production of the album, it was preceded by the first single "Work That Fire". The album has been described as an earthy gospel album. Tennessee Sky features an acoustic reworking of the Leonard Cohen hit "Hallelujah". The album peaked at number 97 in Australia and number 19 on the Australian indie chart. Price toured the album throughout Victoria Australia in July 2015 The accompanying tour "Can I Get a Witness", was launched on the back of the Tennessee Sky album release with dates throughout May and June 2016.
2017-2020: California Dreaming (with Jack Jones) and Heaven Knows tour
In September 2017, Price released California Dreaming, a collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Jack Jones. The album became Price's second top ten album. Price produced Dami Im's 2018 album I Hear a Song.
In May 2018, it was announced Price will tour his album Heaven Knows in October and November from cover to cover.
In October 2019, Price released a re-recorded version of "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" from Tambourine Mountain with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid.
At the global APRA Awards in March 2020, Price was awarded the Overseas Recognition Award.
2021: Soulville
In June 2021, Price announced the release of his forthcoming album and tour, Soulville, featuring songs form the 1960s. The one original track "Farewell But Not Goodbye", a tribute to Aretha Franklin was released on 18 June 2021 as the album's lead single, and is the only original track on the album
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
References
External links
Sony BMG listing
1961 births
APRA Award winners
Living people
Australian male singer-songwriters
Australian pop singers
Australian guitarists
Musicians from Brisbane
Australian male guitarists | true | [
"What Did I Do To Deserve This My Lord!? 2 (formerly known as Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! 2: Time To Tighten Up Security!, known as Yūsha no Kuse ni Namaiki da or2, 勇者のくせになまいきだor2, literally \"For a hero, [you are] quite impudent/cheeky/bold] 2)\" in Japan) is a real-time strategy/god game for the PlayStation Portable, sequel to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord?.\n\nThe game was released in Japan in 2008, and was announced for a North American release during Tokyo Game Show 2009. This release was delayed until May 4, 2010, due to NIS America changing the game's name from Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! 2: Time to Tighten Up Security! to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 to avoid conflict with the Batman license.. The UMD release includes the first game.\n\nGameplay \nThe gameplay is almost identical to the first game, with a few different additions and changes. These include 'Mutation' (monsters can mutate in three forms: by deformity, by obesity and by gigantism) and 'The Overlord's Chamber', where you can grow monsters and observe their evolution.\nWhat Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 contains \"4 times more stages, 3.3 times more monsters and 2.3 times more heroes\" than the first game.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official website\n\n2008 video games\nGod games\nPlayStation Portable games\nPlayStation Portable-only games\nReal-time strategy video games\nSony Interactive Entertainment games\nVideo game sequels\nVideo games developed in Japan",
"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)"
] |
[
"Rick Price",
"1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles",
"What did he do in this time period?",
"In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones."
] | C_984b6d75f31e4697ba63d505e646783c_0 | Did he have any albums? | 2 | Did Rick Price have any albums? | Rick Price | In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers. For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album. Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album. In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album. CANNOTANSWER | For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album. | Rick Allan Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, Heaven Knows, was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It provided two top ten singles, "Not a Day Goes By" and the title track.
At the APRA Music Awards of 1992 "Heaven Knows" won Song of the Year for Price and his co-writer, Heather Field.
His second album in 1995 Tamborine Mountain contained the single "River of Love", which peaked at No. 18. Since 2009 he has been a resident of Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with numerous artists as a vocalist, songwriter and record producer, including Tina Arena, Tommy Emmanuel, Mitch Grainger, Jack Jones, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and numerous others. As a music producer, he has worked for Girlfriend and Dami Im.
Early life
Rick Allan Price was born on 6 July 1961 in Beaudesert, a small country town south of Brisbane. At the age of nine he appeared touring with his family band, "Union Beau", performing at local bush dances in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Price has cited Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Carole King as his inspirations.
At the age of 18, Price moved to Sydney, where he worked as a session and touring musician, playing bass guitar with various inner city outfits. In September 1983 he was recorded on David Fennell's album Harbour Crossing, where he provided bass guitar and backing vocals. During the mid-1980s Price turned more towards his singing. His distinctive vocals were soon in demand – he was a backing vocalist for Marcia Hines, Jon English, Dragon, Kerrie Biddell and Jade Hurley. He joined the Tommy Emmanuel Band during 1988.
Career
1988-1990: Career beginnings
In 1988, he sang "Celebration of a Nation", with Keren Minshull (later a member of band Euphoria), the theme song for the Australian Bicentenary. Price later opined "That song made me realise I wanted a recording career of my own. I knew I needed a deal but it was also clear to me that before I did that, I had to write songs I was happy with." He also provided vocals on "You're not Alone" (April 1988) by the Australian Olympians – an ensemble of various local artists – as a theme song for the national Summer Olympics campaign. It reached the top 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart. These opportunities helped lay the foundation for his solo career. Price began writing his own material in the late 1980s. He was recorded on the single, "Living Without Your Love", in 1990, which was written by Mike Perjanik. It was performed on TV teen soap opera, Home and Away, by a fictitious group, Image, with Price providing lead vocals.
1991-1992: Heaven Knows
In 1991, Price signed a deal with Columbia Records and he travelled to Los Angeles to work with producer, Chris Lord-Alge (Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Roxette). He issued his debut solo single, "Not a Day Goes By", in February 1992. It was co-written by Price with Pamela Reswick and Steve Werfel. The track was placed on high rotation on radio with the associated music video presented on national TV. It peaked at No. 5 and spent 13 weeks in the Top 40.
In June 1992, his second single, "Heaven Knows", was released. Price co-wrote that track with Heather Field. It reached No. 6. The song helped launch his international career. In May of that year, he joined the Wizard of Oz showcase in Los Angeles, where he performed alongside Tina Arena and other Australian artists. In July, Price released his debut album, Heaven Knows, entered the ARIA Albums Chart at No. 3 and stayed in the Top 40 chart for nine weeks – it returned to the Top 40 in May of the following year.
Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the album as "a well-crafted blend of radio-friendly Adult Oriented Rock (AOR), pop and soul material" where Price had used "hot US session players who had collectively worked with everyone from Michael Jackson and Madonna to Steve Winwood and Barbra Streisand." It had also been produced by Lord-Alge. Price explained to Nicole Leedham of The Canberra Times, "I could have made the album earlier but I didn't want to go ahead and sign the wrong deal, that can really destroy an artist's career. I also wanted to make sure that I was absolutely happy with every single track on the record." To promote the album, he formed the Rick Price Band with P. J. Becker on backing vocals, Mike Caen on guitar, Mitch Farmer on drums, Shauna Jensen on backing vocals, Peter Northcote on guitar and Victor Rounds on bass guitar.
In August, Heaven Knows was released in Europe and Asia, it reached the top 100 on the German Albums Chart in the following February. In September Price embarked on his first solo tour of Australia. He followed with a promotional trip to Europe including the United Kingdom. In October, he returned to Europe for further TV appearances and then a three-week promotional trip to Southeast Asia. By the end of the year, his group's line-up was P.J. Becker, Chris Becker on bass guitar, Phil Gildea on guitar, Robert Parde on keyboards and David Porter on drums.
In November 1992, Price returned to Australia where he, and his co-writer Field, won the Song of the Year category for "Heaven Knows" at the APRA Music Awards. In December 1992 Price was invited to Germany to perform on a variety show. He then made a 36-hour stopover in Manila where he made six TV appearances, two radio interviews and a handful of press.
"Heaven Knows" held the top spot in Malaysia for four consecutive weeks while "Not a Day Goes By" sat just behind it in the Top 5. In the Philippines, "Heaven Knows" sat at number 1 for all of November and December. During this time, the album sold over 250,000 units alone in Southeast Asia. Price went on to say, "It was an exhausting experience, but it was stimulating at the same time. It was all new to me, going to places I'd never been and doing stuff I'd never done, so I certainly didn't get tired of it."
1993-1994: Touring and recognition
In January and February 1993, Price once again toured Australia to sold-out venues. In April, he was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards and on the night performed a tribute to Peter Allen with "Tenterfield Saddler". Later in May, he was asked to perform the song on Good Morning America who were in Australia for 2 weeks. The performance was aired to 5 million people. Later that month, Heaven Knows was re-released and included the bonus CD Rarities. Rick spent 2 weeks travelling the country and promoting the re-release performing in acoustic mode.
In July 1993, Heaven Knows was released in America and Canada. Back home, Price continued his touring, this time in the Northern Territory and northern Queensland area, which he had not previously performed in. The tour was extremely successful, with all shows being theatres and all sold out.
In October 1993, Rick performed more concerts in Southeast Asia, which incorporated 7 shows in 9 days. They were all sell-outs. The Sentosa Music Festival in Singapore saw Rick perform in front of 15,000 people. Before returning to Australia, Rick visited Korea for short promotional and concert tour.
Price once again joined the Wizard of Oz showcases in Japan, where the album was launched. Whilst in Japan, Rick won Song of the Year for "Walk Away Renee" and Album of the Year for Heaven Knows at the Australian Music Awards. On his return from Japan, Rick was awarded the 1993 Australian Export Award for recognition of his international success. During the month, a new single "Where Is the Love", a duet with New Zealand musician Margaret Urlich, was released.
In December 1993, Price was invited to the Singapore Music Awards as a special guest. He picked up Song of the Year for "Heaven Knows", then came back home to Australia for more touring before being invited to perform on the numerous Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and performing "White Christmas". The year was topped off when Price was presented with an Advance Australia Foundation award (in recognition of making an outstanding contribution to the growth and enhancement of Australia and its people).
During 1994, Price spent the majority of time writing material for his anticipated follow-up album. From September to December, Price recorded his second album in Melbourne with a host of Australia's leading musicians.
1995-1996: Tamborine Mountain
In April 1995, the single "River of Love" was released, the first from Price's album Tamborine Mountain, which was later released in July. Price said "It was quite difficult, because I knew it was going to be a different album to Heaven Knows. I made that album as pop as I could make it, I wanted to be certain of airplay and all those kind of things. After the first album was released, I went out and played a lot of acoustic gigs. My audience tripled and people really liked it, which surprised me because I thought it would be a bit too internal, a bit too self-conscious. But it worked, which gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to write more like that, just simple little stories. And that's the kind of music I've always been drawn to - people like James Taylor and Carole King, great songwriters who have the ability to say something really simple".
The album was produced by Price and American Ben Wisch, who Price was drawn to as a result of his production of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis". Special guests on the album include Tommy Emmanuel on guitar and Tina Arena on backing vocals, and the duet "Trust Me This Is Love".
After the success of the first single, "River of Love", a second single "Bridge Building Man" was released. The song was written for his father and grandfather. The album title itself refers to a small town near Beaudesert where Price grew up.
In November and December 1995, following the album release, Price then toured with Australia's legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The tour, Rick Price & Tommy Emmanuel - Together & Alone, was a sell-out. It received rave reviews from critics and the public alike.
In conjunction with the tour, a third single, "To Be with You" was released in Australia. Price performed at several Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and continued to tour during early 1996. "You're Never Alone", a song Price wrote for his son, was released in Australia while he travelled the country on further promotional tours throughout the year.
1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles
In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers.
For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.
Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field, who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle, who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album.
In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album.
2004-2010: 2UP, Revisited and John Denver tour
Starting from around 2004 Price spent much of his time writing with and recording and producing for other artists such as Melinda Schneider, Tamara Stewart, Lisa Chappell and David Franj. In 2004, The Best of Rick Price CD and DVD was released, containing all of Price's bigger hits.
In 2007 Price recorded an album with Mitch Grainger called 2UP, featuring acoustic-style covers of such artists as Chris Isaac, and was featured in the soundtrack to the film December Boys.
In 2008, Revisited, an album of his greatest hits recorded in an "intimate acoustic style", was released. He toured Tasmania with the band Invisible Boy at the year's conclusion.
In 2009, after having relocated to Nashville, Price toured the US with Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel before returning to Australia and touring in a legacy show to singer-songwriter John Denver, with "The John Denver Story".
2011-2016: The Waters Edge and Tennessee Sky
An album titled The Water's Edge was released in 2011, featuring the singles "Shape of My Heart" and "I'm Coming Home". It also includes a cover of the Joni Mitchell hit "River".
In April 2015, the album Tennessee Sky was released exclusively through the PledgeMusic campaign, where fans could have input into the production of the album, it was preceded by the first single "Work That Fire". The album has been described as an earthy gospel album. Tennessee Sky features an acoustic reworking of the Leonard Cohen hit "Hallelujah". The album peaked at number 97 in Australia and number 19 on the Australian indie chart. Price toured the album throughout Victoria Australia in July 2015 The accompanying tour "Can I Get a Witness", was launched on the back of the Tennessee Sky album release with dates throughout May and June 2016.
2017-2020: California Dreaming (with Jack Jones) and Heaven Knows tour
In September 2017, Price released California Dreaming, a collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Jack Jones. The album became Price's second top ten album. Price produced Dami Im's 2018 album I Hear a Song.
In May 2018, it was announced Price will tour his album Heaven Knows in October and November from cover to cover.
In October 2019, Price released a re-recorded version of "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" from Tambourine Mountain with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid.
At the global APRA Awards in March 2020, Price was awarded the Overseas Recognition Award.
2021: Soulville
In June 2021, Price announced the release of his forthcoming album and tour, Soulville, featuring songs form the 1960s. The one original track "Farewell But Not Goodbye", a tribute to Aretha Franklin was released on 18 June 2021 as the album's lead single, and is the only original track on the album
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
References
External links
Sony BMG listing
1961 births
APRA Award winners
Living people
Australian male singer-songwriters
Australian pop singers
Australian guitarists
Musicians from Brisbane
Australian male guitarists | true | [
"Saudades do Samba () is the debut album by Brazilian singer Aline Wirley, released in 2009. The work, inspired by Elis Regina and Chico Buarque and released by independent record label, focused on the roots of samba and MPB, leaving aside the old pop music that he performed. The album did not even have any song released for the radio, although \"Sufoco\" was featured on the soundtrack of the novel Mutantes: Promesas de Amor.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\n2009 debut albums\nAline Wirley albums\nPortuguese-language albums",
"Room for Improvement is the first official mixtape from Canadian rapper Drake. It was self-released in 2006. The mixtape was originally intended for sale only and had sold 6,000 copies in 2006.\n\nBackground\nIn an interview with thabiz.com in February 2006, Drake talked about the mixtape, \"It's a mix CD and I did it with DJ Smallz who does the Southern Smoke Series. He's done mix tapes with everyone. Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, a lot of people and he's hosting it for me. It's called Room for Improvement. It's seventeen original tracks and a couple of remixes and stuff like that. 22 tracks in total. I have the Clipse on there, I got Trey Songz in there, I got Lupe Fiasco on there, I have Nickelus F who is this amazing artist from Virginia who I'm very very tight with and we work together a lot, we worked together. I have Voyce on there, he's a singer from Toronto. Production wise I don't really have any major producers on there. I have a song I did with Trey Songz. I have an individual by the name of Nick Rashur from Harlem he's a really cool cat. Amir; Boi-1da did the majority of the singles, who else should I mention DJ Ra from DC, a lot of people on the CD.\"\n\nThe mixtape was re-released in 2009 featuring only 11 selected songs with no DJs along with a remix of 'Do What You Do'.\n\nTrack listing\nPartial credits adapted from Drake's personal notebook.\n\nNotes\n \"Pianist Hands\" features vocals from Mazin's dad\n \"Make Things Right\" features vocals from Byram Joseph\n\nPersonnel\nPartial credits adapted from Drake's personal notebook.\n\nMusicians\n Al-Khaaliq – piano\n\nReferences\n\nDrake (musician) albums\n2006 mixtape albums\n2006 compilation albums\nAlbums produced by Boi-1da\nAlbums produced by Frank Dukes"
] |
[
"Rick Price",
"1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles",
"What did he do in this time period?",
"In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones.",
"Did he have any albums?",
"For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album."
] | C_984b6d75f31e4697ba63d505e646783c_0 | What was the album called? | 3 | What was Rick Price's 1997 album called? | Rick Price | In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers. For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album. Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album. In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album. CANNOTANSWER | The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, | Rick Allan Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, Heaven Knows, was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It provided two top ten singles, "Not a Day Goes By" and the title track.
At the APRA Music Awards of 1992 "Heaven Knows" won Song of the Year for Price and his co-writer, Heather Field.
His second album in 1995 Tamborine Mountain contained the single "River of Love", which peaked at No. 18. Since 2009 he has been a resident of Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with numerous artists as a vocalist, songwriter and record producer, including Tina Arena, Tommy Emmanuel, Mitch Grainger, Jack Jones, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and numerous others. As a music producer, he has worked for Girlfriend and Dami Im.
Early life
Rick Allan Price was born on 6 July 1961 in Beaudesert, a small country town south of Brisbane. At the age of nine he appeared touring with his family band, "Union Beau", performing at local bush dances in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Price has cited Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Carole King as his inspirations.
At the age of 18, Price moved to Sydney, where he worked as a session and touring musician, playing bass guitar with various inner city outfits. In September 1983 he was recorded on David Fennell's album Harbour Crossing, where he provided bass guitar and backing vocals. During the mid-1980s Price turned more towards his singing. His distinctive vocals were soon in demand – he was a backing vocalist for Marcia Hines, Jon English, Dragon, Kerrie Biddell and Jade Hurley. He joined the Tommy Emmanuel Band during 1988.
Career
1988-1990: Career beginnings
In 1988, he sang "Celebration of a Nation", with Keren Minshull (later a member of band Euphoria), the theme song for the Australian Bicentenary. Price later opined "That song made me realise I wanted a recording career of my own. I knew I needed a deal but it was also clear to me that before I did that, I had to write songs I was happy with." He also provided vocals on "You're not Alone" (April 1988) by the Australian Olympians – an ensemble of various local artists – as a theme song for the national Summer Olympics campaign. It reached the top 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart. These opportunities helped lay the foundation for his solo career. Price began writing his own material in the late 1980s. He was recorded on the single, "Living Without Your Love", in 1990, which was written by Mike Perjanik. It was performed on TV teen soap opera, Home and Away, by a fictitious group, Image, with Price providing lead vocals.
1991-1992: Heaven Knows
In 1991, Price signed a deal with Columbia Records and he travelled to Los Angeles to work with producer, Chris Lord-Alge (Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Roxette). He issued his debut solo single, "Not a Day Goes By", in February 1992. It was co-written by Price with Pamela Reswick and Steve Werfel. The track was placed on high rotation on radio with the associated music video presented on national TV. It peaked at No. 5 and spent 13 weeks in the Top 40.
In June 1992, his second single, "Heaven Knows", was released. Price co-wrote that track with Heather Field. It reached No. 6. The song helped launch his international career. In May of that year, he joined the Wizard of Oz showcase in Los Angeles, where he performed alongside Tina Arena and other Australian artists. In July, Price released his debut album, Heaven Knows, entered the ARIA Albums Chart at No. 3 and stayed in the Top 40 chart for nine weeks – it returned to the Top 40 in May of the following year.
Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the album as "a well-crafted blend of radio-friendly Adult Oriented Rock (AOR), pop and soul material" where Price had used "hot US session players who had collectively worked with everyone from Michael Jackson and Madonna to Steve Winwood and Barbra Streisand." It had also been produced by Lord-Alge. Price explained to Nicole Leedham of The Canberra Times, "I could have made the album earlier but I didn't want to go ahead and sign the wrong deal, that can really destroy an artist's career. I also wanted to make sure that I was absolutely happy with every single track on the record." To promote the album, he formed the Rick Price Band with P. J. Becker on backing vocals, Mike Caen on guitar, Mitch Farmer on drums, Shauna Jensen on backing vocals, Peter Northcote on guitar and Victor Rounds on bass guitar.
In August, Heaven Knows was released in Europe and Asia, it reached the top 100 on the German Albums Chart in the following February. In September Price embarked on his first solo tour of Australia. He followed with a promotional trip to Europe including the United Kingdom. In October, he returned to Europe for further TV appearances and then a three-week promotional trip to Southeast Asia. By the end of the year, his group's line-up was P.J. Becker, Chris Becker on bass guitar, Phil Gildea on guitar, Robert Parde on keyboards and David Porter on drums.
In November 1992, Price returned to Australia where he, and his co-writer Field, won the Song of the Year category for "Heaven Knows" at the APRA Music Awards. In December 1992 Price was invited to Germany to perform on a variety show. He then made a 36-hour stopover in Manila where he made six TV appearances, two radio interviews and a handful of press.
"Heaven Knows" held the top spot in Malaysia for four consecutive weeks while "Not a Day Goes By" sat just behind it in the Top 5. In the Philippines, "Heaven Knows" sat at number 1 for all of November and December. During this time, the album sold over 250,000 units alone in Southeast Asia. Price went on to say, "It was an exhausting experience, but it was stimulating at the same time. It was all new to me, going to places I'd never been and doing stuff I'd never done, so I certainly didn't get tired of it."
1993-1994: Touring and recognition
In January and February 1993, Price once again toured Australia to sold-out venues. In April, he was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards and on the night performed a tribute to Peter Allen with "Tenterfield Saddler". Later in May, he was asked to perform the song on Good Morning America who were in Australia for 2 weeks. The performance was aired to 5 million people. Later that month, Heaven Knows was re-released and included the bonus CD Rarities. Rick spent 2 weeks travelling the country and promoting the re-release performing in acoustic mode.
In July 1993, Heaven Knows was released in America and Canada. Back home, Price continued his touring, this time in the Northern Territory and northern Queensland area, which he had not previously performed in. The tour was extremely successful, with all shows being theatres and all sold out.
In October 1993, Rick performed more concerts in Southeast Asia, which incorporated 7 shows in 9 days. They were all sell-outs. The Sentosa Music Festival in Singapore saw Rick perform in front of 15,000 people. Before returning to Australia, Rick visited Korea for short promotional and concert tour.
Price once again joined the Wizard of Oz showcases in Japan, where the album was launched. Whilst in Japan, Rick won Song of the Year for "Walk Away Renee" and Album of the Year for Heaven Knows at the Australian Music Awards. On his return from Japan, Rick was awarded the 1993 Australian Export Award for recognition of his international success. During the month, a new single "Where Is the Love", a duet with New Zealand musician Margaret Urlich, was released.
In December 1993, Price was invited to the Singapore Music Awards as a special guest. He picked up Song of the Year for "Heaven Knows", then came back home to Australia for more touring before being invited to perform on the numerous Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and performing "White Christmas". The year was topped off when Price was presented with an Advance Australia Foundation award (in recognition of making an outstanding contribution to the growth and enhancement of Australia and its people).
During 1994, Price spent the majority of time writing material for his anticipated follow-up album. From September to December, Price recorded his second album in Melbourne with a host of Australia's leading musicians.
1995-1996: Tamborine Mountain
In April 1995, the single "River of Love" was released, the first from Price's album Tamborine Mountain, which was later released in July. Price said "It was quite difficult, because I knew it was going to be a different album to Heaven Knows. I made that album as pop as I could make it, I wanted to be certain of airplay and all those kind of things. After the first album was released, I went out and played a lot of acoustic gigs. My audience tripled and people really liked it, which surprised me because I thought it would be a bit too internal, a bit too self-conscious. But it worked, which gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to write more like that, just simple little stories. And that's the kind of music I've always been drawn to - people like James Taylor and Carole King, great songwriters who have the ability to say something really simple".
The album was produced by Price and American Ben Wisch, who Price was drawn to as a result of his production of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis". Special guests on the album include Tommy Emmanuel on guitar and Tina Arena on backing vocals, and the duet "Trust Me This Is Love".
After the success of the first single, "River of Love", a second single "Bridge Building Man" was released. The song was written for his father and grandfather. The album title itself refers to a small town near Beaudesert where Price grew up.
In November and December 1995, following the album release, Price then toured with Australia's legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The tour, Rick Price & Tommy Emmanuel - Together & Alone, was a sell-out. It received rave reviews from critics and the public alike.
In conjunction with the tour, a third single, "To Be with You" was released in Australia. Price performed at several Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and continued to tour during early 1996. "You're Never Alone", a song Price wrote for his son, was released in Australia while he travelled the country on further promotional tours throughout the year.
1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles
In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers.
For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.
Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field, who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle, who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album.
In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album.
2004-2010: 2UP, Revisited and John Denver tour
Starting from around 2004 Price spent much of his time writing with and recording and producing for other artists such as Melinda Schneider, Tamara Stewart, Lisa Chappell and David Franj. In 2004, The Best of Rick Price CD and DVD was released, containing all of Price's bigger hits.
In 2007 Price recorded an album with Mitch Grainger called 2UP, featuring acoustic-style covers of such artists as Chris Isaac, and was featured in the soundtrack to the film December Boys.
In 2008, Revisited, an album of his greatest hits recorded in an "intimate acoustic style", was released. He toured Tasmania with the band Invisible Boy at the year's conclusion.
In 2009, after having relocated to Nashville, Price toured the US with Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel before returning to Australia and touring in a legacy show to singer-songwriter John Denver, with "The John Denver Story".
2011-2016: The Waters Edge and Tennessee Sky
An album titled The Water's Edge was released in 2011, featuring the singles "Shape of My Heart" and "I'm Coming Home". It also includes a cover of the Joni Mitchell hit "River".
In April 2015, the album Tennessee Sky was released exclusively through the PledgeMusic campaign, where fans could have input into the production of the album, it was preceded by the first single "Work That Fire". The album has been described as an earthy gospel album. Tennessee Sky features an acoustic reworking of the Leonard Cohen hit "Hallelujah". The album peaked at number 97 in Australia and number 19 on the Australian indie chart. Price toured the album throughout Victoria Australia in July 2015 The accompanying tour "Can I Get a Witness", was launched on the back of the Tennessee Sky album release with dates throughout May and June 2016.
2017-2020: California Dreaming (with Jack Jones) and Heaven Knows tour
In September 2017, Price released California Dreaming, a collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Jack Jones. The album became Price's second top ten album. Price produced Dami Im's 2018 album I Hear a Song.
In May 2018, it was announced Price will tour his album Heaven Knows in October and November from cover to cover.
In October 2019, Price released a re-recorded version of "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" from Tambourine Mountain with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid.
At the global APRA Awards in March 2020, Price was awarded the Overseas Recognition Award.
2021: Soulville
In June 2021, Price announced the release of his forthcoming album and tour, Soulville, featuring songs form the 1960s. The one original track "Farewell But Not Goodbye", a tribute to Aretha Franklin was released on 18 June 2021 as the album's lead single, and is the only original track on the album
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
References
External links
Sony BMG listing
1961 births
APRA Award winners
Living people
Australian male singer-songwriters
Australian pop singers
Australian guitarists
Musicians from Brisbane
Australian male guitarists | true | [
"Open is the first solo studio album by the English recording artist Shaznay Lewis, following the break up of the girl group All Saints. Released by London Records on 19 July 2004, it peaked at number 22 on the UK Albums Chart.\n\nAbout the album\nThe title Open was chosen by Lewis while she was recording in the studio because she was \"opened\" to many new ideas at the time.\n\nIt includes two singles, \"Never Felt Like This Before\" and \"You\". Lewis was reportedly going to release a third single, \"Nasty Boy\", in March 2005, but this was a rumour.\n\nTrack #3 was originally called \"Never Felt Like This Before\" and the single and video were released under that name as well. However, on the album the title has been changed to \"I Never Felt Like This Before\".\n\nThere was an additional track called \"Don't Know What to Say\" which was removed from the album before it was released. It was removed because it was said to have been a weak song. The album (without any promotion) seems to have been re-released, as \"Don't Know What to Say\" is now an added track on the album. This change can be seen on the HMV website.\n\nThe final track, \"Now You're Gone\", was originally called \"Crying\" but was changed before the album was released. The song is included on the Shaznay Lewis Album Sampler which has five songs taken from Open; however, \"Mr. Dawg\" and \"You\" are both rough demos different from the album versions both vocally and melodically.\n\nTrack listing\nCredits adapted from the liner notes of Open.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2004 debut albums\nAlbums produced by Rick Nowels",
"Myriam is the second studio album by Myriam. On her website it is also called \"Myriam: Lo que Soy, lo que Pretendo y lo que Fui\" (Myriam: What I Am, What I Pretend and What I Was) making reference to the lyrics of the album's first single \"Hasta El Limite\". It includes eleven songs with the collaboration of Tiziano Ferro, Leonel (ex Sin Bandera). Again Myriam co-wrote a song along with Estrella. In this album Myriam brought a more fresh concept, almost 100% pop genre with a little touches of flamenco. It was released in July, 2004.\n\nAlbum information\nIt was recorded in Argentina and the producer was Cachorro López who had also worked with Julieta Venegas. Myriam's career was at a low point, as she was being criticized for her third place in Desafio de Estrellas, but all that was eclipsed by the success of this album. \"Hasta el Limite\" was the first single from the album; it was Myriam's first song with a promotional video, and stayed in the charts for more than 6 months. The second single was \"Porque Soy Mujer\" which was written by Myriam and her ex-classmate Estrella.\n\nThe album was a commercial success. Within two weeks of the launch date it reached gold status in Mexico, and sold more than 200,000 copies certificating 2× Platinum. The album was a Latin success in USA selling gold status, 50,000 copies.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\n2003 albums\nMyriam Montemayor Cruz albums"
] |
[
"Rick Price",
"1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles",
"What did he do in this time period?",
"In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones.",
"Did he have any albums?",
"For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.",
"What was the album called?",
"The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999,"
] | C_984b6d75f31e4697ba63d505e646783c_0 | Did he have any other albums? | 4 | Did Rick Price have any other albums besides Another Place? | Rick Price | In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers. For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album. Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album. In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Rick Allan Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, Heaven Knows, was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It provided two top ten singles, "Not a Day Goes By" and the title track.
At the APRA Music Awards of 1992 "Heaven Knows" won Song of the Year for Price and his co-writer, Heather Field.
His second album in 1995 Tamborine Mountain contained the single "River of Love", which peaked at No. 18. Since 2009 he has been a resident of Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with numerous artists as a vocalist, songwriter and record producer, including Tina Arena, Tommy Emmanuel, Mitch Grainger, Jack Jones, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and numerous others. As a music producer, he has worked for Girlfriend and Dami Im.
Early life
Rick Allan Price was born on 6 July 1961 in Beaudesert, a small country town south of Brisbane. At the age of nine he appeared touring with his family band, "Union Beau", performing at local bush dances in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Price has cited Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Carole King as his inspirations.
At the age of 18, Price moved to Sydney, where he worked as a session and touring musician, playing bass guitar with various inner city outfits. In September 1983 he was recorded on David Fennell's album Harbour Crossing, where he provided bass guitar and backing vocals. During the mid-1980s Price turned more towards his singing. His distinctive vocals were soon in demand – he was a backing vocalist for Marcia Hines, Jon English, Dragon, Kerrie Biddell and Jade Hurley. He joined the Tommy Emmanuel Band during 1988.
Career
1988-1990: Career beginnings
In 1988, he sang "Celebration of a Nation", with Keren Minshull (later a member of band Euphoria), the theme song for the Australian Bicentenary. Price later opined "That song made me realise I wanted a recording career of my own. I knew I needed a deal but it was also clear to me that before I did that, I had to write songs I was happy with." He also provided vocals on "You're not Alone" (April 1988) by the Australian Olympians – an ensemble of various local artists – as a theme song for the national Summer Olympics campaign. It reached the top 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart. These opportunities helped lay the foundation for his solo career. Price began writing his own material in the late 1980s. He was recorded on the single, "Living Without Your Love", in 1990, which was written by Mike Perjanik. It was performed on TV teen soap opera, Home and Away, by a fictitious group, Image, with Price providing lead vocals.
1991-1992: Heaven Knows
In 1991, Price signed a deal with Columbia Records and he travelled to Los Angeles to work with producer, Chris Lord-Alge (Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Roxette). He issued his debut solo single, "Not a Day Goes By", in February 1992. It was co-written by Price with Pamela Reswick and Steve Werfel. The track was placed on high rotation on radio with the associated music video presented on national TV. It peaked at No. 5 and spent 13 weeks in the Top 40.
In June 1992, his second single, "Heaven Knows", was released. Price co-wrote that track with Heather Field. It reached No. 6. The song helped launch his international career. In May of that year, he joined the Wizard of Oz showcase in Los Angeles, where he performed alongside Tina Arena and other Australian artists. In July, Price released his debut album, Heaven Knows, entered the ARIA Albums Chart at No. 3 and stayed in the Top 40 chart for nine weeks – it returned to the Top 40 in May of the following year.
Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the album as "a well-crafted blend of radio-friendly Adult Oriented Rock (AOR), pop and soul material" where Price had used "hot US session players who had collectively worked with everyone from Michael Jackson and Madonna to Steve Winwood and Barbra Streisand." It had also been produced by Lord-Alge. Price explained to Nicole Leedham of The Canberra Times, "I could have made the album earlier but I didn't want to go ahead and sign the wrong deal, that can really destroy an artist's career. I also wanted to make sure that I was absolutely happy with every single track on the record." To promote the album, he formed the Rick Price Band with P. J. Becker on backing vocals, Mike Caen on guitar, Mitch Farmer on drums, Shauna Jensen on backing vocals, Peter Northcote on guitar and Victor Rounds on bass guitar.
In August, Heaven Knows was released in Europe and Asia, it reached the top 100 on the German Albums Chart in the following February. In September Price embarked on his first solo tour of Australia. He followed with a promotional trip to Europe including the United Kingdom. In October, he returned to Europe for further TV appearances and then a three-week promotional trip to Southeast Asia. By the end of the year, his group's line-up was P.J. Becker, Chris Becker on bass guitar, Phil Gildea on guitar, Robert Parde on keyboards and David Porter on drums.
In November 1992, Price returned to Australia where he, and his co-writer Field, won the Song of the Year category for "Heaven Knows" at the APRA Music Awards. In December 1992 Price was invited to Germany to perform on a variety show. He then made a 36-hour stopover in Manila where he made six TV appearances, two radio interviews and a handful of press.
"Heaven Knows" held the top spot in Malaysia for four consecutive weeks while "Not a Day Goes By" sat just behind it in the Top 5. In the Philippines, "Heaven Knows" sat at number 1 for all of November and December. During this time, the album sold over 250,000 units alone in Southeast Asia. Price went on to say, "It was an exhausting experience, but it was stimulating at the same time. It was all new to me, going to places I'd never been and doing stuff I'd never done, so I certainly didn't get tired of it."
1993-1994: Touring and recognition
In January and February 1993, Price once again toured Australia to sold-out venues. In April, he was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards and on the night performed a tribute to Peter Allen with "Tenterfield Saddler". Later in May, he was asked to perform the song on Good Morning America who were in Australia for 2 weeks. The performance was aired to 5 million people. Later that month, Heaven Knows was re-released and included the bonus CD Rarities. Rick spent 2 weeks travelling the country and promoting the re-release performing in acoustic mode.
In July 1993, Heaven Knows was released in America and Canada. Back home, Price continued his touring, this time in the Northern Territory and northern Queensland area, which he had not previously performed in. The tour was extremely successful, with all shows being theatres and all sold out.
In October 1993, Rick performed more concerts in Southeast Asia, which incorporated 7 shows in 9 days. They were all sell-outs. The Sentosa Music Festival in Singapore saw Rick perform in front of 15,000 people. Before returning to Australia, Rick visited Korea for short promotional and concert tour.
Price once again joined the Wizard of Oz showcases in Japan, where the album was launched. Whilst in Japan, Rick won Song of the Year for "Walk Away Renee" and Album of the Year for Heaven Knows at the Australian Music Awards. On his return from Japan, Rick was awarded the 1993 Australian Export Award for recognition of his international success. During the month, a new single "Where Is the Love", a duet with New Zealand musician Margaret Urlich, was released.
In December 1993, Price was invited to the Singapore Music Awards as a special guest. He picked up Song of the Year for "Heaven Knows", then came back home to Australia for more touring before being invited to perform on the numerous Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and performing "White Christmas". The year was topped off when Price was presented with an Advance Australia Foundation award (in recognition of making an outstanding contribution to the growth and enhancement of Australia and its people).
During 1994, Price spent the majority of time writing material for his anticipated follow-up album. From September to December, Price recorded his second album in Melbourne with a host of Australia's leading musicians.
1995-1996: Tamborine Mountain
In April 1995, the single "River of Love" was released, the first from Price's album Tamborine Mountain, which was later released in July. Price said "It was quite difficult, because I knew it was going to be a different album to Heaven Knows. I made that album as pop as I could make it, I wanted to be certain of airplay and all those kind of things. After the first album was released, I went out and played a lot of acoustic gigs. My audience tripled and people really liked it, which surprised me because I thought it would be a bit too internal, a bit too self-conscious. But it worked, which gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to write more like that, just simple little stories. And that's the kind of music I've always been drawn to - people like James Taylor and Carole King, great songwriters who have the ability to say something really simple".
The album was produced by Price and American Ben Wisch, who Price was drawn to as a result of his production of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis". Special guests on the album include Tommy Emmanuel on guitar and Tina Arena on backing vocals, and the duet "Trust Me This Is Love".
After the success of the first single, "River of Love", a second single "Bridge Building Man" was released. The song was written for his father and grandfather. The album title itself refers to a small town near Beaudesert where Price grew up.
In November and December 1995, following the album release, Price then toured with Australia's legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The tour, Rick Price & Tommy Emmanuel - Together & Alone, was a sell-out. It received rave reviews from critics and the public alike.
In conjunction with the tour, a third single, "To Be with You" was released in Australia. Price performed at several Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and continued to tour during early 1996. "You're Never Alone", a song Price wrote for his son, was released in Australia while he travelled the country on further promotional tours throughout the year.
1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles
In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers.
For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.
Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field, who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle, who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album.
In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album.
2004-2010: 2UP, Revisited and John Denver tour
Starting from around 2004 Price spent much of his time writing with and recording and producing for other artists such as Melinda Schneider, Tamara Stewart, Lisa Chappell and David Franj. In 2004, The Best of Rick Price CD and DVD was released, containing all of Price's bigger hits.
In 2007 Price recorded an album with Mitch Grainger called 2UP, featuring acoustic-style covers of such artists as Chris Isaac, and was featured in the soundtrack to the film December Boys.
In 2008, Revisited, an album of his greatest hits recorded in an "intimate acoustic style", was released. He toured Tasmania with the band Invisible Boy at the year's conclusion.
In 2009, after having relocated to Nashville, Price toured the US with Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel before returning to Australia and touring in a legacy show to singer-songwriter John Denver, with "The John Denver Story".
2011-2016: The Waters Edge and Tennessee Sky
An album titled The Water's Edge was released in 2011, featuring the singles "Shape of My Heart" and "I'm Coming Home". It also includes a cover of the Joni Mitchell hit "River".
In April 2015, the album Tennessee Sky was released exclusively through the PledgeMusic campaign, where fans could have input into the production of the album, it was preceded by the first single "Work That Fire". The album has been described as an earthy gospel album. Tennessee Sky features an acoustic reworking of the Leonard Cohen hit "Hallelujah". The album peaked at number 97 in Australia and number 19 on the Australian indie chart. Price toured the album throughout Victoria Australia in July 2015 The accompanying tour "Can I Get a Witness", was launched on the back of the Tennessee Sky album release with dates throughout May and June 2016.
2017-2020: California Dreaming (with Jack Jones) and Heaven Knows tour
In September 2017, Price released California Dreaming, a collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Jack Jones. The album became Price's second top ten album. Price produced Dami Im's 2018 album I Hear a Song.
In May 2018, it was announced Price will tour his album Heaven Knows in October and November from cover to cover.
In October 2019, Price released a re-recorded version of "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" from Tambourine Mountain with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid.
At the global APRA Awards in March 2020, Price was awarded the Overseas Recognition Award.
2021: Soulville
In June 2021, Price announced the release of his forthcoming album and tour, Soulville, featuring songs form the 1960s. The one original track "Farewell But Not Goodbye", a tribute to Aretha Franklin was released on 18 June 2021 as the album's lead single, and is the only original track on the album
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
References
External links
Sony BMG listing
1961 births
APRA Award winners
Living people
Australian male singer-songwriters
Australian pop singers
Australian guitarists
Musicians from Brisbane
Australian male guitarists | false | [
"The discography of Mallu Magalhães, a Brazilian Folk singer, consists of two studio albums, one live albums, five singles as a lead artist, one collaborations with Marcelo Camelo and one video albums.\n\nIn 2008 she released her first eponymous album and in 2009 she released her second album, also self-titled.\n\nShe already has five singles released, and the most famous is Tchubaruba.\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nCompilations\n\nVideo albums\n\nNotes\n These albums did not reach any of the charts in Brazil.\n\nSingles\n\nAs lead artist\n\nOther appearances\n\nNotes\n These albums did not reach any of the charts in Brazil.\n\nMusic videos \n J1 (2008)\n Tchubaruba (2008)\n O Preço da Flor (2009)\n Vanguart (2009)\n Shine Yellow (2009)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMallu Magalhães's official website\nMallu Magalhães's official MySpace\n\nFolk music discographies\nDiscography\nDiscographies of Brazilian artists\nLatin music discographies",
"Saudades do Samba () is the debut album by Brazilian singer Aline Wirley, released in 2009. The work, inspired by Elis Regina and Chico Buarque and released by independent record label, focused on the roots of samba and MPB, leaving aside the old pop music that he performed. The album did not even have any song released for the radio, although \"Sufoco\" was featured on the soundtrack of the novel Mutantes: Promesas de Amor.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\n2009 debut albums\nAline Wirley albums\nPortuguese-language albums"
] |
[
"Rick Price",
"1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles",
"What did he do in this time period?",
"In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones.",
"Did he have any albums?",
"For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.",
"What was the album called?",
"The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999,",
"Did he have any other albums?",
"I don't know."
] | C_984b6d75f31e4697ba63d505e646783c_0 | Did you learn anything else interesting in the article? | 5 | Did you learn anything else interesting in the article besides Rick Price's album Another Place? | Rick Price | In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers. For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album. Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album. In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album. CANNOTANSWER | In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. | Rick Allan Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, Heaven Knows, was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It provided two top ten singles, "Not a Day Goes By" and the title track.
At the APRA Music Awards of 1992 "Heaven Knows" won Song of the Year for Price and his co-writer, Heather Field.
His second album in 1995 Tamborine Mountain contained the single "River of Love", which peaked at No. 18. Since 2009 he has been a resident of Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with numerous artists as a vocalist, songwriter and record producer, including Tina Arena, Tommy Emmanuel, Mitch Grainger, Jack Jones, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and numerous others. As a music producer, he has worked for Girlfriend and Dami Im.
Early life
Rick Allan Price was born on 6 July 1961 in Beaudesert, a small country town south of Brisbane. At the age of nine he appeared touring with his family band, "Union Beau", performing at local bush dances in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Price has cited Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Carole King as his inspirations.
At the age of 18, Price moved to Sydney, where he worked as a session and touring musician, playing bass guitar with various inner city outfits. In September 1983 he was recorded on David Fennell's album Harbour Crossing, where he provided bass guitar and backing vocals. During the mid-1980s Price turned more towards his singing. His distinctive vocals were soon in demand – he was a backing vocalist for Marcia Hines, Jon English, Dragon, Kerrie Biddell and Jade Hurley. He joined the Tommy Emmanuel Band during 1988.
Career
1988-1990: Career beginnings
In 1988, he sang "Celebration of a Nation", with Keren Minshull (later a member of band Euphoria), the theme song for the Australian Bicentenary. Price later opined "That song made me realise I wanted a recording career of my own. I knew I needed a deal but it was also clear to me that before I did that, I had to write songs I was happy with." He also provided vocals on "You're not Alone" (April 1988) by the Australian Olympians – an ensemble of various local artists – as a theme song for the national Summer Olympics campaign. It reached the top 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart. These opportunities helped lay the foundation for his solo career. Price began writing his own material in the late 1980s. He was recorded on the single, "Living Without Your Love", in 1990, which was written by Mike Perjanik. It was performed on TV teen soap opera, Home and Away, by a fictitious group, Image, with Price providing lead vocals.
1991-1992: Heaven Knows
In 1991, Price signed a deal with Columbia Records and he travelled to Los Angeles to work with producer, Chris Lord-Alge (Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Roxette). He issued his debut solo single, "Not a Day Goes By", in February 1992. It was co-written by Price with Pamela Reswick and Steve Werfel. The track was placed on high rotation on radio with the associated music video presented on national TV. It peaked at No. 5 and spent 13 weeks in the Top 40.
In June 1992, his second single, "Heaven Knows", was released. Price co-wrote that track with Heather Field. It reached No. 6. The song helped launch his international career. In May of that year, he joined the Wizard of Oz showcase in Los Angeles, where he performed alongside Tina Arena and other Australian artists. In July, Price released his debut album, Heaven Knows, entered the ARIA Albums Chart at No. 3 and stayed in the Top 40 chart for nine weeks – it returned to the Top 40 in May of the following year.
Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the album as "a well-crafted blend of radio-friendly Adult Oriented Rock (AOR), pop and soul material" where Price had used "hot US session players who had collectively worked with everyone from Michael Jackson and Madonna to Steve Winwood and Barbra Streisand." It had also been produced by Lord-Alge. Price explained to Nicole Leedham of The Canberra Times, "I could have made the album earlier but I didn't want to go ahead and sign the wrong deal, that can really destroy an artist's career. I also wanted to make sure that I was absolutely happy with every single track on the record." To promote the album, he formed the Rick Price Band with P. J. Becker on backing vocals, Mike Caen on guitar, Mitch Farmer on drums, Shauna Jensen on backing vocals, Peter Northcote on guitar and Victor Rounds on bass guitar.
In August, Heaven Knows was released in Europe and Asia, it reached the top 100 on the German Albums Chart in the following February. In September Price embarked on his first solo tour of Australia. He followed with a promotional trip to Europe including the United Kingdom. In October, he returned to Europe for further TV appearances and then a three-week promotional trip to Southeast Asia. By the end of the year, his group's line-up was P.J. Becker, Chris Becker on bass guitar, Phil Gildea on guitar, Robert Parde on keyboards and David Porter on drums.
In November 1992, Price returned to Australia where he, and his co-writer Field, won the Song of the Year category for "Heaven Knows" at the APRA Music Awards. In December 1992 Price was invited to Germany to perform on a variety show. He then made a 36-hour stopover in Manila where he made six TV appearances, two radio interviews and a handful of press.
"Heaven Knows" held the top spot in Malaysia for four consecutive weeks while "Not a Day Goes By" sat just behind it in the Top 5. In the Philippines, "Heaven Knows" sat at number 1 for all of November and December. During this time, the album sold over 250,000 units alone in Southeast Asia. Price went on to say, "It was an exhausting experience, but it was stimulating at the same time. It was all new to me, going to places I'd never been and doing stuff I'd never done, so I certainly didn't get tired of it."
1993-1994: Touring and recognition
In January and February 1993, Price once again toured Australia to sold-out venues. In April, he was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards and on the night performed a tribute to Peter Allen with "Tenterfield Saddler". Later in May, he was asked to perform the song on Good Morning America who were in Australia for 2 weeks. The performance was aired to 5 million people. Later that month, Heaven Knows was re-released and included the bonus CD Rarities. Rick spent 2 weeks travelling the country and promoting the re-release performing in acoustic mode.
In July 1993, Heaven Knows was released in America and Canada. Back home, Price continued his touring, this time in the Northern Territory and northern Queensland area, which he had not previously performed in. The tour was extremely successful, with all shows being theatres and all sold out.
In October 1993, Rick performed more concerts in Southeast Asia, which incorporated 7 shows in 9 days. They were all sell-outs. The Sentosa Music Festival in Singapore saw Rick perform in front of 15,000 people. Before returning to Australia, Rick visited Korea for short promotional and concert tour.
Price once again joined the Wizard of Oz showcases in Japan, where the album was launched. Whilst in Japan, Rick won Song of the Year for "Walk Away Renee" and Album of the Year for Heaven Knows at the Australian Music Awards. On his return from Japan, Rick was awarded the 1993 Australian Export Award for recognition of his international success. During the month, a new single "Where Is the Love", a duet with New Zealand musician Margaret Urlich, was released.
In December 1993, Price was invited to the Singapore Music Awards as a special guest. He picked up Song of the Year for "Heaven Knows", then came back home to Australia for more touring before being invited to perform on the numerous Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and performing "White Christmas". The year was topped off when Price was presented with an Advance Australia Foundation award (in recognition of making an outstanding contribution to the growth and enhancement of Australia and its people).
During 1994, Price spent the majority of time writing material for his anticipated follow-up album. From September to December, Price recorded his second album in Melbourne with a host of Australia's leading musicians.
1995-1996: Tamborine Mountain
In April 1995, the single "River of Love" was released, the first from Price's album Tamborine Mountain, which was later released in July. Price said "It was quite difficult, because I knew it was going to be a different album to Heaven Knows. I made that album as pop as I could make it, I wanted to be certain of airplay and all those kind of things. After the first album was released, I went out and played a lot of acoustic gigs. My audience tripled and people really liked it, which surprised me because I thought it would be a bit too internal, a bit too self-conscious. But it worked, which gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to write more like that, just simple little stories. And that's the kind of music I've always been drawn to - people like James Taylor and Carole King, great songwriters who have the ability to say something really simple".
The album was produced by Price and American Ben Wisch, who Price was drawn to as a result of his production of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis". Special guests on the album include Tommy Emmanuel on guitar and Tina Arena on backing vocals, and the duet "Trust Me This Is Love".
After the success of the first single, "River of Love", a second single "Bridge Building Man" was released. The song was written for his father and grandfather. The album title itself refers to a small town near Beaudesert where Price grew up.
In November and December 1995, following the album release, Price then toured with Australia's legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The tour, Rick Price & Tommy Emmanuel - Together & Alone, was a sell-out. It received rave reviews from critics and the public alike.
In conjunction with the tour, a third single, "To Be with You" was released in Australia. Price performed at several Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and continued to tour during early 1996. "You're Never Alone", a song Price wrote for his son, was released in Australia while he travelled the country on further promotional tours throughout the year.
1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles
In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers.
For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.
Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field, who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle, who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album.
In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album.
2004-2010: 2UP, Revisited and John Denver tour
Starting from around 2004 Price spent much of his time writing with and recording and producing for other artists such as Melinda Schneider, Tamara Stewart, Lisa Chappell and David Franj. In 2004, The Best of Rick Price CD and DVD was released, containing all of Price's bigger hits.
In 2007 Price recorded an album with Mitch Grainger called 2UP, featuring acoustic-style covers of such artists as Chris Isaac, and was featured in the soundtrack to the film December Boys.
In 2008, Revisited, an album of his greatest hits recorded in an "intimate acoustic style", was released. He toured Tasmania with the band Invisible Boy at the year's conclusion.
In 2009, after having relocated to Nashville, Price toured the US with Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel before returning to Australia and touring in a legacy show to singer-songwriter John Denver, with "The John Denver Story".
2011-2016: The Waters Edge and Tennessee Sky
An album titled The Water's Edge was released in 2011, featuring the singles "Shape of My Heart" and "I'm Coming Home". It also includes a cover of the Joni Mitchell hit "River".
In April 2015, the album Tennessee Sky was released exclusively through the PledgeMusic campaign, where fans could have input into the production of the album, it was preceded by the first single "Work That Fire". The album has been described as an earthy gospel album. Tennessee Sky features an acoustic reworking of the Leonard Cohen hit "Hallelujah". The album peaked at number 97 in Australia and number 19 on the Australian indie chart. Price toured the album throughout Victoria Australia in July 2015 The accompanying tour "Can I Get a Witness", was launched on the back of the Tennessee Sky album release with dates throughout May and June 2016.
2017-2020: California Dreaming (with Jack Jones) and Heaven Knows tour
In September 2017, Price released California Dreaming, a collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Jack Jones. The album became Price's second top ten album. Price produced Dami Im's 2018 album I Hear a Song.
In May 2018, it was announced Price will tour his album Heaven Knows in October and November from cover to cover.
In October 2019, Price released a re-recorded version of "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" from Tambourine Mountain with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid.
At the global APRA Awards in March 2020, Price was awarded the Overseas Recognition Award.
2021: Soulville
In June 2021, Price announced the release of his forthcoming album and tour, Soulville, featuring songs form the 1960s. The one original track "Farewell But Not Goodbye", a tribute to Aretha Franklin was released on 18 June 2021 as the album's lead single, and is the only original track on the album
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
References
External links
Sony BMG listing
1961 births
APRA Award winners
Living people
Australian male singer-songwriters
Australian pop singers
Australian guitarists
Musicians from Brisbane
Australian male guitarists | true | [
"\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" is a song written by Billy Livsey and Don Schlitz, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in February 2001 as the third and final single from his self-titled album. The song reached number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 2001. It also peaked at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.\n\nContent\nThe song is about man who is giving his woman the option to leave him. He gives her many different options for all the things she can do. At the end he gives her the option to stay with him if she really can’t find anything else to do. He says he will be alright if she leaves, but really it seems he wants her to stay.\n\nChart performance\n\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 3, 2001.\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2001 singles\n2000 songs\nGeorge Strait songs\nSongs written by Billy Livsey\nSongs written by Don Schlitz\nSong recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer)\nMCA Nashville Records singles",
"Joe Public is the self-titled debut album of American new jack swing group Joe Public. Released in 1992, it was their first album after signing with Columbia Records.\n\nIt features their hit single \"Live and Learn\", as well as the singles \"Do You Everynite\", \"I Miss You\" and \"I've Been Watchin'\".\n\nTrack listing\n\"Live and Learn\"\n\"I've Been Watchin\"\n\"I Miss You\"\n\"I Gotta Thang\"\n\"Anything\"\n\"This One's for You\"\n\"I Like It\"\n\"Touch You\"\n\"Do You Everynite\"\n\"When I Look in Your Eyes\"\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1992 debut albums\nColumbia Records albums"
] |
[
"Rick Price",
"1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles",
"What did he do in this time period?",
"In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones.",
"Did he have any albums?",
"For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.",
"What was the album called?",
"The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999,",
"Did he have any other albums?",
"I don't know.",
"Did you learn anything else interesting in the article?",
"In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on."
] | C_984b6d75f31e4697ba63d505e646783c_0 | Was it a success? | 6 | Was Rick Price's performances in November and December 1997 a success? | Rick Price | In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers. For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album. Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album. In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Rick Allan Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, Heaven Knows, was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It provided two top ten singles, "Not a Day Goes By" and the title track.
At the APRA Music Awards of 1992 "Heaven Knows" won Song of the Year for Price and his co-writer, Heather Field.
His second album in 1995 Tamborine Mountain contained the single "River of Love", which peaked at No. 18. Since 2009 he has been a resident of Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with numerous artists as a vocalist, songwriter and record producer, including Tina Arena, Tommy Emmanuel, Mitch Grainger, Jack Jones, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and numerous others. As a music producer, he has worked for Girlfriend and Dami Im.
Early life
Rick Allan Price was born on 6 July 1961 in Beaudesert, a small country town south of Brisbane. At the age of nine he appeared touring with his family band, "Union Beau", performing at local bush dances in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Price has cited Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Carole King as his inspirations.
At the age of 18, Price moved to Sydney, where he worked as a session and touring musician, playing bass guitar with various inner city outfits. In September 1983 he was recorded on David Fennell's album Harbour Crossing, where he provided bass guitar and backing vocals. During the mid-1980s Price turned more towards his singing. His distinctive vocals were soon in demand – he was a backing vocalist for Marcia Hines, Jon English, Dragon, Kerrie Biddell and Jade Hurley. He joined the Tommy Emmanuel Band during 1988.
Career
1988-1990: Career beginnings
In 1988, he sang "Celebration of a Nation", with Keren Minshull (later a member of band Euphoria), the theme song for the Australian Bicentenary. Price later opined "That song made me realise I wanted a recording career of my own. I knew I needed a deal but it was also clear to me that before I did that, I had to write songs I was happy with." He also provided vocals on "You're not Alone" (April 1988) by the Australian Olympians – an ensemble of various local artists – as a theme song for the national Summer Olympics campaign. It reached the top 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart. These opportunities helped lay the foundation for his solo career. Price began writing his own material in the late 1980s. He was recorded on the single, "Living Without Your Love", in 1990, which was written by Mike Perjanik. It was performed on TV teen soap opera, Home and Away, by a fictitious group, Image, with Price providing lead vocals.
1991-1992: Heaven Knows
In 1991, Price signed a deal with Columbia Records and he travelled to Los Angeles to work with producer, Chris Lord-Alge (Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Roxette). He issued his debut solo single, "Not a Day Goes By", in February 1992. It was co-written by Price with Pamela Reswick and Steve Werfel. The track was placed on high rotation on radio with the associated music video presented on national TV. It peaked at No. 5 and spent 13 weeks in the Top 40.
In June 1992, his second single, "Heaven Knows", was released. Price co-wrote that track with Heather Field. It reached No. 6. The song helped launch his international career. In May of that year, he joined the Wizard of Oz showcase in Los Angeles, where he performed alongside Tina Arena and other Australian artists. In July, Price released his debut album, Heaven Knows, entered the ARIA Albums Chart at No. 3 and stayed in the Top 40 chart for nine weeks – it returned to the Top 40 in May of the following year.
Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the album as "a well-crafted blend of radio-friendly Adult Oriented Rock (AOR), pop and soul material" where Price had used "hot US session players who had collectively worked with everyone from Michael Jackson and Madonna to Steve Winwood and Barbra Streisand." It had also been produced by Lord-Alge. Price explained to Nicole Leedham of The Canberra Times, "I could have made the album earlier but I didn't want to go ahead and sign the wrong deal, that can really destroy an artist's career. I also wanted to make sure that I was absolutely happy with every single track on the record." To promote the album, he formed the Rick Price Band with P. J. Becker on backing vocals, Mike Caen on guitar, Mitch Farmer on drums, Shauna Jensen on backing vocals, Peter Northcote on guitar and Victor Rounds on bass guitar.
In August, Heaven Knows was released in Europe and Asia, it reached the top 100 on the German Albums Chart in the following February. In September Price embarked on his first solo tour of Australia. He followed with a promotional trip to Europe including the United Kingdom. In October, he returned to Europe for further TV appearances and then a three-week promotional trip to Southeast Asia. By the end of the year, his group's line-up was P.J. Becker, Chris Becker on bass guitar, Phil Gildea on guitar, Robert Parde on keyboards and David Porter on drums.
In November 1992, Price returned to Australia where he, and his co-writer Field, won the Song of the Year category for "Heaven Knows" at the APRA Music Awards. In December 1992 Price was invited to Germany to perform on a variety show. He then made a 36-hour stopover in Manila where he made six TV appearances, two radio interviews and a handful of press.
"Heaven Knows" held the top spot in Malaysia for four consecutive weeks while "Not a Day Goes By" sat just behind it in the Top 5. In the Philippines, "Heaven Knows" sat at number 1 for all of November and December. During this time, the album sold over 250,000 units alone in Southeast Asia. Price went on to say, "It was an exhausting experience, but it was stimulating at the same time. It was all new to me, going to places I'd never been and doing stuff I'd never done, so I certainly didn't get tired of it."
1993-1994: Touring and recognition
In January and February 1993, Price once again toured Australia to sold-out venues. In April, he was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards and on the night performed a tribute to Peter Allen with "Tenterfield Saddler". Later in May, he was asked to perform the song on Good Morning America who were in Australia for 2 weeks. The performance was aired to 5 million people. Later that month, Heaven Knows was re-released and included the bonus CD Rarities. Rick spent 2 weeks travelling the country and promoting the re-release performing in acoustic mode.
In July 1993, Heaven Knows was released in America and Canada. Back home, Price continued his touring, this time in the Northern Territory and northern Queensland area, which he had not previously performed in. The tour was extremely successful, with all shows being theatres and all sold out.
In October 1993, Rick performed more concerts in Southeast Asia, which incorporated 7 shows in 9 days. They were all sell-outs. The Sentosa Music Festival in Singapore saw Rick perform in front of 15,000 people. Before returning to Australia, Rick visited Korea for short promotional and concert tour.
Price once again joined the Wizard of Oz showcases in Japan, where the album was launched. Whilst in Japan, Rick won Song of the Year for "Walk Away Renee" and Album of the Year for Heaven Knows at the Australian Music Awards. On his return from Japan, Rick was awarded the 1993 Australian Export Award for recognition of his international success. During the month, a new single "Where Is the Love", a duet with New Zealand musician Margaret Urlich, was released.
In December 1993, Price was invited to the Singapore Music Awards as a special guest. He picked up Song of the Year for "Heaven Knows", then came back home to Australia for more touring before being invited to perform on the numerous Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and performing "White Christmas". The year was topped off when Price was presented with an Advance Australia Foundation award (in recognition of making an outstanding contribution to the growth and enhancement of Australia and its people).
During 1994, Price spent the majority of time writing material for his anticipated follow-up album. From September to December, Price recorded his second album in Melbourne with a host of Australia's leading musicians.
1995-1996: Tamborine Mountain
In April 1995, the single "River of Love" was released, the first from Price's album Tamborine Mountain, which was later released in July. Price said "It was quite difficult, because I knew it was going to be a different album to Heaven Knows. I made that album as pop as I could make it, I wanted to be certain of airplay and all those kind of things. After the first album was released, I went out and played a lot of acoustic gigs. My audience tripled and people really liked it, which surprised me because I thought it would be a bit too internal, a bit too self-conscious. But it worked, which gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to write more like that, just simple little stories. And that's the kind of music I've always been drawn to - people like James Taylor and Carole King, great songwriters who have the ability to say something really simple".
The album was produced by Price and American Ben Wisch, who Price was drawn to as a result of his production of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis". Special guests on the album include Tommy Emmanuel on guitar and Tina Arena on backing vocals, and the duet "Trust Me This Is Love".
After the success of the first single, "River of Love", a second single "Bridge Building Man" was released. The song was written for his father and grandfather. The album title itself refers to a small town near Beaudesert where Price grew up.
In November and December 1995, following the album release, Price then toured with Australia's legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The tour, Rick Price & Tommy Emmanuel - Together & Alone, was a sell-out. It received rave reviews from critics and the public alike.
In conjunction with the tour, a third single, "To Be with You" was released in Australia. Price performed at several Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and continued to tour during early 1996. "You're Never Alone", a song Price wrote for his son, was released in Australia while he travelled the country on further promotional tours throughout the year.
1997-2003: Another Place and A Million Miles
In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers.
For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.
Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not a Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy for You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field, who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle, who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album.
In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album Another Place was released in Australia in July 1999, spanning singles including "Where in the World" and "Good As Gone". In 2003, parting with Sony, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, on his own label Clarice. Described as a garage album and going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album.
2004-2010: 2UP, Revisited and John Denver tour
Starting from around 2004 Price spent much of his time writing with and recording and producing for other artists such as Melinda Schneider, Tamara Stewart, Lisa Chappell and David Franj. In 2004, The Best of Rick Price CD and DVD was released, containing all of Price's bigger hits.
In 2007 Price recorded an album with Mitch Grainger called 2UP, featuring acoustic-style covers of such artists as Chris Isaac, and was featured in the soundtrack to the film December Boys.
In 2008, Revisited, an album of his greatest hits recorded in an "intimate acoustic style", was released. He toured Tasmania with the band Invisible Boy at the year's conclusion.
In 2009, after having relocated to Nashville, Price toured the US with Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel before returning to Australia and touring in a legacy show to singer-songwriter John Denver, with "The John Denver Story".
2011-2016: The Waters Edge and Tennessee Sky
An album titled The Water's Edge was released in 2011, featuring the singles "Shape of My Heart" and "I'm Coming Home". It also includes a cover of the Joni Mitchell hit "River".
In April 2015, the album Tennessee Sky was released exclusively through the PledgeMusic campaign, where fans could have input into the production of the album, it was preceded by the first single "Work That Fire". The album has been described as an earthy gospel album. Tennessee Sky features an acoustic reworking of the Leonard Cohen hit "Hallelujah". The album peaked at number 97 in Australia and number 19 on the Australian indie chart. Price toured the album throughout Victoria Australia in July 2015 The accompanying tour "Can I Get a Witness", was launched on the back of the Tennessee Sky album release with dates throughout May and June 2016.
2017-2020: California Dreaming (with Jack Jones) and Heaven Knows tour
In September 2017, Price released California Dreaming, a collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Jack Jones. The album became Price's second top ten album. Price produced Dami Im's 2018 album I Hear a Song.
In May 2018, it was announced Price will tour his album Heaven Knows in October and November from cover to cover.
In October 2019, Price released a re-recorded version of "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" from Tambourine Mountain with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid.
At the global APRA Awards in March 2020, Price was awarded the Overseas Recognition Award.
2021: Soulville
In June 2021, Price announced the release of his forthcoming album and tour, Soulville, featuring songs form the 1960s. The one original track "Farewell But Not Goodbye", a tribute to Aretha Franklin was released on 18 June 2021 as the album's lead single, and is the only original track on the album
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
References
External links
Sony BMG listing
1961 births
APRA Award winners
Living people
Australian male singer-songwriters
Australian pop singers
Australian guitarists
Musicians from Brisbane
Australian male guitarists | false | [
"Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Success, whilst another was planned:\n\n was a 34-gun ship, previously the French ship Jules. She was captured in 1650, renamed HMS Old Success in 1660 and sold in 1662.\n HMS Success was a 24-gun ship launched in 1655 as . She was renamed HMS Success in 1660 and was wrecked in 1680.\n was a 6-gun fireship purchased in 1672 that foundered in 1673.\n was a store hulk purchased in 1692 and sunk as a breakwater in 1707.\n was a 10-gun sloop purchased in 1709 that the French captured in 1710 off Lisbon.\n was a 24-gun storeship launched in 1709, hulked in 1730, and sold in 1748. \n was a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1712, converted to a fireship in 1739, and sold in 1743.\n was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1736; her fate is unknown.\n was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1740 and broken up in 1779.\n was a 14-gun ketch launched in 1754. Her fate is unknown.\n was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1781 that the French captured in 1801 but that the British recaptured the same year. She became a convict ship in 1814 and was broken up in 1820.\n was a 3-gun gunvessel, previously in use as a barge. She was purchased in 1797 and sold in 1802.\n was a 28 gun sixth rate launched in 1825, and captained by James Stirling in his journey to Western Australia. She was used for harbour service from 1832 and was broken up 1849.\n HMS Success was to have been a wood screw sloop. She was ordered but not laid down and was cancelled in 1863.\n was a launched in 1901 and wrecked in 1914.\n HMS Success was an launched in 1918. She was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1919 and was sold in 1937.\n was an S-class destroyer launched in 1943. She was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy later that year and renamed . She was broken up in 1959.\n\nSee also\n , two ships of the Royal Australian Navy.\n\nCitations and references\nCitations\n\nReferences\n \n\nRoyal Navy ship names",
"HMAS Success was an Admiralty destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built for the Royal Navy during World War I, the ship was not completed until 1919, and spent less than eight months in British service before being transferred to the RAN at the start of 1920. The destroyer's career was uneventful, with almost all of it spent in Australian waters. Success was decommissioned in 1930, and was sold for ship breaking in 1937.\n\nDesign and construction\n\nSuccess was built to the Admiralty design of the S-class destroyer, which was designed and built as part of the British emergency war programme. The destroyer had a displacement of 1,075 tons, a length of overall and between perpendiculars, and a beam of . The propulsion machinery consisted of three Yarrow boilers feeding Brown-Curtis turbines, which supplied to the ship's two propeller shafts. Success had a maximum speed of , and a range of at . The ship's company was made up of 6 officers and 93 sailors.\n\nThe destroyer's primary armament consisted of three QF 4-inch Mark IV guns. These were supplemented by a 2-pounder pom-pom, two 9.5-inch howitzer bomb throwers, five .303 inch machine guns (a mix of Lewis and Maxim guns), two twin 21-inch torpedo tube sets, two depth charge throwers, and two depth charge chutes.\n\nSuccess was laid down by William Doxford and Sons Limited at their Sunderland shipyard in 1917. The destroyer was launched on 29 June 1918, and completed on 15 April 1919. The ship was briefly commissioned into the Royal Navy in April 1919, but was quickly marked for transfer to the RAN, along with four sister ships. Success was commissioned into the RAN on 27 January 1920.\n\nOperational history\n\nSuccess and three of her sister ships sailed for Australia on 20 February, visiting ports in the Mediterranean, India, Singapore, and the Netherlands East Indies before reaching Sydney on 29 April. Success operated in Australian waters until 6 October 1921, when she was placed in reserve. The destroyer was reactivated on 1 December 1925. In late May 1926, Success visited Port Moresby.\n\nDecommissioning and fate\nSuccess paid off on 21 May 1930. She was sold to Penguins Limited for ship breaking in 1937.\n\nCitations\n\nReferences\n\nS-class destroyers (1917) of the Royal Australian Navy\nShips built on the River Wear\n1918 ships"
] |
[
"Kevin Spacey",
"2011-2017"
] | C_60cd5e15e1124a3bb81e186715b17365_0 | Was there any legal trouble for Spacey between 2011 - 2017? | 1 | Was there any legal trouble for Kevin Spacey between 2011-2017? | Kevin Spacey | Spacey is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy nominated from a web television series. He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. Spacey starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016). The film is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in 10 days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the company announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in re-shoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. CANNOTANSWER | He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, | Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017).
In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged.
Early life and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. Spacey has an older brother, Randy Fowler, who is a limousine driver and Rod Stewart impersonator in Boise, Idaho, and a sister, Julie Ann Fowler Keir, an office worker. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Randy Fowler (from whom Spacey is estranged) has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey had shut down emotionally and become "very sly and smart" to avoid whippings.
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Career
Theatre
1981–1986: Career beginnings in theatre
Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann and director John Neville, which had opened at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington's Kennedy Center. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, Spacey appeared in a production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, in which he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull alongside David Strathairn and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1986, Spacey appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.
1986–1991: Broadway success and Tony win
Spacey's prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son, in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey and was invited, along with Spacey's high school drama teacher, to be present when Spacey received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. In 1999, Spacey won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and earned another Tony Award nomination in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.
2003–2015: Artistic director of the Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, Spacey promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. He undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company staged shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.
In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen, I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people." On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre. The honor, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by Prince Charles. While Spacey will be permitted to add the post-nominal letters, KBE, to his name, as a non-Commonwealth citizen the award is honorary and he will not be able to style himself as "Sir Kevin". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in 2010.
Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In mid-2006, Spacey said that he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic; at that point in his career, he said, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside [myself]". Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C.K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.
In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Matthew Modine and future House of Cards co-star Neve Campbell) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Later that year, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit the Wind. Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name. Sam Mendes directed Spacey in Shakespeare's Richard III; Spacey played the title role. The show began in June 2011, commencing a worldwide tour culminating in New York in early 2012. In March 2014, it was announced that Spacey would star in a one-man play at the Old Vic to celebrate his ten years as artistic director. He took on the part of Clarence Darrow in the play.
Film
1986–1994: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1986, Spacey made his first film appearance in Mike Nichols' Heartburn starring Meryl Streep, and Jack Nicholson. Spacey plays a small role credited as a subway thief. In 1988 Spacey also briefly appeared in another Nichols' film Working Girl, as sleazy businessman Bob Speck. Some of Spacey's other early roles include a widowed, eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law; the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon; and the comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including the malevolent office manager in the ensemble film adaptation of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) starring Al Pacino. He also played one-half of a bickering Connecticut couple alongside Judy Davis in the dark comedy Christmas film The Ref (1994), and a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks (1995), gaining him positive notices by critics.
1990–1999: Rise to stardom and awards success
Spacey's performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in Bryan Singer's 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1995, Spacey also appeared in the David Fincher detective thriller Seven, making a sudden entrance late in the film as serial killer John Doe after going uncredited and unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards. Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. Spacey made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a box office bomb, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also voiced Hopper in the animated film A Bug's Life (1998).
Throughout his career, Spacey has been well known for playing villains; he remarked in 2013: "I think people just like me evil for some reason. They want me to be a son of a bitch."
In 1999, Spacey acted alongside Annette Bening in Sam Mendes' American Beauty. In the film he played the role of Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father and advertising executive who lusts after his teenage daughter's best friend. Spacey won his second Oscar this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In his acceptance speech he dedicated his Oscar to Jack Lemmon praising him as an influence, mentor, and father figure. He also stated, "[Lemmon's] performance in The Apartment stands as one of the finest we've ever had". That same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000–2009: Continued work
Spacey played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the U.S., Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the film's soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of its release. Spacey received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers debated the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.
In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer superhero film Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but the series was instead rebooted with the 2013 film Man of Steel. Spacey also appeared in Edison, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006.
In 2008, Spacey played an MIT lecturer in the film 21. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack. In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.
2011–2016: Independent films and comedies
In 2011 Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In film focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016.
In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.
2017–present: Career controversy
In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in reshoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release.
Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that they would be taking no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, prior to the allegations made in October 2017.
In May 2021, it was announced that Spacey had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. Spacey has not commented on the role. In August 2021, it was reported that Spacey was filming in California for a small production titled Peter Five Eight and directed by Michael Zaiko Hall.
Television
1987–1994: Television debut and early roles
In 1987, Spacey made his first major television appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. That same year he appeared in spy thriller series The Equalizer as Detective Sergeant Cole in the episode "Solo". He earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy (1988).
2003–2012: HBO projects and other work
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and again in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.
In 2008 Spacey starred as Ron Klain in the HBO original political drama film Recount revolving around Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The film was written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, starring Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. The television film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. For his performance in the film Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film. That same year Spacey produced Bernard and Doris, an HBO film about the semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon and was directed by Bob Balaban. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to as a young actor in New York Citying his vocal skills to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theater tickets and enter Studio 54. Spacey's Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and an earlier recording of Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road". In December 2007, Spacey co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Uma Thurman.
2013–2017: House of Cards and critical acclaim
On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.
Video games
Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture.
Filmography
Spacey's career has spanned thirty years across film, television, video games and theater. He got his film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Mike Nichols' films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s he had supporting roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) opposite Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino and the black comedy film The Ref, before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in 1995's The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer John Doe in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in noir crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997) alongside Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and American Beauty (1999), for which he earned his second Academy Award, this time for Best Actor.
In the 2000s he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), and 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the last of which he also produced. In 2004 he wrote, directed and starred in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea (2004). In 2011 he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel film Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort.
From 2013–2017 he played Francis "Frank" Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards alongside Robin Wright. Spacey also starred in the HBO television film Recount (2008) and produced the 2006 film Bernard and Doris.
Awards and nominations
Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.</onlyinclude>
Personal life
An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.
In 1999, reports suggested Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you."
In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happened to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.
Political views and activism
Spacey's political views have been described as left-leaning and mirroring some of those professed by his fictional character in House of Cards. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007, but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he donated money to the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.
Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. He also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.
In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
In 2018, Earl Blue, owner of the security company VIP Protective Services, claimed that Spacey had used racial slurs against his predominantly African-American staff when they were hired on the House of Cards set in 2012, before getting Blue fired.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
Fifteen others then came forward alleging similar abuse, including Boston anchorwoman Heather Unruh, who alleged that Spacey sexually assaulted her son; filmmaker Tony Montana; actor Roberto Cavazos; Richard Dreyfuss' son Harry; and eight people who worked on House of Cards. The Guardian was contacted by "a number of people" who alleged that Spacey "groped and behaved in an inappropriate way with young men" as artistic director of the Old Vic.
Coming out controversy
On the same day of Rapp's allegations against him, Spacey came out as gay when apologizing to Rapp. He said, "I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man." His decision to come out via his statement was criticized by prominent homosexuals, including Billy Eichner, George Takei, Lance Bass, and Wanda Sykes, as an attempt to change the subject and shift focus from Rapp's accusation, for using his own drunkenness as an excuse for making a sexual advance on a minor, and for implying a connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.
Reaction and ramifications
Amid the allegations, filming was suspended on the sixth and final season of House of Cards. The show's production company had implemented "an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counsellors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew", and stated that in 2012, "someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved." According to the production company, Spacey "willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints" involving him. The show had been due to end in 2018. The season was shortened from 13 episodes to eight, and Spacey was removed from the cast and his role as executive producer.
The Gore Vidal biographical film Gore starring Spacey, which was set to be distributed by Netflix, was canceled, and Netflix went on to sever all ties with him. He was due to appear in All the Money in the World as industrialist J. Paul Getty. However, his scenes were cut and Christopher Plummer replaced him as Getty in reshoots. In an interview with Variety, Plummer said, "It's really not replacing [Spacey]. It's starting all over again." Plummer elaborated saying, "I think it's very sad what happened to him... Kevin is such a talented and a terrifically gifted actor, and it's so sad. It's such a shame. That's all I can say, because that's it."
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. On November 2, 2017, Variety reported that his publicist Staci Wolfe and talent agency Creative Artists Agency were ending their relationships with him.
Christmas Eve YouTube videos
From 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve.
On December 24, 2018, Spacey uploaded a video titled "Let Me Be Frank", in which he – while in character as Frank Underwood – appeared to deny the real-life allegations leveled against him. The video was described as "bizarre", "stomach-churning", and "creepy". As of August 2020, the video has over 12 million views.
One year later, on December 24, 2019, Spacey posted another video, titled "KTWK" (short for "kill them with kindness"), to his YouTube channel, once again in character as Underwood. In 2020, Spacey posted a third Christmas Eve video, titled " XMAS", in which he spoke in Underwood's accent before breaking character and speaking in his natural voice. He then expressed sympathy for people struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted two suicide and substance abuse hotlines. The annual videos have been described as "tone-deaf" with respect to the allegations against him.
Spacey did not release a new video on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated in April 2018 that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur at a house in Malibu, California, in October 2016.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the cell phone in question is "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that when Unruh gave her son's cell phone to police in 2017, she admitted she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. On July 5, 2019, he voluntarily dismissed the claims with prejudice.
On July 17, 2019, the criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by the Cape and Islands prosecutors. When the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died, the last remaining criminal case against Spacey was closed.
On September 9, 2020, Anthony Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York's statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Joining Rapp in the suit against Spacey was a man who requested to remain anonymous who accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24. On June 17, 2021, the anonymous accuser was dismissed from the case due to his refusal to publicly identify himself.
In 2020, Spacey and his production companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions were ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Discography
Albums
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)
Singles
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)
Live performances
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actor-managers
Actors awarded knighthoods
Actors from Los Angeles County, California
Actors Studio alumni
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American theatre directors
Artistic directors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
Film producers from California
American gay actors
American gay writers
Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
HIV/AIDS activists
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Juilliard School alumni
Laurence Olivier Award winners
LGBT people from California
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT producers
LGBT singers from the United States
Los Angeles Valley College people
Male actors from California
Male actors from New Jersey
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Tony Award winners
LGBT film directors
LGBT theatre directors | true | [
"Marieanne Spacey-Cale (née Spacey), (born 13 February 1966) is an English former international women's footballer. Having played 91 times for England, Spacey is considered one of the greatest English footballers of all time. She is currently Head of Girls and Women's football at Southampton F.C. and head coach of Southampton FC Women.\n\nClub career\nSpacey was prevented from participating in boys' football at school but joined British Oxygen's women's team at the age of 13 in 1979. She played for Friends of Fulham under the tutelage of Fred Brockwell and was reported to have signed for Italian club Roi Lazio as a 19-year–old in 1985. Spacey also played for HJK Helsinki in Finland. The Finnish move came about through Spacey's England teammate Louise Waller, who had played for HJK the previous summer. After playing in Friends of Fulham's 3–2 WFA Cup final defeat to Leasowe Pacific at Old Trafford in April 1989, Spacey flew out to Helsinki with Waller and remained until September. Spacey then returned to England and scored 12 goals in the first five games of the 1991–92 season for her old club, who became known as Wimbledon Ladies in 1991.\n\nSpacey then spent eight seasons with Arsenal from 1993, before moving to Fulham on a professional contract in the 2002 close season. She had missed the second part of 1995–96 due to pregnancy. In her final season with Arsenal she was the leading goalscorer and FA Players' Player of the Year, also winning a Sport Relief special achievement award. Throughout her Arsenal career Spacey had enjoyed great success as a deep–lying forward player, helping The Gunners win numerous trophies.\n\nVic Akers said of Spacey's career in 2009:\n\nIn 2002–03 Spacey won a domestic treble with Fulham.\n\nInternational career\nSpacey made her debut for England against Belgium on 20 August 1984. She played in all four of England's games at their first FIFA Women's World Cup appearance in 1995. Having finished playing for England with a respectable 76 appearances, Spacey was later recalled by Hope Powell to add experience in midfield. Spacey was surprised by the development: \"I honestly thought that wouldn't happen again. When I got the letter my legs went weak. I've played 76 times for England and now I feel like the new girl!\" She went on to play a total of 91 times for her country, scoring 28 goals before retiring after UEFA Women's Euro 2001, aged 36.\n\nAmong Spacey's achievements with England were two Mundialito tournament wins in 1985 and 1988. She scored twice in the 1985 final against hosts Italy as England won 3–2 in Caorle. In May 1990 Spacey scored at Wembley Stadium in an exhibition match played against Scotland. The following April she scored a hat-trick against the same opposition in a 5–0 friendly win at Adams Park in Wycombe. When The Football Association (FA) took over running the national team in 1993, Spacey plundered four goals in the first game that September, a 10–0 win over Slovenia in Ljubljana.\n\nCoaching career \nSpacey has a UEFA Pro Licence. She became manager of Fulham Ladies when they reverted to semi–pro status in 2003, but left in 2006 after Fulham scrapped their women's team altogether. Later that year she became a senior coach for AFC Wimbledon Ladies. Spacey later coached the England Under–16, Under–17 and Under–19 teams as well as working in the coaching departments of Arsenal and Charlton Athletic.\n\nIn November 2006 she was appointed girls and women's football development officer for the Worcestershire FA.\n\nIn December 2013, Spacey was appointed assistant to England women's manager Mark Sampson. She was part of Mark Sampson's coaching staff when the Lionesses came third at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada in 2015. In 2017, with Spacey as head coach, the England under-23 team won the Nordic tournament in Sweden, beating Norway 2–0 in the final match.\n\nIn July 2018, Southampton F.C. announced that Spacey would be joining as the head of girls and women's football technical department, based at the Staplewood Campus full-time and also overseeing the club's Regional Talent Club. The club said her appointment was intended to help their women's team's \"future goal\" of playing in the FA Women's Championship. Their initial bid, to join the inaugural Championship, was rejected by The FA.\n\nIn her first season as head coach of the senior women's team, who play in the FA Women's National League, Premier Division South, the team completed the double, winning the league title (with a perfect 18 wins from 18 games) and League Cup.\n\nHonours \nSpacey was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2009.\n\nShe was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to football.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n\n1966 births\nLiving people\nEnglish women's footballers\nArsenal W.F.C. players\nFulham L.F.C. players\nEngland women's international footballers\nFA Women's National League players\nEnglish Football Hall of Fame inductees\n1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players\nEnglish expatriate women's footballers\nEnglish women's football managers\nMembers of the Order of the British Empire\nHelsingin Jalkapalloklubi (women) players\nExpatriate women's footballers in Finland\nKansallinen Liiga players\nEnglish expatriate sportspeople in Finland\nWomen's association football midfielders\nWomen's association football forwards",
"The following is a list of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, an American actor. Over his decade-spanning career, Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award as well as twelve Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.\n\nMajor associations\n\nAcademy Awards\n\nEmmy Awards\n\nGrammy Awards\n\nTony Awards\n\nBAFTA Awards\n\nIndustry awards\n\nCritics' Choice Awards\n\nGolden Globe Awards\n\nScreen Actors Guild Award\n\nLaurence Olivier Award\n\nMiscellaneous awards\n\nDrama Desk Award\n\nMTV Movie & TV Awards\n\nOuter Critics Circle Award\n\nPeople's Choice Awards\n\nSaturn Awards\n\nCritics associations\n\nOther accolades\n\nAppointments\n\nIn 1999, Spacey received a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.\n\nSpacey was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (Hon.Litt.D.) from the London South Bank University in November 2005.\n\nIn June 2008, he was appointed as Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at St Catherine's College, Oxford, succeeding Patrick Stewart in the post. He was officially welcomed on October 13, 2008.\n\nAt the 2014 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards Spacey won the Performance in a Drama, Lead for his performance in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.\n\nIn 2015, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to culture and British theater after finishing a 10-year run as artistic director at London's Old Vic theater.\n\nOn April 12, 2015, he received a Special Olivier Award recognising his contribution to British theatre during his eleven-year tenure as Artistic Director of The Old Vic.\n\nThe International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences decided that due to the sexual allegations brought up by Anthony Rapp, it would reverse its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award.\n\nReferences\n\nSpacey\nAwards"
] |
[
"Kevin Spacey",
"2011-2017",
"Was there any legal trouble for Spacey between 2011 - 2017?",
"He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013,"
] | C_60cd5e15e1124a3bb81e186715b17365_0 | Did he win other awards? | 2 | Besides the Primetime Emmy Award did Kevin Spacey win other awards? | Kevin Spacey | Spacey is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy nominated from a web television series. He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. Spacey starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016). The film is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in 10 days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the company announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in re-shoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. CANNOTANSWER | He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards | Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017).
In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged.
Early life and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. Spacey has an older brother, Randy Fowler, who is a limousine driver and Rod Stewart impersonator in Boise, Idaho, and a sister, Julie Ann Fowler Keir, an office worker. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Randy Fowler (from whom Spacey is estranged) has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey had shut down emotionally and become "very sly and smart" to avoid whippings.
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Career
Theatre
1981–1986: Career beginnings in theatre
Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann and director John Neville, which had opened at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington's Kennedy Center. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, Spacey appeared in a production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, in which he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull alongside David Strathairn and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1986, Spacey appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.
1986–1991: Broadway success and Tony win
Spacey's prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son, in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey and was invited, along with Spacey's high school drama teacher, to be present when Spacey received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. In 1999, Spacey won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and earned another Tony Award nomination in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.
2003–2015: Artistic director of the Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, Spacey promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. He undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company staged shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.
In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen, I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people." On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre. The honor, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by Prince Charles. While Spacey will be permitted to add the post-nominal letters, KBE, to his name, as a non-Commonwealth citizen the award is honorary and he will not be able to style himself as "Sir Kevin". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in 2010.
Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In mid-2006, Spacey said that he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic; at that point in his career, he said, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside [myself]". Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C.K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.
In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Matthew Modine and future House of Cards co-star Neve Campbell) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Later that year, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit the Wind. Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name. Sam Mendes directed Spacey in Shakespeare's Richard III; Spacey played the title role. The show began in June 2011, commencing a worldwide tour culminating in New York in early 2012. In March 2014, it was announced that Spacey would star in a one-man play at the Old Vic to celebrate his ten years as artistic director. He took on the part of Clarence Darrow in the play.
Film
1986–1994: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1986, Spacey made his first film appearance in Mike Nichols' Heartburn starring Meryl Streep, and Jack Nicholson. Spacey plays a small role credited as a subway thief. In 1988 Spacey also briefly appeared in another Nichols' film Working Girl, as sleazy businessman Bob Speck. Some of Spacey's other early roles include a widowed, eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law; the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon; and the comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including the malevolent office manager in the ensemble film adaptation of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) starring Al Pacino. He also played one-half of a bickering Connecticut couple alongside Judy Davis in the dark comedy Christmas film The Ref (1994), and a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks (1995), gaining him positive notices by critics.
1990–1999: Rise to stardom and awards success
Spacey's performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in Bryan Singer's 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1995, Spacey also appeared in the David Fincher detective thriller Seven, making a sudden entrance late in the film as serial killer John Doe after going uncredited and unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards. Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. Spacey made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a box office bomb, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also voiced Hopper in the animated film A Bug's Life (1998).
Throughout his career, Spacey has been well known for playing villains; he remarked in 2013: "I think people just like me evil for some reason. They want me to be a son of a bitch."
In 1999, Spacey acted alongside Annette Bening in Sam Mendes' American Beauty. In the film he played the role of Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father and advertising executive who lusts after his teenage daughter's best friend. Spacey won his second Oscar this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In his acceptance speech he dedicated his Oscar to Jack Lemmon praising him as an influence, mentor, and father figure. He also stated, "[Lemmon's] performance in The Apartment stands as one of the finest we've ever had". That same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000–2009: Continued work
Spacey played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the U.S., Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the film's soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of its release. Spacey received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers debated the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.
In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer superhero film Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but the series was instead rebooted with the 2013 film Man of Steel. Spacey also appeared in Edison, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006.
In 2008, Spacey played an MIT lecturer in the film 21. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack. In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.
2011–2016: Independent films and comedies
In 2011 Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In film focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016.
In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.
2017–present: Career controversy
In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in reshoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release.
Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that they would be taking no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, prior to the allegations made in October 2017.
In May 2021, it was announced that Spacey had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. Spacey has not commented on the role. In August 2021, it was reported that Spacey was filming in California for a small production titled Peter Five Eight and directed by Michael Zaiko Hall.
Television
1987–1994: Television debut and early roles
In 1987, Spacey made his first major television appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. That same year he appeared in spy thriller series The Equalizer as Detective Sergeant Cole in the episode "Solo". He earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy (1988).
2003–2012: HBO projects and other work
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and again in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.
In 2008 Spacey starred as Ron Klain in the HBO original political drama film Recount revolving around Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The film was written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, starring Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. The television film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. For his performance in the film Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film. That same year Spacey produced Bernard and Doris, an HBO film about the semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon and was directed by Bob Balaban. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to as a young actor in New York Citying his vocal skills to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theater tickets and enter Studio 54. Spacey's Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and an earlier recording of Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road". In December 2007, Spacey co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Uma Thurman.
2013–2017: House of Cards and critical acclaim
On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.
Video games
Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture.
Filmography
Spacey's career has spanned thirty years across film, television, video games and theater. He got his film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Mike Nichols' films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s he had supporting roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) opposite Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino and the black comedy film The Ref, before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in 1995's The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer John Doe in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in noir crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997) alongside Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and American Beauty (1999), for which he earned his second Academy Award, this time for Best Actor.
In the 2000s he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), and 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the last of which he also produced. In 2004 he wrote, directed and starred in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea (2004). In 2011 he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel film Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort.
From 2013–2017 he played Francis "Frank" Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards alongside Robin Wright. Spacey also starred in the HBO television film Recount (2008) and produced the 2006 film Bernard and Doris.
Awards and nominations
Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.</onlyinclude>
Personal life
An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.
In 1999, reports suggested Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you."
In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happened to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.
Political views and activism
Spacey's political views have been described as left-leaning and mirroring some of those professed by his fictional character in House of Cards. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007, but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he donated money to the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.
Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. He also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.
In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
In 2018, Earl Blue, owner of the security company VIP Protective Services, claimed that Spacey had used racial slurs against his predominantly African-American staff when they were hired on the House of Cards set in 2012, before getting Blue fired.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
Fifteen others then came forward alleging similar abuse, including Boston anchorwoman Heather Unruh, who alleged that Spacey sexually assaulted her son; filmmaker Tony Montana; actor Roberto Cavazos; Richard Dreyfuss' son Harry; and eight people who worked on House of Cards. The Guardian was contacted by "a number of people" who alleged that Spacey "groped and behaved in an inappropriate way with young men" as artistic director of the Old Vic.
Coming out controversy
On the same day of Rapp's allegations against him, Spacey came out as gay when apologizing to Rapp. He said, "I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man." His decision to come out via his statement was criticized by prominent homosexuals, including Billy Eichner, George Takei, Lance Bass, and Wanda Sykes, as an attempt to change the subject and shift focus from Rapp's accusation, for using his own drunkenness as an excuse for making a sexual advance on a minor, and for implying a connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.
Reaction and ramifications
Amid the allegations, filming was suspended on the sixth and final season of House of Cards. The show's production company had implemented "an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counsellors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew", and stated that in 2012, "someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved." According to the production company, Spacey "willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints" involving him. The show had been due to end in 2018. The season was shortened from 13 episodes to eight, and Spacey was removed from the cast and his role as executive producer.
The Gore Vidal biographical film Gore starring Spacey, which was set to be distributed by Netflix, was canceled, and Netflix went on to sever all ties with him. He was due to appear in All the Money in the World as industrialist J. Paul Getty. However, his scenes were cut and Christopher Plummer replaced him as Getty in reshoots. In an interview with Variety, Plummer said, "It's really not replacing [Spacey]. It's starting all over again." Plummer elaborated saying, "I think it's very sad what happened to him... Kevin is such a talented and a terrifically gifted actor, and it's so sad. It's such a shame. That's all I can say, because that's it."
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. On November 2, 2017, Variety reported that his publicist Staci Wolfe and talent agency Creative Artists Agency were ending their relationships with him.
Christmas Eve YouTube videos
From 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve.
On December 24, 2018, Spacey uploaded a video titled "Let Me Be Frank", in which he – while in character as Frank Underwood – appeared to deny the real-life allegations leveled against him. The video was described as "bizarre", "stomach-churning", and "creepy". As of August 2020, the video has over 12 million views.
One year later, on December 24, 2019, Spacey posted another video, titled "KTWK" (short for "kill them with kindness"), to his YouTube channel, once again in character as Underwood. In 2020, Spacey posted a third Christmas Eve video, titled " XMAS", in which he spoke in Underwood's accent before breaking character and speaking in his natural voice. He then expressed sympathy for people struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted two suicide and substance abuse hotlines. The annual videos have been described as "tone-deaf" with respect to the allegations against him.
Spacey did not release a new video on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated in April 2018 that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur at a house in Malibu, California, in October 2016.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the cell phone in question is "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that when Unruh gave her son's cell phone to police in 2017, she admitted she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. On July 5, 2019, he voluntarily dismissed the claims with prejudice.
On July 17, 2019, the criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by the Cape and Islands prosecutors. When the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died, the last remaining criminal case against Spacey was closed.
On September 9, 2020, Anthony Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York's statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Joining Rapp in the suit against Spacey was a man who requested to remain anonymous who accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24. On June 17, 2021, the anonymous accuser was dismissed from the case due to his refusal to publicly identify himself.
In 2020, Spacey and his production companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions were ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Discography
Albums
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)
Singles
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)
Live performances
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actor-managers
Actors awarded knighthoods
Actors from Los Angeles County, California
Actors Studio alumni
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American theatre directors
Artistic directors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
Film producers from California
American gay actors
American gay writers
Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
HIV/AIDS activists
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Juilliard School alumni
Laurence Olivier Award winners
LGBT people from California
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT producers
LGBT singers from the United States
Los Angeles Valley College people
Male actors from California
Male actors from New Jersey
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Tony Award winners
LGBT film directors
LGBT theatre directors | false | [
"Ricky Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for co-creating, writing, and acting in the British television series The Office (2001–2003). He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the Rose d'Or twice (2006 and 2019), as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2007, he was placed at No. 11 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and at No. 3 on the updated 2010 list. In 2010, he was named on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. In 2002 he was nominated to be Britain's Funniest Man but did not win the award, he did however beat some gangsters up in a pub when an old man was being hassled, against the odds.\n\nMajor awards\n\nPrimetime Emmy Awards\n\nGolden Globe Awards\n\nBAFTA Television Awards\n\nScreen Actors Guild Awards\n\nWriters Guild of America Awards\n\nProducers Guild of America Awards\n\nOther awards\n\nBritannia Awards\n\nBritish Comedy Guide Awards\n\nBritish Comedy Awards\n\nBroadcasting Press Guild Awards\n\nEvening Standard British Film Awards\n\nSatellite Award\n\nTelevision Critics Association Awards\n\nReferences \n\nLists of awards received by actor",
"The following is a list of awards and nominations received by Welsh actor and director Anthony Hopkins. \n\nHe is an Oscar-winning actor, having received six Academy award nominations winning two of these for Best Actor for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in the Jonathan Demme thriller The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and for his performance as Anthony in Florian Zeller's drama The Father (2020). He also was nominated for his performances as in James Ivory's The Remains of the Day (1993), Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone's drama Nixon (1995), John Quincy Adams in Amistad (1997), and Pope Benedict XVI in the Fernando Meirelles drama The Two Popes (2019). \n\nFor his work on film and television, he has received eight Golden Globe award nominations. In 2006 he was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille award for his lifetime achievement in the entertainment industry. He has received six Primetime Emmy award nominations winning two—one in 1976 for his performance as Richard Hauptmann in The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and the other in 1981 for his performance as Adolf Hitler in The Bunker, as well as seven Screen Actors Guild award nominations all of which have been respectively lost.\n\nMajor associations\n\nAcademy Awards \n2 wins out of 6 nominations\n\nBAFTA Awards \n4 wins (and one honorary award) out of 9 nominations\n\nEmmy Awards \n2 wins out of 6 nominations\n\nGolden Globe Awards \n0 wins (and one honorary award) out of 8 nominations\n\nOlivier Awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nScreen Actors Guild Awards \n0 wins out of 7 nominations\n\nAudience awards\n\nMTV Movie + TV awards \n0 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nPeople's Choice awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nCritic and association awards\n\nAlliance of Women Film Journalists awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nBoston Society of Film Critics awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nCableACE awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nChicago Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nCritics' Choice awards \n1 win out of 4 nominations\n\nDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nKansas City Film Critics Circle awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nLondon Critics Circle Film awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nLos Angeles Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nNational Board of Review awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nNational Society of Film Critics awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nNew York Film Critics Circle awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nOnline Film & Television Association awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nOnline Film Critics Society awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nPhoenix Film Critics Society awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSoutheastern Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nSt. Louis Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nomination\n\nWomen's Image Network awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nFilm festival awards\n\nHollywood Film Festival awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nLocarno International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nMethod Fest awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nMoscow International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSan Sebastian International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSanta Barbara International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nShoWest Convention awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSitges - Catalonian International Film Festival awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nUSA Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nVirginia Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nInternational awards\n\nBAFTA/LA Britannia awards \n1 win out of 1 nominations\n\nDavid di Donatello awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nEuropean Film Awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nEvening Standard British Film awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nJupiter awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nNew Zealand Screen awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSant Jordi awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nYoga awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nMiscellaneous awards\n\n20/20 awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nAARP Movies for Grownups awards \n1 win out of 4 nominations\n\nFangoria Chainsaw awards \n3 wins out of 4 nominations\n\nGolden Raspberry awards \n0 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nHasty Pudding Theatricals awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nMovieGuide awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSatellite awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSaturn awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nWalk of Fame \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nWestern Heritage awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nReferences\n\nHopkins, Anthony"
] |
[
"Kevin Spacey",
"2011-2017",
"Was there any legal trouble for Spacey between 2011 - 2017?",
"He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013,",
"Did he win other awards?",
"He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards"
] | C_60cd5e15e1124a3bb81e186715b17365_0 | What was another one? | 3 | In addition to the Golden award what was another one? | Kevin Spacey | Spacey is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy nominated from a web television series. He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. Spacey starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016). The film is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in 10 days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the company announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in re-shoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. CANNOTANSWER | Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. | Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017).
In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged.
Early life and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. Spacey has an older brother, Randy Fowler, who is a limousine driver and Rod Stewart impersonator in Boise, Idaho, and a sister, Julie Ann Fowler Keir, an office worker. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Randy Fowler (from whom Spacey is estranged) has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey had shut down emotionally and become "very sly and smart" to avoid whippings.
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Career
Theatre
1981–1986: Career beginnings in theatre
Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann and director John Neville, which had opened at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington's Kennedy Center. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, Spacey appeared in a production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, in which he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull alongside David Strathairn and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1986, Spacey appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.
1986–1991: Broadway success and Tony win
Spacey's prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son, in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey and was invited, along with Spacey's high school drama teacher, to be present when Spacey received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. In 1999, Spacey won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and earned another Tony Award nomination in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.
2003–2015: Artistic director of the Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, Spacey promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. He undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company staged shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.
In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen, I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people." On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre. The honor, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by Prince Charles. While Spacey will be permitted to add the post-nominal letters, KBE, to his name, as a non-Commonwealth citizen the award is honorary and he will not be able to style himself as "Sir Kevin". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in 2010.
Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In mid-2006, Spacey said that he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic; at that point in his career, he said, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside [myself]". Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C.K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.
In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Matthew Modine and future House of Cards co-star Neve Campbell) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Later that year, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit the Wind. Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name. Sam Mendes directed Spacey in Shakespeare's Richard III; Spacey played the title role. The show began in June 2011, commencing a worldwide tour culminating in New York in early 2012. In March 2014, it was announced that Spacey would star in a one-man play at the Old Vic to celebrate his ten years as artistic director. He took on the part of Clarence Darrow in the play.
Film
1986–1994: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1986, Spacey made his first film appearance in Mike Nichols' Heartburn starring Meryl Streep, and Jack Nicholson. Spacey plays a small role credited as a subway thief. In 1988 Spacey also briefly appeared in another Nichols' film Working Girl, as sleazy businessman Bob Speck. Some of Spacey's other early roles include a widowed, eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law; the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon; and the comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including the malevolent office manager in the ensemble film adaptation of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) starring Al Pacino. He also played one-half of a bickering Connecticut couple alongside Judy Davis in the dark comedy Christmas film The Ref (1994), and a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks (1995), gaining him positive notices by critics.
1990–1999: Rise to stardom and awards success
Spacey's performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in Bryan Singer's 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1995, Spacey also appeared in the David Fincher detective thriller Seven, making a sudden entrance late in the film as serial killer John Doe after going uncredited and unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards. Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. Spacey made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a box office bomb, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also voiced Hopper in the animated film A Bug's Life (1998).
Throughout his career, Spacey has been well known for playing villains; he remarked in 2013: "I think people just like me evil for some reason. They want me to be a son of a bitch."
In 1999, Spacey acted alongside Annette Bening in Sam Mendes' American Beauty. In the film he played the role of Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father and advertising executive who lusts after his teenage daughter's best friend. Spacey won his second Oscar this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In his acceptance speech he dedicated his Oscar to Jack Lemmon praising him as an influence, mentor, and father figure. He also stated, "[Lemmon's] performance in The Apartment stands as one of the finest we've ever had". That same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000–2009: Continued work
Spacey played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the U.S., Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the film's soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of its release. Spacey received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers debated the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.
In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer superhero film Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but the series was instead rebooted with the 2013 film Man of Steel. Spacey also appeared in Edison, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006.
In 2008, Spacey played an MIT lecturer in the film 21. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack. In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.
2011–2016: Independent films and comedies
In 2011 Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In film focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016.
In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.
2017–present: Career controversy
In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in reshoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release.
Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that they would be taking no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, prior to the allegations made in October 2017.
In May 2021, it was announced that Spacey had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. Spacey has not commented on the role. In August 2021, it was reported that Spacey was filming in California for a small production titled Peter Five Eight and directed by Michael Zaiko Hall.
Television
1987–1994: Television debut and early roles
In 1987, Spacey made his first major television appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. That same year he appeared in spy thriller series The Equalizer as Detective Sergeant Cole in the episode "Solo". He earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy (1988).
2003–2012: HBO projects and other work
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and again in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.
In 2008 Spacey starred as Ron Klain in the HBO original political drama film Recount revolving around Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The film was written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, starring Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. The television film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. For his performance in the film Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film. That same year Spacey produced Bernard and Doris, an HBO film about the semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon and was directed by Bob Balaban. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to as a young actor in New York Citying his vocal skills to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theater tickets and enter Studio 54. Spacey's Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and an earlier recording of Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road". In December 2007, Spacey co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Uma Thurman.
2013–2017: House of Cards and critical acclaim
On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.
Video games
Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture.
Filmography
Spacey's career has spanned thirty years across film, television, video games and theater. He got his film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Mike Nichols' films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s he had supporting roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) opposite Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino and the black comedy film The Ref, before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in 1995's The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer John Doe in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in noir crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997) alongside Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and American Beauty (1999), for which he earned his second Academy Award, this time for Best Actor.
In the 2000s he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), and 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the last of which he also produced. In 2004 he wrote, directed and starred in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea (2004). In 2011 he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel film Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort.
From 2013–2017 he played Francis "Frank" Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards alongside Robin Wright. Spacey also starred in the HBO television film Recount (2008) and produced the 2006 film Bernard and Doris.
Awards and nominations
Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.</onlyinclude>
Personal life
An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.
In 1999, reports suggested Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you."
In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happened to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.
Political views and activism
Spacey's political views have been described as left-leaning and mirroring some of those professed by his fictional character in House of Cards. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007, but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he donated money to the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.
Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. He also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.
In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
In 2018, Earl Blue, owner of the security company VIP Protective Services, claimed that Spacey had used racial slurs against his predominantly African-American staff when they were hired on the House of Cards set in 2012, before getting Blue fired.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
Fifteen others then came forward alleging similar abuse, including Boston anchorwoman Heather Unruh, who alleged that Spacey sexually assaulted her son; filmmaker Tony Montana; actor Roberto Cavazos; Richard Dreyfuss' son Harry; and eight people who worked on House of Cards. The Guardian was contacted by "a number of people" who alleged that Spacey "groped and behaved in an inappropriate way with young men" as artistic director of the Old Vic.
Coming out controversy
On the same day of Rapp's allegations against him, Spacey came out as gay when apologizing to Rapp. He said, "I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man." His decision to come out via his statement was criticized by prominent homosexuals, including Billy Eichner, George Takei, Lance Bass, and Wanda Sykes, as an attempt to change the subject and shift focus from Rapp's accusation, for using his own drunkenness as an excuse for making a sexual advance on a minor, and for implying a connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.
Reaction and ramifications
Amid the allegations, filming was suspended on the sixth and final season of House of Cards. The show's production company had implemented "an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counsellors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew", and stated that in 2012, "someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved." According to the production company, Spacey "willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints" involving him. The show had been due to end in 2018. The season was shortened from 13 episodes to eight, and Spacey was removed from the cast and his role as executive producer.
The Gore Vidal biographical film Gore starring Spacey, which was set to be distributed by Netflix, was canceled, and Netflix went on to sever all ties with him. He was due to appear in All the Money in the World as industrialist J. Paul Getty. However, his scenes were cut and Christopher Plummer replaced him as Getty in reshoots. In an interview with Variety, Plummer said, "It's really not replacing [Spacey]. It's starting all over again." Plummer elaborated saying, "I think it's very sad what happened to him... Kevin is such a talented and a terrifically gifted actor, and it's so sad. It's such a shame. That's all I can say, because that's it."
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. On November 2, 2017, Variety reported that his publicist Staci Wolfe and talent agency Creative Artists Agency were ending their relationships with him.
Christmas Eve YouTube videos
From 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve.
On December 24, 2018, Spacey uploaded a video titled "Let Me Be Frank", in which he – while in character as Frank Underwood – appeared to deny the real-life allegations leveled against him. The video was described as "bizarre", "stomach-churning", and "creepy". As of August 2020, the video has over 12 million views.
One year later, on December 24, 2019, Spacey posted another video, titled "KTWK" (short for "kill them with kindness"), to his YouTube channel, once again in character as Underwood. In 2020, Spacey posted a third Christmas Eve video, titled " XMAS", in which he spoke in Underwood's accent before breaking character and speaking in his natural voice. He then expressed sympathy for people struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted two suicide and substance abuse hotlines. The annual videos have been described as "tone-deaf" with respect to the allegations against him.
Spacey did not release a new video on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated in April 2018 that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur at a house in Malibu, California, in October 2016.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the cell phone in question is "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that when Unruh gave her son's cell phone to police in 2017, she admitted she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. On July 5, 2019, he voluntarily dismissed the claims with prejudice.
On July 17, 2019, the criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by the Cape and Islands prosecutors. When the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died, the last remaining criminal case against Spacey was closed.
On September 9, 2020, Anthony Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York's statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Joining Rapp in the suit against Spacey was a man who requested to remain anonymous who accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24. On June 17, 2021, the anonymous accuser was dismissed from the case due to his refusal to publicly identify himself.
In 2020, Spacey and his production companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions were ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Discography
Albums
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)
Singles
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)
Live performances
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actor-managers
Actors awarded knighthoods
Actors from Los Angeles County, California
Actors Studio alumni
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American theatre directors
Artistic directors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
Film producers from California
American gay actors
American gay writers
Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
HIV/AIDS activists
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Juilliard School alumni
Laurence Olivier Award winners
LGBT people from California
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT producers
LGBT singers from the United States
Los Angeles Valley College people
Male actors from California
Male actors from New Jersey
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Tony Award winners
LGBT film directors
LGBT theatre directors | true | [
"\"What's Another Year\" was Johnny Logan's first Eurovision Song Contest winning song, achieving success in the 1980 edition of the contest, as well as 's second Eurovision victory. Composed by Shay Healy (who also wrote \"The Ultimate Country and Western Song\" performed by Billy Connolly), the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in May.\n\nWhen showband frontman Glen Curtin, the original choice of singer, turned down \"What's Another Year\", the song was rearranged by Bill Whelan to suit Johnny Logan's singing style. Whelan later composed Riverdance for the interval entertainment slot at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. Musically, the song is easily identifiable by its saxophone introduction played by Scottish musician Colin Tully, who now lives and teaches in Wales. The success of \"What's Another Year\" launched Logan's Eurovision career (he would go on to achieve success in with \"Hold Me Now\", and he would have another win as songwriter for Linda Martin's \"Why Me?\" in ). In addition, the song was selected as one of the 14 greatest Eurovision entries in a special to mark the 50th anniversary of the contest. It was covered by Shane MacGowan of The Pogues in the Song for Eurotrash cover album of 1998.\n\nFamously, after being announced as the winner of the Contest, Logan was overcome with emotion and could not achieve the high notes near the end of the song in his reprise. Instead, he called out \"I love you Ireland\", a phrase he would repeat seven years later.\n\nThe song was performed seventeenth on the night, following 's Profil with \"Hé, hé M'sieurs dames\" and preceding 's Trigo Limpio with \"Quédate esta noche\". At the close of voting, it had received 143 points, placing 1st in a field of 19.\nThe song was succeeded as Eurovision winner at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 by British band Bucks Fizz and the song \"Making Your Mind Up\".\nIt was succeeded as Irish representative at the 1981 contest by Sheeba with \"Horoscopes\".\n\nJohnny Logan released German-language and Spanish-language versions of \"What's Another Year\".\n\nDuring the 2020 special Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, Logan performed the song live in a studio in Dublin. He was backed by the special's presenters Edsilia Rombley, Chantal Janzen and Jan Smit from their studio in Hilversum, and a chorus of Eurovision Song Contest fans from around the world. A short video highlighting Logan's three Eurovision wins (1980 and 1987 as main performer, 1992 as composer) was shown during the instrumental bridge of the song.\n\nTrack listing\n European single 7\" / 45 RPM single (RL 1005)/(EPC 8572)\nSide A: \"What's Another Year\"\nSide B: \"One Night Stand\"\n\n Spanish single 7\"single (EPC 8572)\nSide A: \"Por un Año Más\" - 3:08\nSide B: \"One Night Stand\" - 3:52\n\n German single 7\"single (EPC 8732)\nSide A: \"Was Ist Schon Ein Jahr\" - 3:08\nSide B: \"One Night Stand\" - 3:52\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1980 singles\nJohnny Logan (singer) songs\nEurovision songs of 1980\nCongratulations Eurovision songs\nUK Singles Chart number-one singles\nEuropean Hot 100 Singles number-one singles\nNumber-one singles in Norway\nNumber-one singles in Portugal\nNumber-one singles in Sweden\nEurovision songs of Ireland\nIrish Singles Chart number-one singles\nEurovision Song Contest winning songs\nPop ballads\n1980 songs\nEpic Records singles",
"What's New with Phil & Dixie is a gaming parody comic by Phil Foglio. What's New was Foglio's first comic, and was published in the magazines Dragon and The Duelist, as well as in print collections and online.\n\nPremise \nThe comic stars Phil Foglio, along with Dixie Null, as they explore the world of gaming, particularly tabletop RPGs, with a mixture of reportage and advice to the reader. Strips created for The Duelist magazine focused on Magic: The Gathering.\n\nA long-running joke revolved around the often promised and often delayed \"Sex in D&D\" segment. This segment never appeared in magazine printings, but was finally written and included as additional material in one of the strip's book printings.\n\nOriginal magazine publications \nIn an interview, Foglio said that What's New was his start in comics, and was first published in Dragon magazine in 1980. In another interview, he said that he had done some covers for Dragon, and noted he could earn much more for similar effort if he added jokes.\n\nAccording to Wizards of the Coast, the current owners of Dragon, the comic first appeared in Dragon shortly before issue #50 and ran until issue #84 (i.e., in 1984), when Foglio stopped the comic to work on other projects. According to Wizards, characters from What's New appeared in another Foglio work, Another Fine Myth.\n\nWizards also states that What's New was revived for a run in The Duelist magazine, also published by Wizards of the Coast. It ran in The Duelist from 1993 to 1999, ending when publication of The Duelist ceased.\n\nAfter the end of The Duelist, the comic returned to Dragon and ran there from 1999 to 2003 (issues 265–311), plus a final \"farewell\" installment Dragon #359, the last issue of Dragon in print.\n\nBook printings and online publication \nThe entire run in Dragon, plus additional material, was published in two print collections by Palliard Press.\n\nIn 2001 a third volume was published by Studio Foglio collecting all the Duelist magazine strips, along with some bonus content.\n\nFrom 2007 to 2010, What's New was republished on Foglio's website as a weekly webcomic.\n\nReception \nThe author and blogger Cory Doctorow has said he loved What's New when he was a kid.\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nComic references\nSource dates in these references refer to the original printing date. These comics were reprinted on Foglio's website between 2007 and 2010.\n\nExternal links\n Archive of all What's New with Phil and Dixie at Internet Archive\n \n\nAmerican comedy webcomics\nStudio Foglio titles\nWebcomics about fandom\nWebcomics from print"
] |
[
"Kevin Spacey",
"2011-2017",
"Was there any legal trouble for Spacey between 2011 - 2017?",
"He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013,",
"Did he win other awards?",
"He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards",
"What was another one?",
"Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance."
] | C_60cd5e15e1124a3bb81e186715b17365_0 | What movie did he win that for? | 4 | what movie did Kevin Spacey win the Screen Actors Guild for? | Kevin Spacey | Spacey is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy nominated from a web television series. He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. Spacey starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016). The film is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in 10 days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the company announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in re-shoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. CANNOTANSWER | Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. | Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017).
In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged.
Early life and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. Spacey has an older brother, Randy Fowler, who is a limousine driver and Rod Stewart impersonator in Boise, Idaho, and a sister, Julie Ann Fowler Keir, an office worker. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Randy Fowler (from whom Spacey is estranged) has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey had shut down emotionally and become "very sly and smart" to avoid whippings.
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Career
Theatre
1981–1986: Career beginnings in theatre
Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann and director John Neville, which had opened at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington's Kennedy Center. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, Spacey appeared in a production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, in which he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull alongside David Strathairn and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1986, Spacey appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.
1986–1991: Broadway success and Tony win
Spacey's prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son, in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey and was invited, along with Spacey's high school drama teacher, to be present when Spacey received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. In 1999, Spacey won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and earned another Tony Award nomination in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.
2003–2015: Artistic director of the Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, Spacey promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. He undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company staged shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.
In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen, I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people." On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre. The honor, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by Prince Charles. While Spacey will be permitted to add the post-nominal letters, KBE, to his name, as a non-Commonwealth citizen the award is honorary and he will not be able to style himself as "Sir Kevin". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in 2010.
Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In mid-2006, Spacey said that he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic; at that point in his career, he said, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside [myself]". Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C.K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.
In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Matthew Modine and future House of Cards co-star Neve Campbell) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Later that year, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit the Wind. Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name. Sam Mendes directed Spacey in Shakespeare's Richard III; Spacey played the title role. The show began in June 2011, commencing a worldwide tour culminating in New York in early 2012. In March 2014, it was announced that Spacey would star in a one-man play at the Old Vic to celebrate his ten years as artistic director. He took on the part of Clarence Darrow in the play.
Film
1986–1994: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1986, Spacey made his first film appearance in Mike Nichols' Heartburn starring Meryl Streep, and Jack Nicholson. Spacey plays a small role credited as a subway thief. In 1988 Spacey also briefly appeared in another Nichols' film Working Girl, as sleazy businessman Bob Speck. Some of Spacey's other early roles include a widowed, eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law; the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon; and the comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including the malevolent office manager in the ensemble film adaptation of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) starring Al Pacino. He also played one-half of a bickering Connecticut couple alongside Judy Davis in the dark comedy Christmas film The Ref (1994), and a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks (1995), gaining him positive notices by critics.
1990–1999: Rise to stardom and awards success
Spacey's performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in Bryan Singer's 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1995, Spacey also appeared in the David Fincher detective thriller Seven, making a sudden entrance late in the film as serial killer John Doe after going uncredited and unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards. Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. Spacey made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a box office bomb, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also voiced Hopper in the animated film A Bug's Life (1998).
Throughout his career, Spacey has been well known for playing villains; he remarked in 2013: "I think people just like me evil for some reason. They want me to be a son of a bitch."
In 1999, Spacey acted alongside Annette Bening in Sam Mendes' American Beauty. In the film he played the role of Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father and advertising executive who lusts after his teenage daughter's best friend. Spacey won his second Oscar this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In his acceptance speech he dedicated his Oscar to Jack Lemmon praising him as an influence, mentor, and father figure. He also stated, "[Lemmon's] performance in The Apartment stands as one of the finest we've ever had". That same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000–2009: Continued work
Spacey played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the U.S., Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the film's soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of its release. Spacey received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers debated the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.
In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer superhero film Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but the series was instead rebooted with the 2013 film Man of Steel. Spacey also appeared in Edison, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006.
In 2008, Spacey played an MIT lecturer in the film 21. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack. In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.
2011–2016: Independent films and comedies
In 2011 Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In film focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016.
In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.
2017–present: Career controversy
In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in reshoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release.
Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that they would be taking no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, prior to the allegations made in October 2017.
In May 2021, it was announced that Spacey had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. Spacey has not commented on the role. In August 2021, it was reported that Spacey was filming in California for a small production titled Peter Five Eight and directed by Michael Zaiko Hall.
Television
1987–1994: Television debut and early roles
In 1987, Spacey made his first major television appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. That same year he appeared in spy thriller series The Equalizer as Detective Sergeant Cole in the episode "Solo". He earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy (1988).
2003–2012: HBO projects and other work
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and again in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.
In 2008 Spacey starred as Ron Klain in the HBO original political drama film Recount revolving around Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The film was written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, starring Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. The television film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. For his performance in the film Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film. That same year Spacey produced Bernard and Doris, an HBO film about the semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon and was directed by Bob Balaban. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to as a young actor in New York Citying his vocal skills to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theater tickets and enter Studio 54. Spacey's Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and an earlier recording of Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road". In December 2007, Spacey co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Uma Thurman.
2013–2017: House of Cards and critical acclaim
On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.
Video games
Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture.
Filmography
Spacey's career has spanned thirty years across film, television, video games and theater. He got his film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Mike Nichols' films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s he had supporting roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) opposite Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino and the black comedy film The Ref, before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in 1995's The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer John Doe in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in noir crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997) alongside Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and American Beauty (1999), for which he earned his second Academy Award, this time for Best Actor.
In the 2000s he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), and 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the last of which he also produced. In 2004 he wrote, directed and starred in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea (2004). In 2011 he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel film Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort.
From 2013–2017 he played Francis "Frank" Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards alongside Robin Wright. Spacey also starred in the HBO television film Recount (2008) and produced the 2006 film Bernard and Doris.
Awards and nominations
Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.</onlyinclude>
Personal life
An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.
In 1999, reports suggested Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you."
In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happened to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.
Political views and activism
Spacey's political views have been described as left-leaning and mirroring some of those professed by his fictional character in House of Cards. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007, but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he donated money to the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.
Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. He also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.
In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
In 2018, Earl Blue, owner of the security company VIP Protective Services, claimed that Spacey had used racial slurs against his predominantly African-American staff when they were hired on the House of Cards set in 2012, before getting Blue fired.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
Fifteen others then came forward alleging similar abuse, including Boston anchorwoman Heather Unruh, who alleged that Spacey sexually assaulted her son; filmmaker Tony Montana; actor Roberto Cavazos; Richard Dreyfuss' son Harry; and eight people who worked on House of Cards. The Guardian was contacted by "a number of people" who alleged that Spacey "groped and behaved in an inappropriate way with young men" as artistic director of the Old Vic.
Coming out controversy
On the same day of Rapp's allegations against him, Spacey came out as gay when apologizing to Rapp. He said, "I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man." His decision to come out via his statement was criticized by prominent homosexuals, including Billy Eichner, George Takei, Lance Bass, and Wanda Sykes, as an attempt to change the subject and shift focus from Rapp's accusation, for using his own drunkenness as an excuse for making a sexual advance on a minor, and for implying a connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.
Reaction and ramifications
Amid the allegations, filming was suspended on the sixth and final season of House of Cards. The show's production company had implemented "an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counsellors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew", and stated that in 2012, "someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved." According to the production company, Spacey "willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints" involving him. The show had been due to end in 2018. The season was shortened from 13 episodes to eight, and Spacey was removed from the cast and his role as executive producer.
The Gore Vidal biographical film Gore starring Spacey, which was set to be distributed by Netflix, was canceled, and Netflix went on to sever all ties with him. He was due to appear in All the Money in the World as industrialist J. Paul Getty. However, his scenes were cut and Christopher Plummer replaced him as Getty in reshoots. In an interview with Variety, Plummer said, "It's really not replacing [Spacey]. It's starting all over again." Plummer elaborated saying, "I think it's very sad what happened to him... Kevin is such a talented and a terrifically gifted actor, and it's so sad. It's such a shame. That's all I can say, because that's it."
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. On November 2, 2017, Variety reported that his publicist Staci Wolfe and talent agency Creative Artists Agency were ending their relationships with him.
Christmas Eve YouTube videos
From 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve.
On December 24, 2018, Spacey uploaded a video titled "Let Me Be Frank", in which he – while in character as Frank Underwood – appeared to deny the real-life allegations leveled against him. The video was described as "bizarre", "stomach-churning", and "creepy". As of August 2020, the video has over 12 million views.
One year later, on December 24, 2019, Spacey posted another video, titled "KTWK" (short for "kill them with kindness"), to his YouTube channel, once again in character as Underwood. In 2020, Spacey posted a third Christmas Eve video, titled " XMAS", in which he spoke in Underwood's accent before breaking character and speaking in his natural voice. He then expressed sympathy for people struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted two suicide and substance abuse hotlines. The annual videos have been described as "tone-deaf" with respect to the allegations against him.
Spacey did not release a new video on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated in April 2018 that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur at a house in Malibu, California, in October 2016.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the cell phone in question is "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that when Unruh gave her son's cell phone to police in 2017, she admitted she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. On July 5, 2019, he voluntarily dismissed the claims with prejudice.
On July 17, 2019, the criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by the Cape and Islands prosecutors. When the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died, the last remaining criminal case against Spacey was closed.
On September 9, 2020, Anthony Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York's statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Joining Rapp in the suit against Spacey was a man who requested to remain anonymous who accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24. On June 17, 2021, the anonymous accuser was dismissed from the case due to his refusal to publicly identify himself.
In 2020, Spacey and his production companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions were ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Discography
Albums
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)
Singles
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)
Live performances
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actor-managers
Actors awarded knighthoods
Actors from Los Angeles County, California
Actors Studio alumni
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American theatre directors
Artistic directors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
Film producers from California
American gay actors
American gay writers
Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
HIV/AIDS activists
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Juilliard School alumni
Laurence Olivier Award winners
LGBT people from California
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT producers
LGBT singers from the United States
Los Angeles Valley College people
Male actors from California
Male actors from New Jersey
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Tony Award winners
LGBT film directors
LGBT theatre directors | true | [
"Movie Musical Madness is a computer program that was published by The Dovetail Group\n\nFeatures\nMovie Musical Madness is a 1-player music management game in which the player takes the role of a musical film director as he attempts to create an appropriate score for, select an appropriate plot for, and direct the actions of his group of actors, The Jazz Scats. The Jazz Scats (a group of bearded actors) can be set to perform in dozens of scenes ranging from city scenes to jungle scenes to outer-space scenes.\n\nReception\nJoyce Worley from Electronic Games said that \"Movie Musical Madness is a merry-madcap sort of program. Designed for kids from about age 6 and over, it will nonetheless charm older computerists just as well as they build sets, pick the music, then guide the stars through their paces. The \"movies\" may never win Academy Awards, but the fun is in the creating!\n\nTom Benford from Commodore Microcomputers said that \"Movie Musical Madness is my personal choice for an Oscar. And what's more, it's a great program for kids of any age, including moms, dads and grandparents as well. It's wonderful fun that provides plenty of exercise for your creativity and imagination.\"\n\nBraden E. Griffin M.D. from ANALOG Computing said that \"All in all, Movie Musical Madness is fun, stimulating and enjoyable.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nReview in Family Computing\n\nMusic software",
"Tom McArdle is an American film editor. He is best known as the editor for every film written and directed by Tom McCarthy, including The Station Agent (2003), The Visitor (2007), Win Win (2011) and The Cobbler (2014). For Spotlight (2015), his latest collaboration with McCarthy, McArdle was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing at the 88th Academy Awards and also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing.\n\nFilmography\n\nAs an editor\n\n Stillwater (2021)\n Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (2020)\n What They Had (2018)\n Marshall (2017)\n Spotlight (2015)\n The Cobbler (2014)\n God's Pocket (2014)\n In a World... (2013)\n Hello I Must Be Going (2012)\n Win Win (2011)\n Tenure (2008)\n Middle of Nowhere (2008)\n Heckler (2007) (Documentary)\n The Visitor (2007)\n The Architect (2006)\n Nadine in Date Land (2005) (TV Movie)\n Duane Hopwood (2005)\n Killer Diller (2004)\n Boys on the Run (2003)\n The Killing Zone (2003)\n The Station Agent (2003)\n Lone Hero (2002)\n Whipped (2000)\n Poor White Trash (2000)\n Loving Jezebel (1999)\n QM, I Think I Call Her QM (1999) (Short)\n Nazis: The Occult Conspiracy (1998) (Documentary)\n Hi-Life (1998)\n Paranoia (1998)\n A Hole in the Head (1998) (Documentary)\n Better Than Ever (1997)\n Talk to Me (1997)\n Star Maps (1997)\n Twisted (1996)\n Sandman (Short) (1995)\n The Keeper (1995)\n Hand Gun (1994)\n The Occult History of the Third Reich (Video Documentary) (1992)\n Laws of Gravity (1992)\n\nOther credits\n 2005: The Quiet (additional editor)\n 2003: The Killing Zone (associate producer)\n 2002: The Skateboard Show (TV Movie) (additional editor)\n\nAccolades\n\nSee also\nList of film director and editor collaborations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nLiving people\nAmerican film editors\nAmerican Cinema Editors\nIndependent Spirit Award winners\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] |
[
"Kevin Spacey",
"2011-2017",
"Was there any legal trouble for Spacey between 2011 - 2017?",
"He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013,",
"Did he win other awards?",
"He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards",
"What was another one?",
"Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.",
"What movie did he win that for?",
"Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance."
] | C_60cd5e15e1124a3bb81e186715b17365_0 | What movies was he in? | 5 | What movies was Kevin Spacey in? | Kevin Spacey | Spacey is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy nominated from a web television series. He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. Spacey starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016). The film is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in 10 days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the company announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in re-shoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. CANNOTANSWER | In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. | Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017).
In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged.
Early life and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. Spacey has an older brother, Randy Fowler, who is a limousine driver and Rod Stewart impersonator in Boise, Idaho, and a sister, Julie Ann Fowler Keir, an office worker. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Randy Fowler (from whom Spacey is estranged) has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey had shut down emotionally and become "very sly and smart" to avoid whippings.
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Career
Theatre
1981–1986: Career beginnings in theatre
Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann and director John Neville, which had opened at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington's Kennedy Center. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, Spacey appeared in a production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, in which he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull alongside David Strathairn and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1986, Spacey appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.
1986–1991: Broadway success and Tony win
Spacey's prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son, in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey and was invited, along with Spacey's high school drama teacher, to be present when Spacey received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. In 1999, Spacey won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and earned another Tony Award nomination in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.
2003–2015: Artistic director of the Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, Spacey promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. He undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company staged shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.
In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen, I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people." On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre. The honor, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by Prince Charles. While Spacey will be permitted to add the post-nominal letters, KBE, to his name, as a non-Commonwealth citizen the award is honorary and he will not be able to style himself as "Sir Kevin". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in 2010.
Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In mid-2006, Spacey said that he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic; at that point in his career, he said, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside [myself]". Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C.K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.
In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Matthew Modine and future House of Cards co-star Neve Campbell) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Later that year, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit the Wind. Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name. Sam Mendes directed Spacey in Shakespeare's Richard III; Spacey played the title role. The show began in June 2011, commencing a worldwide tour culminating in New York in early 2012. In March 2014, it was announced that Spacey would star in a one-man play at the Old Vic to celebrate his ten years as artistic director. He took on the part of Clarence Darrow in the play.
Film
1986–1994: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1986, Spacey made his first film appearance in Mike Nichols' Heartburn starring Meryl Streep, and Jack Nicholson. Spacey plays a small role credited as a subway thief. In 1988 Spacey also briefly appeared in another Nichols' film Working Girl, as sleazy businessman Bob Speck. Some of Spacey's other early roles include a widowed, eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law; the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon; and the comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including the malevolent office manager in the ensemble film adaptation of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) starring Al Pacino. He also played one-half of a bickering Connecticut couple alongside Judy Davis in the dark comedy Christmas film The Ref (1994), and a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks (1995), gaining him positive notices by critics.
1990–1999: Rise to stardom and awards success
Spacey's performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in Bryan Singer's 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1995, Spacey also appeared in the David Fincher detective thriller Seven, making a sudden entrance late in the film as serial killer John Doe after going uncredited and unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards. Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. Spacey made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a box office bomb, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also voiced Hopper in the animated film A Bug's Life (1998).
Throughout his career, Spacey has been well known for playing villains; he remarked in 2013: "I think people just like me evil for some reason. They want me to be a son of a bitch."
In 1999, Spacey acted alongside Annette Bening in Sam Mendes' American Beauty. In the film he played the role of Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father and advertising executive who lusts after his teenage daughter's best friend. Spacey won his second Oscar this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In his acceptance speech he dedicated his Oscar to Jack Lemmon praising him as an influence, mentor, and father figure. He also stated, "[Lemmon's] performance in The Apartment stands as one of the finest we've ever had". That same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000–2009: Continued work
Spacey played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the U.S., Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the film's soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of its release. Spacey received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers debated the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.
In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer superhero film Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but the series was instead rebooted with the 2013 film Man of Steel. Spacey also appeared in Edison, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006.
In 2008, Spacey played an MIT lecturer in the film 21. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack. In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.
2011–2016: Independent films and comedies
In 2011 Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In film focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016.
In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.
2017–present: Career controversy
In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in reshoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release.
Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that they would be taking no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, prior to the allegations made in October 2017.
In May 2021, it was announced that Spacey had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. Spacey has not commented on the role. In August 2021, it was reported that Spacey was filming in California for a small production titled Peter Five Eight and directed by Michael Zaiko Hall.
Television
1987–1994: Television debut and early roles
In 1987, Spacey made his first major television appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. That same year he appeared in spy thriller series The Equalizer as Detective Sergeant Cole in the episode "Solo". He earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy (1988).
2003–2012: HBO projects and other work
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and again in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.
In 2008 Spacey starred as Ron Klain in the HBO original political drama film Recount revolving around Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The film was written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, starring Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. The television film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. For his performance in the film Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film. That same year Spacey produced Bernard and Doris, an HBO film about the semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon and was directed by Bob Balaban. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to as a young actor in New York Citying his vocal skills to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theater tickets and enter Studio 54. Spacey's Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and an earlier recording of Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road". In December 2007, Spacey co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Uma Thurman.
2013–2017: House of Cards and critical acclaim
On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.
Video games
Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture.
Filmography
Spacey's career has spanned thirty years across film, television, video games and theater. He got his film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Mike Nichols' films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s he had supporting roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) opposite Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino and the black comedy film The Ref, before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in 1995's The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer John Doe in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in noir crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997) alongside Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and American Beauty (1999), for which he earned his second Academy Award, this time for Best Actor.
In the 2000s he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), and 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the last of which he also produced. In 2004 he wrote, directed and starred in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea (2004). In 2011 he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel film Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort.
From 2013–2017 he played Francis "Frank" Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards alongside Robin Wright. Spacey also starred in the HBO television film Recount (2008) and produced the 2006 film Bernard and Doris.
Awards and nominations
Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.</onlyinclude>
Personal life
An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.
In 1999, reports suggested Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you."
In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happened to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.
Political views and activism
Spacey's political views have been described as left-leaning and mirroring some of those professed by his fictional character in House of Cards. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007, but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he donated money to the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.
Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. He also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.
In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
In 2018, Earl Blue, owner of the security company VIP Protective Services, claimed that Spacey had used racial slurs against his predominantly African-American staff when they were hired on the House of Cards set in 2012, before getting Blue fired.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
Fifteen others then came forward alleging similar abuse, including Boston anchorwoman Heather Unruh, who alleged that Spacey sexually assaulted her son; filmmaker Tony Montana; actor Roberto Cavazos; Richard Dreyfuss' son Harry; and eight people who worked on House of Cards. The Guardian was contacted by "a number of people" who alleged that Spacey "groped and behaved in an inappropriate way with young men" as artistic director of the Old Vic.
Coming out controversy
On the same day of Rapp's allegations against him, Spacey came out as gay when apologizing to Rapp. He said, "I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man." His decision to come out via his statement was criticized by prominent homosexuals, including Billy Eichner, George Takei, Lance Bass, and Wanda Sykes, as an attempt to change the subject and shift focus from Rapp's accusation, for using his own drunkenness as an excuse for making a sexual advance on a minor, and for implying a connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.
Reaction and ramifications
Amid the allegations, filming was suspended on the sixth and final season of House of Cards. The show's production company had implemented "an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counsellors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew", and stated that in 2012, "someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved." According to the production company, Spacey "willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints" involving him. The show had been due to end in 2018. The season was shortened from 13 episodes to eight, and Spacey was removed from the cast and his role as executive producer.
The Gore Vidal biographical film Gore starring Spacey, which was set to be distributed by Netflix, was canceled, and Netflix went on to sever all ties with him. He was due to appear in All the Money in the World as industrialist J. Paul Getty. However, his scenes were cut and Christopher Plummer replaced him as Getty in reshoots. In an interview with Variety, Plummer said, "It's really not replacing [Spacey]. It's starting all over again." Plummer elaborated saying, "I think it's very sad what happened to him... Kevin is such a talented and a terrifically gifted actor, and it's so sad. It's such a shame. That's all I can say, because that's it."
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. On November 2, 2017, Variety reported that his publicist Staci Wolfe and talent agency Creative Artists Agency were ending their relationships with him.
Christmas Eve YouTube videos
From 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve.
On December 24, 2018, Spacey uploaded a video titled "Let Me Be Frank", in which he – while in character as Frank Underwood – appeared to deny the real-life allegations leveled against him. The video was described as "bizarre", "stomach-churning", and "creepy". As of August 2020, the video has over 12 million views.
One year later, on December 24, 2019, Spacey posted another video, titled "KTWK" (short for "kill them with kindness"), to his YouTube channel, once again in character as Underwood. In 2020, Spacey posted a third Christmas Eve video, titled " XMAS", in which he spoke in Underwood's accent before breaking character and speaking in his natural voice. He then expressed sympathy for people struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted two suicide and substance abuse hotlines. The annual videos have been described as "tone-deaf" with respect to the allegations against him.
Spacey did not release a new video on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated in April 2018 that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur at a house in Malibu, California, in October 2016.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the cell phone in question is "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that when Unruh gave her son's cell phone to police in 2017, she admitted she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. On July 5, 2019, he voluntarily dismissed the claims with prejudice.
On July 17, 2019, the criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by the Cape and Islands prosecutors. When the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died, the last remaining criminal case against Spacey was closed.
On September 9, 2020, Anthony Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York's statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Joining Rapp in the suit against Spacey was a man who requested to remain anonymous who accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24. On June 17, 2021, the anonymous accuser was dismissed from the case due to his refusal to publicly identify himself.
In 2020, Spacey and his production companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions were ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Discography
Albums
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)
Singles
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)
Live performances
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actor-managers
Actors awarded knighthoods
Actors from Los Angeles County, California
Actors Studio alumni
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American theatre directors
Artistic directors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
Film producers from California
American gay actors
American gay writers
Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
HIV/AIDS activists
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Juilliard School alumni
Laurence Olivier Award winners
LGBT people from California
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT producers
LGBT singers from the United States
Los Angeles Valley College people
Male actors from California
Male actors from New Jersey
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Tony Award winners
LGBT film directors
LGBT theatre directors | false | [
"Nollywood Movies is an online subscription movie television channel, formerly broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky channel 327. Each month the channel offers over 30 different new and recently released Nigerian movies, 24 hours a day. It is the first such channel in operation in the UK. Films offered are primarily in English, with some subtitled, in genres including drama, comedy, romance, family, thriller, traditional, fantasy and true story films. The channel is funded through subscription and advertising.\n\nNollywood Movies launched on TalkTalk TV YouView in 2013, on channel 477. The channel was part of the African TV Boost. It moved to 557 on 2 June 2015, but was removed on 30 November 2015. Nollywood Movies was removed from the Virgin Media platform on 22 February 2018, and satellite transmissions ended on May 1, 2018.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n What is Nollywood? \n The History of Nollywood\n\nMovie channels in the United Kingdom\nCinema of Nigeria\nTelevision channels and stations established in 2008",
"Rameshwor Karki () is a cinematographer in a Nepali Film Industry. Nepali Film Industry is based in a Nepali language. Nepali movies are totally based in the country of Nepal. He started his career in Nepal by shooting television serial 'Syno kasto kasto',\"Sante ko sapnana\". Afnai Manlai Sodhi Hera was one of his first movies which was well liked by the spectators. Whereas his debut movie was 'Dulahee'. After this he got quite popularity in Nepal based Film Industry and shot many movies, music videos and television commercials.\n\nCarrier\n\nRameshwor Karki's first movie was \"Dulahee\" which was released in 2011. Before this movie he has already worked in many television serials and music videos. At first it was hard for him to struggle through the hardship and building public relation with in the Film Industry. But after release of his first movie his work was liked my many directors and producers in the industry.\n\nLater on he started to work in many big screen movies including \"Saurya\", \"Dulahee\"(Which was the blockbuster in box office.), \"Birashat\", \"A for America\" and his recent movies are \"Kaifiyat\", \"Sushree\", \"Alvida\" and \"Tin Ghumti\".\n\nKarki hasn't only worked in big screen movies but he worked in many Documentaries like \"Diyo\", \"Sapana\"- Nepal Police ( Women Sensitizition in Nepal Police ), \" Liberation\". He worked as cinematographer in many reputetd companies like Hyundai motors, IGT gas, Syenergy, AECC Global, etc.\n\nFilmography\n\nAwards\n\nReferences\n\n1980 births\nLiving people\nNepalese cinematographers"
] |
[
"Kevin Spacey",
"2011-2017",
"Was there any legal trouble for Spacey between 2011 - 2017?",
"He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013,",
"Did he win other awards?",
"He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards",
"What was another one?",
"Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.",
"What movie did he win that for?",
"Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.",
"What movies was he in?",
"In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office."
] | C_60cd5e15e1124a3bb81e186715b17365_0 | What other movies? | 6 | Besides the film Horrible Bosses, what other movies? | Kevin Spacey | Spacey is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy nominated from a web television series. He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. Spacey starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016). The film is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in 10 days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the company announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in re-shoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. CANNOTANSWER | He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. | Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017).
In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged.
Early life and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. Spacey has an older brother, Randy Fowler, who is a limousine driver and Rod Stewart impersonator in Boise, Idaho, and a sister, Julie Ann Fowler Keir, an office worker. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Randy Fowler (from whom Spacey is estranged) has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey had shut down emotionally and become "very sly and smart" to avoid whippings.
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Career
Theatre
1981–1986: Career beginnings in theatre
Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann and director John Neville, which had opened at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington's Kennedy Center. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, Spacey appeared in a production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, in which he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull alongside David Strathairn and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1986, Spacey appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.
1986–1991: Broadway success and Tony win
Spacey's prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son, in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey and was invited, along with Spacey's high school drama teacher, to be present when Spacey received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. In 1999, Spacey won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and earned another Tony Award nomination in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.
2003–2015: Artistic director of the Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, Spacey promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. He undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company staged shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.
In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen, I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people." On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre. The honor, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by Prince Charles. While Spacey will be permitted to add the post-nominal letters, KBE, to his name, as a non-Commonwealth citizen the award is honorary and he will not be able to style himself as "Sir Kevin". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in 2010.
Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In mid-2006, Spacey said that he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic; at that point in his career, he said, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside [myself]". Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C.K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.
In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Matthew Modine and future House of Cards co-star Neve Campbell) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Later that year, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit the Wind. Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name. Sam Mendes directed Spacey in Shakespeare's Richard III; Spacey played the title role. The show began in June 2011, commencing a worldwide tour culminating in New York in early 2012. In March 2014, it was announced that Spacey would star in a one-man play at the Old Vic to celebrate his ten years as artistic director. He took on the part of Clarence Darrow in the play.
Film
1986–1994: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1986, Spacey made his first film appearance in Mike Nichols' Heartburn starring Meryl Streep, and Jack Nicholson. Spacey plays a small role credited as a subway thief. In 1988 Spacey also briefly appeared in another Nichols' film Working Girl, as sleazy businessman Bob Speck. Some of Spacey's other early roles include a widowed, eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law; the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon; and the comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including the malevolent office manager in the ensemble film adaptation of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) starring Al Pacino. He also played one-half of a bickering Connecticut couple alongside Judy Davis in the dark comedy Christmas film The Ref (1994), and a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks (1995), gaining him positive notices by critics.
1990–1999: Rise to stardom and awards success
Spacey's performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in Bryan Singer's 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1995, Spacey also appeared in the David Fincher detective thriller Seven, making a sudden entrance late in the film as serial killer John Doe after going uncredited and unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards. Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. Spacey made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a box office bomb, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also voiced Hopper in the animated film A Bug's Life (1998).
Throughout his career, Spacey has been well known for playing villains; he remarked in 2013: "I think people just like me evil for some reason. They want me to be a son of a bitch."
In 1999, Spacey acted alongside Annette Bening in Sam Mendes' American Beauty. In the film he played the role of Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father and advertising executive who lusts after his teenage daughter's best friend. Spacey won his second Oscar this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In his acceptance speech he dedicated his Oscar to Jack Lemmon praising him as an influence, mentor, and father figure. He also stated, "[Lemmon's] performance in The Apartment stands as one of the finest we've ever had". That same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000–2009: Continued work
Spacey played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the U.S., Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the film's soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of its release. Spacey received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers debated the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.
In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer superhero film Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but the series was instead rebooted with the 2013 film Man of Steel. Spacey also appeared in Edison, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006.
In 2008, Spacey played an MIT lecturer in the film 21. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack. In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.
2011–2016: Independent films and comedies
In 2011 Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In film focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016.
In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.
2017–present: Career controversy
In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in reshoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release.
Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that they would be taking no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, prior to the allegations made in October 2017.
In May 2021, it was announced that Spacey had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. Spacey has not commented on the role. In August 2021, it was reported that Spacey was filming in California for a small production titled Peter Five Eight and directed by Michael Zaiko Hall.
Television
1987–1994: Television debut and early roles
In 1987, Spacey made his first major television appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. That same year he appeared in spy thriller series The Equalizer as Detective Sergeant Cole in the episode "Solo". He earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy (1988).
2003–2012: HBO projects and other work
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and again in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.
In 2008 Spacey starred as Ron Klain in the HBO original political drama film Recount revolving around Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The film was written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, starring Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. The television film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. For his performance in the film Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film. That same year Spacey produced Bernard and Doris, an HBO film about the semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon and was directed by Bob Balaban. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to as a young actor in New York Citying his vocal skills to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theater tickets and enter Studio 54. Spacey's Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and an earlier recording of Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road". In December 2007, Spacey co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Uma Thurman.
2013–2017: House of Cards and critical acclaim
On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.
Video games
Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture.
Filmography
Spacey's career has spanned thirty years across film, television, video games and theater. He got his film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Mike Nichols' films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s he had supporting roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) opposite Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino and the black comedy film The Ref, before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in 1995's The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer John Doe in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in noir crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997) alongside Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and American Beauty (1999), for which he earned his second Academy Award, this time for Best Actor.
In the 2000s he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), and 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the last of which he also produced. In 2004 he wrote, directed and starred in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea (2004). In 2011 he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel film Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort.
From 2013–2017 he played Francis "Frank" Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards alongside Robin Wright. Spacey also starred in the HBO television film Recount (2008) and produced the 2006 film Bernard and Doris.
Awards and nominations
Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.</onlyinclude>
Personal life
An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.
In 1999, reports suggested Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you."
In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happened to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.
Political views and activism
Spacey's political views have been described as left-leaning and mirroring some of those professed by his fictional character in House of Cards. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007, but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he donated money to the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.
Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. He also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.
In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
In 2018, Earl Blue, owner of the security company VIP Protective Services, claimed that Spacey had used racial slurs against his predominantly African-American staff when they were hired on the House of Cards set in 2012, before getting Blue fired.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
Fifteen others then came forward alleging similar abuse, including Boston anchorwoman Heather Unruh, who alleged that Spacey sexually assaulted her son; filmmaker Tony Montana; actor Roberto Cavazos; Richard Dreyfuss' son Harry; and eight people who worked on House of Cards. The Guardian was contacted by "a number of people" who alleged that Spacey "groped and behaved in an inappropriate way with young men" as artistic director of the Old Vic.
Coming out controversy
On the same day of Rapp's allegations against him, Spacey came out as gay when apologizing to Rapp. He said, "I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man." His decision to come out via his statement was criticized by prominent homosexuals, including Billy Eichner, George Takei, Lance Bass, and Wanda Sykes, as an attempt to change the subject and shift focus from Rapp's accusation, for using his own drunkenness as an excuse for making a sexual advance on a minor, and for implying a connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.
Reaction and ramifications
Amid the allegations, filming was suspended on the sixth and final season of House of Cards. The show's production company had implemented "an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counsellors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew", and stated that in 2012, "someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved." According to the production company, Spacey "willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints" involving him. The show had been due to end in 2018. The season was shortened from 13 episodes to eight, and Spacey was removed from the cast and his role as executive producer.
The Gore Vidal biographical film Gore starring Spacey, which was set to be distributed by Netflix, was canceled, and Netflix went on to sever all ties with him. He was due to appear in All the Money in the World as industrialist J. Paul Getty. However, his scenes were cut and Christopher Plummer replaced him as Getty in reshoots. In an interview with Variety, Plummer said, "It's really not replacing [Spacey]. It's starting all over again." Plummer elaborated saying, "I think it's very sad what happened to him... Kevin is such a talented and a terrifically gifted actor, and it's so sad. It's such a shame. That's all I can say, because that's it."
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. On November 2, 2017, Variety reported that his publicist Staci Wolfe and talent agency Creative Artists Agency were ending their relationships with him.
Christmas Eve YouTube videos
From 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve.
On December 24, 2018, Spacey uploaded a video titled "Let Me Be Frank", in which he – while in character as Frank Underwood – appeared to deny the real-life allegations leveled against him. The video was described as "bizarre", "stomach-churning", and "creepy". As of August 2020, the video has over 12 million views.
One year later, on December 24, 2019, Spacey posted another video, titled "KTWK" (short for "kill them with kindness"), to his YouTube channel, once again in character as Underwood. In 2020, Spacey posted a third Christmas Eve video, titled " XMAS", in which he spoke in Underwood's accent before breaking character and speaking in his natural voice. He then expressed sympathy for people struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted two suicide and substance abuse hotlines. The annual videos have been described as "tone-deaf" with respect to the allegations against him.
Spacey did not release a new video on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated in April 2018 that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur at a house in Malibu, California, in October 2016.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the cell phone in question is "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that when Unruh gave her son's cell phone to police in 2017, she admitted she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. On July 5, 2019, he voluntarily dismissed the claims with prejudice.
On July 17, 2019, the criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by the Cape and Islands prosecutors. When the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died, the last remaining criminal case against Spacey was closed.
On September 9, 2020, Anthony Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York's statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Joining Rapp in the suit against Spacey was a man who requested to remain anonymous who accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24. On June 17, 2021, the anonymous accuser was dismissed from the case due to his refusal to publicly identify himself.
In 2020, Spacey and his production companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions were ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Discography
Albums
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)
Singles
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)
Live performances
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actor-managers
Actors awarded knighthoods
Actors from Los Angeles County, California
Actors Studio alumni
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American theatre directors
Artistic directors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
Film producers from California
American gay actors
American gay writers
Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
HIV/AIDS activists
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Juilliard School alumni
Laurence Olivier Award winners
LGBT people from California
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT producers
LGBT singers from the United States
Los Angeles Valley College people
Male actors from California
Male actors from New Jersey
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Tony Award winners
LGBT film directors
LGBT theatre directors | true | [
"Star Movies India is an Indian English-language movie channel owned by Star India, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. This is the Indian version of Star Movies which mainly broadcasts Hollywood films.\n\nHistory \nStar Movies launched by Star TV, then it was brought by News Corporation and formed Star India to operate the channel.\n\nIn March 2019, The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox with $71 million.\n\nThe channel ceased broadcasting in Sri Lanka from 1 February 2015 due to content rights issues, leaving the country with no Star Movies or Fox Movies channel.\n\nThe channel was relaunched in Sri Lanka in 2019 after 4 years.\n\nProgramming \nStar Movies has exclusive content deal with 20th Century Studios and Walt Disney studios since 2006. Star Movies also shows movies from other studios.\n\nStar Movies India HD\nStar Movies India launched their HD feed on 15 October 2013.\n\nOther channels \nStar India additionally launched an other channel with star movies name attached.\n\n Star Movies Select HD and Star Movies Select\n\nDefunct channels \n\n Star Movies Action\n\nReferences \n\nThe Walt Disney Company subsidiaries\nMovie channels in India\nTelevision channels and stations established in 1992\nEnglish-language television stations in India\nStar India",
"A body of films feature fictional films as part of their narrative. These are also called films within films.\n\nList of films\n\nSee also\n\nStory within a story\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\n\nFaux Real: 10 Fake Movies and Shows We’d Pay to See! at VH1\nThe Ten Best Fake Movies Ever (Not) Made at CraveOnline\nThe Best Fake Movies Within Movies at SparkNotes\nIn a World... Within a World: The 9 Best Fake Movie Trailers from Real Movies at MTV\n Ben Yagoda's \"Movies in Other Movies\"\n\nFictional"
] |
[
"Kevin Spacey",
"2011-2017",
"Was there any legal trouble for Spacey between 2011 - 2017?",
"He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013,",
"Did he win other awards?",
"He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards",
"What was another one?",
"Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.",
"What movie did he win that for?",
"Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.",
"What movies was he in?",
"In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office.",
"What other movies?",
"He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture."
] | C_60cd5e15e1124a3bb81e186715b17365_0 | Is that the only thing he produced/; | 7 | Is the film Captain Phillips the only film Kevin Spacey produced? | Kevin Spacey | Spacey is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy nominated from a web television series. He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. Spacey starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016). The film is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in 10 days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the company announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in re-shoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. CANNOTANSWER | Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: | Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017).
In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged.
Early life and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. Spacey has an older brother, Randy Fowler, who is a limousine driver and Rod Stewart impersonator in Boise, Idaho, and a sister, Julie Ann Fowler Keir, an office worker. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Randy Fowler (from whom Spacey is estranged) has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey had shut down emotionally and become "very sly and smart" to avoid whippings.
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Career
Theatre
1981–1986: Career beginnings in theatre
Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann and director John Neville, which had opened at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington's Kennedy Center. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, Spacey appeared in a production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, in which he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull alongside David Strathairn and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1986, Spacey appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.
1986–1991: Broadway success and Tony win
Spacey's prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son, in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey and was invited, along with Spacey's high school drama teacher, to be present when Spacey received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. In 1999, Spacey won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and earned another Tony Award nomination in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.
2003–2015: Artistic director of the Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, Spacey promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. He undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company staged shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.
In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen, I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people." On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre. The honor, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by Prince Charles. While Spacey will be permitted to add the post-nominal letters, KBE, to his name, as a non-Commonwealth citizen the award is honorary and he will not be able to style himself as "Sir Kevin". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in 2010.
Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In mid-2006, Spacey said that he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic; at that point in his career, he said, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside [myself]". Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C.K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.
In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Matthew Modine and future House of Cards co-star Neve Campbell) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Later that year, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit the Wind. Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name. Sam Mendes directed Spacey in Shakespeare's Richard III; Spacey played the title role. The show began in June 2011, commencing a worldwide tour culminating in New York in early 2012. In March 2014, it was announced that Spacey would star in a one-man play at the Old Vic to celebrate his ten years as artistic director. He took on the part of Clarence Darrow in the play.
Film
1986–1994: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1986, Spacey made his first film appearance in Mike Nichols' Heartburn starring Meryl Streep, and Jack Nicholson. Spacey plays a small role credited as a subway thief. In 1988 Spacey also briefly appeared in another Nichols' film Working Girl, as sleazy businessman Bob Speck. Some of Spacey's other early roles include a widowed, eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law; the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon; and the comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including the malevolent office manager in the ensemble film adaptation of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) starring Al Pacino. He also played one-half of a bickering Connecticut couple alongside Judy Davis in the dark comedy Christmas film The Ref (1994), and a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks (1995), gaining him positive notices by critics.
1990–1999: Rise to stardom and awards success
Spacey's performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in Bryan Singer's 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1995, Spacey also appeared in the David Fincher detective thriller Seven, making a sudden entrance late in the film as serial killer John Doe after going uncredited and unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards. Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. Spacey made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a box office bomb, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also voiced Hopper in the animated film A Bug's Life (1998).
Throughout his career, Spacey has been well known for playing villains; he remarked in 2013: "I think people just like me evil for some reason. They want me to be a son of a bitch."
In 1999, Spacey acted alongside Annette Bening in Sam Mendes' American Beauty. In the film he played the role of Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father and advertising executive who lusts after his teenage daughter's best friend. Spacey won his second Oscar this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In his acceptance speech he dedicated his Oscar to Jack Lemmon praising him as an influence, mentor, and father figure. He also stated, "[Lemmon's] performance in The Apartment stands as one of the finest we've ever had". That same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000–2009: Continued work
Spacey played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the U.S., Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the film's soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of its release. Spacey received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers debated the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.
In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer superhero film Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but the series was instead rebooted with the 2013 film Man of Steel. Spacey also appeared in Edison, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006.
In 2008, Spacey played an MIT lecturer in the film 21. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack. In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.
2011–2016: Independent films and comedies
In 2011 Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In film focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016.
In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.
2017–present: Career controversy
In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in reshoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release.
Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that they would be taking no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, prior to the allegations made in October 2017.
In May 2021, it was announced that Spacey had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. Spacey has not commented on the role. In August 2021, it was reported that Spacey was filming in California for a small production titled Peter Five Eight and directed by Michael Zaiko Hall.
Television
1987–1994: Television debut and early roles
In 1987, Spacey made his first major television appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. That same year he appeared in spy thriller series The Equalizer as Detective Sergeant Cole in the episode "Solo". He earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy (1988).
2003–2012: HBO projects and other work
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and again in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.
In 2008 Spacey starred as Ron Klain in the HBO original political drama film Recount revolving around Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The film was written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, starring Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. The television film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. For his performance in the film Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film. That same year Spacey produced Bernard and Doris, an HBO film about the semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon and was directed by Bob Balaban. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to as a young actor in New York Citying his vocal skills to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theater tickets and enter Studio 54. Spacey's Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and an earlier recording of Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road". In December 2007, Spacey co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Uma Thurman.
2013–2017: House of Cards and critical acclaim
On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.
Video games
Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture.
Filmography
Spacey's career has spanned thirty years across film, television, video games and theater. He got his film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Mike Nichols' films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s he had supporting roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) opposite Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino and the black comedy film The Ref, before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in 1995's The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer John Doe in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in noir crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997) alongside Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and American Beauty (1999), for which he earned his second Academy Award, this time for Best Actor.
In the 2000s he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), and 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the last of which he also produced. In 2004 he wrote, directed and starred in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea (2004). In 2011 he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel film Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort.
From 2013–2017 he played Francis "Frank" Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards alongside Robin Wright. Spacey also starred in the HBO television film Recount (2008) and produced the 2006 film Bernard and Doris.
Awards and nominations
Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.</onlyinclude>
Personal life
An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.
In 1999, reports suggested Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you."
In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happened to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.
Political views and activism
Spacey's political views have been described as left-leaning and mirroring some of those professed by his fictional character in House of Cards. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007, but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he donated money to the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.
Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. He also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.
In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
In 2018, Earl Blue, owner of the security company VIP Protective Services, claimed that Spacey had used racial slurs against his predominantly African-American staff when they were hired on the House of Cards set in 2012, before getting Blue fired.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
Fifteen others then came forward alleging similar abuse, including Boston anchorwoman Heather Unruh, who alleged that Spacey sexually assaulted her son; filmmaker Tony Montana; actor Roberto Cavazos; Richard Dreyfuss' son Harry; and eight people who worked on House of Cards. The Guardian was contacted by "a number of people" who alleged that Spacey "groped and behaved in an inappropriate way with young men" as artistic director of the Old Vic.
Coming out controversy
On the same day of Rapp's allegations against him, Spacey came out as gay when apologizing to Rapp. He said, "I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man." His decision to come out via his statement was criticized by prominent homosexuals, including Billy Eichner, George Takei, Lance Bass, and Wanda Sykes, as an attempt to change the subject and shift focus from Rapp's accusation, for using his own drunkenness as an excuse for making a sexual advance on a minor, and for implying a connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.
Reaction and ramifications
Amid the allegations, filming was suspended on the sixth and final season of House of Cards. The show's production company had implemented "an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counsellors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew", and stated that in 2012, "someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved." According to the production company, Spacey "willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints" involving him. The show had been due to end in 2018. The season was shortened from 13 episodes to eight, and Spacey was removed from the cast and his role as executive producer.
The Gore Vidal biographical film Gore starring Spacey, which was set to be distributed by Netflix, was canceled, and Netflix went on to sever all ties with him. He was due to appear in All the Money in the World as industrialist J. Paul Getty. However, his scenes were cut and Christopher Plummer replaced him as Getty in reshoots. In an interview with Variety, Plummer said, "It's really not replacing [Spacey]. It's starting all over again." Plummer elaborated saying, "I think it's very sad what happened to him... Kevin is such a talented and a terrifically gifted actor, and it's so sad. It's such a shame. That's all I can say, because that's it."
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. On November 2, 2017, Variety reported that his publicist Staci Wolfe and talent agency Creative Artists Agency were ending their relationships with him.
Christmas Eve YouTube videos
From 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve.
On December 24, 2018, Spacey uploaded a video titled "Let Me Be Frank", in which he – while in character as Frank Underwood – appeared to deny the real-life allegations leveled against him. The video was described as "bizarre", "stomach-churning", and "creepy". As of August 2020, the video has over 12 million views.
One year later, on December 24, 2019, Spacey posted another video, titled "KTWK" (short for "kill them with kindness"), to his YouTube channel, once again in character as Underwood. In 2020, Spacey posted a third Christmas Eve video, titled " XMAS", in which he spoke in Underwood's accent before breaking character and speaking in his natural voice. He then expressed sympathy for people struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted two suicide and substance abuse hotlines. The annual videos have been described as "tone-deaf" with respect to the allegations against him.
Spacey did not release a new video on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated in April 2018 that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur at a house in Malibu, California, in October 2016.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the cell phone in question is "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that when Unruh gave her son's cell phone to police in 2017, she admitted she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. On July 5, 2019, he voluntarily dismissed the claims with prejudice.
On July 17, 2019, the criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by the Cape and Islands prosecutors. When the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died, the last remaining criminal case against Spacey was closed.
On September 9, 2020, Anthony Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York's statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Joining Rapp in the suit against Spacey was a man who requested to remain anonymous who accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24. On June 17, 2021, the anonymous accuser was dismissed from the case due to his refusal to publicly identify himself.
In 2020, Spacey and his production companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions were ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Discography
Albums
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)
Singles
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)
Live performances
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actor-managers
Actors awarded knighthoods
Actors from Los Angeles County, California
Actors Studio alumni
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American theatre directors
Artistic directors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
Film producers from California
American gay actors
American gay writers
Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
HIV/AIDS activists
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Juilliard School alumni
Laurence Olivier Award winners
LGBT people from California
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT producers
LGBT singers from the United States
Los Angeles Valley College people
Male actors from California
Male actors from New Jersey
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Tony Award winners
LGBT film directors
LGBT theatre directors | false | [
"\"(Shake That) Cosmic Thing\" (also known only as \"Cosmic Thing\") is a song by The B-52's released as a single on the soundtrack to the film Earth Girls Are Easy. It was also released as the first single from their album Cosmic Thing, although was airplay only.\n\nThe music video for the song is live footage from an August 17, 1990, concert live from the Shoreline Amphitheatre, in Mountain View, California.\n\nChart positions\n\n1989 singles\nThe B-52's songs\nSong recordings produced by Don Was\nSongs written by Fred Schneider\nSongs written by Kate Pierson\nSongs written by Keith Strickland\nSongs written by Cindy Wilson\nSong recordings produced by Nile Rodgers\nWarner Records singles\n1988 songs",
"\"A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)\" was a hit single for Romeo Void in 1984, from the Columbia album Instincts. It was the band's biggest hit and only Top 40 single, peaking at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.\n\nTrack listing\n\n7-inch\n\"A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)\"\n\"Going to Neon\"\n\n12-inch\n\"A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)\" (Dance Mix)\n\"Six Days and One\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n1984 singles\nRomeo Void songs\n1984 songs\nColumbia Records singles\nSong recordings produced by David Kahne\nSongs written by David Kahne"
] |
[
"Kevin Spacey",
"2011-2017",
"Was there any legal trouble for Spacey between 2011 - 2017?",
"He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013,",
"Did he win other awards?",
"He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards",
"What was another one?",
"Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.",
"What movie did he win that for?",
"Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.",
"What movies was he in?",
"In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office.",
"What other movies?",
"He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.",
"Is that the only thing he produced/;",
"Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty:"
] | C_60cd5e15e1124a3bb81e186715b17365_0 | Did he win anything for Call of Duty? | 8 | Did Kevin Spacey win an award for Call of Duty? | Kevin Spacey | Spacey is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy nominated from a web television series. He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. In July 2011, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed founder and president of the private military corporation Atlas Corporation, Jonathan Irons, in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. Spacey starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016). The film is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in 10 days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the company announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in re-shoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017).
In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged.
Early life and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. Spacey has an older brother, Randy Fowler, who is a limousine driver and Rod Stewart impersonator in Boise, Idaho, and a sister, Julie Ann Fowler Keir, an office worker. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Randy Fowler (from whom Spacey is estranged) has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey had shut down emotionally and become "very sly and smart" to avoid whippings.
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Career
Theatre
1981–1986: Career beginnings in theatre
Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann and director John Neville, which had opened at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington's Kennedy Center. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, Spacey appeared in a production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, in which he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull alongside David Strathairn and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1986, Spacey appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.
1986–1991: Broadway success and Tony win
Spacey's prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son, in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey and was invited, along with Spacey's high school drama teacher, to be present when Spacey received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. In 1999, Spacey won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and earned another Tony Award nomination in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.
2003–2015: Artistic director of the Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, Spacey promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. He undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company staged shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.
In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen, I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people." On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre. The honor, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by Prince Charles. While Spacey will be permitted to add the post-nominal letters, KBE, to his name, as a non-Commonwealth citizen the award is honorary and he will not be able to style himself as "Sir Kevin". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in 2010.
Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In mid-2006, Spacey said that he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic; at that point in his career, he said, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside [myself]". Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C.K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.
In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Matthew Modine and future House of Cards co-star Neve Campbell) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Later that year, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit the Wind. Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name. Sam Mendes directed Spacey in Shakespeare's Richard III; Spacey played the title role. The show began in June 2011, commencing a worldwide tour culminating in New York in early 2012. In March 2014, it was announced that Spacey would star in a one-man play at the Old Vic to celebrate his ten years as artistic director. He took on the part of Clarence Darrow in the play.
Film
1986–1994: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1986, Spacey made his first film appearance in Mike Nichols' Heartburn starring Meryl Streep, and Jack Nicholson. Spacey plays a small role credited as a subway thief. In 1988 Spacey also briefly appeared in another Nichols' film Working Girl, as sleazy businessman Bob Speck. Some of Spacey's other early roles include a widowed, eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law; the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon; and the comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including the malevolent office manager in the ensemble film adaptation of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) starring Al Pacino. He also played one-half of a bickering Connecticut couple alongside Judy Davis in the dark comedy Christmas film The Ref (1994), and a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks (1995), gaining him positive notices by critics.
1990–1999: Rise to stardom and awards success
Spacey's performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in Bryan Singer's 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1995, Spacey also appeared in the David Fincher detective thriller Seven, making a sudden entrance late in the film as serial killer John Doe after going uncredited and unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards. Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. Spacey made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a box office bomb, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also voiced Hopper in the animated film A Bug's Life (1998).
Throughout his career, Spacey has been well known for playing villains; he remarked in 2013: "I think people just like me evil for some reason. They want me to be a son of a bitch."
In 1999, Spacey acted alongside Annette Bening in Sam Mendes' American Beauty. In the film he played the role of Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father and advertising executive who lusts after his teenage daughter's best friend. Spacey won his second Oscar this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In his acceptance speech he dedicated his Oscar to Jack Lemmon praising him as an influence, mentor, and father figure. He also stated, "[Lemmon's] performance in The Apartment stands as one of the finest we've ever had". That same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000–2009: Continued work
Spacey played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the U.S., Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the film's soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of its release. Spacey received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers debated the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.
In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer superhero film Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but the series was instead rebooted with the 2013 film Man of Steel. Spacey also appeared in Edison, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006.
In 2008, Spacey played an MIT lecturer in the film 21. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack. In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.
2011–2016: Independent films and comedies
In 2011 Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In film focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office. He executive produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips in 2013, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016.
In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.
2017–present: Career controversy
In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. However, due to the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017 that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace Spacey as Getty in reshoots. In spite of the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release.
Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that they would be taking no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, prior to the allegations made in October 2017.
In May 2021, it was announced that Spacey had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. Spacey has not commented on the role. In August 2021, it was reported that Spacey was filming in California for a small production titled Peter Five Eight and directed by Michael Zaiko Hall.
Television
1987–1994: Television debut and early roles
In 1987, Spacey made his first major television appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. That same year he appeared in spy thriller series The Equalizer as Detective Sergeant Cole in the episode "Solo". He earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy (1988).
2003–2012: HBO projects and other work
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and again in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.
In 2008 Spacey starred as Ron Klain in the HBO original political drama film Recount revolving around Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The film was written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, starring Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. The television film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. For his performance in the film Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film. That same year Spacey produced Bernard and Doris, an HBO film about the semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon and was directed by Bob Balaban. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Spacey was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to as a young actor in New York Citying his vocal skills to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theater tickets and enter Studio 54. Spacey's Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and an earlier recording of Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road". In December 2007, Spacey co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Uma Thurman.
2013–2017: House of Cards and critical acclaim
On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance.
Video games
Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture.
Filmography
Spacey's career has spanned thirty years across film, television, video games and theater. He got his film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Mike Nichols' films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s he had supporting roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) opposite Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino and the black comedy film The Ref, before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in 1995's The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer John Doe in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in noir crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997) alongside Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and American Beauty (1999), for which he earned his second Academy Award, this time for Best Actor.
In the 2000s he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), and 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the last of which he also produced. In 2004 he wrote, directed and starred in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea (2004). In 2011 he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel film Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort.
From 2013–2017 he played Francis "Frank" Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards alongside Robin Wright. Spacey also starred in the HBO television film Recount (2008) and produced the 2006 film Bernard and Doris.
Awards and nominations
Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.</onlyinclude>
Personal life
An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.
In 1999, reports suggested Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you."
In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happened to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.
Political views and activism
Spacey's political views have been described as left-leaning and mirroring some of those professed by his fictional character in House of Cards. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007, but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he donated money to the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.
Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. He also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.
In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
In 2018, Earl Blue, owner of the security company VIP Protective Services, claimed that Spacey had used racial slurs against his predominantly African-American staff when they were hired on the House of Cards set in 2012, before getting Blue fired.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
Fifteen others then came forward alleging similar abuse, including Boston anchorwoman Heather Unruh, who alleged that Spacey sexually assaulted her son; filmmaker Tony Montana; actor Roberto Cavazos; Richard Dreyfuss' son Harry; and eight people who worked on House of Cards. The Guardian was contacted by "a number of people" who alleged that Spacey "groped and behaved in an inappropriate way with young men" as artistic director of the Old Vic.
Coming out controversy
On the same day of Rapp's allegations against him, Spacey came out as gay when apologizing to Rapp. He said, "I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man." His decision to come out via his statement was criticized by prominent homosexuals, including Billy Eichner, George Takei, Lance Bass, and Wanda Sykes, as an attempt to change the subject and shift focus from Rapp's accusation, for using his own drunkenness as an excuse for making a sexual advance on a minor, and for implying a connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.
Reaction and ramifications
Amid the allegations, filming was suspended on the sixth and final season of House of Cards. The show's production company had implemented "an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counsellors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew", and stated that in 2012, "someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved." According to the production company, Spacey "willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints" involving him. The show had been due to end in 2018. The season was shortened from 13 episodes to eight, and Spacey was removed from the cast and his role as executive producer.
The Gore Vidal biographical film Gore starring Spacey, which was set to be distributed by Netflix, was canceled, and Netflix went on to sever all ties with him. He was due to appear in All the Money in the World as industrialist J. Paul Getty. However, his scenes were cut and Christopher Plummer replaced him as Getty in reshoots. In an interview with Variety, Plummer said, "It's really not replacing [Spacey]. It's starting all over again." Plummer elaborated saying, "I think it's very sad what happened to him... Kevin is such a talented and a terrifically gifted actor, and it's so sad. It's such a shame. That's all I can say, because that's it."
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. On November 2, 2017, Variety reported that his publicist Staci Wolfe and talent agency Creative Artists Agency were ending their relationships with him.
Christmas Eve YouTube videos
From 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve.
On December 24, 2018, Spacey uploaded a video titled "Let Me Be Frank", in which he – while in character as Frank Underwood – appeared to deny the real-life allegations leveled against him. The video was described as "bizarre", "stomach-churning", and "creepy". As of August 2020, the video has over 12 million views.
One year later, on December 24, 2019, Spacey posted another video, titled "KTWK" (short for "kill them with kindness"), to his YouTube channel, once again in character as Underwood. In 2020, Spacey posted a third Christmas Eve video, titled " XMAS", in which he spoke in Underwood's accent before breaking character and speaking in his natural voice. He then expressed sympathy for people struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted two suicide and substance abuse hotlines. The annual videos have been described as "tone-deaf" with respect to the allegations against him.
Spacey did not release a new video on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated in April 2018 that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur at a house in Malibu, California, in October 2016.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the cell phone in question is "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that when Unruh gave her son's cell phone to police in 2017, she admitted she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. On July 5, 2019, he voluntarily dismissed the claims with prejudice.
On July 17, 2019, the criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by the Cape and Islands prosecutors. When the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died, the last remaining criminal case against Spacey was closed.
On September 9, 2020, Anthony Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York's statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Joining Rapp in the suit against Spacey was a man who requested to remain anonymous who accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24. On June 17, 2021, the anonymous accuser was dismissed from the case due to his refusal to publicly identify himself.
In 2020, Spacey and his production companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions were ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Discography
Albums
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)
Singles
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)
Live performances
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actor-managers
Actors awarded knighthoods
Actors from Los Angeles County, California
Actors Studio alumni
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American theatre directors
Artistic directors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
Film producers from California
American gay actors
American gay writers
Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
HIV/AIDS activists
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Juilliard School alumni
Laurence Olivier Award winners
LGBT people from California
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT producers
LGBT singers from the United States
Los Angeles Valley College people
Male actors from California
Male actors from New Jersey
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Tony Award winners
LGBT film directors
LGBT theatre directors | false | [
"Matthew Haag (born August 3, 1992), also known as Nadeshot (formerly stylized as NaDeSHoT), is an American former professional Call of Duty player. He is the founder, co-owner and CEO of esports team 100 Thieves (100T) and former captain of OpTic Gaming in the 2014 Call of Duty: Ghosts season and the 2014–2015 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare season, playing the objective support role.\n\nHaag is a Major League Gaming (MLG) X Games 2014 gold medalist and 2011 Call of Duty XP World Champion, winning Best eSports player at The Game Awards 2014. He is a former Red Bull esports athlete and participates in the Twitch streaming program. Haag was previously sponsored by several gaming hardware companies, including Astro Gaming and Scuf Gaming. He also runs a YouTube channel with over 3.2 million subscribers and over 270 hours of content.\n\nEarly life\nHaag was born on August 3, 1992, to Jeff and Chris Haag. He has a brother and sister.\n\nHaag attended Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Illinois and graduated in 2010. He has also completed a two-year course in business studies at Moraine Valley Community College. Prior to competing in competitive gaming, Haag worked at a McDonald's restaurant.\n\nPlaying career\n\nEarly career\nHaag's gaming handle, \"NaDeSHoT\" originates from \"grenade shot\", a lethal move in the Halo series in which a grenade is followed by a gunshot Haag was a competitive amateur in the first-person shooter Halo 2, but switched to the third-person tactical shooter series, Gears of War after getting the game as a Christmas present. He narrowly missed qualifying for MLG Chicago in Gears of War play by one slot in 2007. He competed in his first professional online tournament in 2008 and at the age of 16 he made his professional debut on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.\n\nOpTic career\nHaag became a member of OpTic Gaming in June 2010, when he first joined the OpTic competitive team. In 2014, he became the captain of OpTic Gaming after Will \"BigTymer\" Johnson resigned. Haag stepped down as OpTic Gaming's captain after a seventh-place finish at the 2015 Call of Duty Championship tournament. Nadeshot then decided to leave OpTic in 2016.\n\nCall of Duty: Black Ops 2010–11 season\nHaag was dropped from the team for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2011 season which was the first season of Call of Duty on the Major League Gaming circuit since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He briefly returned to the OpTic Competitive team, replacing a player who felt ill, at MLG Dallas where OpTic Gaming finished 3rd with virtually no practice as a squad. Subsequently, after mentioning the possibility of replacing the teammate that had fallen sick he did not get picked up. Haag played on several different teams in the professional scene and created his own OpTic Nation competitive team and started making videos and streaming footage. For the next two events he played for Team EnVyUs finishing 8th at MLG Anaheim and then 3rd at MLG Raleigh before playing on Surreal Legacy for the final two events of the year placing 7th at MLG Orlando and then finishing 15th at the MLG Providence national championships to finish off the Call of Duty: Black Ops Major League Gaming season. But later got beat by a team by the name of Inspire Gaming\n\nCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 2011–12 season\nWith Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 looming, Call of Duty announced Call of Duty XP where Activision hosted a $1 million tournament to showcase the newest edition of the franchise. With 2 members of the OpTic Gaming team not being available it to the Grand Final. They took t doni3-1 and Haag pocketed $100,000 with his team winning $400,000 and the trophy.\n\nCall of Duty: Black Ops II 2012–13 season\nTreyarch were to make Call of Duty: Black Ops II which was the second game in the Black Ops franchise. The game was a success competitively and attracted a bigger audience through the season. With Frag Cup 4, an annual online tournament at the start of a new Call of Duty title, coming up a member of the OpTic Gaming competitive team was unable to play due to gambling restrictions in his province, and after impressing early on in the game, OpTic Gaming picked up Haag, who rejoined the OpTic Gaming competitive team on a permanent basis. They finished in the 7th/8th position in Frag Cup 4 before going to the first LAN event which was UMG Chicago. OpTic Gaming started the tournament strong, making their way to the finals without losing. The team then lost the first series in the final. However, because they were the winners of the 'winners final' the match went into a final and decisive series, in which they were able to win 3-2 and become the first Call of Duty: Black Ops II champions.\n\nThe next tournament was MLG Dallas. Here, the top 8 teams qualified to compete at that year's Call of Duty Championships, which was an annual $1,000,000 event. Haag and OpTic Gaming went on to finish in the 5th/6th position.\n\nAt the Call of Duty Championships, OpTic Gaming finished in third place losing to the eventual winners of the tournament. They then played in Gfinity 1 (G1) in London, United Kingdom and MLG Anaheim in Anaheim, California where were placed in third respectively at both events. The next event Haag attended was Gfinity (G2) in London. However, their new roster finished 9th–12th. Their performance at the MLG Fullsail Invitational, where the four highest ranked Black Ops II teams competed, (and which was to be OpTic Gaming and MLG's final event of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II competitive season) was much improved, finishing in second place. In first was a team by the name of Complexity Gaming.\n\nCall of Duty: Ghosts 2013–14 season\nThe next title of the Call of Duty franchise was Call of Duty: Ghosts which MLG announced that it would be their featured FPS title for the upcoming season again. Haag and OpTic Gaming disappointed at both of their first two events which were to be MLG Columbus (13–16th place) and UMG Philadelphia (9–12th place) before a roster change occurred with one player retiring, two leaving and one later rejoining. During this time Haag teamed with Christopher Duarte, who goes by the name of 'Parasite'. At this time, the team consisted of 'NaDeSHoT', 'Clayster', 'Ricky' and 'Parasite'. However, after only a handful of days, 'Parasite' and 'Ricky' left OpTic to join Curse Las Vegas. OpTic then picked up 'Saints' and 'MBoZe', before 'Scumpii' rejoined OpTic to replace the departing 'Saints', who returned to Strictly Business. After the retirement of 'BigTymer' following UMG Philadelphia, Haag became the captain of OpTic Gaming.\n\nOptic, led by Haag, qualified for the Call of Duty: Ghosts national qualifiers for the annual Call of Duty Championship $1,000,000 tournaments after qualifying via MLG's online qualifying tournament. At the US Championship Finals OpTic Gaming finished in 7th place to qualify for the Call of Duty World Championship, after eliminating Curse New York in an elimination game in a best of 5 series. This allowed the team to qualify for the annual $1 million tournament. Haag and his OpTic Gaming squad played in the MLG Pro Circuit Season 1 online league where after a promising start they suffered problems online and were not able to qualify for the MLG PAX East Championship; eventually OpTic Gaming finished bottom of the league in 10th place. OpTic Gaming later announced that Haag and his teammates would be hosting the winners of the US Regional finals, Strictly Business Gaming for a pre-LAN event for the World Championships.\n\nAt the Call of Duty World Championships, OpTic were placed in a group with 'Epsilon eSports', 'NSP' and 'SSOF'; controversy was caused when 'SSOF' were disqualified and OpTic only had two teams in their group. OpTic first played 'NSP' and beat them 3-0 leading to a group decider against Epsilon where Haag and his team lost 3–0. However they advanced as the second seed and faced tK in the first round of the winners bracket. Haag led his team to a 3–0 victory against a team considered to be a top three team by many. In the second round Haag was to come up against Strictly Business Gaming who they had hosted in a pre-LAN event, however Haag and his teammates won 3–2 and played Australian team Trident T1 Dotters for a guaranteed top three finish. OpTic Gaming led by Haag won the series 3–1 and guaranteed themselves 3rd and $120,000. OpTic were then to face CompLexity who were undefeated on Call of Duty: Ghosts and came up short in the winners bracket finals losing 3–2. OpTic then lost to Team EnVyUs in the losers bracket finals and Haag led his team to a top three finish and won his cut of $30,000.\n\nShortly after the Call of Duty World Championships, Haag signed an exclusivity contract with MLG to stream himself playing Call of Duty on MLG's MLG.tv web streaming service. On April 15, 2014, OpTic Gaming announced that Marcus 'MBoZe' Blanks would be leaving the team in order for Jordan 'ProoFy' Cannon to join the team. The OpTic Gaming roster (Haag's teammates) for UGC Niagara and for the 2014 season Call of Duty:Ghosts season was Seth 'Scumpii' Abner, James 'Clayster' Eubanks and Jordan 'ProoFy' Cannon.\n\nAt the new roster's first tournament together, a lackluster first day lead to them having to play the world's best team, and eventual winners of UGC Niagara, CompLexity Gaming, who proved too strong for Haag's team. They narrowly won every map to take a 3–0 series win and knock Haag and his OpTic Gaming team out of the tournament. Before and after UGC Niagara Haag competed with his team in the MLG Pro Circuit Season 2 in order to qualify for MLG Anaheim's pro team tournament to contest for a $70,000 prize pool. Haag's team qualified, being second place in the league.\n\nHaag and his OpTic Gaming team were invited to the MLG X Games on the Xbox One after finishing in the top 3 at the Call of Duty World Championships. They went into the event as underdogs after a disappointing tournament at UGC Niagara, however Haag and his team were able to win their group after beating Team EnVyUs and FaZe Red 3–1 to set up a semi final match against Evil Geniuses,(formerly known as CompLexity). Evil Geniuses were favorites to win the event after a dominant year at LAN events, but Haag and his three teammates were able to beat them 3–1 to face Team Kaliber in the Grand Finals. They managed to beat Team Kaliber in a match that came down to a Game 5, Round 10 in Search & Destroy, and Haag was able to win a gold medal and his first MLG Championship at the X Games in Austin, Texas.\n\nHaag was voted by fans as The Game Awards 2014 eSports Player of the Year. He took a trip out to Las Vegas with some of his teammates and sponsors to accept this award.\n\nCall of Duty: Advanced Warfare 2014–15 season\n\nAdvanced Warfare will be the next installment in the Call Of Duty Franchise for the e-sports circuit. The season formally began November 2014. Haag was invited by Activision to Los Angeles for a preview of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in order to advise developers on the state of the game. On October 28, 2014, OpTic Gaming, led by Haag, participated in an exclusive Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare streaming event at the so-called 'OpTic House' in Chicago, in order to promote the new edition in the franchise for its creators, Sledgehammer Games.\n\nIn season opening competition, MLG Columbus, Haag and his team achieved second place, losing out to FaZe in the Grand Final. This was a sad loss for OpTic and Haag, as they hadn't dropped a map all day until the grand finals. OpTic looked like they were going to win it all until they ran into Faze Clan in the finals. Faze narrowly took the victory, going all the way to a second best of five series.\n\nThe second tournament Haag competed in with OpTic was at UMG Orlando. Haag and his team achieved first place this time around. They went 0–2 in the first day of competition but his team managed to bounce back and with their other two games in pool play on the second day of competition. On Championship Sunday OpTic were crowned victorious as they beat a young team known as Stunner Gaming 3–1 in the grand finals.\n\nTwelve teams qualified, including Haag's team, for Pro League Season 1: Prophecy, FaZe, Justus, Aware, Automatic Reload, EnVyUs, Denial, eLevate, Rise Nation, Team KaLiBeR, OpTic Nation, and OpTic Gaming. Haag's team now consists of Ian \"Crimsix\" Porter, Seth \"Scumpii\" Abner, and Matthew \"Formal\" Piper. OpTic Gaming were to go 38–6 in the MLG Season 1 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and qualified with the number one seed for the playoffs which they completed at with a $75,000 prize pool. OpTic Gaming went into the event led by NaDeSHoT and hoped to become the first team to win a LAN tournament without dropping a map. They went on to beat Rise Nation 3–0, they then came up against a team with young players called Aware Gaming who they beat 3–1 however this meant they did not become the first team to win an event without dropping a map. They then faced Team Kaliber in the winners bracket final who they narrowly beat 3–2 before progressing to the grand finals where they beat Denial eSports 3–0 to win their second event in a row. This was Haag's second win of an MLG event after winning previously at X Games during the Call of Duty: Ghosts season.\n\nOn April 4, 2015, NaDeSHoT announced that he was stepping down as captain and member of the OpTic Gaming pro-team. He said that he will become a full-time content creator as well as co-owner of the OpTic organization. He was replaced on the lineup by Damon \"Karma\" Barlow.\n\n100 Thieves\nIn 2016, Haag founded a lifestyle brand and gaming organization based in Los Angeles, California called 100 Thieves. The organization has teams competing in several video games, including Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite Battle Royale, League of Legends and Valorant. The Thieves' League of Legends team is a franchise team of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and the Call of Duty team has a franchise team in Call of Duty League branded as the Los Angeles Thieves. The company was co-founded alongside Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.\n\nBooks\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\nLiving people\nAmerican esports players\nCall of Duty players\nPeople from Cook County, Illinois\nPeople from Los Angeles County, California\nAmerican YouTubers\nMcDonald's people\nRed Bull\nTeam Envy players\nTwitch (service) streamers\n\n1992 births",
"OpTic Gaming is an American professional esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The organization currently operates a Call of Duty team in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas, in partnership with Envy Gaming, as well as Halo and Valorant teams. It previously competed in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Gears of War 4, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale, Dota 2, and League of Legends. The organization is currently owned by Hector \"H3CZ\" Rodriguez.\n\nHistory\nOpTic Gaming was established in 2006 by OpTic \"Kr3w\" and Ryan \"J\" Musselman as a Call of Duty sniping team. In 2007, Musselman stepped down to hand over the team to Hector \"H3CZ\" Rodriguez. The team made its beginnings in the competitive scene starting in 2010 with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox 360. In 2016, the team, along with e-sports commentator Ryan \"Fwiz\" Wyatt, released the book OpTic Gaming: The Making of eSports Champions, which details the players' individual Call of Duty esports careers and their contributions to the team's success. The book became a New York Times best-seller, and film and television rights were acquired by producers John Sacchi and Matt Groesch. In 2017, Texas Rangers co-owner Neil Leibman and co-investor Chris Chaney were sold a majority interest in the organization. They created Infinite Esports & Entertainment, a holding company that includes OpTic Gaming and Houston Outlaws as well as other esports verticals operating out of a new Dallas headquarters. OpTic Gaming is currently the third most followed esports team by social media following.\n\nOn June 12, 2019, Immortals Gaming Club (IGC) announced the acquisition of Infinite Esports & Entertainment, the parent organization of OpTic Gaming. On September 15, 2019, it was announced by Immortals Gaming Club and Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez, that Hector would be leaving from OpTic as its CEO for new and independent opportunities. Shortly after it was announced that Hector Rodriguez had joined NRG Esports as co-CEO.\n\nOn November 6, 2020, it was announced that 100 Thieves, an organization created by former OpTic Gaming player Matthew \"Nadeshot\" Haag, had acquired Immortals Gaming Club's LA CDL slot and would rebrand the team in the 2021 season as the \"Los Angeles Thieves\". Shortly after, on November 11, 2020, it was announced by Immortals Gaming Club and Hector Rodriguez that the latter had fully reacquired the rights to the OpTic Gaming name, thus regaining full ownership of the organization while also relinquishing his minority ownership of Immortals' League of Legends roster in the deal; that same day, it was announced that the Chicago Huntsmen, the Call of Duty League Chicago slot owned by NRG Esports, would be rebranded to OpTic Chicago, thus signifying the return of the \"real OpTic\" to the Call of Duty esports scene.\n\nCurrent divisions\n\nCall of Duty\n\nHistory\n\nCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009–10 season)\nOpTic took 8th in the Online Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 National Championships before placing 4th at the MLG National Championships 2010 and picking up $500 before the start of the next Call of Duty: Black Ops season.\n\nCall of Duty: Black Ops (2010–11 season)\nMatt Haag was dropped from the team for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2011 season which was the first season of Call of Duty on the Major League Gaming since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He briefly returned to the OpTic Competitive team, replacing a player who felt ill, at MLG Dallas where OpTic Gaming finished 3rd with virtually no practice as a squad. Subsequently, after mentioning the possibility of replacing the teammate that had fallen sick he did not get picked up. Haag played on several different teams in the professional scene and created his own OpTic Nation competitive team and started making videos and streaming footage. For the next two events he played for Team EnVyUs finishing 8th at MLG Anaheim and then 3rd at MLG Raleigh before playing on Surreal Legacy for the final two events of the year placing 7th at MLG Orlando and then finishing in 15th at the MLG Providence national championships to finish off the Call of Duty: Black Ops Major League Gaming season.\n\nCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011–12 season)\nWith Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 looming, Call of Duty announced Call of Duty XP where Activision hosted a $1 million tournament to showcase the newest edition of the franchise. With two members of the OpTic Gaming team not being available to play, Haag was picked up again. They made it to the Grand Final. They took the series 3–1 and the team won $400,000 and the trophy. Again, Matt 'NaDeSHoT' Haag was not picked up for the main OpTic Gaming team and instead created his own OpTic team under the OpTic Nation brand, which did not go on to win any events. MW3 did not make the MLG 2012 season, reportedly due to the absence of a LAN function in the game. Because of this, only a few tournaments were held (notably 360 iCoNs and EGL) in North America. However, at Blackpool's EGL 8 Haag placed 7/8th playing under Leverage with notable players TeePee, ACHES and John.\n\nCall of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012–13 season)\nOn November 12, 2012, Treyarch released Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the second title in the Black Ops series for Call of Duty. . The game was a success competitively and attracted a bigger audience through the season. With Frag Cup 4, an annual online tournament at the start of a new Call of Duty title, coming up a member of the OpTic Gaming competitive team was unable to play due to gambling restrictions in his province, and after impressing early on in the game, OpTic Gaming picked up NaDeSHoT, who rejoined the OpTic Gaming competitive team on a permanent basis. They finished in the 7th/8th position in Frag Cup 4 before going to the first LAN event which was UMG Chicago. OpTic Gaming started the tournament strong, making their way to the finals without losing. The team then lost the first series in the final. However, because they were the winners of the 'winners final' the match went into a final and decisive series, in which they were able to win 3–2 and become the first Call of Duty: Black Ops II champions.\n\nThe next tournament was MLG Dallas. Here, the top 8 teams qualified to compete at that year's Call of Duty Championships, which was an annual $1,000,000 event. OpTic Gaming went onto finish in the 5th/6th position.\n\nAt the Call of Duty Championships, OpTic Gaming finished in third place losing to the eventual winners of the tournament. They then played in Gfinity 1 (G1) in London, United Kingdom and MLG Anaheim in Anaheim, California where they were placed in third respectively at both events. The next event OpTic attended was Gfinity (G2) in London. However, their new roster finished 9th–12th. Their performance at the MLG Fullsail Invitational, where the four highest ranked Black Ops II teams competed, (and which was to be OpTic Gaming and MLG's final event of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 competitive season) was much improved, finishing in second place.\n\nCall of Duty: Ghosts (2013–14 season)\nThe next title of the Call of Duty franchise was Call of Duty: Ghosts which MLG announced that it would be their featured FPS title for the upcoming season again. OpTic Gaming disappointed at both of their first two events which were to be MLG Columbus (13–16th place) and UMG Philadelphia (9–12th place) before a roster change occurred with one player retiring, two leaving and one later rejoining. During this time Haag teamed with Christopher Duarte, who goes by the name of 'Parasite'. At this time, the team consisted of 'NaDeSHoT', 'Clayster', 'Ricky' and 'Parasite'. However, after only a handful of days, 'Parasite' and 'Ricky' left OpTic to join Curse Las Vegas. OpTic then picked up 'Saints' and 'MBoZe', before 'Scumpii' rejoined OpTic to replace the departing 'Saints', who returned to Strictly Business. After the retirement of 'BigTymer' following UMG Philadelphia, NaDeSHoT became the captain of OpTic Gaming.\n\nOpTic qualified for the Call of Duty: Ghosts national qualifiers for the annual Call of Duty Championship $1,000,000 tournaments after qualifying via MLG's online qualifying tournament. At the US Championship Finals OpTic Gaming finished in 7th place to qualify for the Call of Duty World Championship, after eliminating Curse New York in an elimination game in a best of 5 series. This allowed the team to qualify for the annual $1 million tournament. The OpTic Gaming squad played in the MLG Pro Circuit Season 1 online league where after a promising start they suffered problems online and were not able to qualify for the MLG PAX East Championship; eventually, OpTic Gaming finished bottom of the league in 10th place. OpTic Gaming later announced they were hosting the winners of the US Regional finals, Strictly Business Gaming for a pre-LAN event for the World Championships.\n\nAt the Call of Duty World Championships, OpTic were placed in a group with Epsilon eSports, NSP, and SSOF. Controversy was caused when 'SSOF' were disqualified and OpTic only had two teams in their group. OpTic first played 'NSP' and beat them 3-0 leading to a group decider against Epsilon where OpTiC Gaming lost 3–0. However, they advanced as the second seed and faced tK in the first round of the winners bracket. OpTic had a 3–0 victory against a team considered to be a top-three team by many. In the second round OpTic was to come up against Strictly Business Gaming who they had hosted in a pre-LAN event, however, they won 3–2 and played Australian team Trident T1 Dotters for a guaranteed top-three finish. OpTic Gaming won the series 3–1 and guaranteed themselves 3rd and $120,000. OpTic were then to face CompLexity who were undefeated on Call of Duty: Ghosts and came up short in the winners bracket finals losing 3–2. OpTic then lost to Team EnVyUs in the losers bracket finals, finishing with a top three finish and winning $30,000.\n\nOn April 15, 2014, OpTic Gaming announced that Marcus 'MBoZe' Blanks would be leaving the team in order for Jordan 'ProoFy' Cannon to join the team. The OpTic Gaming roster for UGC Niagara and for the 2014 season Call of Duty: Ghosts season was Seth \"Scump\" Abner, James 'Clayster' Eubanks and Jordan 'ProoFy' Cannon.\n\nAt the new roster's first tournament together, a disappointing first day led to them having to play the world's best team, and eventual winners of UGC Niagara, CompLexity Gaming, who proved too strong for the OpTic team. They narrowly won every map to take a 3–0 series win and knock Haag and his OpTic Gaming team out of the tournament. Before and after UGC Niagara OpTic competed at the MLG Pro Circuit Season 2 in order to qualify for MLG Anaheim's pro team tournament to contest for a $70,000 prize pool. OpTic qualified, being second place in the league.\n\nOpTic Gaming team were invited to the MLG X Games on the Xbox One after finishing in the top 3 at the Call of Duty World Championships. They went into the event as underdogs after a disappointing tournament at UGC Niagara, however Haag and his team were able to win their group after beating Team EnVyus and FaZe Red 3–1 to set up a semi-final match against Evil Geniuses,(formerly known as CompLexity). Evil Geniuses were favorites to win the event after a dominant year at LAN events, but OpTic were able to beat them 3–1 to face Team Kaliber in the Grand Finals. They managed to beat Team Kaliber in a match that came down to a Game 5, Round 10 in Search & Destroy, and Haag was able to win a gold medal and his first MLG Championship at the X Games in Austin, Texas.\n\nNaDeSHoT was voted by fans as The Game Awards 2014 eSports Player of the Year. He went to Las Vegas with some of his teammates and sponsors to accept this award.\n\nCall Of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014–15 season)\nAdvanced Warfare was the next installment in the Call Of Duty Franchise for the e-sports circuit. The season began in November 2014. On October 28, 2014, OpTic Gaming, participated in an exclusive Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare streaming event at the so-called 'OpTic House' which they competed vs other teams in Chicago, in order to promote the new edition in the franchise for its creators, Sledgehammer Games.\n\nIn season opening competition, MLG Columbus on November 28–30, OpTic achieved second place, losing out to FaZe in the Grand Final. They hadn't dropped a map all day until the grand finals. Faze narrowly took the victory, going all the way to a second best of five series.\n\nThe second tournament of the year was UMG Orlando on January 1–2. OpTic achieved first place this time around. They went 0–2 in the first day of competition but his team managed to bounce back and with their other two games in pool play on the second day of competition. On Championship Sunday OpTic beat a young team called Stunner Gaming 3–1 in the grand finals.\n\nOpTic was one of twelve teams to qualify for Pro League Season 1, the others being Prophecy, FaZe, Justus, Aware, Automatic Reload, EnVyUs, Denial, eLevate, Rise Nation, Team KaLiBeR and OpTic Nation. The Pro League ran from December 8 through February 28. OpTic Gaming went 38–6 in the MLG Season 1 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and qualified with the number one seed for the playoffs which they completed at with a $75,000 prize pool. OpTic Gaming went into the event led by NaDeSHoT and hoped to become the first team to win a LAN tournament without dropping a map. After defeating Rise Nation 3–0, they faced off against a team of younger players in Aware Gaming, who they defeated losing only one map. However, this ruined the team's goal of being the first team to win a LAN tournament with a perfect map-win record. Following a narrow 3–2 victory over Team Kaliber in the winners bracket final, OpTic defeated Denial eSports 3–0 to win their second event in a row. This was OpTic's first win of an MLG event since winning previously at X Games during the Call of Duty: Ghosts season.\n\nAt the Call of Duty Championships on March 27–29, OpTic officially announced their long-awaited sponsorship with Red Bull, following members Matt \"NaDeSHoT\" Haag and Michael \"FlameSword\" Chavez who had been individually sponsored. OpTic placed disappointingly at the event in the 7th-8th position following losses to Denial eSports in the winners bracket and FaZe Clan in the losers bracket, the former of which went on to win the event.\n\nOn April 4, 2015, NaDeSHoT announced that he was stepping down as captain and member of the OpTic Gaming pro-team, partially due to disappointment from OpTic's CoD Championships placement. He said that he would become a full-time content creator as well as co-owner of the OpTic organization. He was replaced on the lineup by Damon \"Karma\" Barlow. However, Karma missed ESWC 2015 and the Gfinity Spring Masters competitions because of a pending United States citizenship application. He was replaced by Ian \"Enable\" Wyatt.\n\nOpTic Gaming Los Angeles\n\nIn February 2019, Activision confirmed that they would be launching a city-based franchise league for Call of Duty. On July 1, 2019, Activision confirmed that Immortals Gaming Club would operate the Los Angeles spot in the newly formed league, with the spot being presented by OpTic Gaming. Additionally, the current OpTic Gaming roster will have the opportunity to sign Call of Duty League contracts adhering to the new regulations of the league.\n\nIn September 2019 Ian “Crimsix” Porter decided to leave OpTic and become a free agent to any team participating in the 2020 Call of Duty League.\n\nOn September 23, 2019, OpTic Gaming's Twitter page announced the signing of Eric “Muddawg” Sanders as the first GM of OpTic Gaming Los Angeles for the inaugural season of Call of Duty League in 2020.\n\nOn January 8, 2020, they announced the signing of Jonathan “Pacman” Tucker as the new head coach via their Twitter and YouTube channel.\n\nOpTic Chicago\n\nOn November 11, 2020, it was announced by Immortals Gaming Club and Hector Rodriguez that the latter had fully reacquired the rights to the OpTic Gaming name, thus regaining full ownership of the organization while also relinquishing his minority ownership of Immortals' League of Legends roster in the deal; that same day, it was announced that the Chicago Huntsmen, the Call of Duty League Chicago slot owned by NRG Esports, would be rebranded to OpTic Chicago, thus signifying the return of the \"real OpTic\" to the Call of Duty esports scene. \n\nOpTic Chicago's roster for the Call of Duty: Cold War season consisted of Seth \"Scump\" Abner, Matthew \"Formal\" Piper, Brandon \"Dashy\" Otell, and Dylan \"Envoy\" Hannon.\n\nNotable achievements\n\n 1st — MLG Columbus 2011 (Call of Duty: Black Ops)\n 1st — Call of Duty XP 2011 (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3)\n 1st — MLG Orlando 2011 (Call of Duty: Black Ops)\n 1st — EGL 7 Blackpool (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3)\n 1st — UMG Chicago 2012 (Call of Duty: Black Ops II)\n 1st — 1st MLG X Games Invitational 2014 (Call of Duty: Ghosts)\n 1st — UMG Orlando 2015 (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — MLG Pro League AW Season 1 Playoffs (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — Call of Duty Championship 2015 North America Regional Final (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — ESWC 2015 (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — Gfinity Spring Masters (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — UMG California 2015 (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — MLG Pro League AW Season 2 Playoffs (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — UMG Washington DC 2015 (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — MLG World Finals 2015 (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)\n 1st — 2016 Call of Duty World League Stage 1 Playoffs (Call of Duty: Black Ops III)\n 1st — 2016 Call of Duty World League Anaheim Open (Call of Duty: Black Ops III)\n 1st — 2016 Call of Duty World League Orlando Open (Call of Duty: Black Ops III)\n1st — 2017 Halo World Championship Finals (Halo 5)\n 1st — 2017 Call of Duty World League Paris Open (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare)\n 1st — 2017 Call of Duty World League Dallas Open (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare)\n 1st — 2017 CWL Global Pro League Stage 2 Playoffs (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare)\n1st — Call of Duty Championship 2017 (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare)\n 1st — 2019 Call of Duty World League Las Vegas Open (Call of Duty: Black Ops 4)\n1st — 2020 Call of Duty League London Home Series #1 (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019) [Chicago Huntsmen]\n1st — 2020 Call of Duty League Seattle Home Series (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019) [Chicago Huntsmen]\n\nHalo\nAfter the merger of Envy Gaming and OpTic Gaming in 2021, OpTic took over Team Envy's Halo division.\n\nCurrent roster\n\nValorant\nAfter the merger of Envy Gaming and OpTic Gaming in 2021, OpTic took over Team Envy's Valorant division.\n\nCurrent roster\n\nFormer divisions\n\nCounter-Strike: Global Offensive\n\nFirst roster (January 2016 – August 2017)\nOptic Gaming started its CS:GO roster by picking up the North American roster of Conquest ahead of ELEAGUE Road to Vegas, consisting of Damian \"daps\" Steele, William \"RUSH\" Wierzba, Keith \"NAF\" Markovic, Shazeeb \"ShahZaM\" Khan and Peter \"stanislaw\" Jarguz. The team would not disappoint winning and having the first shot at an international tournament ELEAGUE Season 1 later in the year. After the team lost to Splyce in MLG Columbus Minor and then failed to beat Winterfox in MLG Columbus last Chance Minor a roster move was inevitable. OpTic brought in Oscar \"mixwell\" Cañellas from gBots eSports Club. The Spanish FPL star replaced ShahZaM. The team's first ESL Pro League season under the OpTic banner was a success, making the Season 3 Finals and narrowly missing out on making the Playoffs losing narrowly to the eventual champions, Luminosity Gaming. Finally, OpTic's group at ELEAGUE Season 1 would materialise. The team won only a third of that which they played being knocked out in 15th-16th. The team's disappointing ELEAGUE event was not to be a norm for the roster. With the Cologne Major looming and OpTic attending the minor, a loss here could be catastrophic. Luckily OpTic won the American Minor making their way to the offline qualifier for the German-held major.\n\nThe Americans and their lone Spaniard managed to make the major by beating FLuffy Gangsters, FlipSid3 Tactics and HellRaisers during their run at The Cologne Offline qualifier. Their major run was short with the team coming dead last managing only 4 rounds against NiP. A series of poor results where the team struggled against even their American rivals. Fractures began to emerge, stanislaw was the first to be released but was quickly brought back in replace of daps. Tarik \"tarik\" Celik was brought in for their replacement from Counter Logic Gaming. The team made Season 4 Finals but managed a 5th-6th losing again to the eventual champions, Cloud9. The result seemed to light a spark in the OpTic boys as their next event Northern Arena Montreal was a success. The team came second in their group making the playoffs and were tasked with taking on the Danish roster of Heroic. They beat them in a hard-fought series taking it 2–1. In the final they were faced G2. Another long battle would break out with G2 taking the first. OpTic would fight back and win Northern Arena Montreal. The team's next tournament would be Dreamhack Winter where they would lose to their American counterparts Cloud9 and finish in last place. ELEAGUE Season 2 which they qualified for a few months earlier was the next international tournament. After the dismal performance in Sweden the team needed to bounce back on home soil down in Atlanta and rectify their results. A group with Swedish powerhouse Fnatic and EnVyUs seemed like a tough task for the boys in Green. This would not be the case as they managed to get out of their group with Dignitas. Their playoff's run was smooth beating Nikola \"NiKo\" Kovač's mousesports 2-0 and then defeating FaZe Clan decisively. The final was against Astralis whose recent resurgence was frightening, this was for all teams except OpTic. In a hard-fought slog OpTic managed to beat the Danes in 3 including on their home map Overpass. With $400,000 in the bank and a huge tournament win in the bag the team laid eyes on ECS Season 2 Finals. Again OpTic managed to come out of a remarkably hard group along with Astralis who were the only team to beat OpTic. Their semifinal against the Boys in Blue was quick with a succinct 2–0 victory. A grand final rematch was to be had at ECS Season 2 Finals as OpTic were to be taking on the team they beat only a week ago at ELEAGUE. Astralis dominated the Americans in two maps showing who really is the boss of Overpass taking it 16–6. OpTic made the ELEAGUE 2017 Major but again lost in the groups. stanislaw left for Team Liquid soon after. OpTic saw constant replacements from here on out with Spencer \"Hiko\" Martin, Ryan \"fREAKAZOiD\" Abadir, Jason \"jasonR\" Ruchelski and James \"hazed\" Cobb all doing their part for the roster. Luis \"peacemaker\" Tadeu and hazed both tried out as coaches for the team though neither of them stayed in the team or in the role long term. It was to no avail as the team only managed to win the online tournament of CyberPowerPC Extreme Gaming Series in Spring 2017. In July 2017, Chet \"ImAPet\" Singh joined as a coach but in August 2017, RUSH and tarik left for Cloud9, hazed was then released leaving only NAF and mixwell. The North American line up had run its course and a new line up needed to be curated.\n\nSecond roster (August 2017 – February 2018)\nWith NAF being placed on the transfer list, where he would later join Renegades, H3CZ decided to create a European line-up. Headlining this would be mixwell and former NiP veteran, Adam “friberg” Friberg acting as in-game leader. The roster brought in ex-FaZe AWPer Aleksi \"allu\" Jalli, ex-North rifler Emil \"Magisk\" Reif and PENTA Sports young up and comer Kevin \"HS\" Tarn. At the online event CyberPowerPC Extreme Gaming Series Fall 2017 they managed only a 3rd-4th place. Their online league results were promising but did not lead to LAN success. The European Boston Minor was their first LAN Event but they failed to make it to the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, coming 3rd in the Minor. The team managed to win the North American Qualifier for IEM Oakland but came 5th- 6th in the main event, losing 2–0 to SK Gaming. Due to impressive online results, they showed up to Pro league Finals coming 5th-6th the same result at ECS Season 4 finals. These unsuccessful results lead to the dropping of the roster.\n\nThird roster (February 2018 – October 2019)\nOn February 7, 2018, OpTic announced a new Danish/North American roster that saw the return of ShahZaM and stanislaw, joined by former North duo Kristian \"k0nfig\" Wienecke and René \"cajunb\" Borg. Rounding out the roster was Nicklas \"gade\" Gade, on loan from North Academy. ImAPet remained as the team's coach. The team failed to make any LAN appearances and had average online results leading to the roster going full Danish some two months after the roster was formed. ShahZaM, stanislaw and ImAPet were released from their contracts. OpTic acquired Marco \"Snappi\" Pfeiffer and Jakob \"JUGi\" Hansen from Heroic and picked up ex-North coach Casper \"ruggah\" Due. For the first time, OpTic would have a single nationality lineup all consisting of Danes. In the following months the team struggled achieving no notable placings other than a second place at Dreamhack Summer where they lost to EspiranTo and The Imperial in the final. When the Faceit Minor came along, OpTic were favorites to make the FACEIT Major. After a quick 2–0 in groups knocking over 3DMAX and ENCE respectively the team made it to the play-offs. Their first match-up was against Ninjas in Pyjamas who they bowled over in 3 maps including a 16-3 Victory on Inferno. They played ENCE in the next round where again they beat with a quick 2-1 Victory making the final of the minor qualifier and making the New challenger stage at the Major. The minor was not done as the Danish boys faced off against the Swedes again. They could not replicate their previous match as the Ninja's took them down 2–0. A successful run led them to the major but the elusive first LAN win again did not become reality. On October 11, 2019, k0nfig announced the disbanding of the team, marking an apparent end to OpTic CS:GO.\n\nLeague of Legends\nFrom the 2020 LCS season, the OpTic Gaming League of Legends roster was transferred to Immortals.\n\nControversies\n\nBahawaka\nDuring a PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds tournament in March 2018, OpTic Bahawaka was found guilty of exploiting a glitch in the game that allowed him to see through walls. Because of the ruling, OpTic had to retroactively forfeit the match where the glitch was exploited. The forfeit moved OpTic from 2nd place down to 5th meaning they had to forfeit 12,000 in winnings.\n\neXTREMESLAND ZOWIE Asia 2018\nMid-game during eXTREMESLAND ZOWIE Asia 2018, Nikhil \"Forsaken\" Kumawat of OpTic Gaming's OpTic India Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team was caught using an aimbot to lock-on to enemies. When caught, Kumawat was recorded trying to hide the cheats while the referee investigated. OpTic India later responded on their Twitter, stating:\n\"We stand strongly against any form of cheating as it not only tarnishes the local roster, but potentially harms competitive integrity of the region. We have terminated Nikhil 'Forsaken' Kumawat's contract for his actions. At this time we are also releasing the remaining roster to pursue new opportunities with other competitive options.\"\n\nOpTic India's Global Offensive roster has since been disbanded.\n\nBooks\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nEsports teams based in the United States\nCall of Duty League teams\nDefunct and inactive Counter-Strike teams\nDefunct and inactive Dota teams\nHalo (franchise) teams\nFormer North American League of Legends Championship Series teams\n2006 establishments in Illinois\nImmortals Gaming Club\nEsports teams established in 2006\nEsports teams disestablished in 2019\n2019 disestablishments in Illinois\nAmerican companies established in 2006\nDefunct and inactive Overwatch League academy teams\nValorant teams"
] |
[
"Chick Corea",
"Jazz fusion"
] | C_e45cce38ca2a47e092ca9bcf5679b58a_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 1 | Besides Chick Corea ,Jazz Fusion, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Chick Corea | In the early 1970s, Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant-garde to a crossover jazz fusion style that incorporated Latin jazz with Return to Forever. Named after their eponymous 1972 album, the band relied on both acoustic and electronic instrumentation and drew upon Latin American styles more than on rock music. On their first two records, Return to Forever consisted of Flora Purim on vocals, Joe Farrell on flute and soprano saxophone, Airto Moreira on drums , and Stanley Clarke on double bass. Drummer Lenny White and guitarist Bill Connors later joined Corea and Clarke to form the second version of the group, which expanded the earlier Latin jazz elements with a more rock and funk-oriented sound inspired by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, led by his Bitches Brew bandmate John McLaughlin. This incarnation of the group recorded the album Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, before Connors' departure and replacement by Al Di Meola, who was present on the subsequent releases Where Have I Known You Before, No Mystery, and Romantic Warrior. Corea's composition "Spain" appeared on the 1972 Return to Forever album Light as a Feather. This is probably his most popular piece, and it has been recorded by a variety of artists. There are also a variety of recordings by Corea himself. These included an arrangement for piano and symphony orchestra that appeared in 1999 and a collabration with vocalist Bobby McFerrin on the 1992 album Play. Corea usually performs "Spain" with a prelude based on Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1940), which earlier received a jazz orchestration on Davis and Gil Evans' Sketches of Spain. In 1976, he issued My Spanish Heart, influenced by Latin American music and featuring vocalist Gayle Moran (Corea's wife) and electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. The album combined jazz and flamenco, supported by Minimoog backup and a horn section. CANNOTANSWER | In the early 1970s, Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant-garde to a crossover jazz fusion style that incorporated Latin jazz with Return to Forever. | Armando Anthony Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered one of the foremost jazz pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.
Corea continued to collaborate frequently while exploring different musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He won 25 Grammy Awards and was nominated over 60 times.
Early life and education
Armando Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on June 12, 1941, to parents Anna (née Zaccone) and Armando J. Corea. He was of southern Italian descent, his father having been born to an immigrant from Albi comune, in the Province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region. His father, a trumpeter who led a Dixieland band in Boston in the 1930s and 1940s, introduced him to the piano at the age of four. Surrounded by jazz, he was influenced at an early age by bebop and Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lester Young. When he was eight, he took up drums, which would influence his use of the piano as a percussion instrument.
Corea developed his piano skills by exploring music on his own. A notable influence was concert pianist Salvatore Sullo, from whom Corea started taking lessons at age eight and who introduced him to classical music, helping spark his interest in musical composition. He also spent several years as a performer and soloist in the St. Rose Scarlet Lancers, a drum and bugle corps based in Chelsea.
Given a black tuxedo by his father, he started playing gigs while still in high school. He enjoyed listening to Herb Pomeroy's band at the time and had a trio that played Horace Silver's music at a local jazz club. He eventually moved to New York City, where he studied music at Columbia University, then transferred to the Juilliard School. He quit both after finding them disappointing, but remained in New York.
Career
Corea began his professional recording and touring career in the early 1960s with Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann, and Stan Getz. He recorded his debut album, Tones for Joan's Bones, in 1966 (not released until 1968). Two years later he released a highly regarded trio album, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Miroslav Vitous.
In 1968, Corea began recording and touring with Miles Davis, appearing on the widely praised Davis studio albums Filles de Kilimanjaro, In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew and On the Corner, as well as the later compilation albums Big Fun, Water Babies and Circle in the Round.
In concert performances, he frequently processed the sound of his electric piano through a ring modulator. Utilizing this unique style, he appeared on multiple live Davis albums, including Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West, and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. His membership in the Davis band continued until 1970, with the final touring band he was part of consisting of saxophonist Steve Grossman, fellow pianist Keith Jarrett (here playing electric organ), bassist Dave Holland, percussionist Airto Moreira, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and, of course, Davis himself on trumpet.
Holland and Corea departed the Davis group at the same time to form their own free jazz group, Circle, also featuring multireedist Anthony Braxton and drummer Barry Altschul. They were active from 1970 to 1971, and recorded on Blue Note and ECM. Aside from exploring an atonal style, Corea sometimes reached into the body of the piano and plucked the strings. In 1971, Corea decided to work in a solo context, recording the sessions that became Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 and Piano Improvisations Vol. 2 for ECM in April of that year.
The concept of communication with an audience became a big thing for me at the time. The reason I was using that concept so much at that point in my life – in 1968, 1969 or so – was because it was a discovery for me. I grew up kind of only thinking how much fun it was to tinkle on the piano and not noticing that what I did had an effect on others. I did not even think about a relationship to an audience, really, until way later.
Jazz fusion
Named after their eponymous 1972 album, Corea's Return to Forever band relied on both acoustic and electronic instrumentation and initially drew upon Latin American music styles more than rock music. On their first two records, the group consisted of Flora Purim on vocals and percussion, Joe Farrell on flute and soprano saxophone, Miles Davis bandmate Airto on drums and percussion, and Stanley Clarke on acoustic double bass. Drummer Lenny White and guitarist Bill Connors later joined Corea and Clarke to form the second version of the group, which blended the earlier Latin music elements with rock and funk-oriented music partially inspired by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, led by his Bitches Brew bandmate John McLaughlin. This incarnation of the band recorded the album Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, before Connors' replacement by Al Di Meola, who played on the subsequent Where Have I Known You Before, No Mystery, and Romantic Warrior.
In 1976, Corea issued My Spanish Heart, influenced by Latin American music and featuring vocalist Gayle Moran (Corea's wife) and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. The album combined jazz and flamenco, supported by Minimoog synthesizer and a horn section.
Duet projects
In the 1970s, Corea started working with vibraphonist Gary Burton, with whom he recorded several duet albums for ECM, including 1972's Crystal Silence. They reunited in 2006 for a concert tour. A new record called The New Crystal Silence was issued in 2008 and won a Grammy Award in 2009. The package includes a disc of duets and another disc with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Toward the end of the 1970s, Corea embarked on a series of concerts with fellow pianist Herbie Hancock. These concerts were presented in elegant settings with both artists dressed formally and performing on concert grand pianos. The two played each other's compositions, as well as pieces by other composers such as Béla Bartók, and duets. In 1982, Corea performed The Meeting, a live duet with the classical pianist Friedrich Gulda.
In December 2007, Corea recorded a duet album, The Enchantment, with banjoist Béla Fleck. Fleck and Corea toured extensively for the album in 2007. Fleck was nominated in the Best Instrumental Composition category at the 49th Grammy Awards for the track "Spectacle".
In 2008, Corea collaborated with Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara on the live album Duet (Chick Corea and Hiromi). The duo played a concert at Tokyo's Budokan arena on April 30.
In 2015, he reprised the duet concert series with Hancock, again sticking to a dueling-piano format, though both now integrated synthesizers into their repertoire. The first concert in this series was at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle and included improvisations, compositions by the duo, and standards by other composers.
Later work
Corea's other bands included the Chick Corea Elektric Band, its trio reduction called “Akoustic Band”, Origin, and its trio reduction called the New Trio. Corea signed a record deal with GRP Records in 1986 which led to the release of ten albums between 1986 and 1994, seven with the Elektric Band, two with the Akoustic Band, and a solo album, Expressions.
The Akoustic Band released a self-titled album in 1989 and a live follow-up, Alive, in 1991, both featuring John Patitucci on bass and Dave Weckl on drums. It marked a return to traditional jazz trio instrumentation in Corea's career, and the bulk of his subsequent recordings have featured acoustic piano. They provided the music for the 1986 Pixar short Luxo Jr. with their song "The Game Maker".
In 1992, Corea started his own label, Stretch Records.
In 2001, the Chick Corea New Trio, with bassist Avishai Cohen and drummer Jeff Ballard, released the album Past, Present & Futures. The eleven-song album includes only one standard (Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz"). The rest of the tunes are Corea originals. He participated in 1998's Like Minds with old associates Gary Burton on vibraphone, Dave Holland on bass, Roy Haynes on drums, and Pat Metheny on guitars.
During the later part of his career, Corea also explored contemporary classical music. He composed his first piano concerto – and an adaptation of his signature piece, "Spain", for a full symphony orchestra – and performed it in 1999 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Five years later he composed his first work without keyboards: his String Quartet No. 1 was written for the Orion String Quartet and performed by them at 2004's Summerfest in Wisconsin.
Corea continued recording fusion albums such as To the Stars (2004) and Ultimate Adventure (2006). The latter won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.
In 2008, the third version of Return to Forever (Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, and Al Di Meola) reunited for a worldwide tour. The reunion received positive reviews from jazz and mainstream publications. Most of the group's studio recordings were re-released on the compilation Return to Forever: The Anthology to coincide with the tour. A concert DVD recorded during their performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival was released in May 2009. He also worked on a collaboration CD with the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer.
A new group, the Five Peace Band, began a world tour in October 2008. The ensemble included John McLaughlin whom Corea had previously worked with in Miles Davis's late 1960s bands, including the group that recorded Davis's classic album Bitches Brew. Joining Corea and McLaughlin were saxophonist Kenny Garrett and bassist Christian McBride. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta played with the band in Europe and on select North American dates; Brian Blade played all dates in Asia and Australia, and most dates in North America. The vast reach of Corea's music was celebrated in a 2011 retrospective with Corea guesting with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; a New York Times reviewer had high praise for the occasion: "Mr. Corea was masterly with the other musicians, absorbing the rhythm and feeding the soloists. It sounded like a band, and Mr. Corea had no need to dominate; his authority was clear without raising volume."
A new band, Chick Corea & The Vigil, featured Corea with bassist Hadrien Feraud, Marcus Gilmore on drums (carrying on from his grandfather, Roy Haynes), saxes, flute, and bass clarinet from Origin vet Tim Garland, and guitarist Charles Altura.
Corea celebrated his 75th birthday in 2016 by playing with more than 20 different groups during a six-week stand at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, New York City. "I pretty well ignore the numbers that make up 'age'. It seems to be the best way to go. I have always just concentrated on having the most fun I can with the adventure of music."
Personal life
Corea married his second wife, vocalist/pianist Gayle Moran, in 1972. He had two children, Thaddeus and Liana, with his first wife, Joanie; his first marriage ended in divorce.
In 1968, Corea read Dianetics, author L. Ron Hubbard's most well-known self-help book. Further, Corea developed an interest in Hubbard's other works in the early 1970s: "I came into contact with L. Ron Hubbard's material in 1968 with Dianetics and it kind of opened my mind up and it got me into seeing that my potential for communication was a lot greater than I thought it was.
Corea said that Scientology became a profound influence on his musical direction in the early 1970s: "I no longer wanted to satisfy myself. I really want to connect with the world and make my music mean something to people." He also introduced his colleague Stanley Clarke to the movement. With Clarke, Corea played on Space Jazz: The Soundtrack of the Book Battlefield Earth, a 1982 album to accompany L. Ron Hubbard's novel Battlefield Earth. The Vinyl Factory commented, "if this isn't one of jazz's worst, it's certainly its craziest". Corea also contributed to their album The Joy of Creating in 2001.
Corea was excluded from a concert during the 1993 World Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart, Germany. The concert's organizers excluded Corea after the state government of Baden-Württemberg had announced it would review its subsidies for events featuring avowed members of Scientology. After Corea's complaint against this policy before the administrative court was unsuccessful in 1996, members of the United States Congress, in a letter to the German government, denounced the ban as a violation of Corea's human rights. Corea was not banned from performing in Germany, however, and had several appearances at the government-supported International Jazz Festival in Burghausen, where he was awarded a plaque in Burghausen's "Street of Fame" in 2011.
Corea died of a rare form of cancer, which had been only recently diagnosed, at his home in the Tampa Bay area of Florida on February 9, 2021, at the age of 79.
Discography
Awards and honors
Corea's 1968 album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1997, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music. In 2010, he was named Doctor Honoris Causa at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Grammy Awards
Corea won 25 Grammy Awards and was nominated over 60 times.
Latin Grammy Awards
References
External links
Official site
Official discography
An Interview with Chick Corea by Bob Rosenbaum, July 1974
Chick Corea talks to Michael J Stewart about his Piano Concerto
Chick Corea Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2016, 2018)
1941 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American keyboardists
20th-century American pianists
20th-century jazz composers
21st-century American keyboardists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century jazz composers
American Scientologists
American jazz composers
American jazz pianists
American male jazz composers
American male pianists
American people of Italian descent
People of Sicilian descent
People of Calabrian descent
Chick Corea Elektric Band members
Circle (jazz band) members
Crossover (music)
Deaths from cancer in Florida
ECM Records artists
Grammy Award winners
GRP All-Star Big Band members
GRP Records artists
Jazz fusion pianists
Jazz musicians from Massachusetts
Keytarists
Latin Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Chesterfield, Massachusetts
Post-bop composers
Post-bop pianists
Return to Forever members
The Jazz Messengers members | false | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] |
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